Last Friday we had our first trip to the slum schools. Everyone gets really excited about the slum schools, I suppose it's because they're so different from the village schools we all go to. The head teacher at Mukeu once tried to explain the difference to me, saying that a lot of people opt to move into the city in search for better paid work, but to afford it they have to live in the slums. His opinion was why would anyone want to give up the fresh air and space of the village for a slum?
The slums are exactly as you would expect, like the shanty towns you learn about in school. They are built on a rubbish tip, and all houses are made of corrugated iron. It's dirty and smelly and feels claustrophobic. We walked down the main street, then we stopped by a small hole in the corrugated iron. The teacher lifted up the flap and we all went inside to where the tiny school was - over 100 kids. The children were quite well dressed, all in school uniform and their uniforms weren't ripped at all. The older children could all speak English quite well and they were even doing multiplication - that's the first time I’ve seen it in a school - their education is so much better than in village schools. They also did a little dance for us, which is hilarious - I can't really describe it, it is essentially a bum wiggle for the girls and a sort of haka for the boys - brilliant.
After maths we went to 'the field' for sports. We walked up the street with all the kids to the field, which was, a rubbish tip. And I don't mean it was a field full of rubbish, I mean it was actually a landfill site with diggers shifting rubbish around. The smell was really bad at this point and I felt a bit sick. We played duck duck goose with the kids and we sort of danced around (which is what they do quite a lot in schools). Then they split the boys and girls, and the girls played skipping, and the boys played football... I went with the boys and played football, but every time someone would get a goal the ball would go into the rubbish and we had to get one of the locals to get the ball because the kids and we weren't allowed near the rubbish because it was so dangerous. Every now and again a loose goat would join us in the game of football. The day was really crazy and I’m not sure I really like the slums, everyone else really loved it though and are looking forward to the next visit.
On Saturday we climbed mount Longonot. I was very excited about this climb as I drove past it every day I went to Mukeu - it's a volcano in the heart of the Great Rift Valley so the views were going to be spectacular. There were 6 of us climbing that day with varying degrees of experience. What I would say to anyone considering the climb if they come out here, is, don’t underestimate the climb – it’s hot, it’s practically vertical and it takes time to climb. Bring proper walking shoes, 50+ sunscreen, food and at least 2 litres of water (preferably 3). Some of the girls got sick or exhausted, but I had a fantastic day, the views were incredible and the walk was just perfect once you got to the top. Kenyans were literally running past us, some had no water either!
Saturday night some of the girls had planned to go out clubbing in Limuru. I opted to stay in the lodge with some of the other girls and we had cake and popcorn and watched sex in the city (the only DVD we have over here), it was a great night.
On Sunday I went to the Baby Orphanage -Angels. 6 babies live here, and they are orphans because they were either dropped off without a note, left at the hospital because the mum couldn’t afford the price of giving birth (800 shillings – 8 pounds) or the product of a rape. It's heartbreaking to hear and I nearly cried a few times if I thought about it too much. As soon as we got there we were hands on - getting them up, then fed, then we bathed them - I’ve never done more than nervously held a baby before this so for me it was a crash course in babies! I absolutely loved it. I bathed three of the babies including one little girl called Joy who was crying her heart out, I think she had a fever, but not knowing anything about babies I wasn’t sure. I just did what I thought was best and took her by a window with a breeze to cool her down until she stopped crying, then dressed her. I then had to feed and clothe and play with the other babies all afternoon. It was so awesome but exhausting, by the end I had to put my head down on the play mat and fell asleep! The driver Benard picked us up but as he was driving a donkey had run in front of the van causing him to drive the van into a ditch - so we had to wait to get 7 men to literally lift the van out of the ditch!
Monday I went to Hope school, for the first time without Lisa. I came in and the kids were all sat down quietly, and the teacher said to me "I've written work into their books already so they can get started right away" - brilliant news. Then at lunchtime we had a game of duck duck goose, it's always good when you have organised games, it stops them all from jumping on you, plaiting your hair, pulling your watch off etc. In the afternoon they played with the coloured stones Lisa and I made, not sure if they totally got the hang of it but they liked to count them which is always good. As we now have chicks on site, we spend break times with the chicken feed tray on our laps, going through it and picking out the wood chippings, and sometimes little chicken poos. So that's always a nice healthy break from kids jumping on your back... That evening I went for a run, which is the first since I’ve been ill, really glad to be getting back into it.
On Tuesday Mary had gone to Limuru so it was just Esther and I, so I had to take the class by myself again. Seeing as I did such a good job last time I taught ‘chaotic colouring’ again, but this time I was a little more forceful with the naughty kids and had a lot more energy so I just about kept up with it and it didn’t turn into a nightmare like it did last time. First break we sifted the chicken feed from the chicken poos, one of my favourite tasks, then back to class where we used some worksheets I’d had printed up which let the kids trace the letters of the alphabet dot-to-dot style. They love these sheets and already I’ve seen an improvement in their abilities as a result. I asked if I could take the big class the next day, and teach them geography. I just fancied a change from colouring and thought that geography was the only thing I had to offer really. They liked the idea and said that was fine. At lunch time a sheep poked his head into the gates and loudly started to baa - the kids started baa'ing back and we had a hilarious situation for about 5 minutes where the sheep would baa, then the whole school yard would baa back in unison, cracked me up.
