A lost blog entry...now found

11th July 2009

Roger came by yesterday and picked up the seven boxes that I had purchased with fundraised money. The boxes were metal and made locally, two of the E-merge volunteers helped me to paint them with the children’s names at the orphanage they were going to. We also decorated them with footballs and music notes as well as one with flowers for the one girl in the home. The end result was wicked, a brightly coloured set of boxes that each child can call their own and have their very own place to keep there belongings.

When roger came I showed him that there was a seventh box even though he only has six children at the home. I told him to open it and inside was a cheque for the first years worth of food for a new child at the home. He was absolutely chuffed that I was sponsoring, along with fundraised money, for a new child to come to the home.

I also made up some signs for him on the computer for his clinics talking about water hygiene (I printed versions in Kiswahili and English). To top all of this I asked if I could use donated money to cover the stock of medical equipment he had just bought to take up to the site.

Well that was it, I could tell he really appreciated and was very taken back.

[N.B. this is a month on and I received a text from Roger saying:

I took a six year old boy his name is Gared, he is OK but wets the bed and has had bad times! He now has a home and love, thank you]

16 july 2009

Painting Classrooms

Things seem to be a little more organised and calmer now. A few days ago Emerge volunteers Marcello and Ryan helped with the work I have been doing at St.Mark by painting a mural in the nuresery school.

20 july 2009

Re-laying classroom concrete floors (and all the stress involved)

Okay so today was quite, stressful but also pretty constructive and had quite a steep learning curve, well anyway….

So I had a text this morning asking what time I would be onsite at one of the schools I'm working with under the mixed veg' foundation banner. It also said how many tonnes of stone chips I would need for the project. At which point I texted the contractor to say to come to the house, we will go through the quote and by the chips together.

When he came he went through a new list of materials (different from the original quote) that he suddenly thinks is necessary. This new quote, excluding labour is more than double what he originally stated. I had already told myself this morning to be chilled and not get too uptight about getting this stuff sorted, but straight away stress levels go up. So I pretty much grill the poor guy on all the prices, stressing more and more as it seems like this project has gone from a few repairs to hundreds and hundreds of pounds.

So, eventually I hear that both floors have been hacked up to start work. I thought this was a pretty stupid move to do both at the same time. I really felt rushed by the contractor into the decision to start work, I think if I did have more time I would avoided starting both floors at the same time.

So I insisted that all work stopped and we head down to the site, eventually we get down there and see that the concrete top layer has been hacked out a few inches in both rooms revealing some previous repairs, marum and plastic sheeting in some places. The contractor explains that to be done properly all these materials are needed.

At this point I'm pretty pissed off with the whole project, partly because of what’s going on but also because I just felt I don’t have complete control over it. If someone says we need a bigger amplifier for a sound system, or the guests at an event need more time to eat; I know what I'm doing and can make a very good decision on what to do. But when I'm told this and that about the structure of the floor I know very little. To be honest I think the contractor knew very little too. I've seen his work, which is good, but I think he plucks prices out of mid air.

I really just wanted Dom to be around at this point. This is always how it goes; Alex gets stressed, Dom's laid-back personality chills Alex out (eventually) and they both logically work out problems. Well, Alex is deep in the slumbs on Nyalenda and Dom's half way round the world, who knows where. (must stop using third person now)

So I told everyone to pause work and that I’d be in contact later in the day. Coffee and a sit down were in order so I walked over to mega city (the mall kinda thing). After comparing two possible ideas for quotes I realised something.

My eureka Moment:

The original quote (with a few changes) was to repair the floor, what he was now quoting me was to re-lay the foundation!! Now, I never had intended to relay the fecking foundation and even though it would be a better long term flooring solution I doubt the walls will last that long, plus the fact if I'm going to lay a foundation it may as well be for a new class room, plus the fact the money is not there for that. The original plan was to fix the floor in a way better than patching….ahhhh finaly.

After informing the Head master, Chairman and contractor all seemed very happy. (I think they were pleased to see me with a smile on my face)

Getting the materials was good fun:

First, find a truck to hire.

Second, barter a price.

Third, barter more because he's giving me (white) mzungu price.

Fourth, get in truck and drive to quarry.

Fifth, meet quarry owner.

Sixth, discuss prices in his office.

Seventh, go outside to actually see the stone chips.

Eighth, ask prices again and decide on getting two different kinds

Ninth, barter on prices given.

Tenth, re-cap prices and see if they can do any better,

Eleventh, new lower price negotiated (even though he said his last price was best)

Twelfth, try and see if you can push any lower….I can’t so quit while ahead

Thirteenth, go into office while workers turn on machinery and pour into truck.

Fourteenth, discuss Kenyan politics over a soda.

Sixteenth, have a tour around quarry by owner

Seventeenth, go to office to shake hands and get receipt.

Eighteenth, check the back of the truck and leave.

Nineteenth, stop at hardware suppliers to get cement.

Twentieth, get price.

Twenty-first, get better price.

Twenty-second, agree and have people start loading on top of the truck

Twenty-third, take a photo and then show to the Masai who are security

Twenty-fourth drive to school

Twenty-fifth stop to work out how big lorry will fit over bad road with broken bridge

Twenty-sixth do a million point turn to get lorry into school.

Twenty-seventh unload cement bags with help of prefect boys

Twenty-eighth unload the 7 tonnes of chips and pay lorry driver.

The list goes on as I have to buy waterproof cement, meet with James and eat for the first time that day at about 6pm!

So that just how long things take here, I must admit being in the front of that huge lorry was fun, I was surprised that the police still took Toa Kitu Kidogo (the Swahili word for bribe translating as: give me a little something) as there was a Mzungu (white) in the truck, very funny indeed.

An extremely exhausting day so I was glad to get some chili panner and rice out afterwards before meeting with James and having many a conversation with Roz on the phone

Its half past midnight now which is very late for me (early starts) so off I'll run, big day tomorrow again. I have a to do list as long as my arm!

31 july 2009

A week in bed with amoebic dysentery and/or malaria was not fun at all. I guess its another one of those times when you have to sit back and say "oh well T.I.A.!"

It was really great to have Roz phoning 3 times a day to check I was OK and to have James, boys from the blue cross centre, Marcel and all my housemates looking out for me.

I mustn't have eaten for the first 3/4 days in bed as I lost a lot of weight and felt so weak for the following week. But don’t worry I've managed to eat my way back to health! With a little help from Roz and what feels like her extravagant eating habits. You cant go 4 months without a job and eat at mon ame (popular but expensive restaurant) every day. It felt like a mini hollday when Roz Liz and Peter arrived as we would splash out on food and things like ice cream which I just wouldn’t have splashed out on before. A really nice treat at times when home comforts can really be appreciated.

August

Enok took me on a walk around Obunga, which is Kisumu’s biggest "slum" area. I had heard many things so had no idea what to expect but was preparing myself for a shock. However, it just didn’t have the impact on me that I was expecting. Probably because of having a lot of exposure to similar living conditions. To me it seemed much like Nyalenda, just a lot more densely populated and a distinct lack of hygiene and infrastructure which Nyalenda does have a bit of a leg up on.

We stopped at the house where Enok used to stay and met a Mzeh (old man) who had taken Enok in and owned the small set of houses. He struggled with an illness which he said no one had identified. From what he said I'm 99% sure it arthritis, I may drop round some pain killers to help when it gets really bad but mainly for the placebo effect which I have learnt over the last couple of months can be just as great as the correct medicine.

The Hovic night shelter really was fantastic. It contained 3 or 4 dormitories currently holding about 25 street boys. I chatted and chilled with a few of them for about half an hour. It’s easy to be intimidated by these groups of boys when moving around Kisumu. However, all of these guys where so friendly and cool just to chill out with. I really got good vibes about the centre. I'm going to volunteer there when I return for sure, mate, a job with Hovic would just be perfect!

