School Run

I was thinking about my old walk to school earlier this morning, prompted by half an hour of horn honking from just down the road.

The large school next to us causes loud fume-filled chaos every morning, blocking the roads in the entire neighbourhood for an hour and a half due to the persistent need of the parents to drive their children to school and drop them within millimetres of the entrance despite most living within a 3 km radius.

I'm never quite sure why the parents do this because they end up stuck in the jam they create just as much as the poor commuters trying to get to work and ending up stuck behind giant SUVs instead, normally with one lone child rolling around on the back seat like a marble in a crate. I'm sure the kids would much rather walk to school.

I walked past two parents not so long ago who, having dropped off their child, were now chatting away whilst double parked on the already small road making the whole jam even worse. One was saying that she would never consider letting her kid walk to school. The roads were just too dangerous, what with all that traffic.

If I'd had an Irony Klaxon with me at the time I would have wandered across and blown it in her face. Sadly, I didn't... sadly, they don't exist.

My walk to school, way back when, was about 2 miles. According to Google Maps, exactly 2 miles, in fact. Not a huge distance, but a good enough walk there and back every day. 45 minutes on the way there, a damn site quicker on the way back depending on how hungry we were. We didn't really mind the walk, it was just a relatively enjoyable part of the school routine.

I've since had the opportunity to see the school run in quite a few other countries.

In Kenya my walk to school was put entirely in context by the young kids in the Voi region, many of whom walk upwards of 10km to class every morning. As if this wasn't effort enough, they carried with them a bundle of firewood and a few gallons of water which was fuel and liquid for their one school meal of a small bowl of rice or maize a day. If they didn't bring the wood and water, they were turned away or weren't fed. It's worth pointing out that many of the children ate only a tiny portion of the rice, taking the rest back home with them for their family.

In much of South east Asia, especially Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, the majority of kids cycle to school. I used to cycle myself occasionally, mainly if I was running late and there wasn't enough time to walk. But driving through rural Vietnam you see flocks of white shirted children, often entire classes at once, lining the roads pedalling serenely in a very unhurried manner, as their parents and grand-parents did before them.

But often as you travel you will see much more interesting and, frankly, fun ways of completing the school run, like these kids from a water village on Tonle Sap lake in Northern Cambodia, making their way to school by boat. 

Or these cheeky young chaps in Laos on their father's ox cart as he takes them to school.

But my favourite picture of the school run is from Tanzania when we were leaving a school at the end of the day and these two followed our truck. OK, cycling to school isn't unique, I just like the way they have modified their bike handlebars.

Here are a few more pictures of the journey to school from various places:

Diani, Kenya

Paus, Sabah, Borneo

All of the pictures here were taken whilst I was working in various countries for Raleigh International, Camps International or my own company, Dragon SR. You can see more here.