Hundreds of pupils stood at the door of their classes to watch in silent excitement as 90 desks were off loaded from transport vehicles at the center of Jira Primary School. Others peeped out the windows leaning over to their classmates murmuring in low tones. The school which stood as an oasis in a dry, windy and dusty semi-arid landscape was made up of five concrete buildings facing the center and two classes made of iron sheet walls and roofs - an effort made possible by the parents - and a wrought iron gate at the entrance. One building painted black and red that stood out in stark contrast of the environment was recently completed as a Constituency Development Fund (CDF) project by the Kilifi County government.

The awaiting parents soon flocked around the large pick-up full of wooden desks and helped carry the desks to the rows of already lined ones on the dusty field under the massive tree.  Mothers had left their daily tasks to come to school to celebrate this monumental achievement for the students, teachers and headteacher.

Eight-year-old Daima Yahya and her classmates in Class Two (2) were unaware of all that was going on. She was keenly paying attention to the teacher during Math class as he was adding sums on the black board. She was one of the many that were seated uncomfortably on stones! She had fetched her stone earlier that morning from the bushes near the toilet block - a mud outhouse located a few yards behind the class.

Daima drew lines on her math notebook that was placed upon her lap to start a new page. Like her classmates, she knew that she was soon going to sit on a new desk that day.  The teacher had announced the news that the school would receive desks on Tuesday and that they would allocate them to her class and two others. The pupils were excited, and it took everything for the teacher to calm them down so that they could focus on the class.

Sitting on rocks posed a great challenge to her and her classmates. “It is very painful to sit on those rocks. My back aches and I get very tired. It is hard for the other children who come from Shirango and Garbitu to sit for a long time because they come from very far.” Daima said.

“Yes. It is very hard to concentrate in my class when the teacher is teaching.” Joel Musembi, who is also in Class 2, piped in. Parents have for a long time complained that it forces them to buy uniforms almost every term.

The pupils were soon all summoned to meet the visitors who brought the desks. Community leaders, the chief, parents and the headteacher were present for the official handover of the 90 desks to the school. The desks were donated by Africa Network for Animal Welfare (ANAW) through their initiative, African Conservation Education Fund (ACEF). The desks will sit 270 pupils of the school located in Gede which is a semi-arid region in the county of Kilifi, Kenya. The organization fundraised for funds from well-wishers in the US and Kenya in an online campaign. Pupils from nursery to Class Four (4) are now able to sit on desks comfortably.

“This project has impacted positively on us. It will contribute greatly to the academic performance of the children. Different factors aid pupils to pass examinations. This is one of them. They have to sit in a good classroom on a good chair and desk. In their learning, they sat on stones - sometimes three are placed together to ensure balance. But the stones pierce them as they sit! They get tired before the class is over. They don’t concentrate.” Michael Chea, the chairman of the school’s Parents Teacher’s Association (PTA) said. “But now, all is well. Because of this, we hope to see a difference in the performance of these pupils. We are very grateful. The challenge of the desks has now been solved.”

The initiative to provide a good school with established learning facilities and needed furniture for the children of Shirango and its environs was a joint effort by the government, development partners, and local and international donors to cater to a long-marginalized community. The remote location of Shirango was a targeted region for ANAW as the community surrounding the school bordered Tsavo East National Park where people lived and interacted with wildlife every day. Good education in the long term provides a solution and an alternative to destructive practices such as bushmeat trade and charcoal burning that harm the country’s wildlife and its habitat.