11 students and three members of staff from the Community Outreach Program (COP) travelled to Uref Primary School in Ugenya District of Nyanza Province on 19th August for a three day work camp. The objective of the camp was to construct 70 desks for the school. The camp was sponsored by students of Retamar School in Spain.

Typical of rural Kenya, Uref has no mains electricity and piped water. But students at the school were further inconvenienced by the fact that they had no desks and were sitting on the floor during class.

Work to produce the 70 desks began promptly at 8.30am on 20th August. Carpenters were at hand to direct the apprentices from COP. After a fifteen minute crash course on how to use a saw and hammer, work began in earnest. By mid-day, the team had learnt a few tricks on how to use the tools. By lunch time, the carpentry green horns had learnt a few tricks of the craft.

The first job was to saw the timber to the necessary sizes before they were joined. Fortunately, the news of the work camp had travelled far and wide and three young men materialised at the scene with a power saw. A parent of the school who owns a timber yard put the gentlemen at the disposal of COP to assist in the work at his own cost. They sawed the wood and the task was done by the end of the day. Talk of harambee spirit!

COP members John Wesley Omondi (right) and Januaris Nzioki sitting on the newly made desks

With the timber cut, the team hammered away, first making the vertical sides, then joining them to the horizontal sitting and writing surfaces. Giuda Taddeo and Kenneth Kariuki were at hand to polish off the surfaces.

At the end of Friday, 21st August, there were 30 units ready for varnishing and a few hammered fingers. After supper, the team retired to the tents that what would be its residence for the next two days. The villagers could not understand why the campers declined offer of accommodation in their houses. They didn't understand that sleeping in tents was part of the adventure.

The third day went pretty much the same as the second and by 5.30pm, there were 72 complete desks. A treat was in order after the task was completed. Cornelius Odhiambo, a village elder took the team to River Nzoia and explained the plans to build a hydro power plant there. The team then drove to Busia, and spent time in Uganda.

The team returned to a feast set by the school board which was very appreciative of the assistance. Speaking on behalf of the board, Mr Dickson Odhiambo gave credit to the students of Strathmore who he said were learning to be true leaders.

The pupils of Uref are models in their behaviour. Whenever they had a revision class, one of them would assume the role of teacher and guide the rest. The 'teacher' did it so well that one had the impression that they were miniature teachers. Indeed some of them are looking forward to joining the profession. This is a testament to the great work the teachers of Uref are doing and to the prestige teachers have in that community. Richard Omune (CPA II) could not help himself but assist the teachers in class. The pupils of Standard Six were so happy with him on Friday that he was back in class on Saturday morning.

The Headmaster of the school Mr Philip Juma Ouma made all preparations for COP's stay. In early August, he attended the Art of Leadership Seminar offered to head teachers at the University. He is a motivated and able administrator and has in four years raised the school from near closure to the top primary school in the division.

By Brian Njoroge