The host school was called The Walk Centre Academy, which is a school we have visited once before. This school is a very special, beautiful and happy place. It was built almost 20 years ago, by charities, and in harmonisation with the company African Adventures. The Walk Centre provides education to nearly 400 students. The school is open almost every day of the year, and offers a safe haven to the children in the local community, who sadly live-in deprivation.

70% of Kenyan families are classed as chronically vulnerable. This is due to nutrition, water supply and preventable disease. The majority of the children in The Walk Centre live in a nearby area called the Hilton Dumpsite. The Headteacher of the school took Clare Mount staff on a special visit, to the homes of the children in the host school. The reason the Headteacher showed staff this area, is so that they could understand how important school is in this part of the world – as it provides a lifeline to the young people who attend.

The children at The Walk Centre Academy, have very few resources; their homes are made from plastic, cardboard and metal found on the dumpsite. A large number of people live in each home, in a very confined space. Food and clean water are hard to find, and the children and adults have very few belongings. The average life expectancy of a male, is 30-34 years old. People die every day from preventable illnesses. For the children in this community, school is everything. The children who attend The Walk Centre get two hot meals every day whilst in school, and there is clean water to drink. The children receive a full-time education from the Walk Centre, despite living in very challenging circumstances, the children are extremely happy to attend school.

A very special part of the visit includes taking donations to the school, provided by our community on the Wirral. We were able to take 400 new school uniforms, 800 football shirts and numerous other sports kits. Donations also included shoes, toothbrushes, books, pens and pencils, along with many hygiene products – all of the donations were greatly received and are invaluable to the community in Nakuru. – Thank you so much to everybody at home, who made a special donation.

 

On Tuesday morning, when the Clare Mount team arrived, they were greeted by the most beautiful and joyous songs. The host school sang a song called ‘Jambo Bwana’ which means ‘Hello, welcome.’ It was an emotional first day, and the students from both schools spent the day playing, having fun and really getting to know each other.

Over the following week, the Clare Mount team went to school, to volunteer at The Walk Centre. The students and staff worked in three teams; the building team, the teaching team and the sports team. The building team spent the week creating new chairs and tables for a classroom. They built and painted over 40 tables and chairs – which will last a long time at the Walk Centre – the staff were most grateful and Clare Mount students worked incredibly hard to complete this task.

The teaching team spent the week working directly with the Kenyan students in the classroom. They taught a variety of different subjects and had lots of fun teaching and learning. The highlight was singing songs together and reading stories. The sports team provided many fun games for all of the students in the school. They even hosted a ‘Kenya vs UK football match,” – which was so much fun for everyone involved. Students from both schools played football, athletics, ball games and netball. The highlight was playing with a giant, rainbow parachute, which the younger students really enjoyed.

 

Mrs Mault, who led the expedition, was incredibly proud of every single pupil who volunteered in the school. The students demonstrated many key skills, including resilience, empathy, hard work, determination and understanding. The Clare Mount team worked extremely hard, in very hot weather, and gave it their all. The students never stopped, even when they found tasks challenging. This voluntary opportunity has not only enabled our students to develop new skills, it has also allowed the students to gain further work experience, and prepared them for adulthood. Mrs Mault’s highlight was watching Clare Mount students thrive, even throughout challenging circumstances.

Whilst in Kenya, the group also took the opportunity to visit many wonderful places, and experience the fabulous culture that Kenya has to offer. Students were lucky enough to experience a Safari Day, where they saw many amazing animals, including; rhinos, giraffes, hippos, buffalos and zebras. 

Students went on a trek to a beautiful waterfall, and after a long hike they all dipped in the water to cool off! The group went to the Equator line, where they did some really cool Science experiments. Students were able to stand with one foot on either side of the Equator!

The team also went to the top of a volcano, where they saw some incredible views of the beautiful landscape. At the end of the week the group went to visit a giraffe sanctuary, where they got up, close and personal with these beautiful animals. Many brave students even fed the giraffes!

One highlight of the week was a visit to an elephant orphanage. The group were able to meet lots of elephants and learn about their stories. The students and staff were very grateful to be able to touch the elephants and learn about how they will be reintegrated back into the wild.

Another highlight of the week was attending the local Church service on the Sunday morning – this was a fantastic cultural experience; the community were singing and dancing to celebrate their week and it was a privilege to attend this service.
 

 

It is safe to say that Clare Mount’s African Adventure was a trip of a lifetime! The memories and experiences will be treasured forever by those who attended. This adventure was made possible, because our whole school community contributed to many fundraising events. We would like to say a very big THANK YOU to everybody who supported us! Through donations and charitable contributions, Clare Mount Specialist Sports College was able to support our host school, to care for the Kenyan students and provide many resources that they needed. The group were also able to offer food for the community and contribute to some essential health care for the children they met; this was only possible because our school community came together and demonstrated their kindness, in enormous measure.

African Adventures offers once-in-a-lifetime experiences for young people. The mission of the company is to change lives through volunteering. Their aim is to provide life-changing trips for young people… and they certainly did that on our school adventure! This company has been running for over 17 years, and has taken over 10,000 students from the UK to different countries across Africa. However, Clare Mount Specialist Sports College were the first ever special needs school to have attended an ‘African Adventure’ in 2024, to return in 2026 was a wonderful opportunity. We hope this is something we can continue to do in future years, for many more students at Clare Mount.

Once again, Clare Mount students have demonstrated there are no boundaries to what they can achieve… “In special education, hard work, persistence and confidence prove a label is only a means of receiving the tools and resources needed to reach maximum success.”