Kenya's blog

It has been an exciting month at for the students at Ondati Secondary school. 

The students who have achieved the most ‘stars’ (these are given after a student has performed very well in the school enterprises) were rewarded with an  educational field trip to the biggest business in the area, Sukari Sugar Factory in Riat. 

Great news this month comes from our excellent relationship with Onyani Farm, who have agreed to offer internships at their dairy farm for up to three Form 4 graduates each year. Our girls now have nearly 4 years experience with exotic breeds and hopefully this opportunity with such a respected local institution will greatly enhance their future employability!

Larqueen Ocampo is 14 and currently in form 2. This is her first year at Ondati having moved to the area from Mombasa. I first became aware of her during a weekend game of football at Ondati where one of her ‘challenges’ (assault is a more accurate description!) ended my participation early and had me limping around Ondati for weeks after.

Mercifully, the Easter Break has finally ended which means there are now people at Ondati who I can talk to, rather than cows.

Ondati is no different to much of rural Kenya when it comes to using energy. To provide breakfast, lunch and dinner to 130 students daily mean that the school goes through a great deal of firewood. The system that has been used in the past is one that is common in villages. A three stone stove that is not only inefficient in terms of fuel, the amount of smoke produced makes the school cooks life very unpleasant!

The hard work of planting and weeding the pineapples at Ondati has been replaced with the more fun aspect of the business - sales!

It has been all hands on deck for the volunteers at Ondati Secondary in Kenya recently.

It’s a new approach for a new year at Ondati Secondary in Kenya, as the school looks to push on and improve the businesses on site. In order to arouse greater enthusiasm for the businesses from the students, the school decided to simply let the girls choose which different ‘business club’ they would like to join. With the newly formed ‘Beauty Salon Business Club’, the ‘Volunteer Friendship Club’ and a good harvest of nearly ripe pineapples, means we are witnessing much more enthusiasm toward our enterprises this year.