Pupils experience the spirit of East Africa at school

Children listened to first-hand accounts and experienced genuine artefacts from the far reaches of East Africa.
Upper Beeding Primary School. Poppy Johnson, Fern Thurston and Nova Redman wearing Kenyan collarsUpper Beeding Primary School. Poppy Johnson, Fern Thurston and Nova Redman wearing Kenyan collars
Upper Beeding Primary School. Poppy Johnson, Fern Thurston and Nova Redman wearing Kenyan collars

A former resident of Kenya, Juliet Hindson, met Year 1 and 2 pupils at Upper Beeding Primary School last week to share her experiences of Pokot.

Now living in Upper Beeding and the church leader of Upper Beeding Baptist Church, Mrs Hindson visited the school to give the children a glimpse into how other communities live in Africa.

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“We have a very culturally narrow community here. We’re not very diverse and so the children don’t get much exposure to the big wide world,” she said.

“It’s good for the children to see the reality of being a child in Pokot and having very few possessions.”

Hunting spears, bows and arrows, stools, jugs and necklaces were among the many items brought in.

Teacher Debbie Gilpin said that the church and school joined forces a few years ago to raise money to build a new school in Pokot.

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Mrs Gilpin said: “We learnt that married women wear coloured necklaces and single women wear plain necklaces.

“Men use the stools when they sit under trees and we saw jugs that are used for pouring milk.”

Teachers and pupils have previously raised funds to buy seeds for farmers, who in turn provide the school in Pokot with 100 kilos of maze.

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