Kenya - Day 5

(Today's post is by Lily Walsh.)

Today was finally the day that we were going to Leparua school. The group had been looking forward to this day for quite some time, so when it finally arrived we were all pretty pumped. We left camp around 7:15 which was followed by a game drive. We drove through terrain that we hadn't before, and even spotted one of our new favorite animals - the dik dik. After stopped to take a picture on a peak that over looked Mount Kenya, we finally began our drive to Leparua. 

The school is located within the community of the Maasai, so we were able to see what life looked like for one of the tribes within Lewa. As we were pulling into the gates of the school, we received a warm greeting by many of the students waving through the windows. The principal, Maina Kiboi, brought us into his office and explained how the school runs and his plans for the future years, and so on. Their school motto, "Education is Empowerment", was something that spoke to us all and really showed a similarity between SSSAS and Leparua. He then dispersed us all into different classrooms where we helped teach the children different lessons depending on their age, and some of us even received a lesson in Swahili as well. After working in the classrooms, it was time to plant the trees and water them with the water tank that we had brought with us. Each person from our group was paired with one or more of the students from Leparua and we all worked as a team to plant these trees.

 Once the planting was finished, it was finally time to play! We had members of the group involved in a volleyball game, others speaking to and learning more about the students personally, a few running around playing tag, and finally a soccer match. We all played together as one community for the day, and we could not have asked for anything more. 

After many gracious thanks from the Maina Kiboi he explained to us how much this meant to them and how he hopes to see us again soon. We all thought the same and left the school not thinking the day could get any better than it had already been. An evening game drive was really the cherry on top of a wonderful day. We had been searching for big cats, lions in particular, for days and finally came across three lioness sleeping. After watching them for quite some time we left peacefully, and ended the day with a delicious meal. Overall, today was better than anyone could've wished and we all hope to continue the relationships that we built with the students at Leparua once we are back in the US.
- Lily Walsh