Pool Academy students build homes for Kenya’s widows

Four students and a teacher from Pool Academy have spent four weeks this summer a very long way from a Cornish classroom, mixing cement, herding goats and watching a family walk into a house the students helped build with their own hands.

Homes for the community’s widows

The trip’s standout moment came in the local community, where the group helped build homes for widows before seeing the finished houses handed over to their new occupants. It capped weeks of practical, physical work that ran through the whole four-week expedition, all of it aimed at leaving something behind for the people the students met along the way.

📷Hard at work in Kenya

A school refurbished, and days spent clearing the bush

Pool Academy, based in Pool near Redruth, sent the four students and teacher Megan Smith out to work on a mix of conservation and community projects. Alongside the housebuilding, the group helped refurbish a local school, improving facilities for the pupils who will use it after they have gone home. Days of bush clearing, tree planting and watering, and litter picking filled out the conservation side of the trip.

📷Students help to build a predator-proof boma to protect livestock

A boma for the livestock, and a deterrent for the elephants

Some of the conservation work put the students face to face with the practical business of living alongside wildlife. They helped build a predator-proof boma to protect livestock from wild animals, and worked on an elephant deterrent designed to help communities and elephants share the same land without conflict.

📷A Pool student helps care for the local livestock in Kenya

Goats, an apiary and hands-on with the animals

The group also built an apiary enclosure and took part in goat deworming, getting properly hands-on with the animals that make up so much of daily life in the community. It was practical, physical work, a world away from a Cornish classroom.

📷Pool students make new friends in Kenya

Markets, dancing and a Maasai welcome

The students had plenty of chances to learn about Kenyan culture and everyday life alongside the practical projects. They visited a local market, spent time with a women’s group learning traditional bracelet making and papermaking, and joined in with dancing. A visit to a Maasai community gave them the chance to learn about its traditions and way of life first-hand.

📷On safari in Kenya

Kaya Forest, a safari and the Marunga Hills

The group explored Kaya Forest, learning about its cultural and environmental significance, before enjoying a safari where they spotted a variety of wildlife. They also took part in a nature walk and a trek up the Marunga Hills. At Camp Muhaka, they experienced more of the local environment, including climbing coconut trees, before travelling on to Camp Ndoto to continue their conservation and community work.

📷Cleaning up the beach in Kenya

Beach cleans and certified divers on the coast

From Camp Ndoto the group travelled to the Kenyan coast. At Firefly, the students completed their PADI course and became certified divers, with some getting the chance to see turtles underwater. The coastal leg of the trip also brought a beach clean, adding to the litter picking they had already done inland.

Months of fundraising, and a trip they will not forget

None of it would have happened without months of fundraising back home. The group took on sponsored bike rides, cake sales, raffles, car washing and other fundraising activities to help cover the cost of the trip, reflecting Pool Academy’s commitment to helping students dream big and experience the wider world.

Megan Smith, the teacher who accompanied the students on the expedition, said the group had thrived despite being so far from home for so long. “They’ve been out in the heat building an elephant deterrent, planting trees, helping to care for livestock and getting their hands dirty with all sorts of practical jobs,” she said.

“They’ve also been brilliant at throwing themselves into the community side of the trip, making new friends and embracing every opportunity along the way. They’ve overcome challenges, shown incredible resilience and achieved things they may never have imagined they could. A real highlight has been seeing every student become a certified diver after completing their PADI course, with some even having the unforgettable experience of seeing turtles underwater.

“There have definitely been some tired legs at times, but the students have kept going, taken everything in their stride and continued to work hard. They’ve experienced a side of Kenya that you simply can’t get from a classroom, and it has been fantastic to see their confidence grow as the trip has gone on.”

“This has definitely been a life-changing experience for both me and our students,” Megan added. “I hope it is something they remember and look back on fondly for a very long time.”

📷Pool students take part in a beach clean in Kenya