Mrs Annastia Mutinda (Head Teacher and Science Teacher) and Mr Luke Arimi (History Teacher) will be with us for the week and will be seen around the college and getting involved in all areas of the curriculum and college life.

Here is some information about their school in Kenya.

Mivukoni is a mixed, boarding secondary school with 280 students in a very poor, dry area close to the entrance of Kora National Park and around 69km from Mwingi.

People keep livestock and do some dry land farming (sorghum, millet etc) when there is rain. In 2008/09 there was no rain and more recent rainfall has still to affect the food supply. People are surviving on famine relief food and have to walk miles to collect muddy water from the Tana River or from shallow wells dug in dry river beds. Most houses are made of mud and straw.

The school was founded in 1987. The current principal Mrs Muitina has been with the school for two years. Student numbers are growing and expected to reach 360 within two years.

There are nine TSE (government) teachers at the school. In addition to this the Board of Governors has employed three more teachers.

The school has a computer lab and 20, rather old, computers donated by Action Aid when they moved out of the area. There is no Internet connection, but it should be possible to get connected, as there is Safaricom mobile phone reception at the school. This school is one of only two schools in the district with computers.

There is a science lab with some equipment although gas and water are not connected.

The school lacks a library and children have no opportunity to read anything apart from their textbooks.

The school has rainwater-harvesting tanks built by Danida and another funded by the Mwingi Baptist church. The Danida tanks no longer function, however, the other tanks do function but are empty due to lack of rain.

Water is transported in jerry cans to the school by parents, who do this in lieu of school fees.  Each child is allocated 5 litres of water a day at present, to wash themselves and their clothes. CDF (government community development fund) money has been allocated to the school for a borehole, which should solve the water problem. There is an electricity generator.

A dining hall and kitchen is being built with CDF funding. It is unclear if further funds can be found to complete it.

Both the boys and girls dormitories are very overcrowded. Girls sleep three to a narrow bed. The washrooms (particularly for the girls) are very basic.

Over the summer in 2009 the governors, staff and students undertook harambees (literally means "all pull together" in Swahili) in Mombasa and Nairobi and raised a dramatic £24,000 for new dormitories, so construction is underway.

Other priorities for improving standards are a library, books, extra teachers, and in-service training.

As you can see, our Kenyan colleagues have to work very hard to do their best for the students in their charge. I think that we can all learn a lot from their experiences!

I know that students and staff at Hampton Academy will welcome our guests with open arms and give them a valuable and enjoyable experience here. Please speak to them during their stay — and give them messages to take back to their students in Kenya.

For further information please contact
P Edmead - Programme Leader for Science
pedmead@hamptonacademy.org.uk