Monday evening

Hello from Daraja!
Today was our first day as students at Daraja Academy. We woke up a little earlier this morning to be greeted by all the girls along with the porridge, bananas and bread that was for breakfast. Imediately after we finished eating we headed outside to flag (which is where they raise their flag and share annoucements with the school). A few groups of girls sang after the kenyan flag was proudly lifted.

Then began our full day of school. Each MA student grabbed a chair from the cafeteria and brought it up to the classroom with them so they had somewhere to sit. We were each following a girl from Form 1, 2, or 3 (freshman, sophomore, or junior).in total we attended 9 of their classes. I personally went to English, Math, Physics, Swahili, Chemistry, Geography, History, Physics AGAIN, and Biology.

These girls are so clearly dedicated to their school works and are so engaged in school. Since they are all taking a test on everything they know from highschool at the end of their four years, a lot of what they are doing is memorizing and essentially studying for this massive test that will determine their future. Throughout the day we had one small snack break and a lunch break.

The Swahili class was particularly interesting. Even though I did not understand a word they were saying it was evident that they had an amazing teacher who kept them interested and talking the entire class.

As soon as we were finished, we went staight to clubs. They have four clubs at Daraja: Drama, Media, Volleyball and Football (soccer). We all chose what interested us the most, and spent over an hour enjoying these activities.

Imediately after we finished clubs it was time for dinner; we had Ugali and cabbage. Finally the girls go to study hall for two hours and finish up by 9 o'clock. Since lights go out at ten, they don't have much of a choice but to finish by then. We did homework with our partners and were able to experience what it is truly like to be a Daraja student.

Tomorrow we have to be out on the feild by 6 in the morning to play soccer followed by chores and another full day of school. Wish us luck!

Best,
Jane Cavagnero

This was the first day of attending classes with the Daraja students...

...classes are from 8 to 4 with just a few minutes' break and lunch...

...following class are clubs, teacher office hours and sports until dinner, then study hall from 7-9+.

We had about 45 minutes of torrential rain in the afternoon. It rained so hard that at least one teacher gave up trying to lecture over the noise of the rain on the tin roof.

This Daraja resident wandered into the office to use the "facilities." When we stopped laughing, we shooed her back outside.