Nandi School Workshops - September 2025

Objectives

The Nandi workshops introduced Russian language and culture while assessing the needs of schools with strong community leadership and serious infrastructure gaps. The programme also connected school visits with a larger public event that announced Ngenyilel TVET as a future pioneer site for Russian language courses.

What Happened

From 15 to 16 September 2025, Path to Russia visited Bishop Muge Memorial School, Saru-Gaa Primary School, and Soin Primary School, reaching a wider school community of 1,525 learners aged 6 to 15. Local partner Betty Sang and the All-Russian Public Organization New Formation supported the programme.

At Bishop Muge, a leading school that began with only 40 pupils in 2010 and now serves more than 1,150 children, the team conducted a Russian language and culture lesson, met teachers, toured classrooms, dormitories and sports facilities, and reviewed sponsorship and welfare initiatives. At Saru-Gaa, the team discussed infrastructure and social needs and agreed to help pupils obtain birth certificates. At Soin, the team toured classrooms and the borehole and discussed resource shortages affecting welfare and learning.

Key Moments

The Nandi report shows schools with remarkable commitment but urgent needs. Bishop Muge has overcrowded classrooms of up to 87 pupils, no dining hall, unsafe kitchen and sanitation structures, too few dormitories, limited sports uniforms despite volleyball excellence, and underused farmland. Saru-Gaa has no laboratories, computer room or library, a collapsed mud kitchen, unsafe water, mabati classrooms for early learners, and pupils without birth certificates. Soin has unsafe manual water access, no library, no science or computer room, limited feeding, inadequate play space, teacher-housing shortages, low government funding, and many cases of ringworm among younger pupils.

On 20 September, Path to Russia joined a major community event at Bishop Muge that drew more than 10,000 local residents. The team presented its programmes, emphasized Russian language, cultural exchange and sport, and announced that Ngenyilel TVET would begin Russian language courses in January 2026.

Why It Mattered

Nandi connected school-level needs with county-wide visibility. The visits identified priorities that cut across all three schools: water safety, updated classrooms, kitchens and sanitation, libraries, ICT and science labs, sports equipment, feeding programmes, deworming, teacher housing, and better use of land for agriculture.

The public event also gave Path to Russia a platform before national and local leaders, including Farouk Kibet and Senator Aaron Cheruiyot. Media coverage from Nenyon TV, KASS TV, Nenyon FM, KASS FM, and Chamgee FM helped show that cultural exchange can be part of a larger education-development conversation.