A Fortnight on the Coast

This visit to Kenya, I have spent 2 weeks in Mombasa and its environs – most of it out in the field.  I have visited schools in the crowded areas near to the city, and visited schools out in the far reaches of Kilifi county.

The town schools are the usual blend of sandy playgrounds and mango trees, in the midst of high density housing, small shops  and urban agriculture – wherever there is a space, you can see maize growing, poking its way up between the weeds and the garbage – and no doubt, sewage. The schools are amazing places on the whole – enrolment is often in excess of 1000 kids and classes of 60 are common.  The usual glassless windows are ever-present and when it rains hard, it is impossible to hear anything.  Fortunately, the rain is often short lived with gaps of relative calm in between the showers.

The country schools are my favourite – often big classes but not always big schools – only one stream per class.  The ever present mango trees provide shade for classes and meetings, and I am sure, food for the children in the mango season.  Most classrooms are constructed of blocks, but there are some which are still mud and wood.  Some of the classrooms don’t have doors and the window holes are not barred, so teachers find keeping their materials safe a huge challenge. Some classes are held under trees, because there are not enough classrooms, and as usual, the early years classes are left out when it comes to provision of space.  In other schools, the enrolment is double what the classroom space allows, and so there is a double shift - one class comes till 1 and the other works from 1 till 6 – 2 teachers, but only one classroom.

In most schools, the older learners are at school till at least 4, but in one school in the Rubai area, I saw children coming back into class as we left at 4.30.  They are Gr 8s who will sit exams this year, and the children come back to work till 6.30 or 7.00 – sometimes with a teacher and sometimes on their own.  The school has electricity, and most of their homes don’t.

To get to Rubai, you go out on the Nairobi road, dicing with death with the huge lorries carrying shipping containers to and from the Port and to and from Nairobi, and then turn off into gentler, more forgiving dirt roads.  All around are the “shambas” – small farms with their patchwork of maize and vegetables, the mango trees and the palms.  These produce coconuts or palm oil, depending on whether they are tapped or not.  Most of the trees have footholds cut into them.  And there are always the animals – goats roaming freely and cows tied to stakes so they can graze.

I ’ve experienced the rain for the first time.  We had two days of heavy rain – both on days we were travelling to Malindi,  which made roads difficult to navigate – even on the tar road.  The Big Rains have come with a vengeance this year, leaving roads potholed and eaten away at the edges.  It’s even worse in town where there is so much traffic and it is pointless fixing the poitholes till the rains have stopped.  I got wet many times – but the rain is warm and so is the air, so you dry quickly, without getting cold.

The trip up the coast to Malindi was amazing – the road follows the coast and every now and then there are tantalising glimpses of the sea.  You cross the big “creeks” where the rivers come into the sea, and drive across coastal flood plains.  All along the way you see signs to hotels and resorts – Sea Breezes, The Palms and Sea View abound.  We stayed in a Sea View in Malindi  - quite adequate but an African vision of what a luxury hotel is – outdated décor, showers that work or don’t according to their mood, and a “menu” phoned through from the bar – chicken, steak or fish with chips, chapatti (like roti) or ugali (like stywe pap.) 

The seafood in Malindi is wonderful and all harvested fresh from the surrounding coast – delicious prawns, smoked sailfish and crab.  And the grilled red snapper was delicious at the beachfront “I love pizza” restaurant we ate at.

Coast people are warm and friendly, spending a lot of time on “people” things – greeting, “appreciating” everything done by anyone, discussing and making sure everyone’s point of view is heard.  It takes a LONG time and trainings are quite long and drawn out – but it seems to be working.

Despite a terrible, recurring bout of tummy troubles and the dreadful loos in some of the schools, I had a wonderful time on the coast and can’t wait to return.