Schools are reopening but life will never be the same

A proposed hand washing point at Lake Primary School in Kisumu on September 28, 2020.

Photo credit: Ondari Ogega | Nation Media Group

What you need to know:

  • I am a scout at school but since the activities that involve crowding are discouraged, I will not meet my colleagues in the scouts’ camps.
  • I wish schools also took some time during this period to discover how they can treat students better.

I am really looking forward to going back to school because I am tired of staying at home. But I am also afraid of how my life will be after the long break.

It would be good to go back to school because the activities at home have become exhausting and boring. Girls like me have plaited our hairs in all possible styles, and we are now tired of it because it is not fun anymore.

Some of us have managed to learn on digital platforms such as Zoom and read books but I know many others have not been able to.  We have also worked really hard to help around the homes, and while at it, this has earned us some money. My parents will pay me for packaging our maize in sacks for storage. I will use this pay as pocket money.

I am sure that, while our parents love us, our drama and all that we have, we have eaten so much and gotten so fat that they will have to buy new uniforms.

I am happy to have a break from this but school is never going to be the same with all the changes Covid-19 has brought to Kenya.

I am afraid that we will not have games or any free interaction with our classmates as we used to. I think it will be silence and boredom from dawn to dusk.

No scouts’ camps

I am a scout at school but since the activities that involve crowding are discouraged, I will not meet my colleagues in the scouts’ camps. There will be no drama and music festivals too.

We will have to eat in shifts in the dining hall, and we will not be able to tell stories with our friends over a meal.

While at home, I did some other positive things such as donating to orphanages, mountain climbing, singing and reading.

I wish schools also took some time during this period to discover how they can treat students better.

For instance, I hope that social distancing will also bar teachers from caning us.

The free time that we had at home allowed us to discover our gifts but all of this is going to be replaced by loads of homework after school.


Lynn Tyra Amondi, 13, is a Standard Seven pupil at Muhoroni Success Primary School, Kisumu County.

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