one day at a time evan.: When The Mzungus Went To Kenya. (pt. 3)

Here is the last blog from my African Adventure, this is probably the most thoughtful one, we saw so much in the last 4 days in Kenya, sad things, hopeful things and touristy things that really stuck with me. So, here goes! Enjoy!

Friday 1st November 2013

Friday 1st November 2013: saying goodbye and a few tears.

Today has been a long and emotional day! I got up 10 minutes before breakfast, I was gonna try a sausage but decided against it when someone said they were like 'biting into jelly'... So I stuck to my mandazi and toast. We got to the school for about 8.30am. Spent the morning helping Mama Mary, Mama Flo and Yunis (the headteacher's wife) in the kitchen, making chapattis and potato stew stuff. Had a final singing and dancing session with the kids at break, then finished off jobs and gave Beatrice and Top Class a letter from me, they gave me a little speech and sang a little song to say goodbye. Beatrice was so lovely, she said how blessed she and the children were to have me in their class, she also said to continue with my positive spirit, which was funny because I seemed to be quite a pessimist in certain situations on this trip, most of which included heights, food and lack of sleep. We then had a celebration assembly, which got quite emotional at times. They sang songs, the teachers introduced themselves - which I thought was a bit late but oh well! We got given our certificates and gave mini speeches starting with our names and then thanking them etc. After that we played with some bubbles with the kids (which made me incredibly light-headed at one point!) but they loved them so it was worthwhile! We then had lunch, which was seriously tasty - surprising considering we made it! We then had a final few photos with the kids, then started saying goodbye, I had 4 kids attached to me that didn't want to let go - Peter, Juddy, Mary and Nancy. I'm not gonna lie I may have had a tactical few minutes cry, but the other groups were total wreck when we saw them - so that made me feel better! Still, we peeled away from the kids and said our final goodbyes. 2 things that will stick with me from the school whilst we were there is the amount of kids that became ill over the week (On Monday there was 215 kids, on Friday there was just under 180...) due to Malaria and Pneumonia, two illnesses that could easily be prevented/treated in our country and yet over there, kids and adults can die from it, but we got told that all the kids that became ill would go back the next week and be fine, so that made us a little happier about the situation! The second was the 16-year-old boy, Felix. Unfortunately, I didn't get many chances to talk to him because of the different timings of the younger kids break and the older kids break. But, Lailana became very close to him and today, when we got back to Kivu she told me how he'd told her his Dad was in America, and that when he'd finished school he'd go out there and live with him and work out there too. Sadly, she found out later on that his Dad lived in Nakuru, close to the school, he was an alcoholic and had become disabled due to the amount of alcohol he'd drunk in past years.
We headed to pick up the other group of Ungana School, then headed to The Walk Centre, which was the first project African Adventures worked with. Pastor Alex set it up as a church at first, just so the local children could hear about God and he could try and give them hope etc. But he then began developing his ideas and it soon became a school. It's the most developed out of the other projects, however one of the women that works there seemed to be complaining about how many kids they had to feed with 'limited' equipment. Now, I was probably slightly dehydrated, I was definitely tired and drained after a pretty emotional final day at our project, so what she said didn't go down too well with me! Luckily, one of the others from our group was stood next to me so I ranted with them, but The Walk Centre has much more than the schools we'd just been working at for the past week. Our schools were lucky to have a kitchen undercover, let alone to big stoves and work benches to prepare it on. Plus at the Walk Centre they had sewing machines and computers to utilise. I understand that she might have been comparing her school to England etc. BUT I found it a little out how she put it across because compared to others in the country she was working in, she had a pretty good deal at her school, be grateful for what you do have! *and breathe* We then went onto a landfill site, which is where most of the kids from The Walk Centre live, overall there are around 250 families living there. There were pigs, storks and I don't wanna know what else. We gave some of the kids walking around our left over chapattis which they were grateful for. We then headed to Kivu, showered and had dinner, which wasn't too bad, potatoes with a tomato sauce type thing. Then we had an awards evening, where the teachers gave us all an award for the different things we put into our projects. Mine was for 'involvement'. We then headed to bed.

the landfill site where around 250 families live.

Saturday 2nd November 2013

Saturday 2nd November 2013: Menengai Crater and not feeling great.

Saturday morning was quite chilled, had breakfast and then headed to Menengai Crater, which was incredibly high up but a pretty insane view. I got an engraved stone necklace thing for my sister. After the crater we headed to a market shop which was alright, I got 2 cards for my 'memories box'. Then went back to Kivu to chill and have dinner. I also attempted to pack most of my suitcase too. We watched a few football matches on TV and chilled in the bar. I really struggled today with being tired, feeling generally crap and I had a day missing home A LOT! I didn't think I would but I think lack of food and sleep has started having an effect on me. It's funny because at no point on this trip have I fully realised I'm in Kenya, I'm living completely different to how I would at home, I don't think I've been away from my family for this long before in my own country, let alone in a country in a different continent! Kenya's always been a country that has always fascinated me, but also scared me in recent months. But I'm here, I'm loving the experience I've been given and it's an adventure I doubt I'm ever going to forget! We've also had a security scare this evening, whilst I wasn't feeling too positive/great, which caused me to have a huge wave of anxiety, but Elliot and Tom managed to calm me down before it got too bad - so thank you for that guys! I still went to bed feeling like I was going to be sick at any moment.

how far away from home?

