The most remote school so far...

The headteachers sets off on his way to work

err we'll wait here for you...

 This week we visited the most difficult to access school so far - even people from the District and Sector Office have not visited this one. All the local headteachers said 'ooohhh you're going to Jandari? It is very far, very far.' The headteacher was concerned that we would have to walk, and wasn't sure that we were capable of walking.

Where is the school?

Lets go then, warrior queens do it like this..

First thing in the morning we had a one and half hour moto journey from home to Kanyanza , dropped our stuff off at the priests house, changed moto drivers to our local guys who know the tracks very well and are brilliant drivers. We had a  further moto ride for an hour over very rough terrain - going over a rocky mountain pass. Then we had to leave the motos and walk the rest of the way.


At this point we were at the top of the mountain range where the headteacher met us to show us the way. The school is in the valley by the river where the people can draw water. There is no road or even track into this valley but there is a small lovely community living there. When the guys saaw where we were heading they changed their minds about coming with us!


But we Warrior Queens don't give up that easily- downhill all the way for about 45minutes is tough on the knees, hips and front muscles at the top of the legs. But we kept going and in any case it is a change from aching bums, backs and abs from being on the moto.

Down, down, down following the headteacher

Yay and there it is at last!

The school is next to the river

A beautiful walk and a lovely setting - but everyday? 


The school was built as a satellite school to another one which is at the top of this mountain. It was situated where the people live to encourage parents to send their children to school.

A lovely school community of only 250 children

I stand in awe and admiration for this wonderful country and its amazing people.


The people are so determined to help in the development of their country. education is highly prized and hard won. sadly it comes as a huge contrast to my experience in the last few years of teaching in the UK, where many students just weren't interested in learning.


And here are those beautiful children. They never have visitors in their valley and yet three visitors in one day!! Add to that, that two of them have a strange skin colour and straight hair and blue eyes. They sang and played games with us and were just delightful.  

A great staff Team 

The school building

This small team of teachers work really well together, each taking on extra duties. Everyone of them managed to get to the training that we carried out at the Sector base and they really valued it. They have had no training before.We were delighted to observe the lessons and see some of the ideas being used by teachers.




The school building is in good condition and this shot shows the school bell which is rung at the beginning and end of school and at breaktimes. A child uses a rock to bang on the wheel and the sound rings out around the valley. Remember that these teachers run a double shift system where one set of children come in the morning and a different set come in the afternoon. The teachers start work at 7am and finish at 5pm.

Parents meeting

On the day of our visit the headteacher had arranged a Parents Meeting to discuss attendance and arrangements for the school year. We could see people coming to the school from miles around - they were dotted about the hillside and along the river bank, coming to support their children and take an interest in an education that they never had themselves.




At the end of the day of course there was the walk back up the hill and by this time the sun was beginning to go down.We had the scarey prospect of riding the rough roads in the dark. The moto drivers were waiting for us and we hit the road, but he night was clear and a bright moon assisted us on our way. There were the two planets, Venus and Jupiter lighting up the sky for us. 


It was a long drive home to the priests house but I have to say I really enjoyed it and felt blessed that I was able to have such experiences and to get to know such an environment and the people who live in it everyday.


Love to you all. Tricia