KULE hopes to complete phase one of the primary school we are building in Mukangu village, 15 minutes away from Murang’a town in Murang’a County. The project site is in a remote part of the village. When completed, the school will save the pupils from trekking 10 km to school every day. Already, we have built a nursery school there, and it is so full that the village community has even started using one of the unfinished primary school classrooms—such is the hunger for education there. The work to be completed includes:

• terracing around the building

• putting up the remaining ceilings

• painting the walls of the remaining classrooms

• erecting a teacher’s office cum store

• building more latrines for the school.

Funds permitting, we expect to start work on phase 2 of the primary school: laying the foundation and terracing the area.

We will engage in more intentional educational work with our regular host schools (Mukangu Secondary School, Kiboi Mixed Secondary School, and Mukangu Primary School).

This will involve:

• School visits and cultural exchange visits through ‘teaching’ basic computer skills, art and craft, storytelling, and theatre, as well as games.

• Teaching visual and creative writing to the primary schools. This was launched by a Pearson College UWC student a few years ago, with Geoffrey’s help, but it needs reviving. Interested teachers and

• Students are more than welcome to lead this fascinating educational endeavor.

• Interested participants will be given opportunities to expand their knowledge pursuits in subjects like geography, local history (e.g., Koimbi Children’s Home is the site of where the famous female chief, Wangu wa Makeri, ruled in pre-colonial days), the arts (an excellent opportunity for KULE students to share their home culture with their hosts in the two countries), and so on.

• As in the past, we will engage with our ‘adopted’ children’s centers (Koimbi Children’s Home and Roco 20 Academy) in various educational and intercultural activities.

• This year, KULE hopes more students will be more active in learning the local languages, especially Swahili, an increasingly pan-African language that is being taught at many universities around the world, at least in Africa and the West.

An important part of this educational program takes place immediately after dinner every day. All participants must meet and reflect on the day’s activities and get informed about the next day’s activities, even though an itinerary will have been issued before the start of the program. KULE alumni have found these debriefing sessions invaluable.

Experiential learning 

KULE provides a unique, experience-based type of education outside the classroom and across borders—cultural, geographical, ideological, psychological, and physical. Throughout the program, participants learn from doing—physical work on the construction site, collaborating with other students, teaching local students, caring for children in the orphanages, etc.

Cross-cultural effectiveness skills 

By interacting with the Kenyans and students from other nationalities while doing KULE, the participants get a chance to develop essential competencies for intercultural engagement, such as open-mindedness, adaptability, and effective communication across cultures. Inevitably, the participant is forced to “walk the talk” of international understanding.

Learning more about themselves 

KULE takes the participants out of their comfort zones by placing them in a ‘world’ very different from their own and usually in economically underdeveloped communities. In facing the challenge of this new experience, participants learn self-management—personal discipline, organization, punctuality, respectful communication, goal setting and goal getting, health, well-being, and fitness, perseverance, and resilience. All participants are also encouraged to write private journals on their experiences.

Strong leadership skills 

Before and during the program, each participant is given an opportunity to exercise some leadership skills, e.g., fundraising before the program, leading reflection meetings, and overseeing an activity while on the program.

CAS Requirement 

For IB Diploma Program students, this is a great opportunity to fulfill the requirements of the CAS component.

University/career goal enhancement 

Many participants use this experience to enhance their college applications and curriculum vitae. Others get letters of recommendation for their applications to universities or to other tertiary institutions in some cases. Many participants’ career choices and/or university degree course choices have been greatly influenced by the KULE experience. Others have obtained jobs due to their work with KULE.

Relationship building, collaboration, teamwork, and lasting friendships 

This is always one of the more compelling bonding experiences for students who are away from home and country. Participants learn to collaborate with each other and the host communities on various tasks, thus learning to work in teams and building relationships that may lead to lifelong friendships.

Adventure and excitement 

A new country, new people, new experiences, and the safari: all these make the KULE experience unforgettable.