Campus - Terraced and Safe

Before we came to RVA (Rift Valley Academy), we
kept asking for a map of the campus. We never got
it. Now we understand - how do you make a map
of a campus on an escarpment? One goal of this
blog is to give you a feeling for how skillfully this
campus has been carved into the hillside. It is
more than a "School in the Clouds," a book by
Phil Dow. It's a terraced wonderland.




Can
you
find
RVA
in
the
garden
near
the
entrance?
















The second goal of this blog is to show how well the
campus is protected. After the bombings at the US
Embassy in Nairobi ten years ago, the US govern-
ment helped pay for the security fence around the
campus. With so many Americans here they were
concerned about safety. Also, the campus can now
be used as an evacuation site for Americans
living in Nairobi.















This is one of three gates in the security fence.

















Above and below you can see the guard trail which
lines the fence at the perimeter.

































After entering this gate you'll see the beautiful lower field with its view and stone "bleachers." No one minds a hard seat with such a magnificent view out over the field.















Next you'll come to the main part of the campus where you'll see various school buildings:

The chapel from the lower side



















The cafeteria on the left and administration on the right




Another view of the administration building


The cornerstone of the administration building laid by President Roosevelt in 1909


Two views of the steps and classroom buildings in the middle of campus; in the
first picture, Vic's classrooms are at the farther end of the building on the left



One wants to turn southwest frequently where you will find views like these:




Over

the
outdoor

basketball

court








Over
the
upper
soccer
field

















Fans
are
crazy
here
too!
















Over one of the tennis courts








Most of the buildings on campus are made of rock blocks. They are delivered to campus in rough form and hand chipped into rectangular blocks. Here's a new house being built and the chipper sitting nearby. (Think OSHA would approve of the scaffolding?)

















Below is my boarding students' dorm













I'll leave you with some miscellaneous views around campus:

Steps going UP to our house


View from campus looking down into Kijabe

Geranium plant


Jacaranda tree


Bougainvillea hedge
















Welcome

to

RVA!