Serena's second charity mission in Kenya

She is back in Kenya for another charity mission.

World women's top tennis player Serena Williams jetted in the country on Monday to open yet another Serena Williams Secondary School, this time in Matiliku, Eastern Province.

In November 2008, she commissioned her first school under the same name in Matooni, about 50 kilometres from this new school.

While Kenya and East Africa in general might not have an icon in the tennis courts, by virtue of her visit -- the second in less than two years -- it clearly demonstrates the fact that philanthropy is her middle name.

Her entry into the country for a three-day charity tour was devoid of the usual razzmatazz that is usually associated with the arrival of international icons, and business was as usual at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.

“Who’s this,” one of the airport attendants was asking her fellow workmate.

The one half of the William’s tennis sister-act and 23 career Grand Slam winner, Serena was befittingly whisked to Nairobi’s Serena Hotel where she will be based during her stay in the country.

While it was joy for all Kenyan tennis lovers to host the icon, it was a harsh reverse for the array of journalists who had camped at the airport for hours to cover her arrival, after they were left disappointed when they were denied interviews.

“She’s not in a position of speaking to the press at the moment, as she is jet-lagged,” was all the already long-faced journalists could get from one of her hosts.

But for the photojournalists, they had a field day as they took pictures of the decorated superstar, some only see in foreign media.

The world of constantly changing hats that Serena inhabits, in which she is forever switching between the demands of top-flight tennis, fashion design, acting, philanthropic deeds and now writing an inspirational memoir that will double as her life history, can mean that a mission statement laid down less than two years back earlier becomes a curious thing to revisit.

Hewlett Packard’s managing director for East Africa, Ken Mbwaya, said the visit is indicative of the superstar’s commitment to education.

“As our ambassador, Serena was touched by the plight of children from these areas,” said Mbwaya. “This has made many keen to learn, even with the daily challenges and limitations. Education is the best platform to invest in as it empowers whole communities.”

Patrick O’Sullivan, the Build African Schools founder and chief executive officer, said the objectives of his non-profitable organisation is to build primary and secondary schools in marginalised areas.

Many are the times Serena has stated her intentions of achieving something one week and then apparently done completely the opposite. Her upbringing decreed that there would always be other aims and interests in the Williams sisters’ lives. For Serena the most discernible is a desire to make a meaningful contribution to her roots.