Blog #4

I'm back again and this time I’ve got a question for all the fellas reading this. Have you ever woken up in the morning and thought to yourself, “Hmm I might as well wear my least favourite boxer shorts today, no one is going to see them”? You have, yeah me too, because it’s not everyday you are going to find a beetle crawling in your trouser leg is it.

Yeah that’s right, I found a beetle making its way towards private parts, and it was pretty big too and scared me to death. I was on my way back from working in the community and was riding up front in Tatwa’s, the deputy director’s jeep. The back of the car was full with 4 passengers, that’s 4 other guys from the mission and we were driving on the most bumpy roads back home for evening dinner. I had been waving at children through the window who were treating me like a celebrity and then I placed my hand on my lap as I faced on looking out of the windshield. I felt something hard and strange on my leg and all of a sudden freaked out. Instantly Tatwa knew there was something wrong and that I had something travelling around inside my linen leg warmers. He pulled over and I jumped out by the side of the road. I felt the hard, round creature inside on the left leg and was really debating whether to pull down my pants and scout round inside to see what it was. I knew exactly where the creature was, I could feel it. I took a second to think, no longer as this was too crucial as i seriously hate creepy crawlies. I dropped my pants slightly bearing my less attractive underwear, and reached down on the outside of my boxers and grabbed the creature which clutched to my hand. In a tenth of a second I had removed my hand and launched the creature on the floor fast as a bullet, even now writing about an experience which was probably about 3 hours ago, I’m still shivering at the thought of it.

My days are beginning to find themselves a set routine so there are less new things for me to include and present in my blog. So rather than keeping you up to date with what seems like a Coronation Street, 4 times a week special, I’m going to make them less frequent and maybe slacken it down to once or twice a week max.

Monday the 21st began like any regular day back at work in Brighouse. I was straight into the day with plenty of problems to take a look at and other areas to help out in if my skills could be of any use. Ann’s office was the main problem for my morning as she has encountered a virus like many of the other machines that can be found in and around the offices. I stuck to the structure both Dean and I are most comfortable with, and did a full scan with AVG, the best free virus software on the world wide web. I did this and it only made a small difference as the computer seemed to be pretty messed up. The whole computers seem to have lately been flooded with viruses and the network doesn’t seem to be performing and making things any easier. The new IT guy should be coming over the next coming week so I’m pretty sure i'll have the opportunity of helping assist him as he tries to erase these problems.

So the morning was taken up by looking at Ann’s computer and by the afternoon she was experiencing new problems. Later in the afternoon things got a lot better. I began designing t shirts for the GAP programme for Matthew. I felt, as a volunteer myself that the t shirts needed to be pretty cool as well as appropriate for the mission. I designed the front and back in a matter of minutes and we were really pleased with the results. The design was simple but effective and went alongside the design we had recently created to update the GAP website and letter heads.
Tuesday was different. Matthew told me I would be working “out in the field” his words not mine and I assumed having not discussed it in detail because I am willing to try almost anything, that I may have the possibility of getting muddy or even worse ripping my items of clothing. So because of this I put on some trousers that were relatively new but I wasn’t bothered about ruining, a black t shirt to hide the mud that I may get covered in and some old trainers that could support me for the day. I didn’t particularly look scruffy but nether the less, I was dressed and made my way over for morning breakfast. Sat with Matthew I filled myself up on sausage and tomato while the kitchen staff very kindly prepared my packed lunch for the day. We discussed our nights sleep and then began to talk about the things we both we doing this day. My adventure for the day was brought up and that’s when I found out “in the field” was technical jargon that translated very simply to “in the community”.

I was going to be working within the community which involved hopping in the deputy director’s jeep and taking about a 45 minute journey to another town. We were getting very rural and took trips on roads that had seen better days. I had to sit through an almost four hour seminar that saw three different languages and dialects and not one of them were one I understood. I had a translator helping me out but he was also involved within the seminar so some of the time I had to sit and try my best to figure out what was going on. There was a lot of laughing and a lot of enthusiasm as the congregation stood up and told stories about how their fellowships have helped certain parts of their local communities. We heard stories how one fellowship worked together to aid a new mother who couldn’t provide milk for her new born. As a result of this the fellowship worked together to earn and support the mother, and provide her with milk that she could give to the child. There were many other stories told and they showed how kind and generous people can be who are filled with the faith of God. It was a long seminar but it was an experience I definitely wasn’t going to forget. I had another one of these which I would be involved in on Thursday and if the congregation were anywhere as enthusiastic as todays, then it would be another very successful event for the mission staff.

