In January 2010 I was fortunate to be able to return to the country of my birth - Kenya with my two sons - Nicholas & Richard.

Both my children were born & raised in the very privileged country of New Zealand and it was 45 years since I left my 'home' in 1964. Part of the journey was for sentimental reasons to retrace the memories of my youth - where I lived, went to school, and played.

We were made so very welcome..... and were shown with pride their achievements as we were introduced to such dedicated and committed teachers of children who really wanted to learn. These children, even at their young  age, understand that the way forward for their country is through Education.

It has been a humbling experience to be among people who have so little yet they still love their country and give so much of themselves to try to make it a better place for the average person to live.

Giving so little by western standards could make so much of a difference to the people of Kenya. The corruption of the elite & the poverty of the masses is indescribable. The way forward is through education to build the middle class and so make corruption socially unacceptable, not inevitable.

The traditional way of the west of funding aid projects just does not work. 90% of the funds donated just disappear in ' administration costs'. We need to deal direct- if a school has no water then we need to buy & install a pump - not send money and hope somebody might do it.