“Feel free, feel welcome, feel at Kiburanga”

By Helena Frudit

“Feel free, feel welcome, feel at Kiburanga” were the first words we heard when arriving at Kiburanga Primary School on August 18th. Our first meeting was with Madam Dorine, the school’s Headteacher, and in every meeting after that one she made sure to warmly greet us with that same sentence. It has been six days since we first stepped into the school where our team implemented a solar powered water system, and I can now conclude that these seven words fully represent Kiburanga Primary School. 

In the past few days, we have met with several members of the school’s community. In the first day, we were introduced to the student prefects, who were elected to represent the student board in taking care of the water system, and the Water Board, which is made up of members of the school and surrounding community who oversee the water pump. In the next day, we talked with the school teachers and Kiburanga’s Board of Management (BOM), which manages the school’s finances and its subcommittees, such as the Water Board. In the following days, we conducted household surveys to understand how the project is meeting the community needs. While walking through a beautiful landscape, we met families that welcomed us to their homes and talked to us about their lives. Even though the seven words were not spoken during these chats, I felt the same love from them. 

Francesca, Helena, and Isabella interviewing community members.

Isabella, Deniz, Kelly, and Aidan interviewing community members.

In between and after every meeting and water test, we invariably interacted with the students. Although not in our official itinerary, I am confident that this is what all of us most looked forward to in our tight schedule. From high-fiving the kids, to playing with them, to teaching them about water, their enthusiasm gives meaning to Madam Dorine words and the community’s strong handshake. Although they might not be aware of all matters related to the pump’s implementation, the Water Board, the BOM, and the chemical tests we perform, the 1st to 8th graders are our first priority and the ones eagerly inviting us to their classrooms and breaks’ activities. Without necessarily saying it, they are adding faces and memories to the Headteacher’s line. To me, after spending time with them, they taught me that “feel at Kiburanga” means something very close to “feel loved.”

Deniz and Isabella with Kiburanga Primary Students. 

Kelly with Kiburanga Primary Students.

Helena with Kiburanga Primary Students.

As we have final meetings with the school’s administration and the community to handover the water system to them, the main goal of our trip, we hear the initial seven words for the last times. Giving them ownership of the project is an essential step for the sustainability of the system, and unfortunately, the final step in our official EWB partnership. Today, while meeting the children’s parents to discuss the pump’s management, some of which we had previously met during our surveys, and the Opinion Leaders, who are influential community members and stakeholders, something special happened. As always, we were very warmly greeted at the meeting and once more heard Madam Dorine’s introduction. After we gave them ownership of the project and explained that they are now fully responsible for the decision-making and financial management of the water system, the meeting came to a close, and we once more heard “feel free, feel welcome, feel at Kiburanga”. We also heard other community members’ speeches about the positive impact EWB had on their lives, which raised the same emotions. This unusual timing made me add more meaning to that sentence, or perhaps understand what the Headteacher was trying to say since the beginning — the welcome is not necessarily for as long as we are in Kenya and physically at the school, nor is it a simple courtesy as we install and own a water system in their property. Rather, this warm welcome is an invitation to, wherever we are physically present and regardless of who owns the water project, feel at home at Kiburanga Primary School and, if not as engineers, to come back as friends.

Community meeting on August 23rd.

2022 travel team at Kiburanga Primary School.

Swahili word of the day: Rafiki (friend)