Wednesday was just another day in the office. I didn’t do much apart from continue creating the GAP programme website. I got frustrated a few times with the constant slow network and the failure of connection but managed to design and preview successful and attractive pages. This continued all day until the evening when we went back for evening dinner. Afterwards we had evening devotion and quite kindly one of the guys from the mission Edward, came to support and assist us. Just a few days ago Edward had just had a new daughter which he and his family had named Joy. He told us how previous to this his wife lost a child during labour therefore they named their new child after the way their new blessing made them feel. This devotion only lasted about 20 minutes and it was nice to look back other the day and show appreciation for the things we had done and received. Thursday was another one of my days working within the community. This would be the third time the mission staff had carried out the seminar so they were getting pretty used to the long sessions and the best ways to get the messages across. Both days we have been due to go out to work within the community the meeting time suggested was 10am. Just like I have experienced many times before, 10am was never going to be the time we set off and we usually ended up leaving at around 11.

We set off in the “Bone Shaker”, that’s the name I have given to Tatwa’s vehicle as you get thrown all over the place because of the poor suspension. The last trip we took in it, it was very noticeable that it was leaking break fluid and we needed to get this fixed so we set off and stopped at one of the local garages in Kimilili town. The job took around two hours as I watched the mechanics remove the wheels, attack and replace the break pads and also fix the area in which the break fluid did its thing. It was around mid day where the sun is at its hottest and I really didn’t fancy getting third degree burns and being uncomfortable for the next week or so, so I sat in the shade on a small wooden bench that I expected to give way at any moment. Mobiles were ringing every other minute with people from the seminar wondering where we had gotten to. Eventually we were back on the road after the repair was complete and we attended another seminar that was very productive indeed.

I sat it out, only leaving for a couple of minutes to stretch my legs and eat my sandwiches to stop me from passing out in front of what was again another lively congregation. After the seminar was over we went next door to the neighbour’s house where food had been prepared for me and the rest of the mission staff to share. I was very hesitant at first as I had been warned to be very careful of what I eat when I am not at the guest house. There are obvious reasons for this such as they may have been prepared in water that I shouldn’t be consuming and also they may have ingredients in that my stomach is not normally used to. I sat and watched while the food around me was placed in bowls to be eaten and I was pretty hungry but was more bothered about my health than having my tummy rumbling until I made it home for my evening meal. It was interesting to find out what was being eaten as the food was quite traditional and not very obvious to the eye what it was. They had Ugali, which is maize and water mixed together to make a dough. They had cooked and mashed banana and also rice and chicken with its juices which they like to call Cuckoo. My eyes were watching the food as they advised me what I could and couldn’t eat from what was available. I didn’t want to be rude and say I didn’t want any but at the same time I didn’t want to eat something that was going to make me ill. Eventually I gave in and decided I could try some of the food that had been suggested it was okay to consume. I grabbed my spoon and took a lump of the cooked mashed banana. It was delicious and I was so happy I tried it. I grabbed my bowl and filled it with my new favourite dish for the afternoon. I then added some of the juices left over from the chicken which made a nice soup that I could do some mixing with. The bananas didn’t taste like bananas but more like an Irish potato. I couldn’t get enough. Not going overboard I stuck to one bowlful just to take it easy and get my stomach used to new foods.

After the beautiful meal and some great hospitality we set off back home to do whatever we had planned for the evening. I assume by this point the beetle had already entered my trousers from the home I had just recently been sat in. The house was really basic with mainly chairs and a table and it also had a small cat roaming round with the occasional hen and chick clucking round to say hey. I never expected to take one of their pet’s home with me in my trousers but I was too freaked out and shocked after finding it to even consider taking it back.

It’s been an eventful past few of days and the weekend is coming up soon which will give me one or two stories for me to tell. Hopefully they won’t involve any creatures or any disasters of any kind x

Blog #3 - The Weekend

So we all have names and many of us have nicknames, but if I were to give you the name from the season you were born in, or chose to name you after the weather conditions on that particular day, the chances are you would probably look at me funny right? Well I guess if we were living here then there would be plenty of funny looks flying around, as it has come to my attention that there may be a good chance of being blessed with a name such as “Wafula” which means Rainy Season. Speaking of nicknames, I’m still in the first week and two of the guys, Dennis and Edgar, have already called to me as JT. I’m predicting it’s from the short hair and the slight beard, but the beard has now gone so maybe they might need to come up with an alternative for the time being.

