By Maina Muiruri

From the gate of the primary school, one can see a herd of wildebeests grazing close to the Sekenani gate of the Masai Mara game reserve. Braying zebras sometimes interrupt voices of children playing in the fenced school field.

Sekenani Primary School, built at the last inhabited point to the busy gate into the wildlife sanctuary, stands out with rare, colourful branding that attracts the attention of visitors.

Break time at Sekenani Primary School. [PHOTOS: MAINA MUIRURI/STANDARD]

On the side of some of its classrooms and dormitories are colourful paintings of aircrafts that give the impression that there could be an airstrip nearby.

But the aircraft drawings are an illustration of the generosity of Virgin Atlantic mogul, Sir Richard Branson who toured the Masai Mara last year and made a donation to put up dormitories in the school.

Education Gem

While primary schools elsewhere could be taken as a common feature, Sekenani is a valued education gem in this Narok South region where it is the only primary school for about 30 square kilometres.

Branson was drawn into supporting the project by the nearby Sarova Mara Game Camp, where he stayed during his trip. The hotel had been the main sponsor of the school for the past 12 years.

The school has over 700 children, some who walk for over 10km to and fro every day from the underlying plains. Donations by staff of the Sarova Mara had put up two dormitories to accommodate pupils who could not make it on a daily basis, but they were not enough.

When Branson visited, the hotel, which makes it a point to tell its guests about the needs of the local Maasai community, took him to the school. "He had been very jovial during his visit but when he was told tales of pupils who walk to school before dawn, he was moved," says Marcos Mugo of Sarova Mara. "He entered one of the dormitories and when he came out pledged to build two more," Mugo said.

Branson wanted to see the logo of Virgin Atlantic on the dormitories and that was how the branding came up in the rural school.

About Sekenani Primary School

It has over 700 students, well-stocked library, a solar panel system and a borehole.

About 250 of the pupils board in the four dormitories put up by the hotel and Virgin Atlantic mogul Branson.

School headmaster Mr Simon Sopia says the school was started in 1997 through a World Bank grant then taken over by Sarova Mara which has been its main sponsor since then.