I helped my mother’s business of selling Omena(small fish). Since I am preparing for the National
Examination, I also took supplemental classes
for the exam. I want to enroll into the top highDuring the school closure, I played ballschool in Kenya, so I wake up at 4 am and go togames with my friends in the daytime andschool. By 6 am, I am studying in the school. In

studied at night. My favorite subject isthe evening, I study before dinner and then goSwahili but I do not like Mathematics. I wantto bed at 10 pm. I would like to be a Bank

to become a police officer when I grow up.

manager when I grow up.

EmmacurateJane

8th grade

2nd grade

Kageno SchoolDr. Williams Primary SchoolVOICE

How did you spend time during the school closure?
In Kenya, many schools were closed from March 2020 to January 2021 to prevent the spreadof COVID-19. We asked students and parents about their daily lives during the school closure.

WalterHelenOuma

My grandchildren go to Dr. Williams

When our school was closed, I had a hard time

primary school. I was worried myfeeding my children because my business went

grandchildren would contract COVID-down. When the infection rate of COVID19 went

19 by playing with other children. Todown, my business started picking up. Children

prevent being in contact with someone

were playing football all day, then went to takewith COVID-19, I stayed home most ofbath in the lake. When they came home, they justthe time.

ate and went to bed. I thought this was better
than children idling in town.
―2 ―We asked school teachers:
What were the challenges during the school closure?
When schools were closed, students lost their discipline. I am also a mother of 3 children. It wasvery difficult to teach my own children. They were not listening to me and telling me that theirteachers taught them a different way! I think that TV and Radio programs by the government
were not bad but only a few students studied using these programs.

EvelynTeacher Dr. Williams
primary school
Julius
Deputy Head teacher
Kaswanga primary school

During the school closure, some students were not eating well. Especially houses with single
mothers had hard time. So I am glad that the school reopened and school lunch program
started again. My family live in Mfangano Island. I came to Rusinga Island when I need towork. With my children, I made them to do house chores and gave them lots of homework tokeep them busy.

Rusinga is an ‘Omena Island’Rusinga Island is a Kenyan island located in the Lake
Victoria, the largest lake in Africa. Lives of the islandand coastal people depend on this lake. Kageno
school is in Litare beach, a village with Omena fishingbusiness.
Every morning, women gather at the beach and wait
for the fishing boats from the lake to arrive. Omena
brought by the boats are washed and spread all overthe village to dry them. The entire village smells likeOmena. Drying and selling Omena is the work ofwomen. Families of many students in Kageno school
are engaged in the Omena fishing, so the number ofstudents fluctuates with the Omena fishing season.
―3 ―Status of Vaccination of COVID-19
in East Africa
KENYA
Kenya had experienced the 4th wave of COVID-19 in August2021. Since then, the number of COVID-19 infections has
declined and weekly average infection was around 60 in lateNovember. On October 20, Kenyan government eased theCOVID-19 restrictions such as night curfew between 10 pm to4 am. The percentage of vaccinated adults with 2 vaccines isabout 10% which is not high. The ministry of health plans tostart nationwide mass vaccination campaign from lateNovember. They set the rule that from mid. December, people
were required to show their vaccination certificates when

Drawings by David of Dr. Williams Primary School.
His dream is to become a medical doctor.

taking public transports or entering into public buildings.

RWANDA
COVID-19 vaccination is a mandatory in Rwanda. To attend events,weddings, funerals and meetings, people must be vaccinated.
Already 3.2 million people have been vaccinated. Rwanda plans tovaccinate 40% of citizens by the end of 2021. The positive ratio of
COVID-19 has gone down to less than 1 % in recent months, so thegovernment closed COVID-19 medical centers.
But Rwanda is concerned about the new variant from southern
African countries. The Rwandese cabinet decided to stop directflights from southern African countries and people entering fromPresident Kagame of Rwanda was the firstpresent who received COVID-19 vaccine in East
African countries.

these countries must be quarantined for 7 days.

TANZANIA
The ministry of health in Tanzania is concerned about the risk COVID-19 as the vaccination ratio is
low and the movement of people in and out of country would increase during the holiday season.
The confirmed cases of the new variance Omicron was an additional concern. In Tanzania, people
can receive the vaccination for free in hospitals all over the country, but still the vaccination rate is
low as only 2.7% of total population has been vaccinated as of 28th November. President Hassan
who received her vaccination right after she become president, strongly encouraged regional officers
to increase the vaccination rates, especially in rural areas.
―4 ―