Sat 19th and today is the first day of my first weekend and it is wash day. I had a little longer to sleep in this morning and came for breakfast at 8.30am. Breakfast was kind of different with some new food to try. I was slightly late compared with everyone else so I was sat for most of the time at the table on my own. I ate Mandazi, which is like a hard donut with a slightly popcorn taste to it which was quite nice when coated in jam. Matthew was washing his clothes out by the garden using the filtered water collected by the rain. I didn’t need to wash quite yet as it’s only been a few of days since my arrival, but I’m pretty sure by the way things are going next week is going to be my first attempt. I sat on the balcony or veranda, whatever you want to call it and finished off the remainder of the blog from the night before. The sun was shining as always and the birds tweeting, so I sat with the laptop on a very unstable desk, writing in peace.
Once Matthew had finished his washing we decided to take a walk to the offices to take a look to see if I could fix the Office email account that wasn’t working properly and start on creating some I.D cards for the IcFEM mission staff. We didn’t spend long here as it was coming up to lunch time, but just before we were due to leave, Matthew was asked to cover for Norah, the lady at the Cyber Centre, as she went home for her lunch. I left Matthew to continue with things and hold the fort at the Cyber Centre and took the short stroll back to the guesthouse carrying my laptop in my rucksack and constantly pulling up my trouser legs at the back to stop them from becoming caked in red soil.

I had lunch on my own then went to my room where I was to wait for Matthew to come back at around 2.15pm. I haven’t mentioned this before but since the very beginning of my trip I have begun doing sketches in a notepad illustrating my feelings and activities I have seen and done in each particular day. I began to create a masterpiece using only my black biro and my A4 lined pad and sketched away for about 15 minutes listening to my music with the ipod at full volume. By this time I was chilled out to the max and began to feel a little sleepy and realised I still had a bit of time on my hands before Matthew was back for dinner and we had to be off again. I laid down, stuck in my ear plugs to drown out the sound of buzzing flies and chattering people and got a little bit of rest which I guess I needed. I woke up maybe two hours later and with no clock or time in my room. I was a little worried that I had missed Matthew and that he had been to wake me but left with the result of me not waking up. That was the case. Well kind of. Matthew had been back but was back later than expected. He then had to rush off to get his bike mended at the “Fundi” and had left without waking me. I thought he may be down at the offices where we had arranged to originally spend the afternoon, but when I walked all the way there, I got there and realised he wasn’t. Fortunately I was able to get a lift back in Solomon, the directors Volvo.

Matthew may be gone sometime and I didn’t really have much to do around here. I knew I had and episode of Heroes, a TV show I like watching back home, downloaded onto the laptop and I knew this was a better opportunity than any to catch up while I could. After finishing this, Matthew appeared at around 6.15pm. I had already spoken with the guesthouse staff and arranged for the others to return before I had my evening dinner. So Matthew was back but we thought it would be polite to wait for John as he had head off to DreamLand with Solomon to take his very first look around.

After dinner we sat in the guesthouse lounge. Matthew and I discussed and created designs on the laptop and were getting quite excited at what we had put together on screen. We continued this until late in the evening, creating him a document template with a header and footer for his Gap Programme letters.

It was now Sunday and time to hit up church but not before we had sausage, tomato and toast for breakfast. I was told over the next few of weeks I would get to experience a number of churches to see what the difference was between them all, and then finally decide which one I liked best and would prefer to visit for the remained of my trip. Ann Lipson, who preaches at the front of the church we were to visit today, offered Matthew, John and me a lift onto the service. I was suited up smart in my black suit trousers, rocking the shirt and tie and also wearing my black shoes that hopefully wouldn’t get ruined from the ground I would be walking on. Luckily for me it hadn’t rained for the previous day so the ground was solid and reasonably dry in most areas. We hopped in the car and set off to the church which was about 10 minutes away. We hit bumps and bounced in and out of ditches from the uneven back roads and just over half way there we realised that the front driver side tyre had got itself a nice big puncture making it completely flat. Typical eh, I just took in the whole situation as the people on the streets all started to gather round and point.

We took out the spare type from the back of the car and also removed the jack ready to change the flat tyre for the spare. All of a sudden the thought of home came back to me as a couple of weeks previous to coming out here, my dad was working on my car changing the tyres as he was putting on new wheel trims. I remember thinking watching my dad tinkle with the tyres, “Man I would never be able to do that”. Well it was my time to have a go. So John and I had to tackle this problem and between us both we had a pretty good idea of what we were doing. I wacked the jack under the car and began to twist the leaver thingy until the car starter to rise. My bad, I had put it too close to the centre so the back started to rise instead of the front. How was I supposed to know? That’s why I’m an IT Technician and not a mechanic. Anyways I began to move it towards the front when a gang of little children ran over to watch as two Mazungu’s attempted to fix this car, then soon after 2 older guys came round who were more than willing to take over without being asked. I just stood back, kept quiet and watched as they removed the old type and replaced it in a matter of minutes. I was chillin’, there was no need to get all worked up over nothing was there.

