Day 16 - Memories from an amazing 2 weeks

It is safe to say that whilst many of us struggled to sleep on the night flight out to Kenya, this was not the case on our return journey.

After a busy and tiring 2 weeks working at our projects, Jubilee Academy and Luchema Children's Home, followed by busy weekends seeing as much of the Rift Valley as we could squeeze in we were all shattered and slept on the night flight back to Heathrow.  Not as comfortable as our beds but we all slept to some extent due to exhaustion.

We landed safely at Heathrow on Friday morning and after a short wait for our coach to arrive we made good time up the M1 to Lutterworth.  No trouble fitting all of the cases on the coach this time having left 36 suitcases worth of donations in Kenya!  Still shattered from being on the road for more than 24 hours you could have heard a pin drop on the coach.

With one final D.I.S.C.O. chant we turned the corner into the college gates and our waiting family and friends who were there to greet us.

It was great to be back home but we have some amazing memories that will stay with us forever......

Just some of our most memorable moments:

"when we were lucky enough to see the lions on safari"
"feeding the giraffes as the Giraffe Sanctuary"
"giraffe kisses"
"doing the cha cha slide with the children at our project"
"saying goodbye to the children on our last day"
"Mr Hodges saying "we haven't come half way round the world to mess about (whilst building the security fence at Luchema)"
"On any number of occasions watching our students interact with the youngsters at Jubilee, and the children's faces light up, culminating in the tearful farewell parade"
"The tears at Luchema on the final day - showed the Lutterworth students had achieved their goal of positively changing the lives of the Luchema children"
"the class we had taught at Luchema saying goodbye to us on our last day - it was heartbreaking but unforgettable"
"Having a welcome song every morning from the Jubilee children after they had all run to the gates to see the mzungu's arriving"
"the erraticness of the electricity and hot water"
"the amazing surprise of Nicholas Harmonies singing to us at our final celebratory meal on the last night"
"making little Nina smile for the first time, by playing with bubbles with her"
"seeing Joseph's (one of the children at Jubilee) amazing drawings"
"having survived 2 weeks without an upset stomach, most of the group having diarohoea on the return flight"
"singing Hannah Montana 'Best of both worlds' to the Jubilee children"
"walking into the project each morning"
"saying bye to all the kids - so many tears"
"reaching the top of Thomson Falls all together and singing"
"the whole trip - getting to know 32 fantastic students, seeing them take on the challenges and helping each other through the hardships.  Sharing many laughs with them and seeing the tears on the final project day at Jubilee.  A wonderful experience"
"when everyone had to say goodbye at Luchema, it was pouring with rain, but that didn't seem to bother anybody!"
"everyone getting up and dancing at our first visit to Luchema"
"the children's reactions to the gifts we took them"
"Thomson Falls - going right down to the bottom and getting soaked from the spray from the falls and then getting hassled at the market at the top by the shop keepers"
"Teaching little Simon to write his number 8's after many hours of math class"
"Standing next to Thomson waterfall after we climbed it"
"climbing to the bottom of Thomson Falls, where we nearly got stuck and had to help each other back to the top.  Myself and Joe were last and were speeding along until Joe put his hand down to steady himself on what he thought was a rock only to discover it was a dead otter"
"our open safari truck got stuck in the mud 2 metre away from a pride of lions"
"Me and Poppy getting swarmed by children at Luchema because they had never seen orthodontic braces before"
"singing D.I.S.C.O at the top of the hike to the waterfall"
"feeding and being able to touch giraffes"
"playing waterpolo in the pool and Mr Hodges warning that we all would die if lightning struck the water"
"dancing with the children at Luchema on the first day"
"singing 'DJ Otz - Hey Baby' underneath the waterfall at Thomson Falls"
"Feeding the giraffes was a once in a lifetime experience"
"Falling over in front of 3 classes at Luchema when I was trying to demonstrate how to play stuck in the mud"
"watching the Luchema children playing with Lutterworth College students and gaining such enjoyment from simple things....skipping....catching a ball.....blowing bubbles - not an electronic gadget in sight!"

