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Jambo from Kenya!!
Well when I left of last we were just about to go for dinner. We had a lovely big buffet for our last night’s dinner and then we went for a couple of drinks in the bar. A couple of drinks actually turned into quite a few and a bit of a late night but it was a good laugh.
The next day we were up and got the tent down for the last time!! We drove into Arusha and Craig and I had a bit of a dodgy stomach and when we got off to go to the ATM we ad to do a bolt to the loo and we had one note left and luckily a guy in a garage let us use his for the exact amount of money I had left, there was no loo roll or a flush and of course it was a squat but when you need you need lol!! After that we felt a bit better but I never really ate or drank much all day as I was not wanting to have to squat on the side of the road. The road to Nairobi was awful I cant believe how bad the main road between the two countries was, especially when it is probably one of the most travelled areas in Africa. They are supposedly fixing the road but they have dug up all of it and not restarted surfacing so it is all a dirt track. We got our visas at the border and Craig needed the toilet but we had no shillings and the guy would not let him go so he told him in more impolite terms with hand actions that he would do it on the pavement in front of him so I gave him a dollar and Mark and both of us went. We had to hand in our passports and fill in lots of forms and then we eventually got them back and made our way to Nairobi. Driving through Kenya you can definitely tell that they make a bit more money from tourism, there were proper shops, schools, lots of churches and people generally seemed to have jobs. There was even a Mango shop in one of the centres lol!! We stopped at Karen camp and Craig and I had a room with 6 beds in it which was good lol! We did our washing and the headed out for tea with our group. Pete was flying out that night so we had to say bye to him which was quite sad, we liked him. It was $32 for a big buffet of meat that they brought round so we decided that I am not that fussed for anymore meat on the bone and it was a bit dear so some of us went through the other bit as we were not allowed to sit together if eating from different menus. I had tattie and leek soup and pepper steak followed by chocolate ice cream and wine lol!! It was the least sad goodbye ever, I said be to the people I wanted though and half the rest left without saying anything but I was not bothered as we didn’t like half of them, even the guide had left and the driver never even came lol. We went back to the hotel and had a great big sleep in our BED!! The hotel has 3 big massive dogs, an Alsatian and two kind of crosses but huge, they were so sweet I played with them all the time.
Next day we were woken by the guy telling us we had only booked for one night so he said we had to go in a dorm and I was well hacked off as all I had wanted was a day to lie in bed and read seeing as I spent a month in a tent. I told him I was leaving and he miraculously managed to find us something even though he had told Craig there were none. We went to the internet and spent 2 hours uploading 18 photos so I hope you are grateful for those lol! Then we had tea and a couple of drinks with Pat and Leah and then Mark and Jarrod left which was sad as we had been with them the whole month and had a really good laugh.
Next day we got up and went to the ATM and I had no money somehow so called the bank and got messed about yet again and told in the end that when you take money out it takes about 3 or 4 days to show you have taken it out so I would be taking money out and there was none there to take out so I was getting charged, big nightmare as we had already paid someone to go and get us bus tickets s had to go but thought I might not have enough for the taxi at the other end but I found $20 in my pocket so that made it that we had enough. We said bye to Pat and Leah which was also sad as they were really nice and had made the trip a lot better since they joined. We had tea and then left for the bus. We got there and waited on the bus and the previous 2 had been nice and then this shed pulled up and we thought on no and asked the guy and he said we could go on it if we wanted but it was not ours, it was the staff bus lol! We got on and it was meant to have a loo, entertainment TV etc and when we got on we couldn’t even read as they switched all the lights of so we just went to sleep. The roads were really bumpy at first but we managed to get a not bad sleep.
We were a bit apprehensive about our placements as we received a pre-departure email and it sounded a bit scary saying things like we couldn’t go to the internet at night as its too dangerous and that it is a Christian establishment so you have respect that and that sometimes the house may move that the volunteers stay in so not to be annoyed if you have to spend an hour getting to work and all these such things s we thought this may be a bit of a farce. Anyhoo we got to Mombasa at 5.30am in the pitch black and were still asleep when we got there so had to chuck stuff into bags and get off. We thought the bus took longer so we asked to be picked up at 7am but after finding a scary loo and sitting a few minutes a guy turned up for us. It was a nice drive out to the house as we got nearer the areas deteriorated an then we drove down a dirt track and through a rubbish tip and down a little lane ant to a big house. It is actually divided into 6 flats one of which the volunteers share. Godfrey our taxi driver had to wake them up as it was so early. Some were away for the weekend but three were at home and they all got up and sat and chatted to us, Marusia, Michelle and Jas. They were really nice and told us all about the placement so we felt a lot better. After we all went back for a nap and Craig and I in a room just us two for the meantime. After Jas took us out to show us where everything is and it is a safe area apart from the rubbish tip at night but you can get a cab or a motorbike really cheap and nobody really goes out at night anyway. After Craig and I went to find the beach which is about 10 minutes walk away, we found one that was all rocks so knew it was no that and then we another that seemed a bit sea-weedy to go in so we just went back but it turned out it was the seaweed one buut it was just on a bad day. When we got back the rest of the volunteers were back, Karen, another Karen, Kirsty, James, Amy and Steve. At night we all went out to dinner to The Mooring, a floating restaurant in town as it was our first night and James and Amy’s last night. It was really nice, we had pizza and pasta and then we got a cab home as I did not want to brave a motorbike ride on the dirt tracks in the dark but I also didn’t want to walk as people had been well staring at me in my denim skirt and it was a bit scary so I don’t think I will brave a skirt again. After we all just got back and went to bed and a dog howled all night lol!!
