Service BEYOND Boundaries by RC EMBU

The needs spanning Rotary’s six areas of focus are vast, ranging from lack of access to clean water to the need for immunization that prevents deadly diseases. Rotary clubs across the globe serve communities around the world, each with unique concerns and needs. Rotarians have continually adapted and improved the way they respond to those needs, taking on a broad range of service projects. The most successful and sustainable Rotary service tends to fall within one of the following six areas:

Peace and Conflict Prevention/Resolution
Disease Prevention and Treatment
Water and Sanitation
Maternal and Child Health
Basic Education and Literacy
Economic and Community Development

And it is against this background that the Rotary Club of Embu embarked on a road trip to a small unknown school in Easier Nyiro, Narok County, to support basic education and literacy in the community and also, to spread the Rotary wings outside our members’ comfort zone.

Saturday 28th September 2019.

The journey to Narok started at 6.15am in Embu and took us 6 hours of conformable driving. Esupitai Primary School was our destination. Being a weekend, only the upper classes (Class 6, 7 and 8) were in school to receive us. Their faces were lit with broad smiles and zeal when we arrived!

In life, there are so many little things we take for granted, and this trip, was an eye-opener. Teachers at the disclosed that some pupils walk up to a shocking 60kilometers, to and from school, every day, in a quest to quench their thirst for education. As a parent, I reflected upon the numerous times the school bus has failed to pick up our children and we get irked at the thought of them walking to school, less than a kilometer away!

“… Education is the most powerful tool which you can use to change the world…”
Nelson Mandela

Members of the Rotary Club of Embu gave donations to the pupils; which included the much needed geometrical sets and rulers for the class 8 candidates, sanitary pads for the female pupils, male boxers for the boys, body ointments and some refreshments; sweets, biscuits and juice.

The enthusiasm and thirst for education in these young souls left an ever-lasting impression on us and we were challenged to always be grateful for the little we have. Members also promised to donate more to the school in construction of a perimeter fence. This would solve the perennial problem of stray goats gallivanting in the school compound and destroying trees every time the pupils conduct a tree-planting exercise.

As a club, we were quick to note that the schools urgently needs a school feeding program as carrying food from home for lunch is a far-fetched idea among the bright learners. We look forward to a partnership with the Rotary Club of Maasai In-formation to improving the learning conditions of Esupitai Primary School.