The place could do with a few extra beds and a lick of paint but what organisation couldn't do with that here!

I sat and chatted with one boy who stuck out in my head specifically. I only chatted for literally 5 minutes, on these kind of trips there are always little moments that you don’t realise at the time are affecting you so much, I think this was one of them.

This young guy (who I'll call "M") was very separate from the wrest of the group, he was quite small and seemed shy. Once I sat and spoke with M I could see however that he was not so shy at all and was happy to speak with me and share his story and challenges. At 14 years old he had been "refused" by his father as he is HIV+, so eventually ended up on the streets of Kisumu before being picked up by the project. He has to deal with a lot of social anxiety and be at the end of a lot of stigma and ignorance. Leading to much depression. He went on to explain the problems he has at school and at the shelter in dealing with his illness, dealing with the side effects from such strong drugs, struggling with loss of appetite and massive energy swings. He told me his favourite subject is biology and he wants to be a surgeon. Just speaking to him really tugged at something inside me, mostly I just felt very helpless, I wish I could support him through education and health needs… what can you do, you can't help them all. I'll do my best to stay in touch with hovic, perhaps fundraise and volunteer with them in the future.

After dinner with Liz, Peter and Roz my evening somewhat contrasted that afternoon. I went to a Reggae event in a big social hall. The room was filled with Rastas and young people with the smell of weed thick in the air. Ironically it felt like a familiar atmosphere not that unlike many of London clubs. Hot sweaty people, mashed on drugs, dancing like lunatics to extremely loud and distorted music. I still had the words of M ringing in my ear about the effects of the drugs he has to take and now I'm being faced with a room full of people taking drugs recreationally! What a crazy juxtaposition! It just didn't feel right being there, interesting to see but I didn’t want to support that event and that culture. The smell, the fights outside, the people shouting and the way I had to get escorted out just wasn’t much fun. Often people make a fuss about you being white, you get shouted at, people want to talk to you, you can even feel like a celebrity. Which is an awful feeling, I’ve seen many Mzungus get caught up in that which really irritates me. However at the club everyone was there for the music or the drugs and no-one really cared about me which was great, I enjoyed the DJ who I met bigging me up on the P.A. as “Alex the Rastafari Mzungu” not quite Chris Moyels on Radio one!

Life In Kenya…continued

A few more memories to add…

I thought policeman in Kisumu were bad, but in Nairobi it’s a whole other story. This greasy policeman who stopped our truck (just to see what money he could get out of the Mzungu) was "arresting" us for driving offences. I was on my way to pick up Roz's bags, had been sitting in the truck for a good 5 hours so wasn’t in the best of moods anyway. So after 45 minutes of waiting outside the truck and two thousand shillings we managed to carry on with the journey. But was so stressful, they were just trying to scare us and to be honest they succeeded…. There’s no way I'm even stepping foot in another Kenyan police station, its just not happening. I don’t think I've ever had such feelings of hate towards another human being as I do towards the array of policemen in Kenya. I try and stay calm and think that their corruption is there way of surviving, it’s just their way of putting bread on the table. But I just can’t take that opinion as they take it all too far. Its actually abusing other people, undermining Kenyan society and ultimately fucking the whole system. I hate corruption with a passion and the horrible thing is, its so easy to get wound up in it and find yourself giving in to cut corners etc but you just cant let yourself do it. Once you start who knows where it can end up, plus you can never make judgements or take the moral high ground if your being just as bad the as the greasy corrupt men that I've had the pleasure of spending some of my time with.

I should also explain the main transport methods around Kisumu:

Boda Boda

A bicycle with a seat on the back on. Boda drivers are very often drunk, so sitting on the back of one you get a nice mix of B.O. and Changa (locally and illegally brewed 90% alcohol)

Equivalent to 15p

Tuk Tuk

An auto rickshaw that can carry up to 4 people comfortably, although I think we have managed 7 or 8 before.

Equivalent to 90p

Matatu

These are pretty much pimped out school buses and are the main form of transport around Kisumu. Each matatu has a driver and a tout that hangs out of the side of the vehicle calling to the driver when to stop and trying to coax passers by into the vehicle. A matatu legally can only carry 14 people but typically have over 25 so everytime they pass a policeman they drop 100 shillings on the floor as Toa Kitu Kidogo (give me a little something).

Now when I say they are pimped out I really mean it. Most have 32" plasmas, phatt sound systems, flashing lights inside and outside. I even went on one that had Lazers inside.

Equivalent to 8p

Bicycle

This is my favourite way to get around Kisumu, it’s a lot more enjoyable now that my bike has breaks! Thanks to the boy I helped to get out of jail, I gave him a days work to get my bike sorted. Well, the gears still don’t work but at least it stops. The bike is great for getting out of situations quickly, so Nyalenda at night is great as it means you can dodge all the drunk people who would usually harass you on your way back in the evening.

Walking

This is of course free and until I got my bicycle it was the best way to get around. Mind you, you do have to put up with being shouted at, hissed at and be good at dodging swerving matatus, bodas and cars. At the same time you need to watch your stepping as solid ground can suddenly turn into open sewer with quite a big drop.

Early July Blog update

Another kid with another story
Okay this is a long complex story. Basically a kid turns up who's claimed to have been beaten at home in kakamega and came to kisumu to find he aunt but she has gone. Now usually if a dirty kid, badly spoken holding a bottle of glue says something like this you just kind of usher him away, maybe give him some bread and milk. But this kid was different, clean well spoken etc.
But one of the e-merge volunteers Kevin decided to follow up on this boy as he seemed so genuine and bright. Anyway so we are in the middle or sorting this boy out, his story was genuine his family have been contacted as have the children's office. Things are moving well, its difficult to know what decisions to make but I really think if Kevin didn’t step in this 13 year old boy would end up as another street boy sniffing glue. Hes soooo smart and really needs motivation and stimulation. This is just one of those kinds of cases that pop up from time to time. I think its important not to close yourself off to them, as some, like this one are genuine cases and not just a kid trying to get money.

Getting to know the real Kisumu

Walking at night
Walking at night strictly speaking isnt the best Idea, but when there is a group of us and we all have our hoods up we tend to scare other people rather than vice versa. The other day we made this one guy quite nervous.
In london my pockets are stuffed with phone, wallet keys, ipod and chewing gum. Here I take a bit of cash in pocket, leave my phone at the house and I now clip a flick knife to the back of my jeans. It really is a different world.

