Where is Sufa School

In between two meetings I decided I would try and squeeze in a visit to the school where my new Kenyan friend Irene is working. I was equipped with a map the teachers had drawn for me. When I had rode home on the school bus last week it did not seem very far from where I am living.

I set out with my bicycle to find the school, using the map which was a different path than the bus used. I ended up taking numerous wrong turns and whenever I stopped to ask someone they would point me in a different direction. Once I ended up at the airport. A lady named Miriam even tried to escort me, so I got off the bike and pushed while we tried to chat but we ended up meeting someone who told me I needed to go completely opposite direction. Multiple trips through a round about trying every option. It had rained hard earlier in the morning so there were lots of large mud puddles to ride through. The 20 minute bike ride turned into almost 2 hours. I knew exactly where I was the entire time, I just didn’t know where the school was.

I eventually made it to the school and was dripping in sweat from the midday heat and splattered with mud from the puddles. All of the students are in the process of taking end of the year exams but they still gave me a warm welcome when I arrived. I was even challenged with answering a few questions from the exams. I failed most including Tanzanian Social Studies, Arabic, Kiswahili....I think the only ones I would pass would be English and Math.

Next time I know the correct route.