That afternoon I got to work on my world map. I'm pretty pleased with the result, though no-one should look too closely at Europe - the placement of some countries is laughable, and Japan looked very odd, and there were some of the 'Stan' countries missing because I couldn't be bothered to put them on, oh yeah and Africa is enormous and so is Kenya, but apart from that the map does look great I promise! I drew and coloured it sat under a tree, and there was an unfortunate incident where a bird crapped on the Philippines, and also a massive drop of water took out half of Eastern Europe, but again, apart from that it looked great!
The next day I took the map into school and they loved it! I also took what I thought was a blow up globe, thinking I could start with an explanation of the earth being round and rotating etc, but unfortunately I blew it up and it was more like an inflatable pillow. I used it anyway, mimicking a globe shape and span it round - I hope the kids don’t currently think we live on rectangular shaped planet... Then I showed them the map and told them about where they lived, and where I came from, then we talked about some big countries and which were hot and which were cold etc, they didn’t really get it but they seemed to be entertained. More chicken feed sifting, colouring and letter dot-to-dots that day, then I got picked up at 2pm an hour early, which was a nice change, so I went home, sunbathed and later took another run.
My last day at Hope school was Thursday and it was eventful! In the morning Gillian and Megan came with me to school to teach the kids fire safety (Gillian's a fire-fighter at home). We went through their first aid kit and made a note of fire hazards and planned a day next week where Gillian will teach them how to put fires out. I adapted the London's burning song so we can teach that to them to help understand, so now it goes "School is burning, school is burning, call the teacher, call the teacher, fire fire! fire fire! pour the water, pour the water." with little hand actions. I was pretty pleased with myself for thinking of this :) The girls helped out in class a bit and the kids behaved impeccably, so they were both impressed. Then at lunchtime I had brought a massive box of biscuits (no sweets as the little ones can choke on them) they all loved the biscuits and have enough for the following weeks. I also brought my ipod and docking station as I wanted to try to have a little party - the party was a massive success as the kids absolutely loved the music!! They were all dancing around and following dance movements we were doing. We started off with Paul Simon which I thought was appropriate, then put on some Rusted Root which has an African beat. Back in the UK I had mused with my friends, if you had to play one song to Africans that depicts Western music, what would it be? Of all the songs we talked about, the very last on my list was the one that they loved the most - Barbara Streisand by Duck Sauce (please don't ask me why I have this on my ipod). As it had a fast pace they LOVED it, we danced around like crazy for ages and the kids hummed along to the tune, a little girl called Joyce who is a great African dancer and smiles all the time was just loving the music - I will take that image with me forever.
On the weekend the girls and I will be going to Mombasa, another little trip we booked through African Impact. After that I will be travelling straight to Moshi to climb Kilimanjaro!! I can't wait for the Kili climb, but I also am starting to miss home. I LOVE it here but I miss my family and boyfriend, I miss English cheese and cups of tea with cold milk, I miss chocolate... I want a change of clothes and to update my ipod and to watch a film other than sex in the city... and I miss hair conditioner. But I’ll miss the girls here, I’ll miss my uninterrupted, peaceful sleeping, I’ll miss the running track and the weather, and the kids, and the variety and unpredictability of every day and I’ll miss teaching!!
Friday 18 March 2011
Sunday 13 March 2011
Feeding programme and chicken chaos
It was the day of the fortnightly feeding programme. I had seen a few pictures and heard a bit about it from the other girls and understood that it was quite hard because you are essentially dishing out food parcels to the poor. There were loads of volunteers that day, about 11, so we could all take a food station - maize, rice, matches, oil, butter, tea, money, bread (I was on bread) bottles, beans, newspaper to light fires with, and salt. The whole thing is run by a local white Kenyan. She was very nice to us, but quite impatient at times and shouted at one woman who was late that if she was late again she'd get no food. She also got very agitated if the queue got out of shape. Kenyans aren't exactly known for their ability to queue and be on time... It was a strange event - all these incredibly poor people lined up with tickets round their necks, and then they passed down the line putting each item into their bag. Eventually everyone who had a ticket had passed through and collected their stuff, and there was a bit remaining. So we dished it out into 40 separate piles, and let 40 non-ticketed hopefuls who were outside come in and take a parcel. At the end of the second phase there was a little left over, So some of the girls were given this and told to "give it to the most deserving". Most of the volunteers weren't that keen on the feeding programme but we later learnt there was so much more to this situation than meets the eye.
We came back to Brackenhurst and had a 'reflection' session where we discussed the feeding programme at length. We were all asked our opinions on it, so I was honest and said I was a bit embarrassed to be there, a white person handing out food scraps to the poor black people. I don't think it agrees with African Impact's fundamental principles of sustainable projects so I wasn't sure why they were supporting it. They completely agreed, and we then got into a lengthy debate about what to do about it. Would pulling out and not offering a solution be better than continuing to help until we have a solution? What solutions could you suggest to the organizer who's so stuck in her ways? Does this give us an avenue into the community, after all it was through the programme that we got to know Hope school? How can you assess people's need for the food parcels, what makes them qualify and who are we to decide? And the beneficiaries have become dependent on the parcels so to change would be a massive upheaval for the community – how would they feel if instead of giving them 20 shillings to buy a cabbage we gave them cabbage seeds - grateful to be able to help themselves, or frustrated that they have no land to grow crops and have to wait months and work really hard on the land for the same result? It went on for an hour so I won't go into the details but I came out full of thought and definitely felt differently about the feeding programme afterwards.
