Serena Williams wiggled her hips in tandem to the vernacular music that vibrated across the small dusty school which bears her name in one of Kenya’s most arid and impoverished regions.
As the excited children belted out ballads praising their American benefactor, Williams could not help but keep smiling.
“I feel so honoured to be here,” said the World Number Two and nine-time Grand Slam champion. “Thanks so much for receiving me for my first time in Kenya.”
The American tennis star is on the second and final leg of an African charity mission. Initially, she was in South Africa, where she opened a new secondary school that she helped build and donated computers.
The mixed gender school, perched on a hilly slope, about 148 kilometres southeast of the capital Nairobi, is situated in an area that has the highest school drop-out rate in the country.
Because the school — accepting its first patch of secondary students in 2009 — is not easily accessed by road, worsened by recent heavy rains, Serena and her entourage were flown there by three helicopters.
Donning a black tracksuit, the 28-year-old star arrived in the first chopper accompanied by Kenyan government officials, including Education Minister Professor Sam Ongeri.
They immediately inaugurated the school and took students through the maiden computer and internet lessons.
Due to lack of electricity, the computers were powered by solar panels but Serena promised that she would work with the government to bring electricity as well as boost educational standards.
Serena, accompanied by her mother and younger sister, pledged to open more schools for poor children, saying it was the finest achievement of her life.
“This is my first of many schools I plan to open up in Kenya. It is amazing how education has uplifted the lives of many people and have empowered them to determine their own future.
“It is the best achievement that I have done in my life,” she added.
The school’s headmaster was rightly proud.
“This lady has done a great thing for, not only our school, but the whole location,” said Serena Williams Secondary School headmaster Simon Mbuvi.
“Due to geographical factors, the school has seen little growth since it was started in 1952. But through her assistance, we have been able to finish building the secondary school in just under one month ready for the intake next year,” Mbuvi added.
With the introduction of free and affordable primary and secondary education in 2002, Kenya faces a crisis of managing the transitional process due to limited facilities and funds.
The education sector cannot sustain the surge in enrolment of children leaving primary to join secondary schools because of the physical structures.
“We need more secondary schools,” said Ongeri while thanking his American guest for her gesture.
“In 2003, we had 5.3 million children in primary schools. Today, there are in the range of 8.2 million and all of these children need to be able to access secondary school education,” he added.
On Saturday, Serena will conduct a tennis clinic for children in Nairobi before concluding her four-day Kenyan visit.
