Ruth and Kathryn's Blog

Our day in Nairobi

September 17th Flight arrival at 6.05 am into Nairobi.
Met by Andrew from Kenya-adventures. Taken for drive around Nairobi National Park
Saw giraffe, many zebras, oryx, buffalo, panda, deer, a warthog, a monkey, ostriches, an eagle and many other smaller birds.

Went for some breakfast. Feeling very tired, falling asleep in the

car.

Andrew took us to his friend Massey’s guesthouse for a sleep

until lunchtime. A basic but clean and comfortable house, very reasonably priced and friendly people,
‘Carnivore’ restaurant for lunch of barbequed meat…all you can eat…I think we ate a whole cow while we were there! Not keen on the crocodile!
Wilson airport for check-in for the flight to Kitale
Arrived in Kitale met by Matthew, Mary and Elliot
Drove into Kitale town for some shopping, the town was very busy and full of life.
Arrived at IcFEM guesthouse about 7.30pm for dinner served by Helen.
Fell into bed and straight to sleep at around 10pm.

First day at IcFem
For our first day at IcFem we woke up 2 hours late!!... Our alarm, still set on English time, went off at 7, which was in fact 9. We had planned to meet Matthew at half past 7 for breakfast and then the devotion, we had missed both of these!! Luckily our very friendly hosts forgave us, and we still managed to get some breakfast and then met Matthew for our tour around IcFem. With our guide Rachel, we met everyone that we should have met at the Devotion, again I think they excused our absence as we had such a long journey the day before, little did they all know it was just our studipity that meant we didn’t get there! There were many people working at the offices and everyone was incredibly friendly and happy to see us. We felt like honoured guests! We walked around the nursery school there as well and the children all stared out of the windows at us and waved, all saying ‘how are you?, how are you?’ After a rejuvenating cup of tea we went to visit the market in Kimili, it was midday heat by now and the sun was blazing on the red earth, but it was an exciting walk into town with lots to see around. The market was quite an experience, the stalls, laid out on the floor, sold everything you could possibly want, mostly second hand, but it was still quite a sight. There was a cattle and fish market as well, the fish was all dried and Matthew explained that it is put in boiling water to make soup, not sure if it would be to my tastes!

After a big, lovely lunch at the guesthouse of avocado and salad (mum’s favourite) we went to visit Dreamland school and hospital. We travelled on the bicycle taxis mum was asked to get off and walk at the inclines ‘cos she is too heavy!!!! Firstly, we went into the school and were shown around by the school secretary, Rose. The classes were much smaller than I expected, normally around 28 children amounting to 300 being taught there in all, ageing from 6 upwards. The children were all so well behaved, even standing up when mum went to take a photo of them all. That is, until the storn came, as soon as it started to rain outside the all went wild! It was amazing!

They were all playing and stamping in puddles laughing and shouting…I was pretty sure that their lessons were still supposed to be going on. The classrooms all seemed well equipped and clean, there is even some boarding rooms which look just as nice as the hostels I stayed in whilst travelling around Europe. The one thing the school really lacked was electricity, once the storm started and it was darker outside it was so dark in the building, they desperately need lights and electricity. But overall, although the resources seemed basic, especially compared to England Dream land Education centre definitely has the right idea and the children seemed very happy.

We then moved onto our tour of Dreamland Medical Centre. After a slippery walk through the mud caused by the heavy downpour we got to the amazing building that IcFem has built. Again, we were given a very warm reception. As mum plans to do some work there next week and the three inpatients had been discharged that morning we were given a proper tour around, getting to see all the rooms. It was an amazing building but as with the school, the hospital really needs electricity. The lines have been set up but they are still waiting for the final touches, to get the work done quickly normally people bribe the builders, but the mission doesn’t believe in this, understandably, so the work will only happen when the builders feel like it. It must be incredibly frustrating for the staff there, they have X-ray machines, dentist chairs and generators still boxed up waiting for the electricity. Once it is supplied the hospital will be able to offer such a wide variety of services to the local community. The hospital currently offers mainly outpatient clinics for Child health care, ante-natal care and family planning services. There are also general outpatient clinics and very ill people can be admitted for care, although the planned wards are not built yet, so only a few inpatient beds are provided. There are great dreams for the future with the whole upstairs to be completed to provide an eye department, ENT and dentistry then to join up to the wards which are yet to be built. They already have on the ground floor a basic laboratory, orthopaedic workshop who make prostheses and work closely with the physiotherapist. There is also a pharmacy where the medicines are dispensed and when patients return for a repeat prescription they are given a check up at the same time..