The Police
Okay so I have had to be dealing with police in the last couple of weeks, a lot. I really think that the criminals here aren't as bad as the slimy fat corrupt police here.
The first way that the police affected me was when they came to the blue cross youth centre in Nyalenda. They said they were looking for arms, now there is no reason on earth that there should be any here. The idea is that the centre is a positive and safe place for young people, trying to improve the image of young people in the area. And here comes the police searching it just because it is filled with young people. Okay so they have to search it, but when they did they turned the place upside down. Guns pointing everywhere, plain clothed "police" standing on furniture, throwing books around the room. But the thing that really pissed me off. Is they stole money out of the cash desk in the youth centre shop and from Mikes room where he was keeping some of the money they had made untill the bank account was ready. The guys had worked there arse off to make that money, okay it was only a couple of thousand shillings but when your making a couple of shillings profit on each soda you sell that’s a lot of work. Infact some of that money was a business loan that I had put the money up for and it’s the fucking police that took it. What corruption. I was all ready to go above these policeman's heads and take it to the top. I've made friends with people that have friends in high up places. But unfortunately the below story happened. Meaning I had to give in to corruption on both sides and could not have any justice.
I can't really go into details of what happened, this is someone's life and not my place to blast it over the internet. But basically a 17 year old kid ended up in prison when he shouldn’t have been, he happened to be living with someone who was caught up in crime. So I spent many a day at the police station (a horrible place) trying to get things sorted. Eventually the guy did get let out. How and why is another story.
But the thing that really got me was how horrible (that the polite version) some of these high up policeman are. One evening I found myself waiting in the police station after the guy should have been let out, he hadn't. Eventually the high up police guy (wont say who) turned up to his office, then about 30 of these policeman marched in with their guns. He shouts to bring in the Mzungu. So I walk into a room surrounded by guns, policemen in uniforms and this big fat guy sitting in his chair who glares at me. He made it his mission to make himself look as big as possible in front of his chronies. He shouted at me, told me I should of come here and all sorts of crap. Trying to intimidate me and embarace me. This pissed me off so much, who the fuck was he to talk to me like that. I was so angry you cant imagine. It was dark and quite late by this point. Walking down the road in the dark from the police station I thought maybe I should call a tuk tuk (auto rickshaw home) to be safe. "Nah fuck it, im so pissed off right now if anyone starts anything with me I'll batter them."
Okay so looking back that was pretty stupid but was blind with anger. When I got home it took a good couple of Tusker Malts to calm me down.

Around Town
Its pretty cool now that I know so many people that where ever I go I'm stopping to chat to people. It’s the same as being in north finchley!! Which is ace, really makes kisumu feel like home from home having so many mates here.

10th July

The Aprentice UK
"The music - Prokofiev's Dance of the Knights, from 'Romeo and Juliet' - starts to swell. The portentous voice-over chimes in: 'Sixteen people have come to London in search of a job.' Various business-suited figures, their features arranged into vaguely mettlesome expressions, are seen gliding up and down shiny escalators and striding purposefully across bridges, pulling modish wheelie-bags." (Stuart Husband)

Okay so that’s the Aprentice UK, this is the apprentice Kisumu:
"The hustle and bustle of boda bicycles, little shops and people buzzing around here and there provide the background to Nyalenda, Kisumu. No voice over this time but Mike and Steve can be seen in smart trousers and shirts, standing out against the dirt roads and rusty tin shacks that are the targeted market in Nyalenda. Alex stands between them in paint splattered smart clothes sweating in the mid day heat. They can all be seen walking purposefully from shop to shop doing there best to make a sale" (Alex Ingram)

So team blue-crosses tasks in this weeks episode of the apprentice kisumu is to sell eggs to local businesses, hotels and individuals so that they can sustain the youth centre. Team leader is Mike and Enok is in charge of logistics and storage, Steve is communication and marketing manager and Alex is Sir Alan…or more like Margaret

The team went into every shop, restaurant and kiosk on the Nyalenda ring road and even ventured into mega city to speak to expensive restaurant owners there. They left leaflets with everyone they spoke to and even managed to have one order right then and there. There pitches got stronger to the procurements manager at each business. Next week they will venture further into town. Then they will have to go the boardroom where Sir Alex will fire one of them….(okay not that last part)

Roger's Orphanage & Clinic

Roger's Orphanage & Clinic
Okay so there is about a week between Nairobi and going to Roger Carter's orphanage in Magina I have missed out, but it was just more of the usual kind of stuff. Blue cross rehearsals and meetings, preparation for the workshops and running around town getting quotes and sorting this and that out for various projects and individuals.

Day/Night 1 (typed up from my notepad)
I'm perched over a table being lit by a candle, in what can only be descried as a tin shack. No electricity, no water, no flushing toilets and just pitch black everywhere. The piercing yet relaxing sounds of insects buzzing has been interrupted by the sounds of raised voices and argumens from the farm next door. I've bolted the door and feel safe here (I think).
After a day of travelling, introductions, inductions, medicating the kids for this and that and an evening of cards and Rosey Lee, I'm well and truly ready for bed.
Feckin Freezing!! (I found myself sleeping in hoodie and trousers as my blanket was so thin and I froze my nuts off!)

Day 2
I went to the church in the morning which is a small tin, open sided building filled with the wicked voices of the kids. They sang tonnes of call and response kind of songs with one boy playing the drums on a plastic oil container with his hand and one stick, and it sounded wicked. Really cool kind of syncopated rhythms.
During the day I got some little jobs done for Roger and around the site, went to town to buy some timber and saw the boys school which they were so please to show me. In the afternoon we played bingo with the kids and then played some circle games like Commando Piccolo, pulse and all those sorts of games we used to play with the kids on scheme at FRS.
That evening we talked over tea swapping experiences and stories. I should explain Rogers friend Maria was up at the site with us too. It was so cool to sit and listen to Rogers stories in his cockney patter. (I felt like I was on set at Lock Stock or Snatch lol!) He's done so much in his lifetime and has this dad like quality of being quick witted and having done everything. I could sit and listen forever, so interesting and cool.
Its my second night and this time I've mad sure I have enough blankets. A cat jumped out of the kitchen building window, right in front of me in the pitch black which scared the living daylights out of me. I hope it doesn’t work its way into my house, I really hate random cats, especially mangy wild ones!

June 23rd
Sitting outside with a cup of rosey watching the sarts in the night sky. Its pitch black, exept for the glow from my candle. The birds, the bats and the crickets are the only source of noise. There is absolute peace and tranquillity in this rural oasis away from the booming matatoos (buses) and drunken shouts which creates the soundscape to Kisumu at night. It really makes me think I should just pack in everything and move here!

After chai and a chillout I head over to the long drop (with my head torch), grabbed my sheets of the washing line. When inside my house I light a few candles and sit down to have a scribble in my note book, then off to bed, it really is another world.
[reading this back, I realise how mushy, deep and icky all this is….i think the country side does strange things to my head!]

Earlier on today I enjoyed categorising and sorting out all Rogers medical gear. It was like a little test to myself to see what I know and recognise from the reading I've been doing, first aid training and first had experience in the hospital of the various needles and devices I've had poked at me. I enjoy learning about medicine, first aid, drugs, dressing so much. So I really found it fascinating, reading everything I could and asking as many questions as I could when Roger was around.
Sitting here jotting this in my note pad in my little tin house, I really feel a millions miles away from home.

June 24th
The matches on my table have become a tally of how many nights I've been here, every night I light the candle when I get back to my room. I just found myself brandishing a deodorant bottle and torch to go and investigate the strange noise coming from the other room in my tin house. It turned out to be a bee tunnelling into the wood, pesky things are everywhere, I'll block up its hole with gaffa tape in the morning he he he

