By Kasia Mychajlowycz

With only three weeks to go, it’s all hands on deck at the Maasai Women Secondary School site. This week, we welcomed six new volunteers, all hailing from Ireland, almost doubling our number at the ROTH volunteer house. Luckily there was plenty to be done at the School! As volunteers Christophe and Ariane marked all the imperfections and dented places in the newly plastered wall, their parents Gilles and Sophie, along with the rest of the gang, continued last week’s work of brushing all the window frames and security grills. Once finished, they then went over each window again with sand-paper, then primed the metal with anti-rust protective coat. Though tedious work, the windows are now ready for their paint and made to last.

As the volunteers worked on the windows, local workers Bakari and Pharoah finished making the cement slabs for the sinks in the bathroom, and others put the finishing touches on the corners of each doorway and around electrical sockets.

Now that both buildings have roofs and all the messiest work is out of the way, painting can now begin. For the interior, the walls will be mostly white, and the floor’s final layering of cement will be dyed red. The exterior’s paint was not so easily decided on. Sameena, who prices our supplies in town, brought many samples to the site, the volunteers put up test patches, and the debate got heated, bringing in the opinions of not only the volunteers, but also our driver Eliakimu, our guard Justin, the fundis Lembris and Ombeni and all the workers! Our final choice (with only a few dissenters!) is a bold hue called “Golden Yellow”.

Also this week, Ariane and Annie hit the town of Arusha in search of all the items needed for the girls’ starter kits. Ariane and her friends in Beaumont, Quebec worked very hard to fundraise for the necessities for each of the 80 girls who will board at the school: bed and mattress, sheets and pillow, toothbrush and toothpaste, as well as a suitcase. Thanks to Ariane, the girls will be able to live comfortably together in the dormitory, with no exceptions!