We were very lucky to be driven back to the IcFEM office by Eliot as we were wearing flip-flops and the ground was a mudbath! The power was down so no blogging could be done. Back to the guesthouse to wash the mud off our feet and to have our dinner. Kathryn prepared her Sunday school teaching and I made notes of the last 2 days experiences until Matthew joined us for tea, hot chocolate and a game of yahtzee!

DAY 2

Made it to devotions at the HQ! Waiting for Matthew we had a bit of time so we went to speak to Elizabeth about having some traditional clothes made for myself and Kathryn. The first visit of the day to Kamusingu Primary School. The headteacher met us and showed us round the school we visited lots of very crowded classrooms with over 100 pupils in them. They were all very polite and well behaved. Greeting us and asking questions. The younger children asked if we were well and how old we are! However in the older classes the questions became more taxing such as what is the main export from our country and are boys circumcised in England!! The school was a group of lovely buildings so much better than the mud houses we saw along the roads and we were told that classes used to be held under a tree. This would have been impossible in the rain. However, there is still a need for more classrooms so the large classes can be split into smaller groups. Then they will need more teachers!!

Time was moving on so we left to get a bicycle taxi to the second primary school in Lutonyi. Again we were given a very warm welcome and shown around the school to greet the children and invite them to ask questions about the UK. Lunchtime drew near and we had to return to the guest house for our lunch. After lunch we set off for our final visit to Buko primary school. We took some mango trees to plant in the grounds. The headmaster had gathered many of the teachers in his office to meet us. We had a meeting with them and heard about the school then we went out to plant the trees. (video and photos) The children had finished lessons and gathered around us particularly excited to see themselves on my digital camera as I took their pictures. I have promised to send them a copy of some of the pictures. The grounds of the school were large to give playing space and there was more construction taking place to replace an old mud storehouse. One teacher told me that all the school had been mud buildings previously. All the schools have no electricity and are overcrowded, the largest class was 140 pupils! The facilities are very basic but so much better than what they had in the past. Attendance is good because the children love to go to school and are eager to learn.

The thunder was rumbling so we set off for IcFem HQ in the hope of beating the rain. We arrived back just before a short downpour. Kathryn fell asleep immediately, the heat and dehydration taking it’s toll. Most evenings after dinner we spent relaxing in the guesthouse, watching dvds and playing card games, this evening we taught Matthew to play Yahtzee, a dice game that we used to play on holidays. Matthew proved to have a spot of beginners luck and beat us both by a mile!

Day Three

On our free day on Saturday, Matthew took us to Webuye Falls, some magnificent waterfalls about an hours journey away. They were quite a walk from the centre of town, and we all got very hot and bothered! They were amazing to see though and very worth the walk and we carried on up high to their source were a choir was making a video; all the locals were out to watch. After the walk we travelled to a swanky hotel and got some sandwiches and chips, a good fatty lunch to fill us up after the mornings exertions. Our journey home in the Mutatu was quite an experience as well, a strom started and the rickety old van leaked everywhere, I was drenched by the time we got back, but it was funny all the same. I spent the evening planning for Sunday School the following morning and playing Yahtzee again!

Day Four

We woke sleepy on Sunday morning, we were still not quite used to the sun and high altitude. But nevertheless we got up and ready for church. Mum planned to go to the Anglican church with Anne and Matthew and I were off to the Pentecostal church ‘Pufa’ where I was to run the Sunday School. I was very nervous, not really knowing what to expect, but we arrived and all the children were so friendly. They were amazing, getting up to worship and sing songs that they had made up and reciting their favourite verses. We started with a game that they all seemed to enjoy and I was so impressed with their Bible knowledge and enthusiasm, just like at the schools. The activity I had for them went really well and they all seemed to enjoy the extra materials that I had brought with me. Matthew had told me that there would be 30 children, but, although it started at that many, throughout the morning more arrived, I think that by the time I finished there were 60-70 children and only me and one translator. But the children were so well behaved and during the offering at the end they all took up some small money they could spare. Once the Suday School was over I went into the adult service to ‘catch the end,’ in fact I ended up staying for 4 hours!! The longest church service I have ever been to… but so enjoyable, and all the children came and sat with me, which made me feel so welcome! Mum enjoyed her service at the Anglican church, apparently the worship was really good there. The rest of our day we spent relaxing and recouperating before our busy week started. After dinner we met Paul and Pat a couple from England who are moving out here, they were wonderful and invited us visit them one night.