First Day of School

On their way in on the first morning!

Uhuru and Apollo just attended their first day of school.  They are attending an abbreviated schedule for this week.  This week and last week are a special session called “Tuition,” where parents pay extra for extra class time.  Most of the students at school during tuition are boarding.  During tuition classes begin at 7AM and run until 9PM!  Uhuru and Apollo are going to attend 4 hours of class each day this week.

They are attending Salaba Academy, which is about 2 miles from here.  The school was founded by Chris Cheboichoch with his prize money from the Boston and New York Marathons.  Our friend Godfrey also recommended it.  Salaba is a private school.

The head teacher, Mr. Chumba, took Apollo to Standard 4 and introduced him to the class.  He asked the children to be friends with him and to play with him, but “do not hurt him.”  Then we walked with Uhuru to Standard 6, where she had a similar introduction.  When Mr. Chumba asked where she should sit, the students with an empty desk next to them all pointed at the spot nearest them.  Mr. Chumba selected a spot for her next to a girl named Hilda.

Carey and I paid the school fees of 1600 Shillings, about $20, each.  This is the normal fee for 2 weeks of 7AM-9PM education.

Uhuru was quite nervous about going to school “on another continent,” as she put it.  Apollo was less worried, but I think I was more nervous for him.  The school years are a little different here, but Apollo should be in Standard 3, but Standard 3 is not offered during tuition.  Apollo slouched comically when introduced to the class.

We picked them up at 4PM, when class is dismissed for “games.”  The headmaster told us that there wouldn’t be games today, so we could take them home.  Uhuru asked, “Do I have to leave now?  Can I say goodbye?”  She said school was fun.  Apollo said school was “ok,” but he was excited because one of his soccer buddies, Brian Kiplagat, attends Salaba.

The classes involved a lot of copying.  Predictably, both Uhuru and Apollo felt pretty behind in Swahili.  Some of the children gave Uhuru a Swahili lesson during lunch.  The Kenyan children had a LOT of questions for Uhuru and Apollo.  Apollo commented that he spelled “airplane” correctly, but the teacher said it was wrong (they spell it the British way here).

I’ll write more about their school experiences later.