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My Kenya Trip Part 5..... Nakuru.

We were sad to leave Mama Dickson (pictured above) and everyone at Webuye who had looked after us so well. On the last day it was great to see the children enjoying the new posters that we'd given them.  It really brightened up the classrooms.

 It was time to move on to Nukuru for our final week of the month long trip.  I blogged back in January (scroll down past the silly fund-raising photos) about how Bernadette had been to Nakuru on her previous visit to Kenya.  She was key to setting up this part of our trip.  We visited some very poor areas of Nakuru. 

 Everywhere was very dusty. 

We stayed with a family that were Bernadette's friends.  Such a large, loving, hospitable family.  The evening meals were a precious time after our long, busy days.  

Kate and I shared a room.

Our first day we visited a Nursery School.  The deep channel in front of the building is there for when there is torrential rain.  All we saw was dust but I can imagine the mud when it's the rainy season.

This little Nursery School seemed to be in an old shop and it was very small inside.  The children wore smart uniforms and the headteacher (pictured below) was an inspiring woman.

I always enjoy getting down to the children's level, seeing what they are doing and trying to communicate.

a highlight of our time in Nakuru was visiting 'The Walk Centre'    (school).  It was great to see it for myself after seeing the photos.  If you click that link it will take you to their site where there is more detail.  We really only just visited, spent a little time with the children and gave them some small gifts.

The Walk Centre helps some of the poorest people who live on the surrounding rubbish tip.  They run many different initiatives, one of which is shown below, where local people can get training on a sewing machine.

Ester (the lady we stayed with) had organised a full day of fun activities for the Youth of several Nakuru churches.  It was hosted in a building within the grounds of the Nakuru National park.

 

Stunning views...

 If you look closely you can see some wildlife roaming free...

The morning meeting was lively and it was good to see so many young people enjoying themselves...

there were games played outside then in the afternoon there was a talent show.  Imagine mine and Kate's surprise when we were asked to be on the judges panel!  The young people enjoyed themselves and there was certainly a range of talent on show, from bands, to dance groups and mini plays.

 On Sunday i attended Ester's church.

I spoke an encouraging message...

And the Ministry time went on long into the night.  It was incredibly noisy and I'm bent listening to the person below so I can hear what they're saying... 

 Kate and Bernadette met a group of ladies who make bags out of re-cycled materials.  They had a good business going and we were able to help them get a permit of some sort so that they could sell their bags and make more profit. 

Towards the end of our time in Nakuru, Tony set up a visit to the prison. 

Slowly a large crowd of listeners joined us.

Tony is very experienced and gifted in ministering to prisoners, although we all spoke.

Below we are standing at the main gate, waiting for it to be unlocked. 

On our last night, we were given a gift of fabric from the family, to be made into a katanga (see it wrapped round us)...

 

 The photo below needs no explanation.  It had been a busy month. 

There were two days left of sight-seeing and playing at being tourists before the journey home. 

My Kenya Trip Part Four, working with the children and teachers at Good News School, Webuye.

One of the things I had most looked forward to before the trip to Kenya, was getting the chance to work with the schoolchildren.  Many folks know I was a teacher before Bible College but haven't been in a classroom since 2003.  In Kenya there is always a language barrier when speaking to children.  They already speak their 'Mother Tongue' or tribe language, then secondly they speak Swahili, and English comes third.  So there's always lots of pointing and smiling and grabbing a passing adult to speak/translate if you really want to say something.  In the photo above I am pointing to this wooden number insert puzzle, something very common here in the UK and most children have played with one.  When I lifted the puzzle piece out of the tray to demonstrate, the children had never seen anything like this before.  I mentioned before how they do all their learning from the chalkboard, as there weren't any toys or resources in this school, which is why we took as much as possible. 

The lady on the above photo (in the red top) was a neighbour living by the house we were staying in.  Her and her husband (and young daughter) took an interest in what we were doing in Kenya and invited us for meals and and also visited the school with us.  She was a brilliant classroom assistant too!

It wasn't easy playing with puzzles on the narrow desks, but the children loved it.

The children can't get down and play easily on the floor as it's only dirt and very dusty.

