Wellies!

One day, when i was still fresh and new to Kenya, we planned to go to a primary school to teach some of the girls about sexual health and purity.  We went into Kibera and on our way to the school, dark clouds started forming in the sky.  The Kenyans looked at them nervously and started to say something about them in Kiswahili (I didn't know much of the language back then).  We kept going until we reached the school.  Our team leader went to the office, and 2 minutes later returned to say that the school was closing now, we'll need to come back another day.  On our way back, I managed to butt into the fast-flowing Swahili conversation and ask why the kids were being sent home.  "Rain" came the simple response.

In Kibera, there's mud everywhere, mud roads, mud houses, kids playing in mud... and when it rains, it becomes one big mud bath.  And so, to prevent the kids getting hurt in the slippery chaos, they send them home early.  And in the morning, if there's been a lot of rain, the kids will wait a few hours for the roads to dry out before they go to school.  Of course, this can reduce the amount of hours our children are getting taught, especially during the rainy season.  So, we asked 'what can we do so that our kids can still come to school and go home after school when there's rain?'  And I was met with another simple reply: wellies.  

When Nienka and Becky, friends from Holland, asked what they can do to help the school, Lox mentioned the rain and wellies idea and they (with support from their friends back in Holland) kindly raised money so that our school pupils can wear wellies when it rains.  Another problem solved!