Day 13 - Monday

This is the start of our last full week in Kenya. The teams have planned their murals for the walls of the schools they are building at. The walls we get to paint are not the walls that we have constructed as they are obviously still a work in progress so, we have all been allocated to another space within the school to leave our mark.

Buying paint

Yes, I do think there is enough to warrant this a whole section by itself! In town, there is essentially a section of the town that is just hardware shops next to each other or across the road from each other.  I didn't brief the teams before going into the stores to buy paint, and it is always amusing going in and looking at the colour charts to make a decision about the shades you want. In the UK this can be quite a process. I know when I have decorated a room the colour charts come home and then a long debate about colours ensues before picking the shade we want and then going back to the shop and buying it. Well, here it is a little different. The colour charts are essentially the same. You can spend as much time as you like deciding on the exact colour only to be told that it isn't in stock. So you then pick the next closest and again the answer ends up being the same. 45 minutes and 2 shops later you get close to what you wanted in the first place. 

Essentially, you go in and ask for simple colours and they'll get you the colours that they have in stock, 15 minutes and done and dusted!

Rollers and brushes are as they are in the UK really cheap but they don't appear to have roller trays so one of the teams went and bought a tea tray to use instead. 

Shops

My day today was spent with Mrs Sitti, driving around Kitale to visit the Governor's office and all of the schools that we are building in this year. This is 4 schools, not just the 3 we are building at, but another school that we have funded the renovation of a classroom. More about this school later.

Our trip to the Governor's office required a prior stop to get some printing done, the first 'Cyber shop' clearly ran out of ink and was trying desperately to make it work but we wasted loads of time there. The next shop was inside something of a department store. Well, that's the closest thing I could possibly describe it as. You go through a gap between a couple of shops and find a little rabbit warren of shops all tiny in size coming off each other. None of the shops are connected to each other they are simply these tiny spaces where multiple businesses exist. We took the lift to the 3rd floor and didn't find what we needed so walked down the stairs to the first floor. I didn't like the stairs, as they were really short in height. I don't mean head space I mean the distance between the steps was tiny and really disconcerting. On the first floor, we walked out on a type of courtyard where a guy was putting out mannequins for his fashion shop and we walked down another tiny little corridor past another half a dozen tiny little businesses and found the shop we needed.

The 'Cyber shop' was tiny with a couple of computers, printers and stationary supplies in it. Had we not had Mrs Sitti with us I would never have found it. The guy there printed our documents, stapled and supplied envelopes all for a matter of 50p!

Governor's Office

From here the trip to the Governor's office, where we had to decline His Excellency's offer of the Masi Mara safari as it would have been too much for a single day from Nakuru. Starting the day with a 2-3 hour drive would mean that most of the big animals would be hiding by the time we get to the park or we start at a ridiculously early time. Coupled with the same journey back, this would have spoilt the day entirely. We have asked to defer his offer for a year so that we could build it into our itinerary and book a hotel nearer the park. 

Unfortunately, he wasn't there but the lovely Deputy Governor gave us plenty of time to make our apologies and have some more photos with her.

School Visits

From the Governor's office Mrs Sitti drove to our next stop, St Columban's school for the deaf. A quick visit here to see where they have got to and then off to the next to the next school. This is where the keys got handed to me and I became the Muzungu chauffeur! Negotiating the roads in Kenya is far easier than it used to me. Most of the main roads are now tarmac, having had a significant investment from the chinese government this has made a vast improvement to the infrastructure. The rules of the road seem fairly simple, the bigger you are the more right of way you have. I can follow that rule! 

Mrs Sitti is currently driving a VW Golf which is great around the town/ city but rubbish when going out of town to visit schools. On approaching every town, or passing a school there are speed humps everywhere! They aren't like UK ones. They jump our at you with little notice, they are huge and not entirely uniform and driving a city car with 3 adults in, grounding the car is a too frequent occurrence.

Then the fun really begins when you turn off the main road and instead of tarmac you are facing mud roads. Lumps, bumps, rocks sticking out are all mainstays and the occasional scrapping of the bottom of the car leaves you worrying if you are ever going to make it there in one piece!

First stop was Ereng, the drive here wasn't too bad, but it was clear the Mrs Sitti didn't really know the way. Once you leave the main road you are completely on your own. You have to guess which road to take as signs are non existant. It is fairly obvious that you need to be shown where to go and then remember it for yourself. The mud roads here weren't too bad until we reached the school where they were ridiculously wet and slippery. Not designed for a city car to navigate but we made it safe and sound. The school buidling is in good shape and a quick whistle stop tour and then back in the car for another hour long drive across the county.

Our next stop, is the school we didn't send a team to but paid for their renovation of a classroom. The classroom looks amazing in comparison to the photos of how it looked previously, but my heart completely sank at the site of their early years classroom.

The mud hut of a building that was bairly still standing is home to the 4 year olds classroom. It made me cry. To think that this is what the kids here had to learn in, mud walls and floor, and holes in it all. This is not a place that any child should start their education!

Final stop is Namanda, where the building is going well but Mrs Sitti was unhappy with their plans to use the Eucalyptus trees, that they have been felling at the school. This has been something of a dangerous, activity with a classroom being damaged and we witnessed another one being felled today. The conversation between Mrs Sitti was a clear and straightforward one. If you use the Eucalyptus wood and not Cyprus wood then she will not release any more money for the building. The issue here is the wood iis really full of sap that will dry out and the wood will bend and buckle and the roof would then become unstable and after 17 years of perfecting the classroom designs and building she wasn't taking any prisoners!

Getting the car in and out of Namanda was a nightmare, I nearly completely beached it on entry and only scrapped a little on exiting. I can understand having calming measures on the approach to schools but some of these humps are car destroyers! 

I was exhausted on we got back. The concentration required to drive on the roads here is off the chart. Vehicles, delivery drivers with protruding loads, animals just casually stepping out in the road, speed humps that just jump out at you without any notice, are all here to keep you on your toes!

Mercy Rescue Centre

Back at the Karibuni the kids were really desperate to go down to the baby orphanage again and with so many of them wanting to go we arranged a couple of trips down there. Over the last week or so one of the babies has been adopted, another hopefully is about to be and the 2 that had some medical issues are now doing really well. Sally and her team there do an amazing job and make us feel so welcome. I am a little gutted that Jedidah who runs the home is in the UK currently fundraising for the home as being a charity they obviously have to fundraise to keep going.

So I feel no shame in posting a link to their website with details of how you can donate to their cause! There are so many good causes here in Kenya, including our own charity that we have obviously been raising money for, and I could fill a whole page on donation pages but our students have been here, shed a tear and love seeing the kids here, so if you are able/ want to help then please do.

Dinner

Ugali, a traditional Kenyan dish made from maze and eaten with your hands is a traditional staple of the meals here. Ugali is gattered in your fingers, flattened and shaped into a either a scoop, or bowl, and then meet, vegetables or even soup is scooped up and then into your mouth. Messy is a simple way to put it but delicious. We had been given rice with ours which Kenyans wouldn't normally have but it was a backup for our students if they didn't take to the Ugali!