I showed lots of photos in my last post about the new classrooms that were built.  The photos below show how three age groups shared this room...

 The next few photos were taken in the classroom up from the first class.  The girls loved threading the letter beads and making words.

We took lots of balls and outdoor toys like this huge ball which was a big hit...

 

I had taken a World map for the school.  I don't think the children could really understand at first what the map was about.  I think a globe may have been better but we didn't have one!  I showed them where we had come from and we looked at where Kenya is on the map.  The teacher was really excited about the map.

I really enjoyed working with the older children, writing a letter in English to a schoolchild here in the UK.  Before Christmas we went into a local school here and did an Assembly about this upcoming trip to Kenya.  The Headteacher expressed an interest in some of her children writing to some of the children in Kenya.  I was happy to help the older children write to a future penpal. 

 

 

In Kenya, the children have to pass an end of year test before they can move up a class.  A child who is an orphan may have a sketchy education and take longer to move up to the next 'standard' or class.  One girl (an orphan) was 13 and in with the children aged anywhere from 8 to 11.  She didn't seem to mind and was happy to be at school.  She is in the photo below, leaning on a green book...

While I was writing the letters with the older children, Kate played with some children using playdough.  We'd brought shape cutters from the UK and had a chap cut up some broom handles to make rolling pins for the children.  They had never seen anything like it. 

Kate cooked up the playdough in Mama Dickson's kitchen.  She was so friendly.  We all laughed about the hen sitting on some eggs in the back corner of the kitchen...

People here in the UK had generously given us bags of children's clothes.  We took as much as we could over with us and gave out clothing to the orphans..

The little girl on the right is the daughter of the friendly neighbours.  She helped give out the clothes to the orphans when they were visiting the school.

School Uniform is very important in Kenya.  One of Kate's goals was to kit out the orphan children with a set of uniform, school shoes and 2 pairs of socks and undies.  We jumped o a pikipiki to go to the early morning market...

It took quite a while to get everything.

Buying school shoes for the orphans...

Back at the school we gave out the new school uniform and shoes. 

It was very humbling and the children looked so smart.

This is samuel and his sister...

Our family have sponsored his schooling for a year. 

Here's the whole school...

Good News school has a satellite school a few miles away for children who live too far to attend here.  We visited briefly one afternoon.  The children seemed very young.  We were told that this school would benefit from the toys and resources too.

One afternoon, I enjoyed sitting outside with some of the teachers after school when the children had gone home...

... and on the final day I ended up talking to the teachers and demonstrating some of the teaching resources and methods we use here in the UK.  They were very interested in how interactive it was.  Again, I was humbled to do this.

During this time we had a visit to a beautiful waterfall...

and attended Dickson's Church...

Our team of four with Michael (a friend from the business training)...

Me and Samuel...

The week we spent in Webuye was like a roller-coaster.  Extreme highs and lows.  When I look at the photo of me with Samuel and I think about how this one boy's life has changed for the better, all the tough bits about the week don't seem important. 

I will post next time about our time in Nakuru.

My Kenya Trip Part Three, Webuye and the Building Work at Good News School...

Some of the pupils at 'Good News School' Webuye.

We were sad to be leaving Bungoma.  The Business Training had gone well and we'd been into Makutano School for a few days and visited the women's prison at Kakamega so had been very busy, but we were leaving Geoffrey, Christine, Julius and Metrine behind to move on to Webuye, which is about an hour away by minivan and is more rural than Bungoma.  On our last night, Christine cooked us a feast of boiled talapia (fish) with all the trimmings...

The flavour was delicious but it was tricky picking out all the little bones. I'd eaten talapia before, in Kisumu when I visited Kenya in 2005. Kisumu is right on Lake Victoria where the talapia is caught and is very expensive up in Bungoma so we were very honoured.

Being at Geoffrey's home was like being at home by this stage of the trip.  We were all excited for the next stage but sad to be leaving Bungoma behind.

In Webuye, we stayed with a family, organised by Valentine our friend (on the left below).  She looked after us very well, cooking when we needed it and doing the washing and fetching in water for us.  The first night we were there the electric was off and so was the running water so we all washed by candle light in a washing-up bowl of warmish water.  Not really as romantic as it sounds after a long, dusty day.