So the car was fixed and they drove on to church, I walked on with Matthew who had come back to the car and we sat in for the service which hadn’t even started yet. It began and lasted just short of two hours. There was singing, praying and bible readings involved, just like it every normal church. It was even in English which was pleasing. We were greeted and welcomed by almost everyone. During the service John and I had to stand up and introduce ourselves. John went first and said his name and where he was from but also elaborated a little, wait, elaborated a lot. I began to start worrying as I was struggling of things to think of nevermind say. He didn’t go on for too long but said enough about himself to please everyone and let them have an idea about his background. I couldn’t just stand up and say “Hello, I'm Paul and I'm from England” could I? So I bucked up my ideas and just improvised the best I could. “Hello, I'm Paul or Paulo which ever you prefer. I'm from a town called Halifax in England and this is my first time in Africa. I've been here in Kenya for about 5 days now and I have been made feel very welcome and thank you all for making me feel very welcome this morning”. That’s what I said and everyone clapped and said “Karibu”, which means welcome. Phew that was over, but apparently I did very well and the people I spoke to afterwards remembered everything I had said and were interested to find out more.

We left church and took a stroll back in the afternoon sun. It was warm but I propped up the collar on my shirt to stop the sun from settling itself on the back of my neck and giving me a nice red mark which may give me grief for the next few days.
We came back and had lunch and we knew that this afternoon was for relaxing and doing anything we wanted. We had talked previously about watching a DVD on my laptop in the lounge, so we got out Matthews speakers to amplify the sound and sat back and watched The Pianist for the afternoon. We had to take a break at 6pm for evening dinner but we eagerly returned to watch it after an awesome roast Sunday dinner. I realised that I am actually getting my recommended 5 daily portions of fruit and veg here in Kenya and its actually preparing me and making me look forward to it when I get back home.

We watched the film till late into the evening and soon went to bed once it had finished. Doing nothing can make you more sleepy so once we had finished and packed up I headed to my room to kick some Z’s. Now this is where it gets funny and I show off more of my feminine side. I'm a man right, I mean I like to chop wood and stuff and don’t mind a kick around with the football from time to time, but when it comes to spiders, insects and creepy stuff that can hang over your head while your sleeping, I tend to turn into a bit of a pansy I must admit.
There was this massive spider right, hanging by the side of my bed. When I say massive I mean it was about 2 centimetres in diameter, it wasn’t exactly a tarantula size, but if that bad boy crawled on your face you wouldn’t be best pleased. I sent it outside using a tissue then came back in to notice I had something hanging just off the ceiling. I stood on my bed bare foot, leaving red dust all over my pillow, to peer up to see what it was. Just off the ceiling was what looked like a small golf ball and attached to it was some kind of fly. Now I don’t know exactly what dangerous insects look like, but I wasn’t going to take any chances in leaving this to sit there over night and maybe multiply. What do I do? I thought. So I did what any sensible person would do. Go get someone else to move it.

I went to see John who was just about to lock up the lounge and hit the sack himself. I wouldn’t want to insult him by guessing his age, but he’s retired and I had him climbing on my bed collecting this creature from its hanging position. He collected it down and gave it me to flush. I was like, “Thanks dude”, “I would have done that myself but I’ve got this thing where I don’t like to kill any creatures its not fair” which translates to “Thanks a lot, i'm a scardy cat”.
So good gracious that was over, I could now sleep without worrying. I said my nightly prayer that I promised my Dad I would do and went to sleep hoping I would sleep like a baby and be well prepared for the next day.

I woke up in the morning having to peel myself from the bed, I was still really tired. That’s another story thought so until next time, I hope you are all well and God Bless x

Blog #2

Day three is now almost over and there are just hours until the official weekend here at the IcFEM camp. I’m just sat in the guesthouse lounge with the smelliest feet ever but I don’t really care who’s around to smell them because I've had an active past couple of days and all I want to do now is sit down, relax and write out something interesting for you all to have a good read at. I’ve just finished my evening dinner which was like always beautiful and I've come to download the images from my camera. The pictures are amazing and I am going to attempt to upload them sometime soon, that’s if the internet connection at the IcFEM Headquarters will let me this time.

Thursday morning May 17th, I woke up from my first nights sleep and I felt pretty awesome. The night before was a bit overwhelming for me but after having a nice good sleep underneath my trusty mosquito net I felt refreshed and excited at what lay ahead for me over the next few months. It’s 7am and I have been woken by Matthew. It’s now time to have my first shower in Kimilili. I was warned the day before that there is a switch to activate the warm water for the shower, but not to flick it too early because if I were to dordle, which my Mom and Dad will agree I do when it comes to showering, the water can heat quickly and eventually feel like it is being poured out of a kettle. So I flicked the switch and headed for the shower to start off my day and to waken myself up, and for sure it certainly did that. The water didn’t start getting warm for at least 2 or 3 minutes so I was stood there naked, shivering slightly, waiting for my wash in a shower that consisted off a tap head to release the water and a grate with eroded tiles surrounding it. After not even 5 minutes in the shower I came out to get dry. I still had Pantene Pro V foam stuck under my arm pits and hair that didn’t even feel as if it had been touched. I had to look up a few times during my shower to see if water was actually coming out, as the water pressure was very weak and the shower head sprayed the water in numerous directions. After my shower I head across for what was now going to be my first breakfast in Kimilili. Matthew and I were sat again on our regular table, eating Toast with Jam and we also had a Mango that was halved and sliced into small squares for us to pull off with our spoons. Today was going to be a day full of firsts and I wanted these new experiences to come as quickly as possible.