June 25th
Today was the first working at the clinic. It was a pretty eye opening and I learnt so so so much. Patients came in with the same kinds of problems again and again. So much of it comes down to bad hygiene and a lack of money for what we take as simple medicines. The majority of people drink water directly from the river. Many use something called "waterguard" which is a load of shit. People don’t use it correctly and think its magic, so many germs, bacteria and organisms can still be in that water even after using waterguard. I found it so suprising to find that women with babies and young children were not boiling the river water first! It leads to so many ilnesses you can see why there was the outbreak of cholera in kenya as a whole and indeed the village of Magina where I was.
As to people not being able to afford medicines; if I was at home and head a headache I would grab a paracetamol and know that I probably hadn't eaten or drunk enough that day. Here the money is just not available but also the knowledge of what causes illness and bad health.
There was tonnes of calpul given out to kids, a couple of millimetres at the clinic and they we filled there bottles (chilpa in luo) and I made sure that the mother knew how much to give the child by pouring I into the lid of the bottle. There was tonnes of bad coughs, colds and eye problems and this is all definitely down to the dust which comes up from the road. It also spreads so much airborne disease especially TB!
We gave out tonnes of worm pills to kids that had signs of worms or that were more at risk of getting the. The government have supposedly done a countrywide de-worming at schools but it obviously hasn’t reached this village. What surprised me was the amount of ring worm that had developed into a nasty open wound/abysses that put (usually kids) in a lot of pain. Many of these just needed to be washed with water and soap and be kept clean, but again this knowledge just doesn’t seem to be out there. Kids with bad ones carried there own population of flies that circled the open wound, all laying eggs of course. The treatment for this (which I must of done sooo many times) was to clean it up with antiseptic and then put an iodine solution on to also clean up the cut and keep the flies off. I then used an antibiotic cream and covered with a breathable dressing. Oh and ofcourse some anti-worm pills to kill any they have and prevent kids from picking it up again.
Did I mention that for the confidence of the patients they called me doctor, which was wicked. It was like the best acting part I've ever had.
One patient, an old guy, came in who complained of an enlarged stomach even though he wasn’t eating much. Roger took a look at his stomach and you could see that there were three huge lumps, so roger gave him some paracetamol and sent him on his way. Cancer in its very late stage, Roger thought that he only had a couple of months left. I guess Roger doesn’t have the expertise to tell the old guy and be 100% certain but also the guy wont be able to afford to go to hospital so why worry him. It’s a completely different world.
We saw a range of different things during the day, as it went on it began to get really hot and tiring being on my feet, working straight through without a break made me starving.

The wrest of my time there
The wrest of my time in Magina consisted of bits and bobs around the site like putting up fencing, making gates and just little jobs. I played some football and circle games with the kids at the orphanage and spent time reading with them. Two were ill for some time which did involve me getting up in the night a few times to give calpul and see to them.
There were also more clinics, one of which a girl came in with leprosy which is one of those things I always just skimmed through when reading medically books as it wasn’t something I ever thought I would come in contact with. It really is a horrible condition. As it is the girl was showing me an absys from ringworm which needed cleaning, covering and packing with antibiotics. I assume she had gone to the hospital at some point about her leg, but she wasn’t taking any medication and no action had been taken. Hospital is expensive and so are drugs, most people out in the village, or even in the city, just cant afford it.
Almost a third of her leg had turned white with thin red veins in it, but the flesh had sort of been eaten away by the condition leaving it feeling like bone or wood. To feel it and see it made me ill, not because I was squeamish or anything. It made me illl because I could see just how bad the condition is and knew very well there was nothing she could afford to do, the feeling was just this over welming feeling of helplessness. For the wrest of that day I was in such a daze with that feeling. I asked Roger to stay in touch about the girl if I can fundraise or help at all from the UK. I really wanted to chat to someone from home but even after I walked half an hour to charge my phone because of the time difference no one was home. The walk did me good anyway.
One of high points of the clinics for me was when a mother brought in her baby who hadn't been eating at all and was vomiting or had dihrea. Now, communicating with patients is not easy, the translator often misunderstands you and what you're trying to ask. So we find that the child has been treated for some other illness or malaria or something. Straight away I said to Roger that I thought the baby was on antibiotics as this is a classic side effect of an antibiotic. He thought it wasn’t the case and after a difficult 15 minutes of miscommunication it turned out that my diagnosis was right, the baby was indeed still on antibiotic. One that was probably to strong anyway, so that baby was to come off the drugs and come back to the next clinic. Felt so good to work out what was wrong, like a puzzle. You ask the right questions, look for signs and find out about the environment and situation then try and work something out.

Coffee in Nairobi

Nairobi 14th June

After 6 hours on the coach, the bus arrived into Nairobi City centre. I felt like a kid from the country going to the city for the very first time. Kisumu and other more rural areas are my view of Kenya, so to see roads with tarmac, paved pavements, lines, traffic lights, buildings with big glass windows that stretch up high, traffic jams, business people, Mercedes and new landrovers driving up and down the streets was a huge shock. For that day I was in complete culture shock! A dinner at a cheap thai restaurant was a great Idea and was the perfect way to end a pretty tiring day of travelling. That night sleep was the worst for a long time, worse than the huts in Gokarna India! The mosquitoes buzzed around my head all night making me sooooooo stressed out plus the fact that when I woke up I had about 60 bites from bed bugs.
Monday morning consisted of having a mooch around Nai and grabbing some awesome coffee from Javahouse (not the best coffee, the best is to come). After that we had a great meeting with the interim board of governors for the school I am trying to register. So to be sitting on the board is pretty cool lol.
Basics of the meeting:
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Current Situation:
The two classrooms and offices are painted, finished and looking fantastic. They are great sized rooms and each have many windows allowing the classroom to be nice and bright. (I have attached some photos, there are more to come!) Furniture has been designed and a quote been put together. It was pointed out that an extra piece of wood should be added to the front of the design of the tables to provide some privacy, this shall be added to our quotes soon. Good sturdy chairs and a locker for every student are also a part of the basic furniture that is the initial stage of equipping the classroom. I will forward the list of the books that have been chosen as the best for each course, if Veronica or Benta have a differing opinion on any publishers for a subject please let me know. All of these things are ready to go and simply waiting for funding. E-merge has some specific donors for this project that are helping to fund, I am also in discussion with my own private donors, but cannot make any promises as yet.
Through UGEF some resources will be donated, which will be an excellent tool for the resource centre and to the educational experience of its future students. Also Beatrice mentioned donating some books to the school which shall be an exciting supplement to curriculum education and hopefully stimulate self motivated reading learning.

The plan:
To have the classrooms opened as a resource centre for any form 1 students in the area to come for help, read books or just have a quiet space for learning, reading or constructive activity. This could be run by volunteer students from Nairobi University, possibly with a permanent member of community or staff member to oversee and provide some consistency.

What needs to be done:
The school needs to run for one year with a minimum of 1 teacher and 10 students. Teachers will need to be appointed and finance found for this initial year before it is registered and taken on by the Government. We discussed the positive effect of having volunteers coming to help at the school, but also concluded that permanent teachers would be necessary. This will be the responsibility of interim BOG to interview, appoint and find funding.
The usual student application process shall need to take place which should include some promoting of awareness about the school in the surrounding area. We had discussed having half the class as students that had not had the same educational opportunities or were in other way disadvantaged and the other half to consist of students coming up through Lifunga primary and other surrounding schools. A definition of the two types student will need to be made and a way of selecting students that apply should be completed, presumably through the standard way. (which perhaps Benta or Veronica could explain about to myself and the BOG).
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It really couldn’t have gone any better, a really great dynamic bunch of people from different areas, plus the meeting wasn't too formal at all! that night Ty, Kevin and myself went to Habesha (a really cool Ethiopian restaurant). Now it wasn’t the food that made the meal however the giant platter of meat stews, curries and veg which you eat with your hands and dosa type bread was pretty cool! It was the coffee at the end that stole the show. They bring tiny little cups with the Jah lion from rastafari culture, special incense that burns on coals, a ancient looking tea pot made of a very dark ceramic and sitting inside that is the darkest, strongest kind of aromatic, bitter and deep tasting coffee you will ever taste. This was the best coffee I have ever had, and I've had some pretty good coffees.
After our meal and good few cups of Ethiopian rocket fuel, Kevin took us for a night time tour of Nairobi. "Never walk in Nairobi at night!!" most people say…. Well like any place it had its dodgy areas but felt pretty safe in the hands of Kevin. Walking around the city was great, especially being given a tour by someone who has lived there their whole lives. Friggin awsome!
The next day consisted of more wondering around the big city, at about lunch time we decided it was about time to have another cup of the worlds best coffee. We sat in the restaurant for a good 3 hours (maybe more) chatting to the manager, eventually I ended up buying one of the pots. I was adamant to get a used one so it would be seasoned and have a great taste already.
That evening I got to go to Carnivore, which is something I have wanted to do for a long time. Unfortunately a lot of the game meat the restaurant used to serve has been banned. I was really looking forward to eating zebra and Gazel (my theory is if its good enough for a lion, its good enough for me). This aside it was a great meal. You sit at your table with a fecking hot plate while people walk past with big swards with half an animal carcass on it. They cut some off on to your plate and the next waiter comes. I ate chicken, turkey, spare ribs, pork, beef, lamb, alligator (or crocodile?) , ostrich and pretty much every other animal you can eat. I think Elliott would have loved it, infarct he may have to come to Kenya just for that restaurant one day lol!
A last night in the bed bug ridden bed at the KYMCA wasn’t too bad, we left early and got a matatoo (pimped out school bus) back to kisumu. A great few days