The next day was our first day at the centre. It is such a great place but also so sad. It is just outside Mombasa and what they do is get children from the streets that can not look after themselves, a lot of them are hooked on drugs especially glue and have had really bad things happen to them. They are on the street because maybe their parents have split up and when the mum gets a new husband they don’t want the kid, tribe wars split up families or they just cant afford to feed the kids and throw them onto the street. We go ot onto the streets and try and get the kids to go to Mikendani where they are weaned off the drugs and counselled and then they come to the centre - Grandsons of Abraham where the live and are educated, looked after and fed. To get there we walked 15 minutes and got a matatu which is like a wee minibus thing that you just hop on and pay about 15p and then hit the roof when you want off then we walk anther 20 minutes at the other end to the centre. When we got there some of the kids came running up for us to pick them up for a cuddle they are so cute. It turns out that there is not as various stuff to do as we thought, it is all teaching or assisting so we thought we could just assist this first week but as soon as we go there we were given a slot to teach it was only 2 of the young boys and we did some sums with them but they don’t speak much English so it was quite hard and Craig made Geoffrey one of the wee boys cry when he gave him sums that are too hard lol. After about an hour they loose concentration so we basically played with them. Next we sat in on an English lesson and Abdul the teacher had to leave so we did it ourselves, it was pretty much just filling in the blanks on sentences and reading aloud and then marking their work. After lunch which was not edible lentils and burnt rice that you eat with your hands or I have one bite and give it to the boys to share as they munch it down. In the afternoon I sat in on a social science class where I learnt all about Kenyan language migration, very interesting!! It is so hot here even Kenyans were saying it was a really hot day, by the time we get to school we are just wringing wet! After we got a matutu to Nakumart the supermarket to buy some juice and sweets and stuff. Then we went for some chips masala and desert with some of the girls and back to the flat. We had vegetable curry for dinner and then sat chatting and trying to write this and then we went to bed, we are not meant to be in the same room as now there is enough room girls can be in one and boys in the other but there is one girl in the boys anyway so we said it makes more sense for us to be in one room to spread everyone out, we didn’t necessarily want our own room just top be together in a room, they said they would ask the sisters but for the moment nobody has said anything so we are just in our own room.
Today we got up and when we got of the matatu we got our first motorbike to the centre to save walking along the dirt track as we thought we might be late and its about 50p. In the morning I taught Mtoyi and Geoffrey more words and sums. Then we played Frisbee with some of the younger kids from the nursery Juma, Rama and Amersay who is 15 but has special needs. The other boys tease him and he goes mental, its such a shame. After break I sat in on Kirsty’s maths lesson on telling the time then we taught the English class again that we were meant to teach earlier but when the Kenyan teachers decide to turn up they just teach what they want so all our timetable messes up. In the afternoon Craig went on one of the street walks with a couple of the girls and I played with all the little ones all afternoon. They were so cute although they all fight with each other which is sad as its obviously what they have had to do in their pasts. We played on a rope swing thing and then the boys were running away and trying to climb a tree and we were tying to get them back and they just thought it was so funny. Craig went to the street and he said it was so sad and even a bit threatening at some points and all the kids are just out of their faces on drugs and some of the older ones are a bit rude. I am going to go next week as Abdul said Craig and I have to separate although he only turns up when we are together lol! After school we just came home and are now about to have dinner of chapattis and then pancakes as it is pancake day woop woop!!
We are really enjoying our placement and already wish we were here longer, next week some people leave so we will have to properly do teaching on our own which is a bit intimidating although it all is kind of copying out a book for them to copy from the blackboard. All the volunteers are so nice and we all get on living together, everyone is really fun and we thought there would be lots of people who had been here ages but most people only seem to do 2-4 weeks so we are not that much newer than some people. We are also totally manky and it has become quite the norm to smell constantly and sweat all the time and to have dirty clothes. I cannot wait to get a washing machine, I hope they are much easier to come by in South America as I need one drastically lol!
Hope you are all ok at home, we miss you lots!
Lots of Love
Eva and Craig xxx
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