So we left the IcFEM compounds as I practiced some Swahili that I had learnt the day before and over breakfast. We reached the main road that could either take us in two directions. We could head left which could lead us to the main town or to the IcFEM Headquarters, or we could head right to DreamLand Medical Centre and Primary School where I would be spending the morning as part of the schedule Matthew has organised for my IcFEM Orientation. The distance to the DreamLand centre was quite far so we decided to catch a Buda-Buda taxi, which was a bicycle taxi that I mentioned I had spotted on my way back from the airport in my previous blog. This experience was different. The roads were very muddy and you really felt as if the stranger who was steering the bicycle you were sat clutching the back of, had your life or at least you’re well being, in his hands. Every second I was on the back I just had the doubt that the tyres were going to give way because of the wet red mud, and I was going to end up being thrown across the floor like a bowling ball towards skittles.

We arrived safely to DreamLand and were shown around the Medical Centre. We saw many of the rooms and a lot of them were being used for multiple purposes, for example some rooms were being used as storage areas rather than consultation rooms and others were being used for both assessment and sleeping facilities. Although the hospitals here were way less advanced than the hospitals back home, they didn’t do so badly for equipment and supplies. Okay, they didn’t have all the latest technology and hi-tech machinery, but they had x-ray scanners and the basics to get them by effectively and successfully. The lady showed me around and was very cheerful. She allowed me to sign the Visitors book which it was very nice to be considered for. We were then shown across to the Primary School where we could scope out the grounds and see exactly what a school in Kimilili was like.

We met up with the teachers in a small room again smaller than my bathroom at home, possibly half the side, maybe less. One of the teachers took me to straight away sign the Visitors Book, and then we left for a guided tour of the classrooms. In each classroom we introduced ourselves and told the children where we were from. The children were really polite and they obviously knew how to act and had a set routine for when visitors arrived. They all stood to attention and all spoke their class names at the same time, they even smiled and allowed me to take a photo of them in their traditional classrooms wearing their traditional uniforms. I took several photos here and it was great to get use out of my camera and be able to have some pictures of what life was like here, so I could send them back home and also keep for myself in the future. We were made to feel so welcome and the children really appreciated and loved the attention and the fact there were visitors, not to mention white ones.

After the trip around the school we took a look round the farming land. I was originally told the story of how the whole DreamLand idea came around by the lady from the Medical Centre, and it was good to put some scenery and proof to the story. The story I was told involves a man who owned this land originally and how he had a dream that saw his land being used to help the needy with lots of green buildings occupying it. He gave up some of his land to the church which was next to his land, but these dreams still continued and he believed God was sending him messages that he needed to give up more land so that it could be used productively. At this time the IcFEM mission were praying for land and some how IcFEM and the owner of the land met and it was agreed to give the land over for productive use.

We also got to take a look at the schools canteen and saw two men preparing food, the real old fashioned way. They had a giant spoon and were stirring Ugali in a huge metal container powered by burning materials underneath it.

After our visit to the DreamLand centre was complete we decided it was a good idea to go spend time in the IcFEM Headquarters in the office and chill, maybe go online and send some emails. We decided to walk back to the office and on the way we walked past another school. All the little children dressed in yellow sweaters and blue skirts or trousers came running towards the fence shouting “Mazungu”, which means White person and “How are you” wanting a reply. They don’t see a lot of white people so this is like a big deal for these children. Even the older children tend to do this I’ve noticed since, and it isn’t meant to be offensive but just because they view people with white skin as rich or as blessed members of the human race.

I had chance to create and upload my blog, send emails to who ever I needed to contact and do whatever I wanted really while I had some free time while the main part of the orientation was on hold. We stayed in the office for the rest of the afternoon until evening dinner time at 6pm. During our stay there was more heavy rainfall and we stayed undercover while we tinkered on our laptops. For a second the power cut out but the computers were soon back up and running again.
In the evening we came back home and had dinner with a new member to the IcFEM mission who was called John Sercombe, a retired accountant from Bromley who has come to stay and help with the missions accounts. We ate and sat in the lounge for an hour or so basically chatting and getting to know each other until i was greeted by Ann for the first time. We then head off to sleep at around 10pm as we had another exciting day ahead of us tomorrow with more activities already planned for us to do.