12 June 2009 This is Africa

T.I.A.
As I write this thunder is booming making the ground shake, wind is blowing leaves and dust around and lightening flashes illuminating the compound and sky. Something strange has happened, which someone may be able to explain to me but everything seems to be yellow, the light right now is an orangey yellow… not like sunset orangy yellow….like I don’t know really… like AFRICA orangey yellow! Something you cant explain and something no picture could show
I feel so alive, its been a month and I finally feel like I'm in Africa. I had an amazing rehearsal today with the drama group. As usual lots of people turned up hours late or not at all and after a short rehearsal of the scene we have been working on we sang songs, danced and shared stories. In a way I feel you couldn’t do back home. It was stripped back of any embracement or fear of standing in front of people. Group members completely committed themselves to their stories and characters and put themselves out there! One member spoke of a story involving the struggle a mother had bringing up her children and everything she had to do and what a miracle it was she carried on, another told a funny story that had a running joke a bout how things in two were good or bad and how each thing had two options good or bad. I shared a mix of a personal story and the story of rhinoceros by Eugiene Ionesco but instead of using rhino I used squares and circles.
After this amazing afternoon playing, singing and sharing I jumped on my bike to cycle up through nyalenda and home. (have I mentioned I now have a bycicle, it has no breaks and the gears don’t work but I love it) As soon as the sun begins to set the atmosphere of this neighbourhood/slumb area completely changes, I just cant describe.
After cycling over the mud and rubbish and stagnant water that lines the road (if you can call it that) that leads through the houses and huts, I got to the main road. The wind all this time had been blowing, thunder rattling the ground and when I got to the main road that runs next to the sports ground dust was flying in the air. Orange dust like I've never seen…. Its felt like…you know that Michael Jackosn video for earth song where the world is ending and dust is flying and he is holding on to trees to stop himself from being swept into the abyss…well it looked just like that. Complete sensory overload, every sense was taking in. Even though I was completely exhausted I just cycled and cycled. Alive with this feeling of being in a complete different world. Now, for the first time I think the phrase:
THIS IS AFRICA
Can be used. I can try and explain what my senses felt and took in, but what I cant do is explain the atmosphere or just feeling of life that I took in just a moment ago.
As I've been writing this the orangeness has faded to blackness as the sun has rapidly set, the rain beats down hard and lightning like you have never seen in the UK lights up the sky… Mosquitos have started eating me so I better move inside….
…. I know this sounds all deep and smushy, but I don’t get to be like that often so I'm going to relish the opportunity and hey if I don’t write it down I cant look back and laugh...

10th June Need to catch up

[photo to be added here]

Need to catch up, left tonnes of stuff out...
Okay so I haven't been blogging to much so I will fill you in on what's happening.

Workshops have been going really well and we are preparing for this saturdays which will be on math for early childhood development.

In the youth centre in Nyalenda we have started selling sodas and popcorn and I'm planning to work a little on sales technique and spreading the word that the centre is a place to come for drinks and chillout space for young people.

I had a nice time at the Nakuru national park on the weekend although it was a very expensive day! I must say though it was not seeing the animals that I enjoyed most it was the views from the top of hills and cliffs down onto the grasslands and the lake. I saw buffalo and millions (literally) of flamingos, there was so many making noise that the ground shook, I also saw giraffes, rhinos, wart hogs millions of monkeys and baboons (one of which i got in a fight with) and a load of other animals...it was nice but a bit too touristy. Although I thought we did it in a much more kenyan way as we drove through the safari in an old toyota corrola instead of a 4x4 with an open top and silly safari hats.

I've been spending lots of time doing business type things here which is great, the farm project (which is its own company rather than a part of the NGO) is loosing money so I'm doing my best to try and help turn it round. Its pretty cool, I feel like one of the dragons from dragons den trying to turn a failing business into a profitable one. In a few weeks I will be moving to the farm for some time so I can understand every inch of the process from planting seeds, shovelling shit and selling veg at the market. More recently Nick, the farm manager, has got an order for 500 tree saplings from one of the Kenyans banks so we are working towards getting that done which will hopefully bring a hansom profit. I promised to take him out for Chicken, Oogali and sukumawiki if he manages to pull it off. Also due to a lack of chicken feed in the area I had the idea to start transporting it in from where it is more available and charging a good price for it. Nicks done a good job of selling it and I think we have a big order for 20 sacks which would be awesome.

Drama as usual has huge ups and huge downs. Today I finally gave in and snapped a little at the director. I probably was completely enforcing western convention of theatre and drama practice but I don’t care. The director always shows people "how it should be done" which is sooo bad as the actor just copies the director the next time rather than the director explaining what he wants so the actor can make his own decisions and be true to his character. Okay I am not saying I want the actors to all be pretentiously be asking "But director, what's my motivation in the scene" BUT I think that the actors should not be impersonating the director especially as his physicality, proxemics and vocal qualities are the same in most scenes or scenarios.

I'm looking forward to the weekend, possibly going to Nairobi on Sunday to sort out some stuff for registering the school. Also I shall be going to volunteer in an orphanage near Homa bay which will be a nice change for 5 days or so.

3rd June Finally Forum Theatre!!

Finally forum theatre!
Its taken a hell of a lot of rehearsal, explaining, battling with a director who has a very different opinion of what directing is, but finally we are working on a piece of drama that fits the forum theatre model!!
I have many notes in my book from rehearsals studying the group dynamics, peoples interactions and the development of drama and ideas. It would bore most people to death so it shall remain in my notebook and not make it to this blog.
After some dicussion of the other two plays that have been developed in the last rehearsal a conclusion was made that a third should be put togeather. I stressed that I personally would like to us the forum theatre model that the orginal drama group was setup to use (before sort of being hijacked ). Here is where an interesting thing happened. One of the group had to clarify what I said to the "director", when he asked the director if he knew about forum theatre, the director said yes which I think was a lie but he said that he did because of the challenge of status from the this group member and myself. This is intresting because all along he has resisted the forum theatre model bus as soon as his status was challenged he gave into using it….I'm not really bothered if that’s what it takes to use it, the whole group wants a interactive piece and that’s what forum theatre will give.
So the play entitled "Innocent's story" which uses the forum theatre model was developed. The story of a girl in school who is pushed into having sex at an early age due to peer pressure, then as a result gets pregnant. I know it sounds a cliché but the group said this really is a big issue, it happens a lot and they want the issue addressed. Isn't forum theatre perfect for triggering such debate!!

