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Published: December 6th 2010
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So we arrived in Kenya, the land of 'no worries', only to find, quite worryingly, that our transport was not there to pick us up!
After some calling around, we finally had a pick up, with the excuse of 'Kenya time'. We are starting to gather this concept now...
We arrived at our accommodation during the afternoon. After all the jokes about mud huts, we were getting slightly concerned when our car slowed down and stopped in the middle of a slum. We were really starting to panic, but then we realised there was a nice big house hidden behind the slum. This was where we would spend the first 2 nights. We had bunk beds and a cold shower, and we soon found out that this would be luxury compared to what was next! So far it was definitely a culture shock-people everywhere, loud music and slums in all the areas. At this stage it wasn't feeling too safe
.
Next day was orientation and we found out that due to our request to be 'rural' (though we don't remember that request!), we were headed to an IDP (that's an internally displaced people's camp) to spend a couple of
weeks working in the school that had been built 2 months earlier.
So it did happen, we arrived in Gilgil at the camp, and it was what we had been joking about all along-a house, not quite a mud hut, more clay, with no electric, running water and a hole in the ground for a loo. Just a wee bit of a shock to the system.
The camp itself is made up of between 40-50 tents where families have been living since they were burnt out of their homes after the violence due to the elections here in 2007. They lived in a stadium in tents for a year and then had been moved to this camp at Gilgil. The problem for them is that they are living an 'inbetween' life. They lost everything during the violence and now have nothing. Yet they cannot start again as they are always being told the Government will move them on somewhere else. The Government delivers food, but not nearly enough and we could quickly see that the people weren't getting enough to eat.
Our first night was interesting with just the flashlight to find the bed and the noise of
mice running across the head of the bed keeping us awake. Not afraid to say it took a few days to get used to this!
We had a bit of a shock on our first day at school when one of the teachers was off sick and we were left to handle about 50 3-4 year olds on our own! Now how would we keep them amused?!! We tried everything-jumping, dancing, singing, letters, numbers-and then about 5 minutes had passed! It was a very long 3 and a half hours. The kids just seemed to laugh at what they call "mzungus" (white people).
What quickly became apparent was that kids didn't have enough to eat and got very tired after an hour or so and some seemed quite ill. To be honest, we felt a little helpless not able to provide them with a solution on our own.
After settling in, time seemed to go quite quickly. Our host family were amazing and looked after us so well. We got used to spending our evenings playing scrabble and cards and passed the days at school or playing with the kids. Enough cannot be said about how positive these people
are despite their situation. We even got to see how much belief they had in God by attending a 5 hour church service in a tin hut. Certainly an experience with all the crazy dancing and singing. We even had to do a speech in front of the congregation about how we devote our lives to God!!
Everywhere we go, people stare and we feel like they have never seen a white person before. However, most people are very friendly and we feel like mini celebrities with people asking "how are you" and shaking our hands all the time!
While we were here, we managed to fit a couple of excursions in. We went on an Outreach programme the first weekend that involved a trip to Hell's gate. We cycled 20kms through the park and then hiked through a gorge for a couple of hours. Pretty exhausting in the heat, but we did manage to see some animals.
We also visited the KCC & Garbage Slums and delivered food packages and helped feed the children. The garbage slum was an awful sight. People live amongst the garbage and have to fight with vultures and pigs for food. HIV
and AIDS also affects almost 50% of the community (around 300).
The next weekend we went on Safari. It would be a crime and not go to the famous Massai Mara. The drive was intersting, taking over 5 hours and driving on the most pot-holed roads we had ever seen. It was alll worth it however as the safari was amazing. It was like the National Geo TV channel!! We saw countless lions, some of which were feeding on a WilderBeast, Giraffes, elephants, a leapord, Cheetahs, hippos, Crocs and so many Zebras and Antelopes. We even managed to see the start of the Zebra migration to Tanzania.
The camping accommodation was surperb and was a real luxury compared to where we had been living. We managed to fill up on good food as well. The food at the IDP hadn't been bad but we could not get used to the Ugali and greens which seems to be the national dish ugggh.
Strangely, we were pretty reluctant to leave and had become rather attached to the family and some of the kids. They all deserve so much better. We are hoping to do some fundraising when we get
home to try and help some more (get those pennies ready!)
It was then back to were we had originally stayed in Nairobi and the comforts of electricity and running water. The time here has went very quickly and we are enjoying nice days teaching in the orphanage. It is great when the kids actually respond and to know that we are making a bit of a difference. We are at the orphanage for the next 4 days and then we head to Mombasa for a few days on the beach before we return to the cold weather of home. Our excuse is that we need a few days to reflect on this trip which has been amazing although we are so excited to be less than 2 weeks away from seeing family and friends. The thoughts of work and where to live are on hold for now......
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