The afternoon we went to Mukeu school for a bit of afternoon fun. I sat with Margaret, one of the clever kids I used to work with, and we found a rope so we tried some double skipping, then I tied her up in the rope and span her around much to the amusement of the other kids. We had to cut our visit short because one of the little boys David had fallen ill in the morning, and needed to be taken to hospital by us (we had taken the truck due to there being so many of us). So we left shortly and picked him up from a local clinic. Apparently he had a twisted intestine and in Kenya, that is life threatening because they don't have the ability/capacity to operate on such a thing. When we picked David up he seemed in good spirits, and was very excited to be on the bus. When the teacher asked him how he was feeling he said "sweet" - it brought a tear to my eye seeing him so happy just because he was on a bus, and knowing what he had ahead of him. I found it frustrating that the hospitals can't deal with something that in the UK wouldn't be life-threatening. I can tell you that David made it through the night and his intestines untwisted themselves and he's on the road to recovery.
That night Lisa and I painted some stones we collected. part of the syllabus for under 5s to get into primary school is to show they can 'sort and group' and they have no facilities at all at Hope school, so we thought we'd collect 3 sizes of stones, small medium and large, and paint them all different colours, so the kids could first sort by size, then by colour. The stones look great and the teacher Mary was really happy with them.
So it was back to Hope school on Thursday, and in my post chest-infection state I was hoping to take it a little bit easy today. Instead, the teacher Esther didn't turn up, so I had to take the entire class, by myself. If the lesson I was supposed to be teaching was 'chaotic colouring' then I should get some sort of award because my class excelled in that subject today. It was complete mayhem. The kids were banging the tables, some were on the tables jumping up and down, others wet themselves, lots started to cry or fight, if I could get one sat down with a picture and a colouring pencil they were quiet for a whole 2 minutes but I have 35 in my class so that was near impossible. Think of the scene in Kindergarden Cop when Arnie first takes the class and you'll get an idea of my morning.
Now I know what you're thinking, you're thinking "What Lydia could really of done with to help her in that class, in amongst the chaos and potentially dangerous situations, is not a Swahili translator, not some calming music perhaps, or even a qualified teacher. No. What she needs is a box of 400 chickens delivered." Well I can tell you that you thought correctly, as that is exactly what I was given that afternoon. The chicks were actually part of a project to give Hope school a sustainable income and I knew all about it and thought it was a great idea, but at that moment I was wondering where that crazy idea had come from. The chicks were very cute though...
The weekend i climbed Mount Longonot and went to a baby orphanage with Lisa - i'll write about that in the next entry. Lisa left on Sunday which was really sad, i don't know how i'm going to cope with Hope school by myself for a week but hey i'll soon find out...
Here are a couple of extra things that have happened in the previous weeks that I forgot to mention:
- The kids are obsessed with my 'Teenwolf' hairy arms. Mortifying.
- Have to be careful at the dinner buffet as they like to hide bananas in the food - disguised as the dish. So you think you may be getting battered fish, but in fact you may have just picked up a battered banana. Or, looks like curried potatoes - no. It's curried bananas.
- In the first week a small hurricane passed through the BOC playground. It was perfectly still air, then it got a bit windy, then a bit windier, and we just laughed and covered our eyes, then all of a sudden it got windier and then it got to the point that panic set in and we all scrambled for safety. It reminded me of the time my family let a firework off in the back garden and it fell over and shot toward me, my mum and brother. Natural instinct took over and we all tried to save ourselves but instead all three of us got stuck in the kitchen doorway. The wind was really quite terrifying, but it settled quite quickly. Later the driver told us that they get mini hurricanes through the area and that was one. Awesome.
- I found an entire separate section to our cottage, with another 20 beds, a kitchen and a living room, and in the lounge was a guitar! I had visions of me tuning the guitar and taking it into school to sing King of the Swingers to the kids, but after tuning it i realised that the neck was actually broken, lifting the strings about an inch from the stem so a beginner like me could never get a tune out of it. Shame.
- I made a huge mistake last week. I don't know what got into me but i ordered the cheese and ham sandwich. Suffice to say things haven't changed in that department and i was left bitterly disappointed...
We came back to Brackenhurst and had a 'reflection' session where we discussed the feeding programme at length. We were all asked our opinions on it, so I was honest and said I was a bit embarrassed to be there, a white person handing out food scraps to the poor black people. I don't think it agrees with African Impact's fundamental principles of sustainable projects so I wasn't sure why they were supporting it. They completely agreed, and we then got into a lengthy debate about what to do about it. Would pulling out and not offering a solution be better than continuing to help until we have a solution? What solutions could you suggest to the organizer who's so stuck in her ways? Does this give us an avenue into the community, after all it was through the programme that we got to know Hope school? How can you assess people's need for the food parcels, what makes them qualify and who are we to decide? And the beneficiaries have become dependent on the parcels so to change would be a massive upheaval for the community – how would they feel if instead of giving them 20 shillings to buy a cabbage we gave them cabbage seeds - grateful to be able to help themselves, or frustrated that they have no land to grow crops and have to wait months and work really hard on the land for the same result? It went on for an hour so I won't go into the details but I came out full of thought and definitely felt differently about the feeding programme afterwards.
