Juliet's Kenya Days blog

Letter from Judy to Nanny & Grandad 4 Feb 1975 –

Graham is much enjoying teaching and already has become involved in quite a few things – all talents are welcome here and indeed one is expected to use them. Graham will be doing ‘industrial arts’ – car mechanics, power mechanics and electronics in his spare time, not to mention sport of various kinds ! The school really gets the best pupils and teachers in the country and they are especially interested in maths – there are at least 50 boys doing maths at A level out of a school of 300. At the moment there are no Lower Sixth as the O level results aren’t finished until March so all the many maths staff are having an extra easy time. The school is very informal so no worry about wearing ties etc !

Letter from Graham to Malcolm & Frances 2 Feb 1975 –

I started teaching almost straight away – the books are more modern than at my last school so I have to keep my wits about me. The boys are quiet and studious. Apart from Maths I am teaching ‘Industrial Arts’ for two lessons per week. This is a new name for woodwork and metalwork basically. The school has taken a big chance asking me to do it but as I have been interested in woodwork as a hobby I have at least something to teach.

Letter from Graham to Grandma & Grandad 8 Feb 1975 –

One nice thing about the school is that we live so close that I can come home for lunch and also nip home if I have a couple of lessons free. It is a remarkably friendly place. Yesterday after school there was a volley ball match between staff and pupils. The boys won easily – about 4 out of 5 games. I played and so did the headmaster and deputy head. They are both Africans but most of the staff are Europeans, including 2 French, 2 Irish and the rest English. Many teacher’s wives are also teachers but Judy is not alone in being a lady of leisure.

Letter from Graham to Simon & Pat 16 Feb 1975 –

After school I find myself involved in various activities: taking an old car to pieces, playing badminton and helping to train the school cross-country team.

Letter from Judy to Nanny & Grandad 18 Feb 1975 –

On Saturday afternoon there was a cross-country match so I spent the morning baking flapjack etc – the school can’t afford to provide more than a cup of tea. The first boy got around the nearly 5 mile course in 24 minutes to everyone’s surprise. The Kipsigis (one of the West Kenyan tribes) seem to be natural runners. The policy in the allocation of places at Alliance is to take the brightest boy from each district so that there is a real tribal mix here. The general opinion is that it works very well and is a great help in breaking down tribal barriers. All the boys are Africans – this has always been an African school and though in theory there is nothing to stop an Asian or European being picked as brightest boy in his area it just doesn’t happen. There are certainly plenty of extremely bright Africans ! Also this is a relatively cheap school and the feeling is probably Europeans and Asians can afford to pay for the more expensive schools.

Letter from Judy to Valerie & Graham 23 Feb 1975 –

The school and compound is, I should think, very untypical of African schools. It seems that Alliance gets exactly what it wants in the way of staff and students. The staff / student ratio is very good and the work load much lower than even St Brendans (a private school Graham taught at in Bristol). They seem to specialise in Maths and a large proportion of sixth formers do Industrial Arts. It seems a fairly recent innovation that the boys do this, with the idea that they should end up practically as well as academically competent.

Letter from Judy to Jenny & Andy 6 Mar 1975 –

I get the impression that there is more involvement between staff and boys out of school hours than at home, though staff / pupil relationships are still fairly formal. Although our bungalow is only a few minutes from school, we are quite cut off from it by the slope of a hill and look out over apparently (but not in fact) deserted African countryside. We have a large garden enclosed with high hedges and can only see the roofs of two other bungalows so there is no claustrophobic effect of living on a school compound. There is so much more space than at home.

Letter from Graham to Malcolm 16 Mar 1975 –

We are getting towards the end of term and I am supposed to be busy with marking and reports. However, I agree with Christians about not working on Sundays especially if it is work I don’t like ! Actually I have some work to do because I am ‘on duty’ which means I am going to snoop around at 9:45pm to see that the dormitory lights are out – what a laugh !

Letter from Judy to Dona 17 Mar 1975 –

There is not enough money for teachers to be provided for art, music, sport etc so every teacher is expected to help out with anything he has a talent for. Graham helps with cross country running, mechanics and electronics and will be doing athletics next term. All this is in his ‘spare time’, however, because we live only a few minutes from the school it’s easy for him to come home for a cup of coffee or a long lunch break. At dinner time he often has a lie in the sun for half an hour for a little sleep.

Letter from Judy to Jane 17 Mar 1975 –

For a selective school this is a very easy-going place – staff wear shorts / jeans / vests / brightly coloured sports shirts. So Graham is very sober in his apparel in comparison ! There is little pressure to conform to Chapel standards – most of the African staff are now no more than nominally Christian though many of the Europeans (50% of the staff) are. The main expectation seems to be that staff should be prepared to use their talents, so that while the teaching load is light, actual time spent on school affairs is very great. For example Graham took a cross-country running team up to Nyeri 100 miles away on Saturday and was away from 6:30am to 10:30pm. It is perfectly true that time means nothing to Africans – matches timed to start at 9:30am might start by 2pm.

Letter from Judy to Nanny & Grandad 26 Mar 1975 –

Tomorrow Graham is driving some of the school boys up to Thompsons Falls 120 miles to the north to help them on their way home. Apparently as Easter is so early all the schools are breaking up on the same day so transport is proving very difficult. The school has a certain number of buses which go to different centres but haven’t been able to procure enough for everyone. Anyway, Graham was glad of the opportunity to see a different part of the country.

Letter from Judy to Jane July 1975 –

While the staff shortage is really desperate in many parts of Kenya and there is an official limit of 2 expatriate teachers per school, there are at least 2 dozen here. Alliance keeps its school fees very low – so low that this term the boys have been threatening to strike because of bad food or even on some occasions no food. It is a bit hard for boys and young men (the age range is 12 to about 25 years) to get up at 6:30am to face a full day’s study and be told there will be no breakfast today as they have to economise. Alliance will break up a week early because of the shortages but I don’t imagine anyone will object as this has been one of the longest terms as there was such an early Easter. We had a new headmaster this term – a 25 year old Seventh Day Adventist whose appointment is a complete mystery – he has barely a year’s teaching experience and has to cope (fairly unsuccessfully so far) with an experienced staff 60% expatriate and 600 intelligent and fairly lively boys, a grossly overspent budget and no sympathy from anyone !