Blogs from Mombasa, Coast Province, Kenya, Africa - page 10

Just at the start of week three now & I have been really busy. Firstly, the work at Hill Wheeler School is coming along great. The plastering is completely finished & looks really good. I went to buy the wood at the end of last week so the builders are currently working on the tables & benches for the dining room as well as some framing for the doors & windows. The floors will be done last & then time for some painting!..which I'm really looking forward to as I want to help. I noticed one of the students at the school to be a really good artist - he draws all the time, even sneakily in lessons. So I asked to look at his work & then suggested that he could design some artwork to ... read more

Today was my favorite day in Mombasa, and possibly my favorite of the trip. The morning was relaxed, with a trip to the internet café to get work done and post. Sarah and I opted against cold spaghetti (or cold anything else) for lunch, so we found a restaurant with chicken and chips. I also enjoyed the slow pace and the part where there weren’t a zillion of us. Several of the others found their way to the church for a kids production or something, and the rest were with us until we split for lunch. We meandered through the streets and alleys we have come to know, negotiating large puddles, goats, and piles of garbage. Some packing was yet to be done, so we can leave tomorrow. Then, Sarah and I packed up the kids- ... read more

Where did July go? Oh yeah, Uganda, Rwanda, Kenya… Sarah got up early to make mandazi. Supposedly she woke me up to help, and I answered her, but I don’t remember at all. When I got to the breakfast table,, there was one lonely mandazi left, so I ate it. Sarah then let the secret go that there were more in the kitchen just for me- shaped like Mickey Mouse even! Once I got those, they others brought out the whole plate of more than a dozen that they had hid from me. Haha. I knew Sarah would take care of me ☺ Today was the last day of school at the school where we’ve been working. They close the school for a few weeks to give everyone a break before starting 3rd term. It was ... read more

Hello Friends I am currently in Mombasa, Kenya, which is on the coast of the Indian Ocean. I am staying in a compound which houses more people than I can count. It’s owned by “Mama” Mary. Her house is never empty, currently filled with her son George (who lives in an outbuilding), another son Timothy, who is 13, her daughter Ann and her grandson Andrea (9), three girls who she looks after and sponsors for school fees- Esther, Mapenzi, Zwadi- Judy and her daughter Faith who also live in an outbuilding, and a family of 5- John and Stella and their children Sidney (12), Rodney (11) and Shirlene (8). Mary and her late husband started a school several years ago, and have been faithfully running it ever since. Their problem is that so many people can’t ... read more

The flight seemed to go on & on & on - I couldn't wait to land Nairobi as it is my first time in Africa. It was so great to step of the plane & see the landscape before me. I had a connecting flight to get so I hurried as we landed later than expected due to a delay at Heathrow. I only had just enought time to get my bags off the plane & drop them into the next flight from Nairobi to Momabsa. When I landed at Mombasa, I collected my bags so quickly as I couldn't wait to meet Moses. I walked through the arrival doors & scanned the mass of people, who were all shouting if I wanted a taxi. Then I saw Moses, and beside him his little boy Keegan ... read more