Some of our funniest memories:

"playing waterpolo in the Kivu Resort pool with Julius (our bus driver to our project each day), and then finding out he can't swim"
"the giraffe head butting one of the visitors at the Giraffe Sanctuary in Nairobi"
"having a singing contest with the school next door after they complained about everyone being too noisy"
"Following a 'delicate' day 1, visiting the Sunrise Medical Centre on day 2 where I exchanged my stool sample for the pharmacists contact details"
"moving the cows off of the football pitch before football training could start"
"Abbie's bed breaking unexpectedly in the middle of the night when she was sitting on it and Abbie falling through her bed"
"being chased by dogs in the slums (not funny at the time however)"
"playing waterpolo in the thunder and lightning"
"Cruze's attitude at the Jubilee"
"our vehicle getting stuck in the mud next to the pride of lions when we were on safari"
"the shock of 'football coaching' not being with children but a well organised 18 year old + team"
"When we got a bit too adventurous and got close to some cute puppies with angry parents - Rabies alert!"
"being chased by dogs during the home visits (Mr Hill's running)"
"running away from  some very scary and protective dogs down a small alley in a Nakuru slum.  20 screaming Kenyan children, barging Lutterworth College students and one petrified teacher out of the way.  The words 'lets go and see those puppies' will never leave my lips again!"
"childish as it was, one of the funniest moments was when we all turned off the heat whilst Alex was showering and waited for her to squeal!"
"getting to make new friends and getting to know them well enough that you can get away with switching the heat off on them whilst they're in the shower"
"Julius the bus driver playing waterpolo when he couldn't swim.  Splashing around a lot in his lightly see-through boxer shorts!"
"when Adam scanned the Chinese man with the security beeber stick at (pretending to do the security guards job) the Giraffe Sanctuary"
"one evening we went to play football with a local team; our bus driver Julius said he would also play.  When we got to the pitch Julius said he would get changed so proceeded back into the bus only to re-emerge barefoot with his trouser legs rolled up and announced he was ready to play" 
"trying to teach the Luchema children tag team running races in PE and when we thought we had explained it fully and said 'go' every child on every team started running like a stampede - back to the drawing board!"
"Safari van races with Dennis (our driver) from the equator to Thomson Falls"
"taking a photo of the cute puppies then having a 'life flashed before my eyes' moment as their angry mother dog appeared"
"fighting with the mattresses we had just bought to donate on the church bus
"Mrs Hadley finding a picture of her bum on my camera memory card - thanks to Adam borrowing my camera!"
"The four of us lads going into the shower together singing 'Ho Hey' - The Lumineers and 'Life is a rollercoaster' - Ronan Keating into deodorant cans whilst waiting for the mosquito spray we had sprayed all over our room to settle"
"putting chilli sauce in George's lips whilst he was asleep"
"on one of the many nights without water, one of the Kivu staff was standing in our bathroom singing along to Shania Twain 'I feel like a woman.....' - he was a man!"
 "driving through Nakuru having bought beads for bracelet making, riding in a tuctuc in a thunder storm with the driver holding the door shut to stop it opening.  Leah from African Adventures in her speed swim hat to stop her afro hair from going frizzy, and Miss Sibley and I bouncing up and down through every pothole"

Day 15 - the long road home

The day began at 5.45am and we were on the road by 7.30am - all shattered but very much looking forward to the day and ultimately the end of a long journey home.

Progress to Nairobi was good for some and not so good for others.  Those of us on the Star bus arrived at the David Sheldrick Elephant Sanctuary in time for its one hour opening window.  Unfortunately though those members of our party on the minibus were not so fortunate and found themselves driving around Nairobi with a driver whose geography and navigation skills were not good leading to them missing out on the Elephants but having time to order a slap up lunch at Java Coffee House as a consolation - really good after a staple diet for the last two weeks of rice, potatoes and pasta.  The salads, burgers and chips were well received! 

The elephants were amazing, the sanctuary rescues orphaned elephants who would otherwise die without their mother providing them with the essential milk they need to survive for the first couple of years of their lives.  

In silence we watched captivated as the elephants played in their roped in enclosure just meters away from us. They rolled around in dirt, played with water and balls, and were fed their milk (SMA follow on baby milk) from bottles by their keepers.  Throughout this the chief keeper told us about the programme to help the elephants to recover from the trauma of becoming orphaned and ultimately to reintegrate them into the wild once they were old enough and ready.  The stories of how each elephant became orphaned was heart wrenching but the work done by the sanctuary was inspiring.

The sanctuary only opens for one hour a day to keep human contact with the elephants to a minimum so they do not become tame but also allowing them to raise much needed funds for the amazing work they are doing.

From here we moved to the Giraffe sanctuary and were stunned into silence as we fed giraffes from the palm of our hand - something we would never have dreamed of doing.