2nd June Jamming in Nyalenda

Amongst other things today, I chilled out with a friend I have made in Nyalenda. We had an awesome time as I taught him some guitar chords and he sang while I strummed. We had some great renditions of no woman no cry, redemption song and Let it be…all of which sound cheezy but when he sang them he really made it sound like his own song and had such spirit and feeling to his voice.
I was amazed that he lived in his own house (made of mud and stone with a tin roof) as someone his age, early twenties, usually lives with his parents. His father died when he was young and had lost many siblings to sickle sell anemia and he told me that he supported his mother and remaining siblings through his enterprise. His story was so inspiring and we shared a great afternoon together.
The mix of mud, rotting rood and plastic bags that make up most of the roads and pathways in Nyalenda just seems normal now the small mud huts, children playing in stagnant water and millions of children shouting "Mzungu how are you" all seems just part of day to day life.

1 June Romance in the Rehearsal

1 June
I spent the morning going through all my quotes for the lockers, chairs and tables and inputting them into a spreadsheet. Okay, so its not the most exciting of things in the world but I do quite enjoy the fact that if you know how you can let excel do all the hard work for you!
After seeing Bart off (who was leaving for home, USA) we chilled for a bit and I completely forgot about today's drama rehearsal in Nyalenda. I hopped on the back of a bike and headed over, the usual guy that takes me was waiting for me, he knows the times I go to Nyalenda and always looks out for me.
Nyalenda is a strange place, a mix of mud and concrete huts with garbage and some sewedge leaking out to the mud track road that leads deeper into the "slumb" neighbourhood.
Literally hundreds of kids shout "mzungu how are you". I'm starting to know more people in the area and feel more comfortable. Occasionally I see a very intimidating person looking at me strangely, I usually say ask "Habari", how are you and they reply that they are well in kiswahili and smile. The same crazy lady shouts at me from in front of her house everyday which always amuses me. As long as its still light I feel quite safe, as soon as its Dark I get out of there as soon as I can. It just doesn’t feel right
After arriving at the centre and chilling for a few minutes we played some warm up games like Zip Zap Boing and Tubo Tubo. Together we then ran the scene we had been working on a few times. We then ran the second scene which evolves a wife trying to convince her husband to go to the hospital as they cannot conceive (the husband assumes it’s the woman's problem). This scene had currently been an argument but one of the group made the suggestion that the scene is to be played at a lower level. I straight away thought this was a great Idea as most of our work tends to be high tension arguments and raised voices. I'm not being judgemental but a lot of Louel (the tribe from Kisumus language) does seem to sound like that. The word for respect and fear are the same, I think that does show a lot.
So, the scene was played at this new "level" and it was fantastic. I really began to see sincerity and truth in the characters, the two actors did an amazing job. They spoke softly and held a lot of eye contact. It almost felt Brechtian, like they were no longer characters on stage but just actors speaking to each other. The first time watching this I not only felt a warm feeling of excitement, not only real empathy for the situation but I also really felt like I was looking into someone's life. I've always heard directors and books talk of "breaking the fourth wall" well I think if anything was an example of breaking the fourth wall, this was! I almost felt like I was intruding on someone's life, truly amazing.
We worked on how to create a little more subtle intimate physicality between the pair, looking at the wife wresting a hand on the husbands. Watching the actor do this was really effective, its just one simple movement but it was so emotive and powerful. To me it sort of symbolised the wife reaching out to support the husband. It felt like with this hand movement she was saying "I know its not me that’s baron, but I am here for you, lets work through this."
I then asked for the two actors to sit on chairs centre stage looking directly at each other. (I say centre stage, we are in a derelict classroom with a concrete floor and old asbestos ceilings) I wanted them to try a little rehearsal technique my group has used when we devised a version of 'Our countries good' at college. The two actors looked straight at each other and one would give a compliment e.g. "I love your brown hair" the other would then say "I love you" and they would swap round. This exchange would keep swapping while they looked into each others eyes. The first time or two, the actor playing the husband began to laugh . I also was very much got the impression he was acting what he thought it looked like to be in love. I said to him, "don’t act, just be" possibly one of the most pretentious thing a director can say. "Don't think about acting just think about love and this girl in front of you, almost be yourself" was my instruction to him. The action that followed was truly incredible. I asked the wrest of the group what they thought and they were just blown over, as was I. I thought the scene earlier had shown truth and sincerity, this was ten times more than before. It honestly felt like you were witnessing love or a real couple. I think it was the subtle and softness of the way they spoke, the strong eye contact and dropping any sense of acting. They were just purely in the moment fixated on each other.
At the end of the session after the usual warm down and prayer I expressed my excitement of the work we did today. Who knows what the next rehearsal will bring...

30 May Storytelling

Workshop day again and I made sure to grab a cup of chai which has fresh milk from the cow, its tastes nothing like tea but is amazing and just so fresh.
In this weeks ECD workshop we began by going over the participatory learning approach and the thematic learning method which were the two main areas that teachers were struggling with as well as being the two main areas that the syllabus for ECD teachers stresses most.
Marcello spoke for some time and went through the approaches to these topics, we then had some feedback from the teachers asking about their experiences of using these methods in the last week. We had some great feedback and I was happy to have captured a lot of it on my video camera. We had some group activities where groups of teachers planned a hypothetical week plan where they choose the theme, sub theme and fill in all the subject areas for a week using the participatory learning approach and the thematic learning method.
Story telling was the next part of the workshop and the storyteller I had planned to attend had not turned up but I had planned a backup in the form of a story I found on the net called high and lifted up. I said that my theme was nature and sub theme was leaves, so every time I say the word leaf I want the participants to all say "leaf" and every time I say a colour they repeat the colour back to me. My idea behind that was that it fits in well with the aproach and methods we were discussing and also adds elements of comedy (like a running gag) and keeps the interest of all the participants. I enjoyed delivering the story and having the group participation, having somebody I respected to be a great teacher highlight the story on the evaluation sheet at the end of the session meant a lot to me.
In the evening I went to Nyalenda for a rehearsal and meeting with the drama group and centre. As I left what was a somewhat difficult meeting I realised that it was getting dark and felt quite uncomfortable walking through Nyalenda at that time. It was very much a sensory overload and being alone in unfamiliar circumstances. I do know people around the area so I guess if it was that bad I would go to them to see me off. It was partly down to the tiredness and uneasy atmosphere that was in the air at the meeting that was prior to walking back, but the neighbourhood seemed a totally different place in the dark. People hanging around corners, fires in the street and inside peoples houses, a few drunken people and just a feeling of uneasiness. Now I know to get out of the area before its dark or at least know what to expect if I am in the area. I don't feel at risk there however, otherwise I would steer clear.

Theatre fun

26 May 2009
What a day, what a day, what a day. I had so much fun today, just such an excellent time.
I spent the day working with the blue cross centre in Nyalenda.
After jumping on the back of a motor bike into Nyalenda I arrived to the centre and had a bit of a chat with James. The other volunteers and myself discussed the various areas that the project would cover, discussed some of the aims and objectives and brainstormed the wide range of themes that the young people saw as issue and challenges to other young people from this same neighbourhood. We are avoiding the use of the word slum and using neighbourhood instead. It was really interesting to hear the opinions of the others and I enjoyed asking questions trying make some more discussion. I explained the ideas behind forum theatre and how it worked. James helped to clarity and gave a bit more background to it all. After a good couple hours of work planning and discussing we broke to have some sodas and just chat about various issues. It was great to have a bit of a debate. James was great at asking the right questions to trigger discussion about topics such as abortion, drug abuse, marriage, circumcision, etc.

(some brainstorming on forum theatre and issues affecting Nyalenda district)
After some more planning and brainstorming I went with two of the volunteers to buy some of the things that the centre had put on their "wish list". Thanks to a donation by mum we bought 10 chairs for the centre which as well as being used generally in the building, the main use will be for group counselling. At first counselling is one on one and then it moves on to group counselling where people can support each other and share experiences.