The afternoon we went to Mukeu school for a bit of afternoon fun. I sat with Margaret, one of the clever kids I used to work with, and we found a rope so we tried some double skipping, then I tied her up in the rope and span her around much to the amusement of the other kids. We had to cut our visit short because one of the little boys David had fallen ill in the morning, and needed to be taken to hospital by us (we had taken the truck due to there being so many of us). So we left shortly and picked him up from a local clinic. Apparently he had a twisted intestine and in Kenya, that is life threatening because they don't have the ability/capacity to operate on such a thing. When we picked David up he seemed in good spirits, and was very excited to be on the bus. When the teacher asked him how he was feeling he said "sweet" - it brought a tear to my eye seeing him so happy just because he was on a bus, and knowing what he had ahead of him. I found it frustrating that the hospitals can't deal with something that in the UK wouldn't be life-threatening. I can tell you that David made it through the night and his intestines untwisted themselves and he's on the road to recovery.
That night Lisa and I painted some stones we collected. part of the syllabus for under 5s to get into primary school is to show they can 'sort and group' and they have no facilities at all at Hope school, so we thought we'd collect 3 sizes of stones, small medium and large, and paint them all different colours, so the kids could first sort by size, then by colour. The stones look great and the teacher Mary was really happy with them.
So it was back to Hope school on Thursday, and in my post chest-infection state I was hoping to take it a little bit easy today. Instead, the teacher Esther didn't turn up, so I had to take the entire class, by myself. If the lesson I was supposed to be teaching was 'chaotic colouring' then I should get some sort of award because my class excelled in that subject today. It was complete mayhem. The kids were banging the tables, some were on the tables jumping up and down, others wet themselves, lots started to cry or fight, if I could get one sat down with a picture and a colouring pencil they were quiet for a whole 2 minutes but I have 35 in my class so that was near impossible. Think of the scene in Kindergarden Cop when Arnie first takes the class and you'll get an idea of my morning.
Now I know what you're thinking, you're thinking "What Lydia could really of done with to help her in that class, in amongst the chaos and potentially dangerous situations, is not a Swahili translator, not some calming music perhaps, or even a qualified teacher. No. What she needs is a box of 400 chickens delivered." Well I can tell you that you thought correctly, as that is exactly what I was given that afternoon. The chicks were actually part of a project to give Hope school a sustainable income and I knew all about it and thought it was a great idea, but at that moment I was wondering where that crazy idea had come from. The chicks were very cute though...
The weekend i climbed Mount Longonot and went to a baby orphanage with Lisa - i'll write about that in the next entry. Lisa left on Sunday which was really sad, i don't know how i'm going to cope with Hope school by myself for a week but hey i'll soon find out...
Here are a couple of extra things that have happened in the previous weeks that I forgot to mention:
- The kids are obsessed with my 'Teenwolf' hairy arms. Mortifying.
- Have to be careful at the dinner buffet as they like to hide bananas in the food - disguised as the dish. So you think you may be getting battered fish, but in fact you may have just picked up a battered banana. Or, looks like curried potatoes - no. It's curried bananas.
- In the first week a small hurricane passed through the BOC playground. It was perfectly still air, then it got a bit windy, then a bit windier, and we just laughed and covered our eyes, then all of a sudden it got windier and then it got to the point that panic set in and we all scrambled for safety. It reminded me of the time my family let a firework off in the back garden and it fell over and shot toward me, my mum and brother. Natural instinct took over and we all tried to save ourselves but instead all three of us got stuck in the kitchen doorway. The wind was really quite terrifying, but it settled quite quickly. Later the driver told us that they get mini hurricanes through the area and that was one. Awesome.
- I found an entire separate section to our cottage, with another 20 beds, a kitchen and a living room, and in the lounge was a guitar! I had visions of me tuning the guitar and taking it into school to sing King of the Swingers to the kids, but after tuning it i realised that the neck was actually broken, lifting the strings about an inch from the stem so a beginner like me could never get a tune out of it. Shame.
- I made a huge mistake last week. I don't know what got into me but i ordered the cheese and ham sandwich. Suffice to say things haven't changed in that department and i was left bitterly disappointed...
Tuesday 8 March 2011
Giraffe Kissing & Recovery
In my last entry I hadn't been feeling too well after a day of painting at the BOC school. I decided not to go to Hope school on Thursday and instead I stayed in the cottage wrapped up in a duvet, eating crisps and watching films. By the time the rest of the girls got home I felt much better. On Friday we went back to BOC for more painting. As a lefty it turns out I’m terrible at painting walls and get my arm in the paint continually, so I don’t think I contributed much, but the girls did a great job of painting all the animals. In the afternoon we went back to the markets as we do every Friday, and I discovered a place that does chocolate ice-cream with chocolate sauce... amazing.