7am again and I was being woken by Matthew. I remember being woken from the middle of a dream as he banged on the door and told me the time. I hit the shower, had some toast with tomato and fried egg and then set off at 7.50am to morning devotion. This was definitely going to be a new experience and the way Matthew had explained it to me was very precise, but still, it wasn’t how I expected it to be. We sat around in a circle of mixed coloured and styled chairs, in what looked like the main hall of the IcFEM Headquarters compound. It began by us all singing a song from a Praise book and then after this finished we began to repeatedly sing a chorus in which one of the women initiated. Once the singing was over, we all had the chance to pray and thank God for the projects and goings on in our lives. This got quite loud and was interesting to be involved in and watch. At the end of the almost an hour devotion, a few announcements were made regarding the movement of offices and transport.

I set off for a primary school called Kamusinga almost immediately after the morning devotion was complete but before leaving the grounds we placed two broken desktop computers in the Library where interviews for the missions head of communications was being held.
At the primary school the children were mostly outside on the land doing athletic activities and they had been doing this for the past 2 days picking the best students for an athletic tournament that was to be held in Mombassa. We hopped in and out of classrooms introducing ourselves and taking photos of the children and one particular class asked quite a few questions which was good to see and answer. Just incase you are not aware, here in Kenya there is no set age to be able to go to primary school so you can find people of various ages in these classes as education has now become free and you have to pass your class before you can move up to the next. We stuck around for around 40 minutes then decided to head back as we had to fit in another primary school before lunch.

So we walked back towards the guesthouse direction and on past this into town. At this time children were beginning to leave the schools to go home for lunch. There was Me, Matthew and our Kenyan friend Dennis walking back and we had a group of little children following us. Dennis gave two of them sweets and then they immediately ran off with the others who didn’t have an, chasing them trailing behind. We were advised by Dennis how much transport to the next school would cost as unfortunately Mazungu’s can be over charged, and it cost us 20 shillings (18p) each on the back of a Buda-Buda to Lutonyi primary school. This journey was a lot more comfortable as the roads were much more solid with no bumps, so it was all flat and downhill. You begin to pick up speed very quickly so it doesn’t take very long to get to your destination and as you journey down the road you get all the people on either side looking at you and the little children waving.

We both arrived on our separate bikes at Lutonyi primary school, paid the guys who drove us and headed for the gates. The place looked deserted and as if there were no students here on this particular day. When we got in and spoke to the deputy head, we found out the children had left for another school where they too would be doing athletic activities. Never the less we still were shown around the school and were told which classes occupied which rooms and how many students were in each particular class. We were told that the biggest class had 120 students in it and the reason for this is because they don’t have enough teachers to separate the classes and also not enough classrooms to do the teaching actually in. See it's situations such as this that IcFEM are trying to help and raise money to provide the schools with more facilities to expand the schools and make the quality of education for the children much better. As the there were no students in the classrooms, our trip to Lutonyi primary was over after around 30 minutes and we had an uphill trek to get started for our way back for lunch.

A long 30 minutes walk back to the guesthouse and I was boiling. I was sweating and my legs were aching slightly. My stomach was rumbling and I was really looking forward to another great meal that I could munch down in a matter of seconds. Avocado and unions in vinegar was placed in front of me and I felt so bad. I let Matthew take a bite first to see how he reacted as he hadn’t personally had it properly before either. He didn’t seem to squint too much and he began to take another spoon full. I thought I’d have a try as you can’t label something off before you try it can you, so I stuck in my spoon and threw it into my mouth. I managed to swallow it but there was no way I could continue to eat it without forcing myself and probably making myself sick because I really didn’t like the taste. Luckily it was just a starter but I still felt really guilty for leaving what the others thought was a pleasant meal. Later cheese and tomato toasties were served so i had a couple of these blessed gifts.

This afternoon I was going to visit Buko Primary school. This was even further away from where we were staying so we had to get a Matatu from Kimilili town all the way to the school. A Matatu is a van taxi that should hold about 14, 15 people including the driver. This particular vehicle rammed in around 23 people if I counted correctly and amongst the passengers was a police man. It was so cramped and there were even two guys hanging onto the side of the van with the doors open. You felt as if you were almost sat on top of each other and it made me actually appreciate the bus services back home, although the fares here were considerably much less. We jumped off the Matatu and found ourselves at a real rural school where once again there was athletics in place which appeared more like our sports days back home. I took some short video footage of the races and some pictures and it gives you a nice feel of the African culture towards their sports within education. We had the usual trip around the classrooms where I saw one classroom which was really small holding 72 children.

The walk back was hard and really long. Infact it was the longest so far. My trainers began to rub, not because they were not up for the surfaces but more because it was hot and I wasn’t used to walking. It took us about 40 minutes to walk back with the sun beaming down on us and us constantly having to move in to allow traffic and pedestrians to pass us by. We got back to the office and I checked my emails and went online for about 15 minutes. We then came back for evening dinner to fill our stomachs and rest our legs.