(chairs donated by mum for group & 1on1 counselling)
Also using money donated, we purchased a pot and lid, sugar, salt, oil, bags and corn for popping as the first step in making the centre sustainable, through its use of revenue generating activity. Some money has been put aside already to buy sweets and a fridge has been purchased to hold sodas, they are just waiting on electricity to be connected. This is very expensive and something I am looking into helping the centre with using the money donated but I want to ensure some aspects of sustainability etc. It will be a big chunk from the donations so I want to think about it and check all the info out first.
In the late afternoon we met up again to start some practical drama activities and discussion. James lead us in some stretches matched with a call and response chant which I think used a langauge from Zambia. This really helped to break the Ice, but some members still seemed a little reserved. I then introduced a drama a warm up game which eventually developed into the main improvisation and forum theatre "model" for this session. For explanation of this drama activity I will use the format below, I came up with it when documenting rehearsals at DLD.
Freeze improv game
Explanation of themes:
The idea of this activity is to break the ice and have people acting and interacting with each other. It was used help to introduce the ideas behind forum theatre and get people in the improvisation frame of mind. A big range of themes were covered as the activity was not content specific.
Rules:
Spect-actors are to stand in a circle. Two actors start to improvise in the middle of the circle. When one of the spect-actors around the edge wishes they can shout freeze. The pair in the middle freeze in their exact positions. The Spectactor can then tap one of the pair in the middle and take their place, changing completely the action and theme of the improvisation.
Direction:
Was as above
Results and De-brief:
A big range of scenes were thought up and it was great to see everyone involved and working together (after convincing some members). A lot of humour came from the change of one scene to the next.

After playing this game for some time we began to use the theme of drug addiction and construct a "model" scene that we could change the variables of, as used in forum theatre. (a brief explanation of forum theatre) After some time James (who was helping to lead/direct left) the outside are where we were rehearsing. (he is very good at facilitating in the background and letting the young people take control) This allowed me to be the facilitator or "Joker" in the words of Augustus Boal, the inventor of forum theatre, which I really enjoyed. We played and re-played scenes, changing variables, characters, situations and characteristics. The phrase "Play to perfection" was really in the back of my mind during this session. I loved asking leading questions, opposing others opinions and changing elements of the scene to spark discussion on the theme of drug addiction and also on the forms of theatre we are planning to use.

To be acting, directing, facilitating, learning and discussing ideas with people of a similar age was so enjoyable. It felt so good to be doing some drama in a structured way, I don’t think I can put across in words just what a fantastic day it was. I'm so excited to carry on with the project and see how it develops. We are going to have another session tomorrow and I will try and take some more detailed notes for myself. Cant wait….

25 May: Green Tea and mosquitos

Avenue Of Roz

First stop this morning was to Migosi school which I haven't been back to since my first trip here. It was great to see Roz's trees so big (AKA the Avenue of ROZ) plus the water harvesting system still up and looking in good condition, however now there is big Unicef water tanks that hold much more. There are two new classrooms, one of which was a government funded building and the other from Barclays Bank UK. The head there is a real go getter and applied to the Bank, I think he just has a lot of balls and is very motivated. You can tell this by looking at his school, the beautifully planed gardens and trees as well as a highly motivated staff team. They are the second biggest school in Kenya with over 1500 pupils and have a huge number of class rooms. E-merges presence can be seen in the form of painted class rooms and a huge line of trees as well as good toilets and some newly build urinals that we were looking at to see what we could plant around them to soak up the ammonia from the urine/sand pit that’s below it.
After that we went to the Bustani farm, while Tyler had a look round a took a peek at some of the plants to see how they were doing. It looked much or tidy and well maintained than when I was last there. It became apparent that they did not have enough feed to give to the chickens so we drove up to by feed, only to find that there is a big shortage so we could only by half a bag which last just 3 days. Both Marcel and the Lady there said the best thing to do would be to drive and pick some up from this place that is about 30KM from the farm. When I asked her how much it would be there she said probably about Ksh350 but where we are they charge about Ksh500. Suddenly my eyes rolled and you could see dollar signs. I asked Marcel if we could go to buy a whole truck load and take it to the farm, then let the boys sell it to make money enough to feed the chickens for a long time. Marcel and Tyler thought it was a great idea, I guess its one of those good example where my business sense can be worked into this kind of NGO work. I think Marcel and I are going to go and pick a load up in the truck later in the week.
Next on the monings list was St. Marks school, which is in Nyalenda one of the big slumb areas which faces many challenges for the youth growing up there. Having a strong school there is so important and the headmaster showed us almost a 10 point increase in exam results (which they have not reached in a decade) which he credits to the work E-merge has done to make the learning environment improved therefore increasing the moral and self esteem of both students and teachers. We looked at some of the holes in the asbestos roof which need fixing before we go on to work on a water harvesting system that will flush toilets and to divert water which is very important as the school floods so easily. (it is the school Peter and I pumped water out of for two hours last week).
The job of replacing all the asbestos roof for iron sheeting would be hugely expensive, but I came up with the idea that people in England could donate 8 - 10 pounds and personally buy one sheet of metal that could have their name written on it. With enough donations for one metal sheet we could re roof the whole of one class room block. Saving the kids from inhaling carcinogenic particles. Undisturbed asbestos is not the end of the world, but this stuff is crumbling a lot in places and I think really should be changed if possible. I'm going to suggest the Idea to a few people back home, but I cant really head up any fundraising or spreading of the Idea as I am all the way here. I hope someone will volunteer to take on the project as it could make such a difference to a school of almost 900 kids.
After an awesome lunch made by Roxi, Marcel and I went off to Kisumu boys school and the Ministry of education to ask about chair and table designs and also for a second opinion on text books. Both of these things are towards the Lefungu high school E-merge is starting. I'm finding sorting the tables, chairs and lockers difficult due to all the different necessary quotes and working out. Mostly because I spent so long on one design only to find out that we were to change it, this was at first Bart changing his mind but I also see now that a different approach would be much better but also more expensive. Its difficult working as the middle man, when doing Rendezvous stuff I know exactly what everything costs and how much we have in the bank to play with. Here with E-merge I need to keep costs down but really have no idea about there accounts and money distribution to projects.
Now I'm just chilling with a green tea typing this blog over a green tea while trying to right the mosquitos off. I went to the gym today which was weird as its such a luxury and western thing, but it felt good so I may be a bit spoilt and join for a month. I just find it hard spending £25 on a membership when I know that’s two and a half replacement roof sheets at the school.

"Mate, feels a little too colonial for my comfort"

24 May: Bird watching at 6 AM.
Another early start on my day off, followed by another journey on the back of the E-merge truck. We took out a wooden boat with a little engine and had a bird/animal guide give us a kind of water safari around Lake Victoria. Seeing the Hippos was very impressive and I got much closer to one than I did in 2007! This time the boat was much more sturdy so I felt more safe, the sheer size of them never ceases to amaze me.
Bart was having a whale of a time, he went crazy looking at all the different birds and knowing their names, as well as fussing over his new camera which was very funny. Every day we have moments where Bart says or does something and I stare back at him with a face that pretty much says "what the feck are you chatting about", its so funny and we both know it happens.
Being on the calm water in such lovely weather was great but bird watching is definitely not for me. You can just head down to Trafalgar square with some bread and see just as many birds he he he. Plus it felt a little colonial being Mzungus (white people) taken around the water by a Kenyan. Between Steve Erwin & David Attenborough Impressions I couldn’t help putting on a posh voice and saying "golly gosh look at that local chap". A nice morning but not my thing.

Workshop number two...

