A Day at Jambo Jipya School

5:30am - 7:00am

Students that spend the night at school (called "boarders") arise with the sun in order to prepare for the day. They take "showers" by sponging themselves off from a bucket filled with cold water. They dress in their school uniforms, make their beds, clean their dorm rooms, boil water for tea, and slap butter on bread to ease their grumbling tummies.

7:00am - 7:30am

Students begin pouring into the school.  Some have already put in a full days' work having walked over two hours to arrive at their destination.  They happily and eagerly join their classmates – smiles and laughter is present everywhere – for another day of safety and fun.

7:30am - 8:00am

The entire student body and teachers join together for morning assembly - raising of the Kenyan flag, singing of national anthem, announcements, prayer, and student led songs.

8:00am - 10:00am

10:00am - 10:30am

Students can be found scaling the fence, playing hopscotch, kicking around a football (soccer ball), singing, dancing, chasing each other, chatting with friends, or catching up on sleep that they were not lucky enough to receive the night before.   Along with the fun comes a very important time of the day: snack time.   Many of the students receive their first meal of the day at this time.   Every day is the same: porridge. By the cupfuls students gobble down their morning snacks.

10:30am - 12:30am

Classes resume.  

12:30pm - 1:30pm

The older students help to disperse the midday meal.   The weekly menu is varies slightly with main food items being: rice, beans, ugali (a local Kenyan dish - dense rice which sticks together and is usually eaten by hand), and greens.  Students hungrily fill their, all too often, empty bellies.   After the meal is finished, the clean up begins and many hands help to lighten the work.   Then more laughing and playing takes place.

1:30pm - 3:20pm

Classes resume.  

3:20pm - 4:30pm

Special Activities:

Mondays and Wednesdays (depending on the weather: extreme heat or the rain may keep this from occurring), Classes 1 through 8 take a 10 minute walk through the village to a nearby football (soccer) field.   Here they take three or four laps around the large field, participate in various aerobic and team building exercises, and then a much anticipated game of football (soccer) takes place.

Tuesdays the school splits into three groups. The Kindergarten classes work as a group on various team building and learning exercises. The upper classes participate in debates. Classes 1 through 3 gather together and classes 4 through 8 gather together. After a few days of preparation, they argue their opinions on various issues and practice their English speaking skills. (ex. Are teachers more important than doctors? Is it better to be employed or self-employed?)

Thursdays are club days. The choir meets, the nature club meets, and the scouts meet. Each student is enrolled in a club of their choice.

Fridays are worship days. The Christian students and the Muslim students gather in seperate areas, and are led by Christian and Muslim teachers, to worship.

4:30pm - 5:00pm

During this time the library is open for students to browse books and for the older students (classes 4-8) to borrow books for the evening. Students make sure they have their homework copied down and then they sweep out their classrooms. Then the students who aren't lucky enough to live at school, gather their things and start the trek home.

5:00pm - 6:30pm

Boarders (the students who live at school) spend more time perusing the library, hanging out with their "brothers and sisters" (the students who live at school function much like a very large family), and doing their wash. Then they drink their tea in order to hold them over until dinnertime.

6:30pm - 8:00pm

Boarders return to the classrooms for night tutoring time - a study hall set up for the students to do their homework and receive assistance from teachers who return to help them.

8:00pm - 9:00pm

A happy bunch enjoys dinner. They know they won't have to try to sleep with rumbling tummies. Then they cleanup and prepare for bedtime. A safe night sleep and then it all begins again.