We made it to Daraja Academy! After a long travel day of about 7 or 8 hours from Kiserian area to Nanyuki area we arrived! Daraja was the first free private all female secondary school in Kenya. Each year over 600 girls apply for Daraja, and in the end only 30 are selected to actually attend Daraja. Daraja is a grade 9-12 school, but instead they call the grades “Forms”. Form 1 is grade 9, Form 2 is grade 10, Form 3 is grade 11, and Form 4 is grade 12. The moment we got to Daraja, we were created with the biggest smiles and hugs from the girls. Each of us was given a shadow who we would follow and spend time with and go to for help or questions while at Daraja. I had two shadows, Sumaya and Maggie. Both are currently in Form 3. We all got shown to our bandas (hut type places where we would be sleeping). Rae and I shared a banda very central to everything (Daraja campus is huge!!) so we were luckily. Some of the others would have to hike through the bush for over 10 minutes to get to their room! After some orientation and tours we settled in for dinner then we had a quick evening circle to go over our schedule, and we hit the hay to prepare for tomorrow. After today we already know this will be a great week!
Heather Goes Abroad 