Kimuka Primary
Today we were at Kimuka Primary school. We got involved with this school when Virginia and Claudia first visited Osupuko together. The staff at Osupuko recommended that they visit Kimuka. It’s nice to see the schools looking out for each other.
Our visit started with briefly meeting the teachers and sitting with the head teacher, Beatrice. We were served samosas, sausages, and Kenyan tea that she had made. More on this conversation later. We quickly went outside for the porridge break.
Tuko Pamoja started providing the porridge to Kimuka in late May. The school and kids are extremely appreciative.
Above is the kitchen. The porridge is cooked over a wood fire. As you can tell, it is extremely smoky. I went in the kitchen for a very quick photo op. (No hair net or beard net.) And could smell the smoke on my clothes the rest of the day.
The photo op had to be quick because the smoke burns your eyes so much.
Many people in Africa cook over wood. Particularly in the less developed areas.
Below is the porridge. It isn’t particularly appealing to look at, but is filling and provides nutrients. It’s a mixture of grains, boiled into a wet cereal, and sweetened.
Below is the line for porridge. You can see a couple older boys at the front (right) serving. And a lot of kids waiting. There are 300 to 350 kids in the school.
Wangari, true to her spirit, went to the front of the line and took the spot of one of the boys serving. After a while Virginia joined her.
In our discussions with Beatrice, she described the improvements going on in the school. The list of projects is on the wall in her office. Number 9 is completed. Numbers 1, 3, and 8 are in progress. The metal sheet roofs were leaking badly. They have gotten funding to replace most of it. They are using the salvaged sheets of roofing metal for the fence. A couple classrooms remain to be completed.
Kimuka doesn’t have much in the way of funding, but the spirit of the staff is great! They will find a way to get stuff done.
Afterwards, we went to get ready for the self-defense classes. As usual, Claudia was immediately mobbed by kids. They are so attracted to her and she loves them.
We had two classes. We started with classes 7 and 8. This was 53 girls. We had a decent sized room available for it. The girls were attentive and learned quickly. Their understanding of English was good.
Remarkably, I didn’t see any boys try to look in the windows. That is a nearly universal problem. But not today.
We don’t allow boys or men to watch or participate in the classes. I have taught some boys, but spent too much time thinking which of these boys is going to be the next predator on girls? I made a non-negotiable decision to stop working with boys entirely. The girls need the element of surprise in their favor, and any other advantage they can get.
So we point out there are no non-teaching men present, and no boys. We also coach them not to talk to boys about what they learned. The girls need secrets.
Below are a bunch of the girls with the Munio self-defense keychains we hand out. We also instruct them how to use them. We have given away a few thousand of these. The girls love the designs. (Thanks to Phil and Michele at munioselfdefense.com . You are great partners to us!)
Our second class was for classes 5 and 6. This was another 56 girls.
Tuko Pamoja has a strong partnership with Kimuka Primary. Some of you provide the porridge. Others of you sponsor kids there. Donations from many of you provided the self-defense keychains we gave away. And the Tuko Pamoja family is also providing shoes for 200 of the kids. Shoe delivery day is coming! Note all the different shoes below. They are supposed to be wearing black leather school shoes. But the families can’t afford them. Frankly, most of these look like they are in better shape than many of the smaller kids’. The school admin decided which kids were most in need of new school shoes. And you’ve provided them!