When we planned the trip, back in Autumn 2011, I knew we were going to add another room to the Webuye school.  I'd seen photos of the school bursting at the seams with only two classrooms.

This is what the school had looked like back in 2010 when Kate first visited...

I blogged about it here (scroll down past the crazy fund-raising photos of us in 1970s glam rock costumes).  When we arrived at the school in week two of the trip it looked like this...

The original building is at the back.  Valentine and Dickson had already added on another classroom and built the wooden structure for another room (on the left above).  All these classrooms were full!  I was looking forward to helping build a new room from scratch and also finishing the classroom above left.

Below is the classroom for the younger children.  Ages 3 to 5/6 year olds (approx).

The children have to do most of their learning from a chalk-board.

below is the next age group's classroom.  They also mostly learn from the board.  As a teacher, I found it difficult to imagine, teaching such young children in this way.  When I think back to teaching Reception myself a few years ago, it was very different.  The teacher's here are paid about £20 per month and are doing the best they can with what they've got.  I remember posting before about how the children in Kenya have to pay for school.  If they can't pay (orphans or very poor families) then the child doesn't go to school.  Education is very highly valued in Kenya, because the people know that if you can't read, you can't get a better job.  It's very simple.  At this school, orphans who cannot pay are not turned away, but this is very unusual.  

Anyway, in this post I want to tell you about the building work and I'll post next time about the school resources and equipment we'd brought for the school.  Below, we are putting in the first posts for the new classroom.  I have to laugh when I remember the children just a few feet away, still doing their lessons as we did all this building work!

The wooden structure is being built (love that ladder!)...

At the same time, there were lots of chaps about 100 metres away preparing the mud for the walls...

We were able to help.  At this point I was "helping" to hammer on a metal sheet for the roof.  It was harder than it looks!

 

We helped make the walls of the classroom.  You 'roll' and 'pat' a block of mud into a brick shape and plop it onto the wooden structure, trying not to leave any big gaps..

When it was break-time the children came out and inspected our handiwork!

Some of the older children helped make bricks...

Two of the ladies who had been on the business training course came along to help.  It was great to see them again...

Here's the building after just a couple of days...

The children were really happy about their new classroom...

New desks had been made and were moved into the new classroom. There was still a final stage to go, of throwing handfulls of mud onto the walls to fill the gaps and cover the wood, but that had to wait until the walls were drier and had hardened.  Also the branches in the window would be sawn away when the walls were hard and dry.    This didn't stop anyone moving in!

I got to hold a teeny baby chick one of the evenings after school.  So very small and fragile...

After school we often bought fresh fruit from the market...

Such a beautiful time of day.

I look like I've been dragged through a hedge backwards on the photo below.  I know I was tired, but very happy.

In the next post I'll share about the equipment and resources side of things, about the orphans and the small satellite school that's part of this school a few miles away in an even more remote spot.  I'm still not finding it easy writing about my trip, but am so happy to be recording what I did.  Seems a very long time ago, not just a couple of months :)

My Kenya Trip, Part Two, Bungoma, Kakamega and Makutano Church School.

After the business training week had ended, we had our second week-end in Bungoma.  Pastor Geoffrey asked us to visit people at home in the area where his Church is.  I always find it very humbling to go into people's homes and pray for them (if they want prayer).  The family above were really happy to see us and so was the elderly lady below... 

 

After visting folks, we had a walk to see Geoffrey's land, where he plans to build a new home.  It was lovely to walk through the countryside (even if it was a bit of a hike!)

We eventually got to the land and stopped to look around, pray and then took turns to break the ground.  Here's me...

 

It was hard ground!  The next day was Sunday and I went to Geoffrey and Christine's church... 

 

Ignore my sad expression below, I was just a bit serious...

Stella, a lady from the business training was pleased to see me.  She is beginning a knitting business.

We had Sunday lunch outside under the trees. 

The local well was right by where we ate lunch...

 

The second week of the trip began with a 2 day visit to Pastor Julius and Metrine's school, called Makutano Church School.  This is where I'd come to Church the previous week.