On the weekends with African Impact you're free to do what you want. They'll help you book trips around the area, you could visit more schools & projects in the area, or you can just relax in the grounds. That weekend we planned to go to Nairobi National park, the giraffe sanctuary and the elephant orphanage. We got up at 5:30 to be ready for the bus at 6. In Kenyan time, that means that the bus will come any time between 6 and 6:55, and he turned up at 6:40am.... We were all starving having had no breakfast so we were a bit grumbly on the way to the park. I decided to pack a flask of tea though so I was fine (yes i know i am a grandma).
There were 6 of us on the trip - two Canadians Megan and Gill, another Megan from the UK, Fer from Mexico, and me and Lisa, it was a really great group. When we got to the park the driver did something to the roof so it lifted right up and you could stand up and see outside. He drove us around the park looking for animals. I had my binoculars so I could see things a bit more clearly than everyone else but Fer had a great camera, so between us we got so see a lot and got some good photos. The driver however, clearly couldn't be bothered with the trip and failed to stop a number of times when we asked him too, nearly ran over an ostrich and also took speed bumps at about 30mph, and as we were all standing all the time this would send us flying. But we did think it was funny and part of the experience, we had to be quite forceful with him in the end shouting "STOP THE VAN!" etc. To begin with we saw a few distance giraffes which I got a bit over-excited about, then we saw loads and loads of close up giraffes, and then we were bored of giraffes - they were like the pigeons of the park. We also saw lions - a male and female together, and a pack of females, we saw water buffalo and zebras, ostriches and rhinos, and I was lucky enough to see a 2m water monitor which quickly scuttled off so no-one else got to see it. It was such an amazing morning.
After the national park we went to an Elephant orphanage. They bring the baby elephants in and there are hundreds of tourists there snapping away as someone gives a talk and the elephants get fed and frolic in the mud. They were adorable, and so small, most of them would come up to your waist! Then they brought out some slightly bigger elephants and the snappers snapped away again. I got a good video of one of the elephants telling off some passing warthogs which was quite amusing. It was a bit touristy for me, and I was feeling rather faint from the lack of food and heat and I did stumble over at one point, so I was glad when the girls started saying similar things and there became talk of going to get a pizza...
After the pizza lunch we felt so much better and made our way to the giraffe sanctuary. Here you climb into sort of tree houses and the giraffes stick their heads in and you can feed them. The park attendants encourage you to give the giraffes a kiss by putting the food in your mouth so the giraffes eat it right out of your lips...an experience i'll never forget! The giraffe tongues are hygienic as the saliva is a natural antiseptic, so there was no harm in doing it. It was great fun, we all had a laugh and after a bit of time and much squealing from the girls, everyone ended up doing it. The tongue feels a bit like worn sandpaper, and yes it was slobbery! But they were so unbelievable up close, i can't believe how close i've been to a giraffes face.
That was Saturday day and we got back at 5ish. We were quite tired so most went to bed early that night. The next day a few of the girls went to church with one of the teachers, but I was planning a lie-in. Unfortunately i woke up really quite unwell, as did Lisa. It seems that the illness I had in the previous week had started to take hold again and as i was coughing up new lifeforms, Lisas glands were up and she was coughing and aching.
So we couldn't go swimming which was a bit disappointing, especially for Fer who was perfectly well. All we could do is lie around in the sun and hope we got better. On Monday morning i did feel slightly better, so i went to Hope school, though i asked to be picked up at lunchtime so that i didn't completely exhaust myself. We spent the morning colouring again (surprise surprise) and had some local college students in to take notes on the class, to get tips (tips on how to create intense chaos in the smallest space possible?!) Normally I try to be really active in the class, drawing pictures, marking books, picking up the kids who fall over, spotting the ones who've wet themselves and giving them to the teacher, etc, but it just all got a bit much for me, and by the lunch break i was sat with probably 10 kids all trying to clamber on top of me, then i saw one baby walk past with his pants down and what looked like poo all over his hands, and my illness just broke me - i got up and stood round the side of the building for a few minutes trying to work out what to do, so i got my water and some Nurofen, got a stool sat in the shade and told the teacher that i was really unwell and i needed to be picked up ASAP.
They came really quickly, and took me to the doctors on site at Brackenhurst. He concluded that i've got a chest infection, and the kidney pain he couldn't explain but my god did he give me some strong painkillers for that! So i now have to take 9 pills a day, and feel like i'm floating in a cloud every time i take the painkillers! Altogether that cost me 1200 shillings, which is about 12 dollars/10 pounds.
I went to bed early Monday night and then stayed at home Tuesday. Bored, eating crisps and watching the entire series 6 of Flight of the Conchords. The day of rest and the antibiotics has sorted me out completely and now i feel like a different person, ready to take on the rest of the week...
On the weekends with African Impact you're free to do what you want. They'll help you book trips around the area, you could visit more schools & projects in the area, or you can just relax in the grounds. That weekend we planned to go to Nairobi National park, the giraffe sanctuary and the elephant orphanage. We got up at 5:30 to be ready for the bus at 6. In Kenyan time, that means that the bus will come any time between 6 and 6:55, and he turned up at 6:40am.... We were all starving having had no breakfast so we were a bit grumbly on the way to the park. I decided to pack a flask of tea though so I was fine (yes i know i am a grandma).
