One of the most important things we teach at Olng’arua School is how to keep wounds clean. In a tough environment like ours wounds are common, treated with care however, most need not be a problem. Unfortunately it is difficult to keep wounds clean when all water used for cleaning wounds must be boiled first, …
Lovely people continue to send us wonderful books. So many have obviously been chosen with great care and thought for what might appeal to young readers in northern Kenya. In fiction we have received English language classics as well as stories from other cultures. There have been poetry and art books, reference books, books that …
We have a confirmed outbreak of cholera in the area around the school. 80% of cholera cases are mild to moderate, 20% can be severe enough to kill within hours. It is not the cholera that kills you it is the massive dehydration that a bad case of cholera can cause. While we have had …
Earlier this year the school lost a good friend and champion. I had known Sandy since I was a child. A passionate man with great energy, he was always interested in the school and provided much encouragement and support. Reaching out, from the small rural community on the West Coast of Scotland that he was …
Our playing field is still flooded and as they say ‘if you can’t beat it, join it’ so we have been making the most of the water around the school while we can. On Friday, instead of playing football, the whole school went down to muck about in the river. There was football, of a …
The area around the school has changed unbelievably in the last few weeks. After years of drought this new soft green world is very strange, and very lovely. None of the children in our school have ever seen as much grass or as many flowers. The small ones are walking through a chest high jungle …
In February last year we were visited by a group of friends from the U.S.. They brought with them first aid supplies for the school and provided first aid training sessions for adults and children (Old friends and new ideas – Feb 2017). We live in a tough and dangerous environment, accidents are common and …
A little over a year ago the Lion group took over the management of the Olng’arua School kitchen supplies. Since the school opened there always seemed to be problems with the management of the kitchen supplies. Orders would be forgotten, stock too low or perishables gone to waste. You never quite knew if there would …
When times are hard, when drought has taken almost everything people have, lunch becomes an especially happy time in the school day. With very limited water supplies (all brought into the school each day in 20lt cans) washing hands before lunch is closely monitored by the older children and the grey water saved for other …
This afternoon a lorry full of hay for the zebras arrived at the school. This was very exciting for the kids, both because they would be able to save more zebra, but also because it was a LORRY! We don’t see many lorries round here. We are storing the grass where ever we can find …