Some of us were even brave enough to put the food pellets in our mouth for a giraffe kiss! Again the aim of the sanctuary is to breed the Rothschild giraffe and increase their population in the wild.  The group consensus was that the giraffe sanctuary won hands down over the elephant sanctuary - something to do with being able to feed the giraffe's we suspect. After a final bit of shopping we made our way to Nairobi airport and we write this sitting patiently waiting to board our flight back to England.

It has been an amazing and fulfilling 2 weeks spent with great company and we will take away treasured memories with us.  We are sad to be leaving but looking forward to returning home to see our families.

Day 14 - All good things must come to an end eventually

Today was our last early start as we headed off for our final day at our projects.  Everyone was excited but hearts were heavy with the thought of farewells to come at the end of the day.

Jubilee Academy

As we arrived we were greeted by our usual song sang by the children and teachers. However this morning we all stepped off the bus wearing a selection of animal masks which certainly confused the children! Lara remarked 'blimey they've all gone quiet'.  We had planned to 'treat' the students to our own performance of ‘Reach for the Stars’ by S Club 7.  However, with few of us knowing the words it was a mixture of singing and humming but they seemed to enjoy it all the same!

The Jubilee team in their animal face masks

 

Courtesy of Mrs Hadley and Miss Sibley hunting out the bead shop in the rain storm the night previous, the real excitement was yet to come.  Having purchased several kilos of beads and fishing twine a military operation ensued which involved 3 classes totalling 105 students making an array of bracelets.  The real action was in the baby class where some students tried the beads for taste while the back row in their excitement fell off the bench dropping the beads everywhere.  Thankfully the Lutterworth College students were on hand to organise the youngsters so that every child had at least one bracelet including Charlene who slept with her head on the desk throughout the whole experience! 

Susan showing the children the new text books

Miss Sibley and Mr Hill kindly donated lots of text books in different levels for the different classes. We could tell from the noise coming from the classrooms that they certainly appreciated them.   It was heart warming to see the lessons taking place from the new books which they began using immediately and the excitement of the students for their new learning.

 

The children trying on the animal masks

We were all very excited when Susan told us that the children were going to perform some songs and dances for us as a farewell and thank you gesture to show their gratitude.  Little did we know we were about to experience an impressive African style parade.   The top class boys took to the stage first and sang us a thank you song and then the girls from middle and top class performed a dance for us. They appeared from a class dressed in matching African style skirts and were so proud to show off their songs and dance routine which had clearly been carefully choreographed by Susan.  We were then taken by surprise when Susan announced that we were all to be awarded with  certificates by the children as a way of saying thank you for our work.  There were already a few quivering bottom lips and as we were called out one by one the tears began to fall.  We left them with one last gift, a number of hand knitted teddies were given to those students involved in the parade.  It was a very touching and emotional end to an amazing experience.    

 

 The children entertaining us with their farewell dances and songs

The children receiving their teddies

Jubilee Academy with Lutterworth students volunteers

The hardest part without doubt was saying our good byes to the children.  We all remarked that we couldn't imagine not arriving the next day to our welcome song and seeing the children again.  After one final photo and goodbye we had to leave to return to pack.  Knowing that we have made such a difference to the school and the youngsters has made it a rewarding and unforgettable experience that we will never forget

Luchema Children’s Home

Our last day at Luchema children’s home, the last time we would see the friends that we had made at the projects. We had a slightly later start than previous days; getting onto the church bus with our much loved driver Julius, everyone in either a Luchema or an African adventure t-shirt. This was also our last chance to give gifts to the children and their families so we took all of the remaining donations to the project.

Sat with all of the donations for Luchema

On arriving at Luchema we took all of the donations into a small office, leaving them to be distributed later in the day. The day was organised so we could take control of what the children would do for the day, but in true Kenyan style this changed as during the early part of the day we all went into the classrooms to give one last lesson to the children at the project and thus rounding off our direct contribution to the children’s education.

 

 Pre-unit children having fun colouring

Jacki and Chloe making bracelets with the children

 

Some of the children proudly showing off the bracelets they made

After the usual break for Kenyan tea we took to organising our last day for the children. The classes were put together as pre-unit and class one took to colouring and making bracelets; class two and three played volleyball and class four and five were put against class six seven and eight in a quick game of rounder’s and then a football match. We had a donation of a complete Wolves junior football kit so the children were very excited to wear a football shirt, the only problem was they all wanted one irrespective of which team they were on.

