A Derby paralegal is looking forward to catching up with the lives of dozens of schoolchildren when she returns to Kenya with a group of volunteers from Derby.
Sammi Allen, who works at Smith Partnership in Friar Gate, will head to the east African country at the end of the month on an annual trip organised by the Derby County Community Trust.
The Trust has been arranging the trip since 2012 and has taken more than 500 volunteers to Nakuru, a town based north-west of the capital, Nairobi, over the years.
There, they work with six partner schools based in the town’s slums, giving up their time to help build new facilities at the school or go into the classrooms to teach the children.
Last year mum-of-three Sammi, accompanied by her daughter, Lupita, 19, worked at the Jubilee Academy, which teaches 52 three to eight-year-olds, having travelled to Kenya alongside her Smith Partnership colleagues, Amelia Sutcliffe and Katie Bullimore.
This time, Sammi will be flying the flag for Smith Partnership alone, but she is looking forward to returning to Nakuru and meeting up with the children, teachers and other members of the town’s community.
However, she and Lupita are also looking forward to catching up with three people in particular – siblings Shirleen, Britney and Elvis, who are aged five, 15 and 13 respectively.
She met them last year on Madaraka Day, which is a Kenyan national holiday and the day when pupils can invite their siblings to come into school with them.
One year on, Sammi is looking forward to finding out how Britney, who wants to be a nurse, and Elvis, who dreams one day of being an engineer, are getting on.
But she is also keen to find out how the rest of the school and the town are faring after the area was hit by flash flooding in April this year.
She said: “I heard about the flooding on the news and I’m worried about what I’ll discover when I get there. Forty-two people died in Nakuru and I’ve been thinking about who might be affected and how the school has been affected too.
“Although I don’t know the people there that well, the trip last year has given me an emotional connection, especially with the children. It’s impossible not to care after you’ve visited their school and seen how they live.”
Sammi and Lupita will also travel to Kenya with a whole host of donations for the children, including new school uniforms, shoes, new plates and cups, cooking utensils and even a new toothbrush each.
They have paid for everything by holding a series of fundraising events, including a raffle at Smith Partnership and a quiz night at the Orange Tree bar in George Street, while they also have colouring books and even more clothes, donated by Portway Primary School in Allestree.
Sammi said: “The school is based in the slums and it’s a dangerous place for the children to live. For many of them, the only meal they have is the one they have at school and lots of them come to school on a Monday having not eaten over the weekend.
“I’ve got three children and it’s incredible to see the contrast between their lives and the lives of the children in Nakuru. You can’t help to be impressed and moved by the way they are so friendly and so happy, even though they have so little.
“I’m really excited about going back, because now I’ve been there, I feel I can’t let go. Even when I’m not there I worry about the children as if they’re my own.”
The Derby County Community Trust Rams in Kenya trips are held in partnership with African Adventures, which works to improve sanitation at the schools, build new classrooms or facilities as well as support the teachers in the classroom.
When they’re not at the school, their volunteers will be able to take part in activities including a safari, a visit to the Thompson Falls, a trip to the Equator and a visit to the Giraffe Centre in Nairobi.
Lupita, who is studying a Level 3 apprenticeship in accounting, said: “Going on the trip last year gave me a different perspective on life and has made me realise how much we take for granted, so I’m really looking forward to going out again.
“I’m looking forward to finishing what we started last year with the classrooms and hopefully they will be completed when we’re there so that I can see what the children make of them.”
