NEWS: Drummond To Kenya

MARK McLAUGHLIN
Evening News (Edinburgh)
September 11, 2010, Saturday

AS SCHOOL outings go, it was one of the more ambitious ones.

A group of sixth-year pupils from Drummond Community High School have recently returned from a trip to Kenya, as part of a partnership project with Muthambi Boys and Girls School in Marima, a town in the shadow of Mount Kenya.

In exchange for lessons in Scottish poetry and how to cook shortbread, the teenagers were given Swahili language tuition and a trip to a crocodile farm.

Drummond librarian Annie Scanlon, who accompanied the children on the trip, also helped to design a new school library out of "a motley collection of damp and ancient old books on rickety shelves".

She said: "With eight boys working as volunteer librarians, we cleared shelves and set up some of the new and exciting books that we had managed to take out with us.

"The library will now open for the boys in the evenings and we hope to send out more books in the future.

"In the girls school, we taught lessons on Scottish poetry and did cookery demonstrations, introducing the girls to shortbread.

"It was difficult to record their comments as their mouths were so full.

"We also took part in sports and games, music, tribal dancing and question and answer sessions on every topic under the sun, plus we made a short film on the life of a Muthambi schoolgirl."

As well as strengthening their curricular links, the school is hoping to raise £15,000 to bring eight students and two staff over to Drummond in June 2011.

Ms Scanlon added: "The trip far exceeded our expectations both educationally and socially and it would not be exaggerating to say that it has changed the lives of students and staff in all three schools.

"We embarked on a very full programme for our ten-day visit which was a combination of working and meeting with the Kenyan students and learning a bit about the life of ordinary Kenyans. The experience was far more fun than the usual 'safari' holiday."

"When we weren't in school we were out experiencing Kenyan life guided by Muthambi staff and students. We visited a crocodile farm and handled 'teenage' crocs with big teeth."

City education leader Councillor Marilyne MacLaren praised the school's visit.

She said: "Global citizenship is an important part of the curriculum for Edinburgh schools and visits like this strengthen relationships and broaden horizons for our pupils.

"Similar links are being nurtured and developed all across Edinburgh and I think it's something the city should take great pride in."