I removed my shoes in my room and my feet stunk. I had marks on the top of my feet where the shoes had been rubbing but nothing really to complain about, but I covered them and wore some sandals provided by the mission. I spent most of the evening downloading my images and writing out this blog trying to fit in everything I’d done over the past couple of days. It’s taken me all evening and looking back over it at the length its beginning to get quite worrying. I'm hoping every blog doesn’t come to this length and im sure it wont, but at the same time I don’t want what I am doing to get boring and for me to have nothing much interesting to talk about. I'm feeling pretty happy and comfortable with my surroundings. The back of my neck has gone slightly red but I wouldn’t exactly say I’d caught an awesome tan on my first few days. I'm going to continue to cover myself up with sun cream over the next few days, just to get used to the heat of the Equator and make sure I don’t get in too much pain to ruin part of my trip.

I hope everyone is doing great anyways, and hope you enjoy reading what I’ve done over my first week. I’ll drop another post soon which I'll try keep shorter so you don’t get bored but if you have any questions or anything like that I will be more than happy to let you know.

Lots of Love and God Bless Paul x

Karibu - Jambo

So its day one of my stay here in Kenya and I’m sat underneath my mosquito net in my room writing out my first ever blog. It’s 3.16pm Kenyan time on Wednesday May 16th 2007 and the rain has just started to hit the ground faster than an Italian football player at his best. I have just finished having some lunch with Matthew in the guest house but before I go any further I would like to start at the very beginning, from even before waking up to find out I still needed to jam at least 3 more items into my suitcase, which already weighed well over the suggested limit.

The night before was pretty great. The guys and I went for a nice meal at Asia to act as my last supper before I hit the road to start my mission, or as I like to call it my K Tour. I was late, which made Stevo late as I was his usual driver for the evening, and as I hadn’t finished packing my stuff because I can be lazy sometimes, I had to keep the guys waiting for my arrival. We stayed out for a final drink then I left and went home for a sleep to prepare me for the long journey ahead. I woke up at 8am and got my stuff together and left for Leeds City station where I was catching a train down to London at 11.40am, to fly on my jet with Kenya Airways.

So I left my Mom to shed her tears in Halifax and I took the train down with my Dad. He knows the score more than I do on these routes so I thought it was best to take a friendly face along (if you can call him that) (only kidding), so he could give me the guided tour of the London Underground. We took the train to Kings Cross. Then took the circle line and ended up at Paddington, then finally hopped on the Heathrow express train to Terminal 4. Hours before I was due to board I was ready and waiting in the Terminal, so I handed my luggage in early and went and discussed my trip with my Dad over a coffee.

After leaving my Dad I got through security relatively easy. Only had to take off my belt, almost lose my trousers and empty my fluids into a bucket, and by empty my fluids I mean, dispose of any bottles of water, juice or items like this that I may have on my person and this was all a safety precaution for the airport. I then head over to the fragrence counters where I sprayed some Sean John - Unforgivable which is an aftershave one of my best buddies now wears and then grabbed some food before I went to Gate 8 where I would be boarding.

On the plane I was surrounded by a large group of American students, the majority of them female, from San Diego. Nate, the guy who was sat in the seat almost next to me told me they were heading to Tanzania where they were to be doing some mission work also for a month which sounded really cool. I then watched an on-flight movie and got a bit of shut eye while the rest of the flight continued onto Nairobi.

8 hours or so later at 7am Kenyan time, I arrived in Nairobi Airport with not much time to catch my next flight to Kisumu. There was a slight hickup at passport control concerning my Visa, but I rushed down to collect my luggage and then across to the domestic flights building to catch the 8am flight to where the guys from IcFEM were going to be waiting for me. I made it through to the departures lounge after having to push to the front of a queue and once again remove my belt and almost lose my trousers. I got on a smaller plane with a flight journey of one hour and landed in Kisumu where I was greeted by four friendly faces, Matthew, Dennis, Edgar and Hosea.

In the main town of Kisumu we stopped off at a small supermarket for me to purchase some bottled water as the water here isn’t safe enough for me to drink. I purchased 2 bottles and Matthew collected some writable CD’s for the cyber centre and some gloves for when they were doing their building work. We then walked around the corner from the supermarket, up some stairs and into a small room used as a mobile phone centre. There were two guys sat trying to fix some mobile phones for the mission but they really didnt look to be having much luck. One or two of the phones successfully unlocked but some appeared dead so we left for another mobile store in search of a new battery. While being stood waiting for Matthew and the guys to discover the problem with these mobile phones, I was harrassed by two little street children for money. I dont know if this was a usual thing or whether it is because I am a white person, but it was definately something I have never experienced before.

