Kenyan students, ambassador visit local school

Draper » The four small girls couldn't believe the size of Willow Springs Elementary School.

"This one is the biggest," said Agnes Malesi, a sixth-grader from Kenya who visited the school Friday with three other Kenyan girls, their teacher and the Kenyan ambassador to the U.S. At their school in Kakamega, Kenya, about 50 to 60 kids crowd into each room, said Malesi's teacher Emily Shisubilli.

"They're squeezing in," she said.

It was just one of many differences the Kenyan students shared with their counterparts at Willow Springs. Their visit was part of a three-week trip to Utah sponsored by the Utah-based nonprofit In Our Own Quiet Way, which has worked with other groups to bring food, medical and educational supplies to drought wracked regions of the east African nation and other parts of the world.

It's a drought that has led to water shortages, a drop in health services, and children dropping out of school, according to the Kenya Red Cross. Millions of Kenyans could starve.

Kenyan Ambassador Peter N.R.O. Ogego, who is visiting Utah for the first time, said he hopes his presence and that of the girls helps show Utahns they appreciate the help they've received and why the country needs their continued support.

"I think a visit of any kind from a country like Kenya adds to the awareness of what kind of people we are," Ogego said.

Quiet Way flew the girls and their

teacher to the U.S. to participate in its annual fundraiser, the Princess Festival in Lindon. But Ron Hatfield, CEO of the nonprofit, said it was important that the girls also visit local schools to help Utahns better understand them and to help them better understand America.

"Your typical fundraiser shows little starving children standing next to a sewer," Hatfield said. "But most are beautiful little girls like this, and they're wonderful and just need some basic help."

The group also plans to visit Riverton Elementary School, which purchased a cow for their village last year, on Monday.

Though the purpose of the girls' visit to Willow Springs was serious, they and the American students got to know one another less like international diplomats and more like typical grade schoolers.

The Kenyan girls smiled as the Willow Springs students peppered them with questions.

"What do you guys like to do in your spare time?" one girl asked.

"Do you guys like Utah so far?" asked another.

"Do you have people do your hair?" one student wondered. "Because it's really cute."

Quietly and politely, the girls answered that they like to play basketball, they like Utah and yes, they went to salons to get their hair pulled into long, tight braids.

The Kenyan girls recited poems for the Willow Springs students, and the Willow Springs kids showed them how to play one of their favorite games called Quiet Ball. The Kenyan girls, dressed in traditional, colorful dresses, smiled even when one of them dropped the ball.

They even ventured into the school cafeteria and sat among the Willow Springs students to eat a traditional American meal: turkey, green beans, mashed potatoes and a cookie.

It was among the many new experiences they've had this week -- their first movie in a theater, jumping on a trampoline and seeing snow.

"I want to climb the mountain and touch the snow," said Sylvia Agadha, 9, as she slowly ate her turkey. Agadha called children here "kind."

Willow Springs students, who helped make 700 dolls for the girls' village in 2007, said the visit was invaluable.

"They are so fun," said Sara Dumas, a Willow Springs sixth-grader. "I think I've learned that we are so privileged."