There were 6 of us on the trip - two Canadians Megan and Gill, another Megan from the UK, Fer from Mexico, and me and Lisa, it was a really great group. When we got to the park the driver did something to the roof so it lifted right up and you could stand up and see outside. He drove us around the park looking for animals. I had my binoculars so I could see things a bit more clearly than everyone else but Fer had a great camera, so between us we got so see a lot and got some good photos. The driver however, clearly couldn't be bothered with the trip and failed to stop a number of times when we asked him too, nearly ran over an ostrich and also took speed bumps at about 30mph, and as we were all standing all the time this would send us flying. But we did think it was funny and part of the experience, we had to be quite forceful with him in the end shouting "STOP THE VAN!" etc. To begin with we saw a few distance giraffes which I got a bit over-excited about, then we saw loads and loads of close up giraffes, and then we were bored of giraffes - they were like the pigeons of the park. We also saw lions - a male and female together, and a pack of females, we saw water buffalo and zebras, ostriches and rhinos, and I was lucky enough to see a 2m water monitor which quickly scuttled off so no-one else got to see it. It was such an amazing morning.
After the national park we went to an Elephant orphanage. They bring the baby elephants in and there are hundreds of tourists there snapping away as someone gives a talk and the elephants get fed and frolic in the mud. They were adorable, and so small, most of them would come up to your waist! Then they brought out some slightly bigger elephants and the snappers snapped away again. I got a good video of one of the elephants telling off some passing warthogs which was quite amusing. It was a bit touristy for me, and I was feeling rather faint from the lack of food and heat and I did stumble over at one point, so I was glad when the girls started saying similar things and there became talk of going to get a pizza...
After the pizza lunch we felt so much better and made our way to the giraffe sanctuary. Here you climb into sort of tree houses and the giraffes stick their heads in and you can feed them. The park attendants encourage you to give the giraffes a kiss by putting the food in your mouth so the giraffes eat it right out of your lips...an experience i'll never forget! The giraffe tongues are hygienic as the saliva is a natural antiseptic, so there was no harm in doing it. It was great fun, we all had a laugh and after a bit of time and much squealing from the girls, everyone ended up doing it. The tongue feels a bit like worn sandpaper, and yes it was slobbery! But they were so unbelievable up close, i can't believe how close i've been to a giraffes face.
That was Saturday day and we got back at 5ish. We were quite tired so most went to bed early that night. The next day a few of the girls went to church with one of the teachers, but I was planning a lie-in. Unfortunately i woke up really quite unwell, as did Lisa. It seems that the illness I had in the previous week had started to take hold again and as i was coughing up new lifeforms, Lisas glands were up and she was coughing and aching.
So we couldn't go swimming which was a bit disappointing, especially for Fer who was perfectly well. All we could do is lie around in the sun and hope we got better. On Monday morning i did feel slightly better, so i went to Hope school, though i asked to be picked up at lunchtime so that i didn't completely exhaust myself. We spent the morning colouring again (surprise surprise) and had some local college students in to take notes on the class, to get tips (tips on how to create intense chaos in the smallest space possible?!) Normally I try to be really active in the class, drawing pictures, marking books, picking up the kids who fall over, spotting the ones who've wet themselves and giving them to the teacher, etc, but it just all got a bit much for me, and by the lunch break i was sat with probably 10 kids all trying to clamber on top of me, then i saw one baby walk past with his pants down and what looked like poo all over his hands, and my illness just broke me - i got up and stood round the side of the building for a few minutes trying to work out what to do, so i got my water and some Nurofen, got a stool sat in the shade and told the teacher that i was really unwell and i needed to be picked up ASAP.
They came really quickly, and took me to the doctors on site at Brackenhurst. He concluded that i've got a chest infection, and the kidney pain he couldn't explain but my god did he give me some strong painkillers for that! So i now have to take 9 pills a day, and feel like i'm floating in a cloud every time i take the painkillers! Altogether that cost me 1200 shillings, which is about 12 dollars/10 pounds.
I went to bed early Monday night and then stayed at home Tuesday. Bored, eating crisps and watching the entire series 6 of Flight of the Conchords. The day of rest and the antibiotics has sorted me out completely and now i feel like a different person, ready to take on the rest of the week...
Thursday 3 March 2011
Powercuts, storms and animal drawings
On Friday evening after the markets, we were in Brackenhurst grounds relaxing when there was a power cut. It’s pretty dark here without any light, there are no neighbouring houses or street lamps to help guide the way, so you can’t even see your hand in front of your face. I was in the main building at the time and so packed up and made my way to the cottage, where I found all the girls huddled under duvets with candles, looking petrified. It turned out that the guard who sits outside the cottage had scared them by telling them to stay inside the building as there was an intruder in the grounds! (Brackenhurst is well protected, has a perimeter fence and armed guards outside our cottage as standard) The guard even had a bow and arrow for defence, and to quantify his story Robert had come back to the cottage after getting lost in the grounds and found himself surrounded by armed guards! It was all quite funny and after securing the windows we went to sleep with no problems. The next day the head of security casually explained that there was an opportunistic intruder who during the power cut had tried to steal some maize. This was our first blackout so it was quite a drama, but since then there have been many, to the point where I’ve taken to wearing my head torch most evenings just in case. It’s happened at dinner a couple of nights, and twice in the supermarket – seems completely normal now!
