Amy's Travels to The Walk Project, Nakuru, Kenya

Saturday, 16 September 2006

Location: Stockport!, UK

Its all over! Actually its all been over since last Sunday when we arrived at Manchester airport. It already seems like another lifetime ago. I really hope that one day I'll make it back to Nakuru and play with all the kids again but in the meantime me Ali and Allan will be doing some fundraising activities which I will keep you all informed on as soon as i know what they are!

P.S. Thanks to Great Places Housing Group for such an amazing opportunity, it really has been unforgettable.

Wednesday, 06 September 2006

Location: Nakuru, Kenya

Had good couple of days spent building and sight seeing. The building projects are really coming on and some more volunteers arrived this week to help out which is good as there are a few other volunteers leaving this weekend beside ourselves.

Yesterday afternoon we went to the Menengai Crater which is about 10km away from where we are staying. The views are amazing. There are a few little stalls at the top and the owners were telling us we had been the only visitors that day, its crazy, its absolutely beautiful and there's no-one there to see it. Of course this may have been a ploy to get me to feel sorry for them and then buy lots of African jewellery but I like to think they were telling the truth.

This morning Ali and I visited Lake Nakuru national park. After a bizaar experience of getting in the wrong taxi, being taken into town with adults and children sat on my knee, realising our slight mistake and getting taken home again we eventually managed to get to the park at around 7am. It was more then worth the early start. The park has the biggest colony of flamingo's in the world and on top of that it is also home to white rhino's. We were really lucky and saw 6 of the seven white rhino's that live there and many other animals including giraffes, warthogs and hyenas.

I think today may have been my last day building as Ken who is in charge of the project broke his leg about 4 hours ago and has been taken to a hospital just outside of Nairobi by Alex and some of the volunteers including Ali and Allan. They should be coming back tomorrow after Ken has been operated on and hopefully he will be starting to recover.

Monday, 04 September 2006

Location: Nakuru, Kenya

We’ve had a really lovely weekend in Kisumu. Set off on Friday and in typical Kenyan style we waited around for a couple of hours before the matatu decided to leave. The driver broke the speed limit for the entire journey so we actually got to Kisumu at around the time we had aimed for anyway which was good, obviously the flip side to this was that I’d never been so scared in my life.

Kisumu is pretty much a bigger hotter version of Nakuru with more Boda Boda’s (people who ride you around on the back of their bike…..you have to pay for this life threatening experience) oh and its on the edge of Lake Victoria which I’m sure you all know is the largest lake in Africa and the second largest in the world. Our hotel was interesting. It seems to have been 1952 there for, well for 54 years, as I said it was interesting! However the view from our room was unbeatable so that made up for the curious entertainment in the evenings.

We spent Saturday taking a boat trip on Lake Victoria. Not unusually we were completely unprepared and had no food and half a litre of water between 4 of us for a four hour trip in the midday sun. Our guides took us to an island where we had to wade through the water (the guide book specifically says not to do this due to a multitude of nasty things that live in the water and try to take over your body in a variety of unpleasant ways) so that we could go fishing. When I say fishing though in reality it was more like feeding as the bait would disappear but no fish were actually caught. Also when I say ‘we went fishing’ I actually mean I watched people fish whilst lying on the little beach.

The guides then rowed us to a restaurant where they got really quite drunk and talked us into doing another trip in the morning! Apparently Lake Victoria has many animals but we didn’t actually see any but the sunrise was good though so at least that was something.

We came back to Nakuru last night and I’ve been back on the building site today and I’ll be there for the rest of the week. The mood is very somber up there at the moment as last Thursday a little boy call Mwangi died in a house fire. He wasn’t old enough to go to the school but we had all played with him as he was always racing around and trying to help us out with the building. It’s all very sad and really makes you realize the reality of life and death here and just how vulnerable the children are.

Well its my last week now. I’ve still got a few things I want to do before leaving such a visiting Lake Nakuru, the Menengai crater, and visiting the orphanages. We leave for Nairobi on Friday so I’ll have to squeeze it all into 3 days!

Thursday, 31 August 2006

Location: Nakuru, Kenya

it was a really lovely last day teaching today. The kids all got new clothes that Alan Kerr has brought over with him and they were so pleased it was adorable to watch them and of course all they wanted to do was to pose for endless photo's in there new outfits. i will get some photo's up on the webpage once my Battery has recharged! Tomorrow each child at the school will also get a pair of shoes so they will be all set for the new term to strat next week.

I'm going to watch the football team play tonight and they are also getting new football boots each! Its just like Christmas!

Me, allan, ali and a volunteer called alice are going to Kisumu for the weekend tomorrow. This is a bigger town than Nakuru and its on Lake Victoria. apparently it is boiling there so the plan is to desperately try to get a tan before we come home next week and generally have a nice relaxing time.

