Ruuju School Revisited

We were back to the Ruuju School for a visit and what a pleasant visit. We had visited first in 2004 and it was a very basic school with treeless grounds and no real pride in the school. Since then Farmers Helping Farmers has assisted the school to build an efficient kitchen and dining hall. This is supported by a kitchen garden that supplies vegetables for the feeding programme for over 500 children. The event was a celebration of the school having the highest average score in 2010 national exams in public schools in the zone. What a surge of school pride ! The parents slaughtered a bull to have a celebratory feast feeding children, parents and visitors. The cookhouse was put to maximum use with the energy efficient cookers filled with beans, maize, rice and beef stew. The school feeding programme is widely credited with making it possible for well fed children to study and excel at their school.
The women’s group has become a partner of Farmers Helping Farmers and have , among other things, accepted responsibility for the school garden. The school garden is an oasis in a dry land. The area around the school is not as dry as some other areas but the drip irrigated school garden stands out with its neat rows of cabbages in all stages of development, kale plants for greens and shade house full of tomatoes almost ready to harvest.
However, the biggest thrill was the fruit tree orchard. Starting several years ago we brought eachyear some fruit trees. Mangoes, paw paw, passion fruit and banana trees are planted in the orchard. These are from improved varieties and are grafted or derived from tissue culture depending on the kind of tree. These trees are producing!! Big mangoes hang from small trees and large bunches of bananas sprout from rows of trees behind the dining hall. We had the water-hungry bananas strategically planted below the hand wash station and the dish washing stand so no water would be wasted. New rows of trees planted in the last long rains push out the orchard towards the classrooms. Soon all that will be left treeless will be the foot ball pitch. These trees provide food and shade for the children and have become a source of learning about improved varieties for all the community. What a great partnership with the school, the parents and Farmers Helping Farmers working together to make the school the best in the district.
Ken Mellish
Feb 13, 2011