 

The older children playing football in their new Wolves kit

The African sun shone down on us for our last activities with the children making then all the more enjoyable seeing the children’s faces full of happiness. This also made the job of finishing the fence a lot more enjoyable and we finally knocked in the last post securing the school compound.

The completed fence securing the Children's Home site

 

The children were having chapatti’s for lunch with beans as a farewell treat and thank -you from us and some of us spent time in the kitchen preparing the chapatti’s for over 100 children.  Needless to say this took some time and lunch was more than a little late.  It was worth it though as the children really enjoyed the treat.  This was followed by sweets and lollipops as a farewell gift from us.

 Emily, Charlotte and Chloe mixing chapatti dough

 

Alice rolling out chapattis ready for frying - only another 99 to go!

Going into the afternoon we were filled with the realisation we were leaving, so with our last afternoon we sat in the middle of the football field handing out our donations to the children. We did encounter some cheeky behaviour from some of them, though this is understandable when thinking about the position these children are in. We rushed to finish giving out donations with grey clouds rolling in overhead.

 Giving out donations - Oli trying on donated glasses (spot the Harry Potter look alike)

 

Giving each child an item of new clothing from our many donations

We promptly finished and were then treated to the classes performing a song, dance or poem for us. The odd water droplet was falling here and there, which quickly turned into a down poor putting a dampener on our send off. This made our goodbye’s a little more difficult as the rain filled air gave us limited time to embrace and talk to the friends we would leave behind. Tears fell as their were hugs and goodbyes before we had a quick dash to the bus to limit the extent of the drenching that we got and to get back to Kivu to pack for the journey home.

 Farewell celebrations - watching the children perform songs and poems for us (before the rain came)

 

The heavens opened and Luchema became a river so farewells took place in classrooms

On our return to Kivu it was a mad panic to throw things into suitcases before heading off to Nuru Palace Hotel for a farewell celebratory meal with our friends from African Adventures and the Project co-ordinators from both Luchema and Jubilee.  We were treated to some Kenyan singing from the Nicholas ensemble; who are leading music group in Kenya and had been on Kenyan National television earlier the same day.  Their voices were enchanting as we listened to harmonised versions of “Let it be” and “Swing low, sweet chariot”. 

 "Nicholas Harmonies" performing at our farewell meal

 

Receiving our thank you gift from Dan at African Adventures

 

After speeches and farewell hugs it was back to Kivu for our final night, not too late a night due to an early start for Nairobi to visit the Elephant and Giraffe sanctuaries.  There was time however for a little gathering and dancing in the bar before bed.

 

 

Doing the "Andy Murray" in the bar

 

 

 

 



Day 13 - More home visits

Jubilee Project
Once again greeted by our welcome song and excitable pupils, we set off on the second wave of home visits around the slums. We visited another 8 homes, and were exposed to another 8 heart wrenching stories. Like before many of the ‘houses’ were only one room, with up to 9 people living and sleeping there.

 Our walk through the slums to visit the homes of students

 

 

Sophie handing over a hand knitted teddy bear on a home visit

 

One family even had a 6 day old baby, born in the one room the 9 of them share, something we all found quite hard to process. The slums surrounding the houses were equally as shocking; we walked through a food market which ran right along an open sewer. The house visits really confirmed how different our lives are to the children we have met at Jubilee, yet by just meeting them and experiencing their infectious happiness, you’d have no idea just how hard their lives really are.

Fish stall in the market (the fish was hanging over an open sewer) and covered in flies)

 cinema - Kenyan style

 

The market in the Jubilee area next to the open sewer 

 Carrying chickens on the back of a motorbike

When we finished the visits, and returned back to Jubilee, we started to sort through the donations we had brought out to Kenya, with the help of Susan and Edith. This was satisfying work watching the teachers decide what donations would be most appropriate for the different pupils and their families. This was fully confirmed when we saw Tom’s football shirts (many being Leicester city shirts, of course) being handed out to the older boys, creating an uproar of excitement and happiness, leading to a celebratory football game, allowing them to show off their new tops, clearly proud to being sporting Leicester city merchandise!

 Jeff in his Leicester City football shirt

 

 Tom with all the children in his football shirts he donated

 

 Cruz in his donated hoody with Miss Sibley

Joe also gave the handy man Nelson a new pair of working gloves, to replace the tattered marigolds he was currently using. The delight on his face showed how much he appreciated them. 