Wednesday, 30 August 2006

Location: Nakuru, Kenya

Its been a really great day for the Walk Centre today as Alex and Patricia have just finalised buying a plot of land to build a bigger school on. A volunteer called Alan Kerr who visited last year has been raising money any way he could to get enough funds to buy the land. He and his brother are out here at the moment to witness and take part in all the proceedings. The building of the new school is scheduled to begin in December and will be able to take in more kids and have better facilities than the current one. Its a huge achievement that in less than two years Alex and Patricia with the help of many other inspiring people have managed to improve the quality of life for 200 plus children and an entire community. So its on to the next stage for The Walk and big congratulations to Alex and Patricia.

Tuesday, 29 August 2006

Location: Nakuru, Kenya

The last two days I've been back in the classroom trying to pass on something vaguely useful. I've decided to try to do a little project with the kids where they write a little bit about themselves by filling in the blanks to sentances such as 'My name is.........and I am ....... years old. I live in .......... with...........'. I'm also taking photo's of each child and am hoping to make a booklet with them all in and then next year year when the next volunteers arrive they can see how they have grown up and maybe do the same thing. I started it today and the kids seemed to really enjoy it especially the photo bit, they're not shy here!
I'll be carrying on with it tomorrow morning and then I'm planning on going to the baby orphanage again in the afternoon, so its kids all day!

Sunday, 27 August 2006

Location: Lake Naivasha, Kenya

Got back from Lake Naivasha today, a day later then planned but the lodge we were staying in was way too nice to use only for one night and it’s a really lovely place. Altogether there were 8 of us who are all volunteers at the project and we all managed to get are acts together for long enough to get on the right Matatu. It usually takes around two hours to get there but naturally we chose the Matatu with a flat tyre so it took us just a little longer.

Our lodge was a 5 minute walk away from the lake. On Saturday morning we took a boat ride out into the lake to watch the hippo’s and birds. In the afternoon we went to Hell’s Gate national park where we planned on hiring bikes or getting someone to drive us around as about 10km into the park is a huge gorge that has hot springs. However we could do neither so we decided to walk. We didn’t have enough time to make it to the gorge plus the fear of wild animals and not wanting to find out how the park got its name made us turn around and head back to the lodge after two hours.

Back in Nakuru now and gonna have to sort some kind of lesson plan out tonight cos its back to school tomorrow…..

Thursday, 24 August 2006

Location: Kenya

Well I guess the main news of the day is that Ali has finally arrived! She found us in a hotel in town relaxing by the pool but just for the record both allan and I had been working very hard all morning and managed to swindle an afternoon off, honestly!

I've been building as usual today and mixing the cement and other important jobs. The house I'm working on is coming on well but we seem to be running low on building materials so it may take a few days longer than expected. Typical british builders then.

We'll be meeting up with the other volunteers based in Nakuru tonight so we can introduce Ali to everyone and its a good chance to find out what other projects are going on in Nakuru. That really is the only reason why we like to go and its nothing to do with us meeting in a bar in town, absolutly nothing.

More building tomoorow and then we're off to Lake Naivasha cos its the weekend!

Wednesday, 23 August 2006

Location: Nakuru, Kenya

The last couple of days have been really good. I'm really enjoying getting stuck into the building work. We've mostly been digging holes for the wall posts of three houses and its much harder than it sounds. The ground we dig on is volcanic rock and we have some metal pole tool things (not quite sure of tool names!) that we bash on the rock to loosen it up and then instead of using a shovel (there arn't any) we use our hands. Its quite tough work and I'm very surprised I'm not complaining constantly as frankly I think we all know that I usually would. Having said that I did spend most of this morning moaning about all the flies. The thing is though they are always landing on me and its not fair, why do they always pick on me.

I went to a baby orphanage this afternoon which is privately run. The kids were gorgeous and obviously got alot of care and attention from the staff and owners as they were just as happy playing with each other as they were with us. It was very different to when we visited the government run orphanage where the children just didn't want to let go off me. I loved it though and will be back next week to wake them all up and make them play with me!

Monday, 21 August 2006

Location: Nakuru, Kenya

Hello! It’s been a few days since my last entry but just in case you missed the millions of times I mentioned it, its because I’ve been on Safari!

We were picked up from Alex’s at 7.30am on Friday but this being Kenya we didn’t actually leave Nakuru until about 9. Luckily the weather has been really sunny so we could take the short cut that only takes 6 hours which when you’re traveling by Matatu on what only just passes as a road feels more like 15!

When we finally arrived we went straight out on our first trip into the Masai Mara which is an absolutely massive national park. I got over excited at very animal we saw but to be fair they were all pretty damn impressive – lions, giraffes, zebra’s, jackals, elephant, cheetah, hippo, crocodile, and the list goes on. The sunset that first evening was breathtaking and I could have stared at the starlit sky forever.

The campsite was quite basic and the showers were pretty chilly but we could warm up in the bar in the hotel just near by and a beer jacket certainly can be cosy!

The following morning we set off early and spent the entire day safari-ing around. We went to a lake with hippo’s where we were shown around by a big man with a gun which was nice! We also visited a Masai village where the Masai people danced for us and showed us how they live and inside their houses. They are really lovely welcoming people and the men get to have ten wives who do all the hunting and cooking which is nice for them isn’t it?!

