Wathituga Primary School
Wathituga Primary School is a mixed day school located in the Laikipia County outside of Nanyuki.
In 1989, American philanthropist Ken Norris, a great supporter of the WHWF, visited the education center and saw for himself how his money was being spent. He was extremely happy with what he saw and was most particularly excited by our rural program. Mr. Norris committed to the construction and endowment of a rural library at a small out of the way primary school called Wathituga. The school is situated in an area dotted with small farms, the birth rate is high and the education was basic usually ending with primary school. The library we built carries the name of the Ken Norris Library at Wathituga Primary School and was officially opened in 1991. The library contains charts, maps, a wide variety of books and magazines, and is fully fitted with desks and tables, a black board and teaching materials. The library has been fitted with a water catchment system and storage of rain water. A year after the library was opened and functioning the results of the national exam showed Wathituga Primary School ranked number 10 in the top 20 schools of the district, and those results continue to this day.
Mr. Ken Norris with WHWF President Stefanie Powers and Kitty
A new kitchen / dining hall was built onto the library in 2007, and contains a locked storage facility, cooking area with work area and kitchen sink. The kitchen is outfitted with two Bellerive Cookers, each capable of cooking a meal for about 350 children, utilizing significantly less fuel in the process. The canteen area has a fixed bench around the perimeter, which can seat 50 students, and benches in the middle open area seat another 100 students, providing the students shelter from the elements during mealtime. The roof of green corrugated iron is fitted with gutters to catch and store up to 400 liters of rainwater in a black plastic tank.
Mr. Norris passed away in 1996, and part of his legacy lives on in the Ken Norris Library at Wathituga Primary School.