Blog

It is 10:15 Monday morning and after a three-week break the girls have returned, eagerly diving into Daraja Academy’s second term. As I type a group of five girls are running from their physics lab to English class. Laughing as they go, Mary K., the girl leading the group unknowingly dropped some thing. It must

I am sorry for the lull in the postings, Daraja was busy hosting two of its most important supporters - 2 year old Kaia Raisdana and her assistant Jabiz. It was wonderful and we all miss you both. Next time bring mom. I hoped that all of the Daraja Academy staff and students would build

Today it happened. The last pencil, for the last test was put down. The last student stood up from her desk, exhaled and pushed her chair to its proper spot. She turned in her test, gave a knowing smile to a nodding teacher and walked out of Term 1. Completed, she took the short path

They arrived at campus in late February, twenty-six uncomfortable strangers. At the conclusion of term one, those same girls will return home as twenty-six sisters. Though we still have two days of testing ahead, an end of the term party and dinner, as well as many other odds and ends to accomplish, girls have already

Hello from the Daraja Academy campus. It’s Friday morning and the campus is buzzing, preparing for the end of the first term. Incredibly Term 1 will wrap up with 4 days of intensive examinations—starting Monday morning, the girls of Daraja Academy will sit through 9 two-hour assessments in Physics, English, Algebra, Business Studies, Swahili, Biology,

Tuesday evenings, after the dining hall empties, is a wonderful time on Daraja’s campus. The sun drops below the gently rolling hills just west of school and the air actually glows a warm amber. Baboons can be heard in the dense trees by the river settling into their roosts for the night while neighboring Maasai

After breakfast and lunch, on their way back to the classroom blocks, the girls walk past a huge island of vegetation. Orange, purple and coral colored bougainvilleas adorn an enormous section of cacti. Whether it is one or 20 is hard to know since they have been growing together for years. About 15 feet above

During the first week of actual classes, Daraja Academy was lucky enough to host Marin based artist/conservationist Brenda Sherburn. On campus for 5 days, Brenda taught the students about composition, art theory and how to use several types of media. She also opened many of the girls’ eyes to the immense value and natural beauty

Make sure to check the new photos recently added to the Flickr album! They are amazing... Have a great weekend!

Congratulations family and loved ones! It is with an extremely proud heart and a deep sense of gratitude, that I can announce that a brand new baby school has joined the world. On the 2nd of March 2009 at 8:00am 26 girls began their first day of secondary school at the Daraja Academy 20 kms

I wrapped up the previous blog entry, which briefly described our search for the Kenyan girls who best fit the Daraja mold by saying; “tomorrow we will head north to Isiolo and look for more potential students.” We did head north, we did look for more potential students and speaking only for myself, my soul