This summer, a team of nine staff from Royal Russell set off with their partners and two former students to visit Magnet High School in Nairobi. The team of eighteen stayed at the school for two weeks and were hosted by the Principal, the Right Reverend Jeremiah Kibobi.

Our link with Magnet began two years ago, when a former governor brought Bishop Kibobi over from Kenya to visit us. From that time, we have been fund raising for the school and running a pen pal scheme. This summer’s expedition was in part to prepare for a trip by thirty six of our students and six staff next July.

The expedition was a great success and we were all humbled by the generosity of the staff and students who have so little by our standards. The school, with an associated orphanage, looks after around four hundred children and is supported only by voluntary donations.

Our visit was in part to raise the profile of the school and to try and provide further assistance from the UK.

On our arrival, the students had stayed up until midnight to welcome us in song. Arriving was quite an unforgettable experience and the joy on their faces was something we will always remember. During out stay, we were able to run several classes, such as Western cooking, philosophy, life in England, drama workshops and sporting activities. We found the children to be very well educated and very hard working. Most of the students come from very poor or orphaned backgrounds and it was heartening to see how seriously they took their studies. Their hope is to get a good education that will lead to a job or getting someone to sponsor them through university.

We were amazed to find that they all get up at 4.30am to start school and often work until 9pm. They have no running water, very basic food and hardly any possessions yet there is a strong sense of faith and community spirit which helps them through their challenges.

Next Summer, our students will be involved in project work at the school as well as going on expedition to Mount Kenya and on safari. We are now busy preparing and fundraising for the trip. In addition, there has been set up a distant adoption scheme to support individual children through a monthly donation. If you are interested in helping the school, do contact me at Royal Russell.

It was sobering for us relatively rich and comfortable Westerners to visit some of the world’s poorest people and I believe that we took more away with us from our time in Kenya than we were able to give. And even though we cannot solve the issues the Developing World faces alone, it seems that we can, through our growing link, make a difference to the four hundred children and staff of the Magnet High School and associated orphanage in Nairobi, Kenya.