Visit to Kuria, December 2018

Suzette and Sally have just returned from three weeks in Kuria to visit our Coordinator, Mathias Mwita, and our students. For the first time we were able to attend the annual Get-Together Party as the school students were on holiday, though not, unfortunately, our university students. It was a great event, with students, parents and members of TOWS groups. Dr. Gesaro, who lectures in Literature at Rongo University and has established a wonderful new library in Kehancha, was the guest speaker and gave an inspirational talk. Particularly touching for us was the attendance of some past students who had made special trips to talk of their gratitude to the Trust (as Cecilia Below).

At the same time, 3 of the 4 Kuria clans in Kuria were circumcising and the school compound where the party was held was acting as a sanctuary for 180 local girls who were fleeing circumcision. They spoke of their desire for education and not excision as a marker of maturity.

We found Kuria transformed, a great leap ahead after just two years, with many well-built permanent houses, solar-powered electricity, and some improved roads. It was almost unrecognisable though, with such evident prosperity, poverty was also very visible. We came to admire again the parents who were struggling so hard to ensure a better future for their daughters and we were grateful that we could help them.

The welcome was as warm as ever and Suzette felt that she had come home and Sally that she had found a new one. We are grateful to the SFIC Sisters who facilitated our trip with such care and affection, to Mathias and family who celebrated our presence with goat soup, and to all our Kuria friends who do not forget us.