That evening our tour guides took us to the village bar that they go to. When I set off on this trip I certainly never thought I’d be sitting in a bar in the middle of the Africa desert having a warm beer with Masai tribesmen but that’s what we did and apart from the difference in clothes it was pretty much like any local pub with everyone getting louder and more lively as the night wore on.

The journey home pushed my anxiety levels to a maximum as it started to rain and the road basically turned into half a foot of mud. The matatu was slipping all over the place, well I say that I don’t actually know as I had my eyes closed the whole time and was working out what I would say if I ended up being on the news. We all made it back though and my heart rate returned to almost normal levels this morning.

This week I’m going to be taking part in the building project on the dump site. I’ll be helping to build houses that are a similar size to a garden shed and are constructed out of tree branches and stones for the walls and corrugated iron for the roof. My first day today was a bit of a laid back one as they are waiting for materials to be delivered so we fixed a few roofs before calling it a day! I have been assured it’s not like this everyday and that I’ll be breaking into a sweat after 10 minutes tomorrow. I can barely wait!

Thursday, 17 August 2006

Location: Nakuru, Kenya

Day 5
Hello, been busy agian since I last wrote. After spending over an hour trying to download photo's the last time we decided to give up and get a beer. We found this 'pub' just near to Alex's house in the slum. It was slightly worrying as we walked in as there was every chance that we were going to be in someone's living room but as it turned out it was a little pub much like you'd find anywhere with the locals having a Tusker beer whilst they watched the news on the TV that was in a nice big cage with numerous padlocks on it, you can never be too careful though can you? I think we'll definitely be going back.....

I managed to get through a whole day of teaching on my own yesteray and the kids got to learn about words that end with an 'ing'. I was completely exhausted by the end but am starting to feel more confident with the children even if the so called knowledge that i am passing on is a little dubious.

In the evening we went to one of Alex's friend Ruth's house who was really nice and made us eat loads of kenyan food, it was really good! She also has volunteers staying with her and we're all going to meet up tonight for a few drinks.

Today has been spent teaching all morning and then we've come into town to book the safari and buy some resources for the school. Everywhere we go people are constantly trying to chat to us, as we just walked into the internet cafe a security guard welcomed us to Kenya which was nice though the rifle in his hand was a little off-putting!

We're off to the Masai Mara early tomorrow and i can't wait!

Tarra for now x

Tuesday, 15 August 2006

Location: Nakuru, Kenya

Hang on forget that about photo's. I think I pressed a wrong button. It was really easy at home...........

Tuesday, 15 August 2006

Location: Nakuru, Kenya

Day 3

I can’t quite believe its only day three I feel like I’ve been here weeks.

Me and Allan spent our first day as teachers today and it actually went really well considering the 7 minutes of preparation we did for it last night.
The kids we are with are aged between 4 and around 9 years old and they all appear to be very well behaved so far. I’m sure I’ll have changed my mind on that one by tomorrow though.

We’ve been teaching them the names of kitchen utensils in English and making them do little actions to make sure they understand. Then they go tearing around outside before we force them to learn the four times table. At the end of the lesson they sing songs to us and dance at their desks they are just the sweetest little things, I’m definitely bringing a couple home with me!

We are getting used to travelling around town by Matatu which are kind of run down mini buses with the bonus of people sitting on you’re lap if there are no seats left. It’s a good job we kind of like them as we’re going to go on safari at the weekend and it’s a 6 hour journey in one!

I’ve been trying to upload some photo’s for nearly an hour so you better go and check them out!

Monday, 14 August 2006

Location: Nakuru, Kenya

We made it!

We've been in Kenya for 2 whole days and have seen so much I can barely remember my own name anymore. The journey here was filled with a few surprises like a missing member of our trio and no bags at kenya. You can bet that my little face wasn't so smiley after a 13 hour journey and the news that all my stuff was still in Amsterdam. Ah well we got over it with a few Tusker Beers and luckily for me I was reunited with my luggage the following morning. Unfortunately for Allan we are still trying to track his down......

We got to Nakuru after a long car journey where we were entertained by baboons strolling across the road and loads of amazing views. We hit the shops so that Allan could get some essentials and then made it to where we are staying.

Alex who manages the Walk Project is our host and he and his family are lovely. HIs wife Patricia has shown us around town and Alex has taken us to the Walk Centre and to the slum.

The slum was heart breaking and in all honesty I really don't know what to say or think about the situation there. It has to be seen to be believed and its going to take me a good few days for the sight to sink in.

The children at the walk centre just want to be picked up and hugged and the majority of my time there has been spent high-fiving and cuddling them all. I just don't have enough pairs of arms for them all! We helped out with some teaching today and we all drew the members of our families before singing a whole host of songs, it was great.

Tomorrow Allan and I have full control of the class and will be doing English, Maths and some drawing in the afternoon. Its bound to be carnage!