One of the first things I did was re-tell the story of Goldilocks, while we waited for the bags of new equipment that we's previously dropped off to arrive.

 

 Here we are, just beginning to unpack the two large bags we'd brought over.  Thank-you to everyone who gave to support us.

 We put out some resources and encouraged the children to play...

They loved the threading letters and numbers...

Then we gave out some donated clothing to the orphans...

We also took photos of the orphans.  The plan is to organise sponsorship from folks here in the UK.

 

This little girl is called Laurine.  Our family have sponsored her schooling for a year (about £20 and kitted her out with new school uniform and shoes... about £15).  She wasn't keen to smile for the photo...

She's only 5.

The second day at Makutano Church School, I worked with a group of older children to write letters to some (future) UK penpals...

After school we walked to Pastor Julius' house.  He had taken in two rabbits that had been given to Kate as a gift.

Then we walked to the road to be picked up.  There was a very rickety bridge to cross and it was higher than it looks on this photo...

We had to tread carefully to say the least... it was like something out of an Indiana Jones film...

 (not kidding!)

Here's the photo I took of Kate...

We saw a train...

A lovely late afternoon walk.

At the end of this second week we visited a women's prison in a nearby town called Kakamega.  The staff were very welcoming.

We all spoke an encouraging message then many of the women wanted prayer.  It was very moving and a privelege to minister to them...

We had also taken in some gifts for the women.  First we gave out sweets to the children...

 Then milk to the babies and children...

Soap comes in very long bars.  We had it cut up and were able to give all the women a bar of soap (over 100).

 They were very pleased. 

Before I end this post I want to include a photo of the Grace (far right).  Grace is a headteacher of her own school that she founded and we stayed in her home with her husband.  Rosie and Violet are two girls she has adopted, schooled and who help her run the house.    My Gran, Daisy, had given me a pile of crosses and butterflies to give away.  They were delighted with the  crochet butterflies that they'd chosen as a small gift.

 Finally, Kate took this photo of me all tucked up in my mosquito net, ready for bed...

We usually turned in at 9ish, because Africa gets moving early (many folks get up a 5am... but not me if I can help it!!)  This post more or less covers the second week we spent in Kenya.  Thanks for reading :)

My Kenya Trip, Part One...Bungoma and the Business Training.

A scene from Naivasha...

I have been back a few weeks from Kenya.  It was an amazing, life-changing experience.  For some reason the words are not coming easily, but I do want to share about the trip and show photos.  I have needed time to rest, process what I saw and experienced and spend time with my family.  A month away from home is a long time.  Being away from Adam, who has been my best friend and soul mate for 21 years was one of the hardest things.  Obviously, the flights are the biggest expense on a trip like this so we had to do as much as we could.  Change as many lives for the better as we could.  When you go to a developing country, you see need everywhere you look.  It wasn't totally new to me because I went in 2005, but it is still not easy, coming from the West and being so blessed.  I don't want to get too deep so will just say that I feel very, very privileged to have gone. 

Right then... photos...  since this is my blog, I will be concentrating on my experience of the trip.  We were in a team of four.  Here we are at Heathrow, ready to check in the luggage.  Kate, (far left),  the founder of the Charity and leader of the trip had arranged a Charity weight allowance, hence the many, many cases and boxes)...

 

I have known Kate since 2006, when we met at Bible College, but we were in different years and didn't really know each other that well.  It's only since last August (2011) that we started working together, fundraising for her charity, 'Free 2 Be' that we got to know each other a bit better.  Tony is Kate's step-dad and kept an eye on our safety.  Bernadette also attended the Bible College but not till after I'd left, so we barely knew one other.  We are all so very different and each brought different skills and talents to the team.  Below, we are outside a cafe in Naivasha where we had dinner a couple of times.  This is the cafe in which I squeezed a bottle of ketchup too hard and got the lot on my plate (as well as down my top and all over my bum-bag.  Icky it was too).

After these first couple of days in Naivasha, staying with a friend, we drove up to Bungoma, where the Business Training and Micro financing was going to take place.  When we arrived in Bungoma I had got there first, having given my place on the bus to Geoffrey (the main Pastor we were linked with).  I'd gone on my first Matato (public bus) and was waiting at Christine and Geoffrey's home, for the rest of the team to arrive.  She was cooking dinner...

