To Sirua Aulo Academy

Perched on a hill overlooking the Rift Valley sits a school, a school set apart by more than it’s idyllic location high in the Transmara.  This is a school that defies a corrupt governmental education system by achieving the highest marks in the county, three years running.  This is a school that defies tribal conflict by intentionally pursuing diversity, including over seven tribal ethnicities among both staff and students.  This is a school that defies the injustice of poverty by educating orphans through sponsorship, orphans who make up nearly a third of their student body.  This school is Sirua Aulo Academy (SAA).

Founder, Director, Friend, Emmanuel

I was sent here in the capacity that my background as a Speech Pathologist could be helpful, as SAA is determined to include children of all abilities.  This too is anomalous in Kenya, as the stigma of disability runs deep and often results in children being secreted away by parents motivated by fear and misunderstanding.  While I did my best to build some programming to contribute to this vision, I mostly just tried to learn as much as I could from these remarkable teachers and students who were gracious enough to invite me into their world. 

I was daily blown away.  Emmanuel is a quiet man of commanding presence, a real community leader.  His office was a constant revolution of parents, teachers, and students: always students.  Some to peruse his loaded bookshelves while others scattered around him to eat their lunches, still others simply to receive the palm of his hand to their little foreheads, a blessing within a greeting, the way of the Maasai.  And in the midst of it all, he made the time each morning to take chai together as he gently helped me understand all I was experiencing.

Six days a week, SAA teachers begin their sessions at 5:00am and end at 9:00pm; theirs is a boarding school like most schools in the country, but not once did I hear a complaint.  They have upwards of 60 students in their classrooms, all of whom are eager to learn, some of whom share both a chair and a desk.  They have neither electricity nor plumbing, but rely on solar panels to generate their evening light and the river two kilometers away for their washing: though they’ve successfully drilled a well, they have not yet raised enough funding for a pump.  On top of their rigorous schedule, SAA teachers believe in wholistic education, and work towards that end by incorporating both a virtue and a mentorship program to ensure maturity beyond academic.  Their effort is clearly not lost: SAA students are, without exception, charming little humans. 

As luck would have it, my last day coincided with  SAA’s Thanksgiving celebration, a day when the entire community gathers to honor the year’s successes and generate dreams for the future. Children, chiefs, and generations came together in tribal dance and song, in prayers and blessings, in speeches and trophies, in bestowing full scholarships on deserving young women to attend secondary school.  A bull was slaughtered alongside buckets of chapati as families posed for photos and children proudly introduced mamas to teachers.  This year we also celebrated the grand opening of Sirua Aulo High School.  Maasai, Kisii, and Kipsigis will no longer engage in tribal turf wars on the adjacent hillside, but like the rest of SAA students, will sit alongside one another and learn how to change the world.  Sirua Aulo Academy showed me that hope for the future is one student at a time, empowered and supported by a beautiful brightly-beaded community, a community to whom I'm incredibly grateful.  Asante sana friends, asante sana! 

To find out more about how you can become involved in what Emmanuel and his team are accomplishing in rural Kenya, visit siruaauloschools.sc.ke