Sunday 3rd November 2013

Sunday 3rd November 2013: chillnig and packing.

Our last full day in Nakuru, Kenya. We got a chance to get up late as breakfast was at 9am. But my body clock decided to wake me up at 6am anyway! After breakfast, we headed to a market, which was pretty good, got a few souvenir things and a small birthday present for Philippa! We then headed to a hotel for lunch, some people went into the swimming pool, others just chilled by the pool side, we got a pizza to share between a few of us for lunch, which tasted pretty good. We then headed back to Kivu, lunch was there but not many had it because most of us had pizza or chips at the hotel. We then had a few hours to chill/pack. So after that we headed to our farewell dinner with the African Adventures group, it's funny because they did the whole 'you're the best group we've had' etc. but the amount of banter, fun and kindness that was shared between us made it seem more genuine. We got given Pastor Alex's book, which will be good reading material on the plane tomorrow! We headed back to Kivu for our last chill at the bar, then headed to our rooms. I facetimed Maria quickly before falling asleep a minute after putting my ipod down.

Monday 4th November 2013

Monday 4th November 2013: giraffes, goodbye Kenya and flying.

Early get up, breakfast at 7.30 and we left just after 8am. As we drove off Julius and Fred waved us off. Then an incredibly long and boring bus journey towards Nairobi. Songs were sung, kiss were waved at, many 20 minute sessions of sleep before being woken up by whacking my head on the window - many times. We then got to a giraffe sanctuary, we got to feed them and quite a few of us can now say we've kissed a giraffe... We had a presentation about the different types of giraffes and where they'd be found, as well as seeing the size of their bones... There were also some tortoises so we got to see those as well. We then headed back to the Starbus and carried on our journey into Nairobi, stopping off at a KFC, to get a Kenyan Zinger Meal, which was very different to the English ones... You sort of forget how hot things can be when you add chilli to everything... Was still nice to get some chicken and chips though! Half hour journey down the road and we got to Nairobi airport, which was actually quite nice. We got through security, checked in and all that and then chilled for an hour or so, I caught up with writing up yesterdays entry and listened to some music for a bit. Then we boarded the plane, I got a window seat on the first flight, didn;t directly see the sunset, but got to see Africa as we said goodbye, lots of rainbows in the clouds (which was cool) and still got too see the colours of the sunset and the stars that came out after. We got into Doha at 10.30pm and it was 28 degrees - bit hot! We sat down, had a chat and played cards for about 2 hours.

Goodbye Kenya!

Tuesday 5th November 2013

Tuesday 5th November 2013: home.

Happy Birthday Philippa! We started checking in for our flight and all that, then got on the plane at 1.30am. Was sat near a guy that I'm pretty sure was Max Beesley (the guy that was in Mad Dogs) but I got too scared to ask. I fell asleep a lot on the second flight, including one time when my head ended up in the aisle so it got pushed to one side as the drinks trolley got brought through... I then gave up, watched Friends for a bit and then after an hour and a half of that fell asleep again. We landed at around 7am, when it was 6 degrees and trying to rain. Mum and Misty were at the airport to meet me and it was weird to be nearly home! We picked up a double decker, because I'd really missed them! Got in the car and headed home!

Not quite the end...

I've had such a great time, it's been a great experience, I've seen so much and tried so much! Thank you to everyone that helped me to raise the money I needed to get there and thank you to school and African Adventures for giving us the opportunity in the first place. To know that I've helped even 1 child at Hadassah school, has made me feel the trip was worthwhile (hopefully I've helped more, but you know what I mean!) I will remember this trip for the rest of my life, I will remember how great Kenya is, how friendly and welcoming the people of Kenya are and how they keep so positive. It was an enlightening experience and it will be hard to not go back later on in my life. People that will stand out from the trip are: Fred, Julius, Beatrice and Alex from African Adventures. Tom and Ian who made sure we got to do all the things we did, safely. Mama Mary, Mama Flo and Teacher Beatrice from Hadassah School and Peter, Juddy, Mary, Ruth, Elizabeth and Nancy - all kids that stuck to me through the week and made it impossible for me to say goodbye to on Friday!

*takes another breath* Well, I guess that's it! That's the 'When The Mzungus Went To Kenya.' series done! I will be back on Sunday for a back to normalish life blog! Hopefully I'll be sleeping and eating properly by then!

Other Photos...