New Swanland Schools Nairobi. First let me take this opportunity to thank all the people who have worked so hard to raise funds to rebuild the school. It is a miracle – it is bigger and better than before. Who would have believed at the end of last year we would be visiting a spacious new school? Wow what a week! Last month John, Heidi and I went to see how the children were settling into their new surroundings. The new school site was originally a forest covered with mature trees. The locals told us how pleased they are to have the school there now as it used to be a 'bad place where bad things happened.' The locals have also cleared the surrounding trees to make it safer for the pupils. The school bought them from the new landlord to use as firewood for the kitchen. We spent a whole week at the school starting with the church service on Sunday. The new hall is not ready yet so we met in what is going to be the science laboratory. It was a joyful typically African service. Everyone was really pleased to see us and we were able to pass on greetings from Swanland UK. Pastor Hudson was in good form and there is a really positive feel about the church and school.
 | | Shirley and John Waters at the school |
On Monday we were greeted at the old site by the 400 pupils and staff as we had a formal 'moving on' ceremony. This was quite moving as we all remembered the happy (and sad). The new site is so much bigger and better than the old one. Everybody is very happy there now. The school buildings looked really good freshly painted in Swanland blue. The damaged sheets of mbati (tin) were a reminder of the destruction but everywhere looks much cleaner and well organised. The High School is at the top of the site (yes this one is not level either but it keeps you fit going up and down hill), and the Primary School and the Boys Boarding Section at the bottom near the pedestrian entrance. - There is still plenty of work to do. The hall is half built - well it has sides but not much else!
- The foundations for the toilets have been dug and the materials for the foundations delivered.
- The high school has the wiring but no connection to the mains.
- The road is half built. There is running water and the children are allowed to take a bottle of clean water home with them.
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Now there is room for the children to run around and play. It was lovely to see them skipping and dancing and enjoying the freedom to run around. They are improving at football and netball and we went to watch the school teams play. We were so impressed at how smart the Swanland children looked compared with the other slum schools. The girls won the netball. The boys looked wonderful in their Hull City kits but unfortunately they did not do so well. Seeing the other slum kids at the competition reminded me how far Swanland had come and how many hundreds of needy children there are just in that slum that need help. The children at the school looked really happy and healthy and it was great to give out the new clothes and uniforms. We managed to take 100 kilos of luggage just for the school. Heidi had ten layers of clothing for check in, including four jackets and a guards uniform. Thanks to all who gave us things to take. Everything was really appreciated. Heidi really enjoyed her first visit to Africa and commented that the school gave so many children hope for the future. She was impressed with how the money had been spent. John and Heidi took the boys who designed the top selling Christmas cards (Stephen and Moses), to the Giraffe Centre and Elephant Sanctuary for a special treat. | 
