Day 10 - Community meeting

Tuesday

TODAY'S MEETING

Today the committee presented the budget to the village community. The community are in a sense the owners of the school, so it was important for them to understand some of the key assumptions underlying the budget - things like whether a new dormitory would be built for the school, would it consist of Forms 1 and 2 or Forms 1,2, and 3, and would a new classroom be built.

So I was slightly surprised when the committee read out the numbers in the budget, and then chose not to explain the key assumptions to the community! I went over to chairman and asked why he didn't want to explain this any more, and he said that he was worried the community would not want to support the Harambee (fundraising event) if they knew the committee's plans. At this stage, I did not remind him that he claimed to be known for his transparency and accountability. I did not ask him why he disappeared from the meeting scheduled that morning when we were going to plan what to say to the community. I did ask him how he thought the community would react if they found out the committee's plans next year. He immediately changed his mind and explained the assumptions to the community!

INCIDENT IN THE SCHOOL

Later that evening (as I discovered the following morning) a boy from the village had turned up at the door of the girls' dorm. He claimed to be a millionaire who was going to give everyone money. The girls (who were described in today's meeting as "delicate") realised that he was up to no good and gave the boy a good beating! The alarm was raised and a mob turned up to protect the girls. At first they resolved to kill the boy (the death sentence is apparently the usual punishment under mob justice). However, the chairman decided that this was a bit harsh, so he was held overnight and then taken to the nearest court (at Pala) to be tried. I'm hoping that he won't be sent to prison, partly because (call me soft) I don't think his crimes seem all that bad, and also because Kenyan prisons are apparently truly horrific. I never found out what happened to him...