So after having a quick drink and finishing up quite unsuccessfully on the mobile front in Kisumu, we head back hitting the road in a small van as our taxi. The roads were so uneven and there were more gaps and holes than anywhere I have been before.
We drove from Kisumu through many other towns on our way to Kimilili. It was amazing to see such a difference in culture. I think other than myself Matthew is the only other white person I have seen all day but to be honest it’s not really that big of a deal and believe it or not its not even that noticeable. On the drive to Kimilili I was just trying to take in the scenery. The land was either green or red on either side of us as we raced down the longest and uncoordinated roads I have ever been on in my life. Overtaking was like a common thing and the sound of a horn was to let pedestrians and cyclists know that there was traffic around. We passed groups of school children dressed in their colourful uniforms, they all looked so similar. They were walking barefoot down by the busy roads but they all seemed to more or less have smiles on their faces from what I saw. We weren’t on the road for an hour and I had already had the excitement of seeing monkeys just hanging out by the side of the road, ready to run and collect any sugar cane that may be dropped by vehicles passing by. The amounts of cyclists were unbelievable and this is a common mode of transport here in Kenya. Bicycles are actually used as taxi’s and with people sat on the back, the ride looked like such hard work. I began getting sleepy throughout the journey to the IcFEM centre so I closed my eyes and miraculously I managed to have a little nap despite the uneven surfaces and being thrown around in the van. I woke up for about 30 minutes left of the journey where all we had left to do was to pick up some gas and make it back to the guest house.

We got to the IcFEM centre and I saw where Matthew was living. It was very small with no luxuries compared with back home but it was nice and looked to have everything he needed for his stay. The rooms had Christian pictures on the walls and he shared this small house with the two others, Dennis and Chris. I was then taken to where I would be staying which was just a few metres away from Matthew. It was apparently Matthews’ original room from his first stay and I guess if he stayed for 7 months and has returned it must be comfortable enough for me to live in for my duration.

I dropped off my things in my room where I then went for lunch with Matthew. On our way I met some of the other people who worked at the guest house. Helen, who was going to be one of my mothers for the next 3 months, Rose who again would be helping with my feeding and Mark and Peter who are also workers here. For lunch we had toast with tomato and omelette or a fried egg as they call it here. Considering I am a slightly picky eater it was beautiful. I ate it all up like there was no tomorrow and had a banana for desert. I then came back to my room to where I get to at the beginning of this blog.

It has now taken me all afternoon to finish this first part of my blog. After I began writing I started to unpack and took an hour and a half nap while Matthew went to make some phone calls and do some paper work. I also had my Dinner (tea) which was once again beautiful. I had spaghetti, carrots, cabbage and peas in gravy which I was amazed I enjoyed. Things here some how seem different from back home, no offence Mom. For desert I had some fruit called Paw Paw which apparently is easily collected from Mount Elgon and is like a melon with a creamy taste to it. After eating I sat in the lounge with Matthew and another member of the mission, Richard. Solomon the director came and greeted me also and he seems like a happy guy who has already made me feel very welcome. Infact everyone I have met has been lovely, another one of the ladies who works here, Mary she seems like a fun person as she has already had a laugh with Matthew and me. So we sat and chatted for a while till around 8pm discussing in brief what I may be doing over the next weeks, then me and Matthew decided to go our separate ways. I headed to my room, while he left for his and we arranged for him to wake me at 7am as I have not yet got an alarm.

So it’s now 10.30pm and I am just about to wrap this thing up and go to sleep, but before I do ill just leave you with some of my thoughts and my conclusion for the day.
It’s been a long two days and I’m drained. Until today the whole idea of this experience hasn’t really felt real, but let me tell you now that the whole thing is beginning to kick in to place and kick in fast. I slightly expected it to have the same kind of feelings attached as you get when you go on holiday. I don’t mean you are in for a big chill out session and all you do is relax, I mean the fact that you leave your friends and family and take a bit of time out from you life. But let me get one thing clear right now, this is certainly not the case. This is my life and unlike when you go on holiday when you actually feel like your old life stops as soon as you get on the plane, right here my life carries on going and I have left everyone behind at home doing their own thing and living their own lives. I never expected to miss things so soon and I don’t know if it’s just because I am tired and in a new place and really don’t know what to expect but it’s slightly lonely. It’s not even because there is no one around or I don’t know what I’m doing, it’s more of the fact I don’t want to let anyone down or the fact I might not enjoy it. I’m going to stick it out as long as I can though, its early days yet and this is a big thing for me. I just hope that everyone at home looks after themselves so I am not the one that has to do the worrying. No one needs to worry about me that’s for sure.

So keep in touch everybody and let me know how you are but please don’t leave me anything that will make me miss home haha. I’m cursing these things my Mom and Dad have packed, every time I seem them it makes me think of home.

Anyways I'm sure things are going to be ace and I’m looking forward to it all. I’m off to sleep now and ill keep you updated over the next few days.

Take care and god bless. x