That Saturday we tried to go to the local country club which is down the road from Brackenhurst to use their swimming pool but unfortunately that particular day it was closed for cleaning so we couldn’t go. We planned to go Sunday instead, but it started to rain, and the rain didn’t stop all week… Selfishly I wanted the rain to stop so that I could get outside again, and so that the schools weren’t muddy, but really the rain was fantastic news for the area as it fills the wells, waters the crops and feeds the animals, so the week long rainstorm was a blessing.
On the weekend I’d found out that three new girls would be joining us at Mukeu school. I thought long and hard about what I wanted to get out of my time here with African Impact. There would now be so many of us at Mukeu school, and I wanted to get teaching experience which I wasn’t really getting at Mukeu school, so I decided that I should go to Hope school instead where there was currently only one volunteer. So I spoke to Charity the project coordinator, who said it was fine and arranged for me to change projects. I felt incredibly sad about leaving all the kids and teachers I’d already bonded with, but I wanted to make the most of my time here so felt it was the right decision.
Monday morning came and all the girls were back from their Safari, and I was glad to be getting back into a weekly routine. It was my first day at Hope school, and it was explained to me that I should spend the first week observing, and getting to know the teachers. What was absolutely crucial about my time in Hope school is that any changes I may want to bring about need to be channeled through Mary, so that she can keep it up once I’m gone. In the past apparently volunteers have come in and tried to change lesson structure etc, but when they leave it goes back to how it was originally. Since then volunteers have introduced things slowly, such as suggesting to Mary that they have a bit of structure to the class, so she has since always had break time and lunch at the set times of the day. The school is still very much in its infancy so I was advised to be aware that there would be a lot of things that I may see need improvements, but I should just take it very slowly to begin with.
With that in mind, I went to the school and met the teachers Esther and Mary. I was also with another volunteer and now very good friend, Lisa. It was great being together with Lisa at the school as we could take little breaks together or discuss what was going on. I was put into the youngest class with Esther –the 2-4 yr olds. It was so muddy that all their little shoes were caked in mud, so they couldn't even lift their feet, and they brought the mud into the classroom. It was pretty hard work that day, trying to integrate with the teachers, trying to get to know the kids, and dealing with the mud... I spent lunchtime sat on a chair, a child on each knee, one in between the two sitting on my lap, one on my back shouting 'stand! stand!' and another one or two completely absorbed in my watch, so my left hand being pulled from my body. If i got up, I’d take all the kids with me, so i looked like some sort of magnet lady for little kids. After reflection on my first day I felt that although the classes are chaotic, i did feel like i got to teach a little more there, so I’m pleased I made the switch. The difference is that all the kids get set the same work so I can keep up with the pace of the class easier, though I do still have to frantically write it in their books. Just like the Mukeu kids, they hurry back up to me and place their books in my laps ready to get it marked, and this goes on for hours. The little ones can only colour, so they just give me scribbled pictures, and i dutifully tick them, and then give them another picture. You have to be quite inventive after a while for the fast kids! I love it at Hope now, but my first day was the most exhausting of my life, i could hardly string a sentence together when i got home.
Don't ask me why but instead of going to sleep that night i decided to stay up and read a book until 12am. It was the most ridiculous chick lit book i've ever come across but i couldn't put it down. So i had a very restless night, and had to get up again the next day at 6:30, so i was extremely tired. The second day at Hope was much the same as the first, though with slightly less mud. Then in the afternoon, the skies opened and it rained like i've never known rain before. It also hailed, and the hailstones were so big the kids were collecting them and putting them in tupperware boxes. Bear in mind as well that i was in a tin roofed building at this point, with 60 under 6's, i found the noise, and the water pouring in the sides of the building, terrifying. i had to make sure i didn't show panic and kept a smile on the whole time, but inside i was imagining that my friends and family would all see me on the news from the view of the helicopter, clinging onto the roof of the school building. The rain did not relent but we were eventually picked up. That night, the thunderstorm was like nothing i've ever known before, no exaggeration. It was like Kenya was being bombed. The next day the driver told us that half the village were in a real panic and thought it was the ‘second coming’ - this showed me that even for Kenya this weather must be extraordinary…
On Wednesday I went to BOC school – they needed some animals drawn on the wall and lots of educational stimulus painted, so we all went to do our bit. I loved Wednesday - i drew cows, goats, monkeys, elephants, giraffes - you name it i drew it! I had felt a bit unwell that morning and as the day went on i felt worse and worse. We were picked up fairly early and taken home where i went straight to bed, as i came down with a really horrid cold, sore throat and bad chest. We all worry whilst we're out here of getting ill, especially when you spend the day with kids who cough all over you (and i'm not inoculated for TB). You do worry about Malaria too, even though there are hardly any mosquitoes in Limuru because of the altitude. But some of the other girls are also ill, which made me think it's just a cold.
My time with African Impact has just been getting better and better. I’ve made loads of really good friends now, I go to bed every night feeling really satisfied and wake up revived and really excited about the day ahead – haven’t felt like that in a long time. The next blog entry will be about the giraffe sanctuary, the feeding programme and more chaos at Hope school!!
