Mwanzo Preschoolers Strike Gold a Second Time!
On July 20, 2016, 40 preschoolers from our Mwanzo Education Center - along with their teachers, and parents - traveled to Obambo Hall Chief’s Camp, about 12 miles from our school in Rabour. Our Head Teacher, Margaret Otieno, sent our Board the following message that we want to share with you.
I am as happy as a king when writing this report because I cannot forget the wonderful day I had on 20th July 2016.
The day was bright. We hired a vehicle and departed from the school at 900 am. It was a long ride but we were singing as we drove off to our destination in Obambo.
The compound was big with a hall and the North West Kisumu chief’s office beside it. This is the office where the elders pick-up their pension and the chief holds his barazas (meetings) with community members, hence a very important office. On our arrival we found elders at the office patiently waiting for their dues.
The number of schools expected for this competition was 45 - each with 30 participating pupils - thus a total of 1,350 pupils. We had about 1,200 pupils that managed to attend and the other 150 could not due to the long distance and lack of transport to get to the venue. What a pity!
We assembled inside the hall at 10 am and waited for instructions, before we sang the national anthem . The competition was attended by very important persons: Members of the County Assembly, Ward Administrators, and the media.
The activities under competition were:
A Great Day and a Team Victory
· Singing game, both African and Western
· Choral verses, both English and Kiswahili
· Set piece
· Fashion show
· Creative dance
The activities took long because of the large number of schools participating. By 300 pm we were already done, and we sat down to await the comments from the adjudicators.
They started with the choral verses, then solo verses. In these categories the competition was very stiff so that they had to look for all means and ways to penalize others in order to get their top three. This is how we performed:
Kiswahili choral verse we were number 4 out of 40 schools with 84%
English solo verse we were number 6 out of 40 schools with 82%
The next activity was the African singing game. The announcement began with the name of the third runners up; we didn’t know what to expect. Then we heard: Mwanzo had emerged victorious. I got confused and was torn between two worlds before hugging my colleagues as I went to receive the trophy. We returned to our seats to wait for the other announcements.
No sooner had I taken my seat than came the announcement that our school had topped the creative dance competition too! I could not contain my joy as I walked to the podium to receive our second trophy of the day. I went to my seat as I handed over the trophy to Madam Dorcas, our preschool lead teacher. Before long, I was called back to pick our certificate for Third Place in the fashion show. We ran outside to celebrate in songs and dances with the teachers and pupils. It was congratulations all over as the media took photos of our celebration before we boarded our vehicle to return to Rabuor.
The pupils were so excited and sang songs of praise all along for their teachers, director, and school. The songs we sang on arrival aroused everyone and they rushed to see what it was all about. They were astonished as they saw the beautiful trophies we had brought home. They joined the celebration and congratulated us. Parents received us with joy though it was late. We danced together and thanked the Lord for the brilliant results before departing for home.
The ball is still in our court and it's still rolling. Next competition is in the big city - Kisumu - in early August. We now say: "Onward, ever - Backwards, never!"
Thanks to our faithful donors who make participation for our beloved children in these events possible!
Keep tuned....