On Tuesday the 18th of June we went to Mombasa Old Town. We went to the market called ‘Markiti’ and the Fort Jesus area to look at small businesses and their impact on the economy. First, we visited the little tourist shops in the old town that some of us had never seen before. Most of them were very authentic and sold many vintage high-end items. It was surprising to learn that some were not even tourist shops as wealthy local people bought more from them than the tourists. We were also told that currently, sales were low as the tourist season had not picked up yet but they hoped that during July, September, November and December sales could make up for the slump rest of the year.

 After that, we went to Markiti and looked at the shops there catering to a different clientele. There were all kinds of things sold there from clothes, shoes, jewellery to even food. It was interesting to see all this. These guys were definitely selling cheaper goods but made up in the volumes they were selling, definitely more demand elastic products.’

 Zahra Esmailjee

 The objective of this business trip into Old Town, Mombasa was to be exposed to a different environment and to do a bit of hand on primary market research. It was interesting to walk around and see all the different tourist type shops near Fort Jesus and get an idea of how the tourism sector has changed in Kenya in the past 10 years, the demographics of the type of tourists also and the effect all this has had on some of these unique businesses

Our Under 11 team had a great weekend in Nairobi, representing the school in the IAPS netball tournament held at The Banda School. We played three matches in the group stage: our first match was against Peponi A, who won 16-0.  

The team never gave up, they encouraged each other through some heavy losses, and most importantly they showed the willingness to participate, even with an underpowered team made up of mostly our Year 4s and 5s, against A teams of Year 6s. We all had fun and it was a positive experience for them as everyone had a chance to try a new position in the match and bond as a team. Well done, team for the great effort.

Neema Ruwa has made BMIS proud yet again! In the just concluded IAPS Swimming gala in London, she scooped silver medal in the 25m
butterfly with a time of 15.18seconds.
Congratulations!! on your well-deserved win, you have represented BMIS and Kenya at large.

 BMIS students visited the French frigate Surcouf, F 711. It is named after the French sailor Robert Surcouf (1773 – 1827). This was also a great pleasure for me. Thankfully Britain and France have been on the same side since the signing of the Entente Cordiale in 1904.

We were all given a good tour of the ship, escorted by serving officers of the Marine Nationale. Some of us even got to sit in the Captain’s seat on the bridge. The roles of a modern warship are numerous. The Surcouf is involved in anti-smuggling operations, combatting piracy as well as regular training activities for naval warfare.

It carries an awesome array of weaponry: a helicopter, rapid firing canons and machine guns, anti-ship missiles (or mer – mer as the French sailors call them) and anti – aircraft missiles. The Surcouf can also shoot down incoming enemy missiles.

Our students were also on good form, asking plenty of clever questions.

Many thanks to Madame Mwangi for organising this unique trip.

I was very impressed with our French allies, and I will of course be writing to the new British Prime Minister – whoever that is – and recommending a renewal of the Entente Cordiale as a solution to the Brexit crisis.

BMIS  enjoyed and took part in various activities in this terms environmental day such as, recycling plastic; making bird feeders; creating mobiles; appreciating nature through songs and planting trees.