Our second ECD workshop
By 6:40AM the truck was ready, all the materials loaded and four weary eyed mzungus (white people) stumbled their way into the truck. We were on our way to Disciples Of Mercy School where we were hosting the second of our Early Childhood Development (ECD) Workshops, this weeks theme was understanding the chid.
We had a hell of a lot of setting up to do as we had planned to make building blocks with the teachers. This involved 20 blocks, 4 different colour paints, turpentine, two types of brushes and rags to clean the brushes for 120 teachers. Not an easy task to setup for. Also, we wanted to be especially careful not to harm any of the furniture or the floor so we covered the hole room in newspaper and sheets the Marcel and I had bargained over the day before in the market.
Making this weeks learning material (the blocks) went really well in the end, despite not quite having enough material as we did not expect the turn out to be as good as it was. It’s a strange thing when you have to tell an adult to calm down and wait a moment for a brush or some paint to become available. I found it ironic that when I was handing out the paint brushes these adult teachers were grabbing them out of my hands like kids themselves, well more like animals actually. These are the people who should be teaching sharing and social skills to young children, funny eh!
Roxi gave a fantastic talk about the development of the brain and understanding the child ages 0 - 2. I really enjoyed standing at the back and watching her talk so passionately. She did such an amazing job. Watching her I felt really proud as I knew how much work she had put into what she was going to say. Looking round the room at attentive faces, 120 teachers that were volunteering their own time to help strengthen their skills, it really made me feel that the work we were doing was worth it.
I had prepared some notes on flipchart paper which I placed behind me, as well as some notes to help me to speak. I was careful not to write my whole part down as I didn’t want my eyes glued to the piece of paper. I had put mini activities I could do to break up the speaking in Bold. When it actually came to speaking I found that the notes were more of a hindrance than anything else. I didn’t get lost and have to pause but they just sort of slowed me down. Its amazing how quickly the time went and I managed to skip out most of the mini activities which is something I really wanted to do as I'm aware how boring being lectured at can be. I did stop and ask questions to the group quite often though. I really enjoyed talking to the large group of people. I know it was the drama student in me, but I enjoyed making sure I varied the tone and intonation and used strong body language. Its funny, I very took on the dynamic of Ralph from our countries good, a character I had played. I was being myself while I spoke, but felt that I kind of relaxed into that characters speech pattern and movement dynamic. After finishing I didn’t feel to great, realising that I had spoken for about 40 minutes and done exactly what I didn’t want to do, plain lecture. I felt confident that I spoke well and passionately. I was talking about the development of the child and understanding them from 2 to 6. All worries aside I seemed to get good feedback from the participants and was very surprised that Francisca the area officer for ECD wanted a copy of my notes. For me that was a real achievement, that the area officer wanted a copy of the notes that I had collated myself, my talk cant have been too bad then.
I'm definitely going to work on the content and way I present it more ready for the next workshop. Hopefully I can overcome some of the things I didn’t feel to great about above.
I ended with the talk with the quote "Play to Perfection" which I love, whether your talking about education through play with a kid, rehearsals in drama, or just in life as we never really stop playing. I stole this quote from Andrew Fielding my Drama teacher & Director at DLD and definitely think its wise words. So thanks Andrew (not that you'll be reading this) for that little quote, not just so I can steel it when talking to others but so I can keep it in the back of my head and when possible try and live by it.

Kotching in Kisumu

We've been working pretty hard, its a great feeling during the day that everyone is off doing different things. In the evenings the team all chills together while some listen to music, some organize paperwork and some (Generally me) sit at a laptop shouting at excel trying to make spreadsheets.

I cant quite remember the last time I blogged so I'm just going to start from Monday, when we went to visit the district education officer to ask about the registration process of the school that we are building in Lefunga (1.5 hour drive from us in Kisumu) the process doesnt sound too bad although the school year doesnt start till febuary so we have made the decision to use the school with its books and desks as a resource centre for form 1 kids from all around, as long as we can find a suitable teacher and a way or paying her. I say her because it is going to be an all girls school, and unless we want to build a maternity ward next door I think a female teacher is best.

After working very hard on getting very good prices and designs on lecture chairs, we found another design that seems much better and more efficient so I am sort of starting from scratch again with the chairs and tables for the school. Still working hard on getting the best pricess for school text books, its amazing how it all adds up. I am trying to get reps from the publishers as they provide the best price as oposed to shops. This means spending my days on the phone to different reps. I do find speaking on the phone to kenyans with strong accents difficult but I'm betting much better at it now.

All that work has been E-merge work, I have also been in touch with Salem home but with both our busy scheduals its going to be a while till we can arrange a meeting.
I have been in contact with James and had a fantastic convosation with him over some sodas. It was so refreshing to hear someone that shares the same ideas about certain things and that is so passionate about his work. I visited his new centre in Nyalenda which is a slumb area facing many problems including kids getting involved in alchohol addiction, drugs and prositution. The young generation is faced with a big lack in work, no job preperation and a general bad reputation for just coming from the area.
The aim of the centre is to be a safe place where people aged 10 to 35 can be, rather than being in areas where they are at more at risk from the things detailed above. The centre has many many aims and activities including councelling services, HIV testing and counselling, CV building services, workshops, revenue generating activity and a canteen/shop that will fund the centre and hopefully make it a sustainable entity where James can step back and let the centre and the young people run things for themselfes.
My aim is to help by volunteering my time and possibly helping to plan and run a forum theatre project where young people can discuss and play out situations they feel are local issue.

I feel I have been neglecting a little the descriptions of day to day life here, which perhaps I was writing more of when I was in Bangalore. I guess I am more used to how things are here. I'll try to put some more detail in my next blog. Ive met some great people here, many of which are so happy to help and donate some of there time or services to my own and various projects needs.
The rush of getting around on the truck and taking boda-bodas (bicycles with seats for passengers on the back) is still awsome. I've really enjoyed the amazing group dynamic we have between the team and I'm both sad and excited at the departure of some good friends from the team and some new arrivals. I've enjoyed tucking into some traditional Kenyan food which includes the worlds best BBQ chicken at the Mamba hotel (Kisumu's answer to Nandos) which is well positioned only around the corner. I have also enjoyed settling down to a couple of bottles of Tusker in the evening, Tusker malt is my favourite, it has a stronger tast much like Peroni or Hinken where as plane tusker is a bit watery like fosters, not my cup of tea.

So I'm going to continue working hard, planning for this saturdays workshop on understanding the child, the child centred learning aproach, and the participaroty learning method. I also aim to have allocated some of the donated money from the two band nights at our house to the centre in Nyalenda starting with two chairs for thier counselling room.

There is far to much to write here, I spend my day doing a million things, and its that Buzz that I reall enjoy. Kisumu offers so many oppertunities and I plan to take up as many as possible while giving each my all and not overdoing it. Missing friends and family at home but loving the way of life here.

Its easy to get caught up with big numbers, like the fact that our Eearly Childhood Development workshops are impacting over two thousand 2 - 6 year olds. But its so important for me and I believe the others working here to remember the individual and I am trying my best to keep my eyes open to the places I can help the individual and keep each child in mind that is effected by the workshops. For that reason I've ended with a story below.

The Starfish Story
Original Story by: Loren Eisley

One day a man was walking along the beach when he noticed
a boy picking something up and gently throwing it into the ocean.

Approaching the boy, he asked, “What are you doing?”

The youth replied, “Throwing starfish back into the ocean.
The surf is up and the tide is going out. If I don’t throw them back, they’ll die.”

“Son,” the man said, “don’t you realize there are miles and miles of beach and hundreds of starfish?
You can’t make a difference!”

After listening politely, the boy bent down, picked up another starfish,
and threw it back into the surf. Then, smiling at the man, he said…”
I made a difference for that one.”