That Saturday we tried to go to the local country club which is down the road from Brackenhurst to use their swimming pool but unfortunately that particular day it was closed for cleaning so we couldn’t go. We planned to go Sunday instead, but it started to rain, and the rain didn’t stop all week… Selfishly I wanted the rain to stop so that I could get outside again, and so that the schools weren’t muddy, but really the rain was fantastic news for the area as it fills the wells, waters the crops and feeds the animals, so the week long rainstorm was a blessing.
On the weekend I’d found out that three new girls would be joining us at Mukeu school. I thought long and hard about what I wanted to get out of my time here with African Impact. There would now be so many of us at Mukeu school, and I wanted to get teaching experience which I wasn’t really getting at Mukeu school, so I decided that I should go to Hope school instead where there was currently only one volunteer. So I spoke to Charity the project coordinator, who said it was fine and arranged for me to change projects. I felt incredibly sad about leaving all the kids and teachers I’d already bonded with, but I wanted to make the most of my time here so felt it was the right decision.
Monday morning came and all the girls were back from their Safari, and I was glad to be getting back into a weekly routine. It was my first day at Hope school, and it was explained to me that I should spend the first week observing, and getting to know the teachers. What was absolutely crucial about my time in Hope school is that any changes I may want to bring about need to be channeled through Mary, so that she can keep it up once I’m gone. In the past apparently volunteers have come in and tried to change lesson structure etc, but when they leave it goes back to how it was originally. Since then volunteers have introduced things slowly, such as suggesting to Mary that they have a bit of structure to the class, so she has since always had break time and lunch at the set times of the day. The school is still very much in its infancy so I was advised to be aware that there would be a lot of things that I may see need improvements, but I should just take it very slowly to begin with.
With that in mind, I went to the school and met the teachers Esther and Mary. I was also with another volunteer and now very good friend, Lisa. It was great being together with Lisa at the school as we could take little breaks together or discuss what was going on. I was put into the youngest class with Esther –the 2-4 yr olds. It was so muddy that all their little shoes were caked in mud, so they couldn't even lift their feet, and they brought the mud into the classroom. It was pretty hard work that day, trying to integrate with the teachers, trying to get to know the kids, and dealing with the mud... I spent lunchtime sat on a chair, a child on each knee, one in between the two sitting on my lap, one on my back shouting 'stand! stand!' and another one or two completely absorbed in my watch, so my left hand being pulled from my body. If i got up, I’d take all the kids with me, so i looked like some sort of magnet lady for little kids. After reflection on my first day I felt that although the classes are chaotic, i did feel like i got to teach a little more there, so I’m pleased I made the switch. The difference is that all the kids get set the same work so I can keep up with the pace of the class easier, though I do still have to frantically write it in their books. Just like the Mukeu kids, they hurry back up to me and place their books in my laps ready to get it marked, and this goes on for hours. The little ones can only colour, so they just give me scribbled pictures, and i dutifully tick them, and then give them another picture. You have to be quite inventive after a while for the fast kids! I love it at Hope now, but my first day was the most exhausting of my life, i could hardly string a sentence together when i got home.
Don't ask me why but instead of going to sleep that night i decided to stay up and read a book until 12am. It was the most ridiculous chick lit book i've ever come across but i couldn't put it down. So i had a very restless night, and had to get up again the next day at 6:30, so i was extremely tired. The second day at Hope was much the same as the first, though with slightly less mud. Then in the afternoon, the skies opened and it rained like i've never known rain before. It also hailed, and the hailstones were so big the kids were collecting them and putting them in tupperware boxes. Bear in mind as well that i was in a tin roofed building at this point, with 60 under 6's, i found the noise, and the water pouring in the sides of the building, terrifying. i had to make sure i didn't show panic and kept a smile on the whole time, but inside i was imagining that my friends and family would all see me on the news from the view of the helicopter, clinging onto the roof of the school building. The rain did not relent but we were eventually picked up. That night, the thunderstorm was like nothing i've ever known before, no exaggeration. It was like Kenya was being bombed. The next day the driver told us that half the village were in a real panic and thought it was the ‘second coming’ - this showed me that even for Kenya this weather must be extraordinary…
On Wednesday I went to BOC school – they needed some animals drawn on the wall and lots of educational stimulus painted, so we all went to do our bit. I loved Wednesday - i drew cows, goats, monkeys, elephants, giraffes - you name it i drew it! I had felt a bit unwell that morning and as the day went on i felt worse and worse. We were picked up fairly early and taken home where i went straight to bed, as i came down with a really horrid cold, sore throat and bad chest. We all worry whilst we're out here of getting ill, especially when you spend the day with kids who cough all over you (and i'm not inoculated for TB). You do worry about Malaria too, even though there are hardly any mosquitoes in Limuru because of the altitude. But some of the other girls are also ill, which made me think it's just a cold.
My time with African Impact has just been getting better and better. I’ve made loads of really good friends now, I go to bed every night feeling really satisfied and wake up revived and really excited about the day ahead – haven’t felt like that in a long time. The next blog entry will be about the giraffe sanctuary, the feeding programme and more chaos at Hope school!!
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