Library Disco, Laptops & Lotsa Tears – Our Last Days In Kiandu
At the teachers meeting
Our last days in Kiandu were soooooo lovely. We are making Kiandu primary school our model school for ‘Shine Kenya’ so we called a meeting with all the teachers to educate them about how the program is going to work in their school and what its all about. We then had a meeting with all the parents as well, which was really wonderful. We told them all about Shine and why we feel it’s so important for their kids. In the same meeting we talked about the other things going on in the school like the school feeding program, upgrading of the school and computer education. A lot of the parents have been so helpful with the greenhouse and irrigation for the school feeding program. Many of them came out and volunteered their time to dig trenches and clear land so we got a chance to thank them formally for their support.
We also spent a lot of our time those last few days in the library painting some of the Shine principals on the walls and some beautiful decorations as well. It was such a joyous time hanging out with the kids and with the awesome art teacher Joel and our friend George. We painted we danced, we learned kikuyu songs from the kids, we chatted and painted some more. The kids all came in to clean all of the walls down for us. It was a labor of love making the library a welcoming and vibrant place. We enjoyed every moment of it and especially the random disco celebration on our last evening! We were all dancing around the library to Justin Bieber and Katie Perry which the kids loved. I suspect they are going to have that Justin Bieber “baby” song in their heads forever! And man that library looks great!
We also donated a laptop to the highschool next door to kiandu primary school on our last evening as well as one for the town medical centre for administration purposes. The rest of the computers were left for the teachers of kiandu primary school. The laptops were such a big deal over there. Everyone was so very very grateful for them. They are going to help the teachers so much! A huge thank you to everyone who donated a laptop (as well as those who spent a long time on repairs and formatting!). What an incredible gift.
Revamping the library - FUN!!
Some of our committee in Kenya are raising some money at the moment to continue the computer lessons for the teachers at Kiandu primary school so they will get the best out of those computers.
Saying goodbye on our last morning was so so so hard. We actually tried to woos out and avoid it but our mate geroge was having none of that. He dragged us into the school like a good friend would. Thanks George!
I just want to say a huge thank you to Joel for your lovely gifts you gave us that morning. You made us cry…..then the kids made us cry too! We went to the classrooms and said our good byes to students and teachers. We told the kids to work hard, to be good…..then we cried.
I was so grateful to have achieved everything we set out to do. I am especially fired up about the potential of the ‘Shine’ program after launching in 45 schools, but the laptop donations and computer lessons, the school feeding program, the library, the awesome musoc program that was launched, the whole thing really is just so fantastic! We couldn’t have done this without our amazing committee on the ground over there and especially Mr Ibrahim Karonji. Ibrahim, your amazing! Thanks for being so passionate and dedicated. You’re doing incredible things for Kiandu.
We were so blessed to have such a friendly, patient, dedicated team of volunteers. I couldn’t have asked for a better bunch of people to share this adventure with. Kellie, Lena, Meg, Marnie and Gary – Words could never convey how grateful I am for your faith in me, your hard work and your fun and happy attitude. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
I miss Kiandu already. My gosh, it’s the people – big smiles, big hearts. The music, the playful energy of the kids, the welcoming and the warmth. It won’t be long till I’m drawn back again. We are already talking about the next trip where hopefully we can launch Shine for highschools and continue to improve the school and enrich the lives of the Kiandu comminuty. They deserve it!
laptop lessons!
Disco in the library on the last day