Kiwi leotards make it to Kenya

The children warm up for their ballet lesson at the orphanage in Nakuru.

Thirteen thousand kilometres from Rotorua, orphans in Kenya are plieing in leotards from the Geyser City.

The Anne Samson School of Ballet donated 50 leotards and 20 skirts to an orphanage in Nakuru, a city in the southwest of the country.

School principal Anne Samson said she had the idea to donate the uniforms after reading a story on Kenyan orphans being taught the Royal Academy of Dance syllabus.

Her school was upgrading its outfits at the time and the dancers' old ones were usually just left at the school.

"I said to the parents at the uniform sale, 'Look, would you be happy if I passed these uniforms on to a charity?'" They all agreed.

Ms Samson sent the clothing to Anno's Africa, a UK-based charity that provides education alongside ballet lessons to children living in city slums.

She posted the uniforms to England and they were taken to Kenya in the hand luggage of one of the charity's volunteer teachers.

Charity director Bee Gilbert sent photos to Ms Samson of the children wearing the uniforms, with a note saying: "Here are our girls and boys at Nakuru wearing your donated leotards and skirts. This was after their fourth ballet lesson and they love it. It's a lovely school with 150 orphans and other children who have all been saved from pretty horrific backgrounds."

Ms Samson was told the charity could not disclose the name of the orphanage. But Ms Gilbert said it had its own farm with cows and chickens, a vegetable garden, a water source and bottling facility so the children can make money selling water.