We visited some year 8 students in London to get their reactions on their link with The Chuilambo school in Kenya.

Ozzy said: “I think the link is good because we can find out what they want to do – what their hopes and dreams are and how they see life over there. I want to be an actor when I leave school and I want to know what students in Kenya want to be and whether their families want them to be something different.”

Gurveer said: “I think it’s good that the two schools are linking. Just because they are poor doesn’t mean we can’t learn from them. We can learn a lot about their life – the benefits and disadvantages compared to our lives. Just because we are rich, doesn’t mean that we know everything – they know how to live life without our facilities. In our school, many kids don’t like school because they have to work but in Kenya, they want to learn but can’t because they don’t have the facilities. We can learn that life isn’t always how we’re used to it and that you have to work to fulfil your dreams.”

Ruby said: “We take stuff for granted whereas they just live without it and are happy with what they have. We go on computers but they don’t have anything like that.”

Shaun said: “I think kids there will want to be doctors but they don’t have that choice. They don’t have luxuries like us. They don’t have computers and i-pods and stuff like that but have to work in the fields. Going to school for them is a luxury and I think it will make us more grateful for what we have.”

Gurveer said: “We take our parents for granted. We ask them for an –i-pod or a TV in our room. We ask them for some money but don’t pay them back. We got out and come back late and don’t help our parents. I think kids in Kenya respect their parents.

Shaun said: “When parents ask us to do something we don’t want to do it.”

Burgu said: “When I think about kids in Kenya I think they’re more interested in being doctors and having jobs like that when they’re older so they can help people because maybe they didn’t get any help. I’m looking forward to being penpals and talking about life here and all the things we have and how life is there.”

Chandni said: “If I have a penpal at the school I will write to them. When I feel down, I will remember them. I think they will be a lot closer to their parents whereas we are spoilt and always asking for money and bothering our brothers and sisters.”

Shaun said: “I think the culture will be different in Kenya will be different. If we find some money on the floor, like 1p or something, it means nothing to us but to them it means everything. It means they could buy anything but they wouldn’t take it, they’d give it to their parents and I think that’s something we could learn from.”

Daniel said: “At Christmas, if we didn’t get any presents we would be really angry, but in Kenya they don’t get anything.”

Shaun said: “Through the link we can see what scenarios children in Kenya find themselves in and how different their lives are. They probably don’t know luxuries like computers. We don’t really know what’s going on over there and what people are going through but we’ll become more personally affected. We’ll find out what it’s really like, whether kids work in the fields and we’ll become better people.”