Tuesday, 4th November 2008

Week 1


After my 9 hour flight with Kenya Airways I arrived in Nairobi at about 6.15am local time (3.15am back home!)on Tuesday 28th October. After going through customs and baggage claim I was met by a friend of my mums- Brother Peter, who was very excited to see me and drove me along the crowded roads of Nairobi to his accommodation- he lives with a community of Brothers in one of the slum areas. It was my very first time in Africa and was fascinating to see how very different Kenya is to England- the people on the roads were extremely friendly saying ‘Greet her from me’ in Kiswahili. Having had some breakfast and a rest we headed out to a different slum where the Brothers ran a school. I was introduced to the various forms and teachers and asked questions about myself and England by the pupils- everyone was very friendly. After lunch it was time to catch my flight to Kitale from the airport.

At Kitale I was met by Matthew, Solomon and Ruth. Solomon was catching the plane back to Nairobi. Driving to Kimilili gave me a chance to see the beautiful scenery around and to see a few local towns and villages as well as a busy market. Arriving at the guest house I was shown my room in the guest house and introduced to family and mission members. I couldn’t believe I was actually here in Africa! After dinner I headed to bed and had a good sleep- I was very tired.


Wednesday was spent resting and unpacking as well as meeting various new people. In the late afternoon there was a loud thunder storm and lots and lots of heavy rainfall. The evening I spent in the house- watching TV, reading the paper and playing with kittens. Heading to bed I noticed that there was a small green gecko in my shower which I tried to take a photo of but not very successfully as he moved really fast. My room backs onto a small farmyard complete with a cowshed, chickens and dogs and so the night is filled with lots of snorting, howling and crowing, as well as the noise of the crickets and various insects but I soon got used to it and fell asleep.


On Thursday I woke early, had breakfast, and then headed out with Matthew to the charity headquarters where we attended morning devotion and I met many more people. Next Matthew led me into town where we visited a few shops- hardware store and bank, and also visited a friend of Matthew’s who was extremely friendly and invited me back sometime. After that we headed to the market which is held on Thursdays- it was very busy and interesting. There was a cattle market, fish market and clothes, shoes and other bits and pieces. The children get very excited about seeing white people and chanted ‘habari mazungu’ and ‘how are you?’ On the way back to the headquarters we visited another of Matthew’s friends and stopped in a small café for a drink. Spent some time at the offices then headed back to the house for lunch.


Friday morning I cycled to Dreamland with Matthew to visit the school and medical centre. It was only about a 10 minute ride but was hard work because of the uneven roads and potholes. The school was very nice with a newly decorated library completed by other gap programme students. Behind the school were the foundations for the new boys’ dormitories. The foundations had all been dug and prepared by hand which was amazing to see as they were so deep. At the medical centre I was introduced to a few of the staff and picked up some more malaria tablets. We headed back to the guest house, had lunch, then visited the site for Simon’s new house where they were drawing out with posts and string. In the afternoon I visited the nursery and cyber café at the IcFEM offices. As it was the end of the month, the mission staff held a weekend of prayer and fasting from Friday night until Sunday morning.


On Sunday I was collected from the house by Sarah at 8 and we caught buda budas into the town to St James church. It was my first buda buda experience and wasn’t quite as bad as I thought it would be- it was actually quite comfortable. Lots of children (maybe about 60) were gathered inside for the Sunday school with lots of singing, then it was the English service. After church I headed home for lunch then spent the afternoon doing some washing and watching DVDs.