Somerset Primary students have dug deeply into their school bags after a visiting speaker from Kenya moved them to tears with her speech about the shortages and struggles facing children in that country.

Kenyan Liz Ikenya visited two Primary 4 classes and a Primary 5 class this week to tell them about conditions for students in the African nation.

The students have so little, she told the youngsters, that even simple school supplies seem like luxuries.

Primary 4 teacher Yolanda Ming said the students were so touched by their visitor’s talk that they collected numerous school supplies including paper, pencils, erasers, pencil sharpeners, colouring books and crayons for the children in Kenya.

These were presented to Ms Ikenya along with a note from the children saying they were “all in tears” after her talk.

Ms Ming told the students that Ms Ikenya said: “Every time someone receives a single crayon, she will think of us.”

Ms Ming was proud of the generosity of the students, who are eight- and nine-year-old pupils in classes entitled ‘Analytical Thinkers’ and ‘Strategic Designers’.

“Why wait for tomorrow, when you can do something today,” she said.