Watoto Centre School was the 5th school we went to and was located next door to the Galilee school.  This was the largest school we visited, with over 1,200 students and 120 orphans at their 3 orphanages.  The orphanages were actually quite nice with cheerful drawings painted on the walls.  The last one we went to even had a garden and a cute kitchen.  We helped the children put the nets on their beds, which was a lot of fun and kind of reminded me of how we used to build forts with sheets and blankets when we were little.

It was such an awesome day!  We felt like we had seen thousands of children (which we had).  We are so thankful that we were able to have this wonderful experience and help all of these children.  We’ll definitely never forget it!  Thank you from the bottom of our hearts to everyone who helped make this possible.  For anyone who is looking to help, there are still many children who need nets! Visit the Netting Nations website to find out what you can do to help!

The 4th school we went to was the Candle Light school, which was run by Pastor Afwai and had about 300 students and 42 orphans.  When we arrived at the school we met Afwai in his office, which is also the sewing room.  A little boy was working diligently on a sewing machine making a beautiful hand bag.  The school teaches the children how to sew, so that they acquire a useful skill and then they also sell the items the children make to raise funds for the school.  Rana bought an apron and I bought the hand bag that the little boy had just finished making.  This school was the smallest one we went to and was located in the heart of the slums.  Since we still had to make it to the 5th school, we took a quick tour of the campus, met some of the students and then gave Pastor Afwai 42 nets for all of the orphans.

The 3rd school we went to was the Boston School, where Fanuel’s brother was the director.  There are 323 students from preschool to eighth grade.  Those who finished the eighth grade then moved on to Fanuel’s school.  After visiting the classrooms, we handed out nets to some of the students and then got together for a big group photo.

The second school we went to was the Humble Hearts school.  The school was started in 2004 and there are 350 students total, of which 40 are deaf.  This is one of the only schools in Nairobi that teach the deaf and they teach all their students sign language.  They also teach the parents sign language once a month and on Thursdays the entire school uses sign language to communicate.  This was one of our favorite schools as the children gave us a very warm welcome.  As our car pulled up to the school, we were rushed by a sea of adorable children wearing purple uniforms.  When we got out of the car they swarmed around us laughing and smiling and reaching out to hold our hand and give us high fives.  The were so cute and happy, we loved it!

After touring the school, Beatrice, the Director of the school, took us to her parents house where there was temporary housing behind their house, where 35 deaf students who were orphans lived.  We gave her nets for the 20 beds, as most of the children had to share a bed.

The first school we went to and distributed the mosquito nets was the Brightstar school.  We were so excited to meet the children. The Director of the school, Andrah, and his wife, Jacqueline, were very welcoming and appreciative that we were bringing them nets. They explained to us that having malaria nets was a luxury that they could not afford but really needed.

At the school there was approximately 500 students with about 90 orphans living on campus.  Andrah and Jacqueline showed us around the school and introduced us to each classroom. When we entered each classroom the students would stand up and greet us and recite a poem or song for us. They were all so adorable and incredibly sweet that it made me wish we could do more for them.

After the tour of the school we went to both the boys and the girls dorm rooms and handed out the malaria nets.  The children were so excited and immediately tore open the bags and began to put the nets over their beds.  The boys even made up a song on the spot, which went something like this “we are so happy, we are so happy, we are so happy today.  No more mosquito bites, no more mosquito bites, no more mosquito bites today”.  It was so cute and we were very touched!  Unfortunately, we were only able to give out nets to all of the orphans who lived at the school, but the other 400 students still need nets. It was hard to realize that we were only making a small dent in the problem, but every bit does help! If you would like to purchase malaria nets for these adorable children, please go to Netting Nations