The School

Where do I start? The kids at Fairview CDC Academy are the happiest welcoming children I have ever encountered. Every time we visit we are swarmed by children that want to shake our hands, and never let go. Some have to settle for holding on to our arms as we weave our way through the mob. Now I know how the Beatles felt. The school itself has five and a half separate classrooms. One room houses the very young kids: babies, nursery age, and preschool. Another four accommodate Class 1, Class 2, Class 3 and Class 4. The ‘half’ is a part storage for text books and supplies along with the two Class 5 students. (For all of those teachers reading, it is pretty close to our ‘Grade’ equivalent). Some children share single-seated desks, and in the youngest classroom students sit on tables, chairs, and even the floor. At the very least we will try to cement the floor so that it is easier on the younger kids as they crawl/move around, but more furniture would be ideal.

All together attendance in the school reaches 106 students. Some of these students are able to pay school fees, but children who are orphaned or have been affected by HIV/AIDS in some way attend free of charge: a pay-what-you-can system. One of our priorities this summer will be to obtain a detailed assessment of each student and teach the administration of the school how to effectively keep records. There are currently about 12 students on the waiting list for sponsorships that are unable to attend because of lack of uniform and shoes, and constraints on the current feeding program. Natalia, Allison and I suffered a bit of a heart/spirit-crushing moment when, after a wrong turn in the village, we were approached by a lady and five orphans she was caring for who thought that we were there to give them good news about getting into the school. We assured her that we were working hard to try to accommodate as many children as possible, but it was extremely difficult to walk away from that encounter with our heads and hearts held high.

This past January the head teacher, Lynette (and main administrator of the school who as it now seems performed the duties of about three separate people at once), tragically passed away, so the school has been in a bit of a scramble since to regain the high organisational structure that it once held. My main task over the next two weeks will be to meet with each of the 10 teachers individually to talk about their welfare and happiness as volunteers at the school. The teachers have suffered a little bit throughout this transition time but we hope to recommend a new head teacher for hire that may help to remedy the strain they are feeling. Currently, the teachers receive a small allowance for their lunches, and a small stipend for their dedication and hard work (about 1000Ksh/month... which converts to ~ $13). This is not always a guarantee however, as it depends on students’ school fees and greenhouse income.

The greenhouse that SID helped establish on the school property seems at the moment in need of love. We are told that new seeds have just been planted so hopefully with a new irrigation system (that will be installed with the help of the Agriculture team this summer) the crops that are extra to the feeding program will help to bring in a market profit to support teacher stipends.

Throughout this entire process I have been battling with my internal international development qualms. Today I saw a sticker inside a matatu that really encompassed my feelings at the moment: ‘Are you the solution or part of the problem?’ Is our development work really helping in the long-term sustainability sense? This summer we will also be making it a priority to draw some government attention to Fairview so that we can help them begin the process of applying to become a government-funded school. Until that moment, it is my opinion that the school and the students will be relying heavily on NGOs.