Meanwhile Mr Hill and Miss Sibley took a handful of donated reading books into top class and were greeted with an impressive jubilation from excited children.  It’s amazing how a small offering can really make a difference!  The children really got into reading the new books and were even late for lunch as they were so engrossed!

 

 

 Top class with their new reading books

 

 

Luchema Children’s Home

Today was the day of home visits, we were split into two groups; half visiting five houses the other half visiting ten. In their two hours the first group visited five houses, some belonging to the school’s volunteer teachers. The second group visited ten of the student’s homes, it’s safe to say it was worth the four hour trek.

 Walking through the Luchema area on home visits

We saw heart breaking conditions in which families of up to ten were living in. This was often one dark and dusty room shared for eating, sleeping and living.  Many of the children were living with grandparents or only had one parent.  It was difficult to comprehend that the 300 - 1200 Kenyan Shillings they needed per month as rent for their small homes (approx. £2.40 - £9.00) was difficult for them to raise due to a lack of employment opportunities and this was before they thought about money for food for one meal a day for their families.  In spite of this the families of our students were very inviting and hospitable, welcoming us into their homes; their pride in their homes and belongings putting everything into perspective.  To say thank you to each family for allowing us to visit we gave them a small give bag of essential food items - all had a look of gratitude and relief on their faces that they did not have to worry about where their next one meal a day was going to come from.

 Kitchen area in one of the homes we visited - cooking over a wood fire

 

One of the homes we visited 

 

One of the parents stood in their home (a single mud walled room)

 

We were also invited to see the room in which the ten Luchema boarders stayed. This was a small mud hut with a bare floor on which the girls slept. After seeing the conditions in which the girls were living, we decided to put our leftover money together to try and buy mattresses for them to sleep on. We managed to raise 10,600 Kenyan shillings between us, approx. £75, so we could buy 5 mattresses, 5 blankets and 5 sheets to make nights much more comfortable for the girls in Luchema.  Transporting the mattresses home on the church bus with us was interesting and resulted in a fab mattress fight on the way home for us.

We have also bought washing up bowls, a large cooking pot and more cups and plates for the kitchen, and textbooks for the teachers to use to give to the children and teachers tomorrow thanks to the donations of the rotary club.

Tomorrow is our last day at Luchema and it is our day to organise with all lessons being cancelled.  We are cooking the 100 children chapatti’s and beans as a treat tomorrow and some of us went to the local supermarket (the Kenyan equivalent of Tesco’s Express) this afternoon with the project co-ordinator Lamumba to purchase the ingredients needed for the chapattis.  This supermarket located 10 minutes walk from Luchema was an aladdin’s cave of food and household items despite being no bigger than 2m x 2m.  Beans were purchased by the large aluminium can full and loaded into a hessian sack – so different to what we are used to and take for granted.  After our trip to the local “super market” (super being an over statement) we’re all ready for our chapatti making day to say goodbye tomorrow!  We will also be taking all of our donations to the project to be given out to the children.

Tescos Express near Luchema - Beth shopping for food for chapatti's

 



 

Progress on the fence is continuing and we have almost completed the final side working on it once we returned from the home visits.  Frustratingly we ran out of wood so were unable to complete it today but we are expecting a further cart load of off-cuts tomorrow and these should enable us to complete the fence before we leave so the children’s home site is secure.

Progress on the fence - almost there

Yet again, as we returned back to the accommodation we were greeted by a huge thunder storm. However this didn’t stop us, and for the second night on the bounce we enjoyed a brave, some would call stupid, game of water polo in the rain, thunder and lightning! We braved the cold for just over an hour, and the game got very competitive with a lot of dunking and splashing occurring! Once we had finished, we were all looking forward to a warm shower, however unsurprisingly there was another power cut so a cold one it was! We all agree, hot showers are overrated.

 Waterpolo in the thunderstorm

 

At both projects tomorrow we are planning to make bracelets with the children as a fun activity and to leave them a farewell gift from us.  So Miss Sibley and Mrs Hadley set off on a mission this evening to the Indian bead shop in Nakuru to purchase enough plastic beads and cord to make 200 bracelets.  This was during the torrential rain of the thunder storm, to get back to Kivu they had to catch a Matatu which was a different experience and one where you could feel all of the bumps whilst the rain came in through the tent like windows.

 Miss Sibley and Mrs Hadley's mode of transport back from the bead shop