They had a kitten called Lunis...

The local children were keen to show me about and thought it was hilarious that I'd never seen bananas growing on the tree...

Then we had to pose under a mango tree too, even though it was the wrong season for mangoes...

That's Valentine above, who has a school in nearby Webuye where we went in the second week.  She was keen to teach me how to make chapatis.  Christine looked on as quality controller, since it was her kitchen and we had to make perfect chapatis to serve to the team (who were still nowhere to be seen at this point)...

The team arrived and we enjoyed a delicious meal together...

It was Sunday the next day and we met at Geoffrey's before setting off for different churches.  This is Splendor and Jergas (Geoffrey's and Christine's children) ...

We travelled on a picki-picki (see previous post) which is a motorbike taxi and were quite early for church.  The sunday school class had just finished and the adults weren't there yet.  It looked more like a school since this is also where Makutano Church School is held as well...

I was pleased that folks did look happy to see us...

This is a part of the service where children came forward to sing and say  memory verses...

After church we took a photo of all the people who would be going on the Business Training the following week.  There was a good range of ages.  John Protus (in the orange jacket below) would have been past retirement age over here, yet he was really excited to start up his own micro business...

The business training week was one of my favourite parts of the trip.  One of my  jobs was 'Registration' in the mornings.  Everyone wore a badge and were ticked off on arrival.  If you are wondering what the rocks were for it was to stop the papers blowing away and that's Pastor Isaac helping me...

Pastor Geoffrey had hired a large Baptist Church for the week as the venue and it was excellent.

In the afternoon I helped groups of people fill in their Business Plans.  My friend Bishop Sebastian, whom I met in 2005 was a super interpreter and helped me...

Sometimes I helped Kate and Geoffrey with paperwork.  Below I'm holding a beautiful baby while his Mum speaks about her business Plan...

My Gran, Daisy, who is in her eighties and lives in Scotland, was very kind and knitted several stripey jumpers to help the people in Kenya.  Below, Geoffrey and Christine's son, Jergas, looked so handsome in one of my Gran's jumpers.  Thanks Gran x

We provided lunch for the delagates.  Here are the two happy cooks, making a big pot of beans...

Folks queueing for  lunch...

People had a rest at lunchtime before Bible teaching if they wanted to attend. 

The delegates got a certificate every day and we took group photos of them in their Church groups at the end of the week.  Here's Pastor Geoffrey's group...

Below is a special photo of me with some ladies. I was sitting with a group of people, who were waiting for their interview about their business idea and I heard these old ladies say 'Muzungu' while they were talking.  'Muzungu' means "white person" in Swahili.  I asked what they were saying because I knew they were talking about me.  They looked worried like they were in trouble.  I said it was ok, I was just wondering what they were saying.  After a pause, one of them said, "We call you Nachomicha".  I laughed and obviously asked that it meant and they said "She who sows seeds".  I'd spoken during the business training all about seeds and how their new business would grow if it was watered and cared for (like a seed).  The finances at the end of the week was called "seed" aswell.  I was so touched that they saw me like this.  I took the paper out of my badge and wrote "Nachomicha" on it and slipped it back into my badge holder.  They thought this was very funny.  Many people started to call me "Nachomicha" for the rest of the week because I was wearing that as my name badge.  It became a point of amusement and at the same time something very meaningful too.  Below are my Nachomicha ladies...

 

At the end of the week, Kate and Geoffrey sorted out the micro financing for 65 people.

I am so pleased to have been a part of this.  By helping those people to set up a small business, we have helped their families too.  It is life-changing for all of us. Kate made sure everything was very professional.  People had to sign a receipt.

Now we are back in the UK, Pastor Geoffrey and the other three Pastors will oversee follow-up support to the new businessmen/women.  There will be advice and help available. 

Finally, it was really good to see some friends from my 2005 trip.  Both couples were able to attend the business training week and will be able to set up small businesses of their own.

Sebastian, Ruth, me, Paul, Rose and their friend Linnet in the purple dress.  Both guys stepped in to be great translators too.