Last year Kenya was plagued with drought. There was no rain for months, the ground was rock hard, crops were failing and RVA even ended up supplying the local hospital with five tankers of water per day because the hospital bore hole had dried up.

This year it is the opposite. April saw 600 mm of rain in Kijabe, more than twice the average for April, and the highest rainfall at RVA since records began in 1986.

You may have seen reports of the effect of this rain in the media. There have been flash floods and landslides. Most tragically, last Monday morning at 3am, a massive amount of water which had built up behind the railway embankment (because a drainage tunnel was blocked by fallen debris) broke through and caused flash floods and a landslide in the outskirts of Maai Mahui, which is just down the hill from RVA’s campus. This flooding caused massive damage, with houses being swept away, and over 50 people reported dead, and another 50 missing.

Many of the workers at RVA have been affected, losing family members or friends. The Red Cross are set up in the area, assisted by the Kenyan Defence Force, and the school is doing what they can to provide clothing, food, water and shelter to families who have lost literally everything.

Last night there was another landslide at the edge of the campus. Part of the perimeter fence was swept away, and families from several houses near the fence have been moved elsewhere on campus as a precaution. The facilities management team, in consultation with the Red Cross and Kijabe station management have been checking the tunnels under the railway line above RVA to ensure that water is not building up there.

Here you can see the mud which has covered the entrance road and then slide down the hill onto the lower sports field. My wellies give some indication of the depth.

It continues to rain, and water is flowing like rivers down the paths and roads throughout the area. The ground is completely sodden, and several areas of hillside have lost or might loose stability.

Here are some photos I took when I went to the vegetable market to get supplies.

As you can imagine it is a disturbing time. All sports fixtures (home or away) are currently cancelled, as it cannot be guaranteed that the school buses can navigate the hill up to the main road to Nairobi. Staff are being recommended only to travel to Nairobi (which is also suffering massive flooding) if absolutely necessary.

Having said all this, everyone on the campus is safe, and there has been no damage to any school buildings or homes. But it would be nice if it stopped raining….