It’s Sunday evening and Matthew is almost ready to purchase his second batch of the three colours of cotton we use to make wrist bands. I have still got plenty left as I have only made about 7 so far, but when Saturday morning came he was eager to buy himself some cotton and crack on with the whole process where he is now only about 100 in front of me.
No Joke.
Saturday morning and we woke up slightly later as breakfast on Saturday starts at 8 rather than 7.30. So I got an extra 30 minutes snooze and then after we went into town to buy a pole to hold the TV aerial in place to hopefully receive a reception for the TV we have but cannot yet use. Originally we were going to go on a bike ride but the weather wasn’t so great plus we really wanted to get this TV working so we had a little more to do when we weren’t getting on with our project. We bought a pole that was 20 foot long. It was half an inch thick and it cost 1000 Kenyan Shillings. That’s just short of a tenner and is a bit expensive but never the less we still made the purchase. There were three of us, Me, Matthew and Dennis but we sent the pole back home on a Buda-Buda, which made its way home very safely and dropped off the pole at the compound. We went round a few more places until finally making our way back home.
Even though the weather wasn’t so great, it was still warm so we decided to do some washing. I didn’t have much this week, just some socks and underwear and a couple of T shirts and trousers, so I threw them in a bucket and got them washed. Matthew and I were discussing the whole process of “making wrist bands” and we came up with a brilliant idea in conjunction with the Transformation Kenya programme. Originally with the Children of IcFEM section, at the end of the year, children who had made a donation would receive several things such as certificates but would also receive a key ring as a thank you gift. We had a great idea which would help use our funding for the programme wisely and we thought instead of sending key rings, why not send wrist bands. If you were a child who had donated to a charity would you prefer to have a key ring sent or a wrist band? Better yet a wrist band made by one of the children you had been donating towards. Well anyways we were thinking of using these wrist bands as thank you gifts and even though its still early days, we are thinking of getting some of the school children involved if they would like to.
After lunch Matthew and I nipped into town to purchase some cotton balls, this time for Matthews’ purposes. Matthew began “batch processing”, cutting strips of each colour resulting in piles of about hundred being placed on the table in the lounge. I sat and watched and had a go at cutting and platting some cotton myself but didn’t do so much. He was determined to have 50 done by the time the evening meal was ready and he was certainly having a good go. I spent some time in my room relaxing and listening to some music and by the time dinner was ready, we had almost completed his 50.
Back in the lounge Matthew continued to cut cotton. A bit of alliteration for you there, not something I tend to use too often. I stuck around for a while and watched him continue to give himself a RSI, then left for my room as I was feeling a bit down for an unknown reason so I spend some time to myself reading then went to sleep.
This morning I had arranged with Anthony to go with him to Moi Kamusinga Girls boarding school and accompany him while he gave a talk on “Integrity”. Matthew and I met Anthony at the gates of the school at 8.30 where soon after his friend and band member, Lambert appeared with his guitar, again ready to accompany us with some music. We locked up our bikes outside the small staff area and the 4 of us sat around the table where Lambert played a little music to get us going. He was like one of the dudes from the group Boys to Men. I even told him, I was like “Dude, have you heard of Boys to Men, you remind me of one of them”. He knew the group and he didn’t seem to be offended so that was good. He was a good singer and guitarist too and we asked if he would be up for coming and teaching us sometime which he said he would.
So we made our way to the main hall where today’s talk was to be held. The hall was full of around 700 girls, dressed smartly in their blue uniforms with some of them stood on the stage at the front singing and playing instruments. We were shown to the front where we would sit for the two hour talk. After the students had done their little part of the service, Lambert got up with his guitar and gave a little talk before playing a few songs. He played a couple of gospel songs and even sang You Raise Me Up, which was recently re recorded by Westlife. He got the students and us to sing along with him and he was really great. They treat him a bit like a celebrity and he was really modest about his talent which was cool to see. After he finished his set, he passed over the microphone to Anthony to begin his talk.
Anthony began his talk by congratulating the girls on their achievements. They had just recently won the national athletics competition and first place was a big deal for them. They gave the loudest screams ever and my ears began to ring. He then introduced me where I came to the centre of the stage to say a few words. I spoke in a little Swahili, just asking how everyone was and said Thank you for allowing me to be here. I began to then continue in my usual approach of using my hands a lot and talking really fast, but it turned out good and the rest of Anthony’s talk went successfully also.
After the talk had finished and the 700 girls occupying the hall had ran in excitement to meet the team that had just come back from the competition they had won, we stopped off again back in the staffroom for come Chi and sandwiches. We didn’t stop long, but had a quick chat and came home for lunch.
The rest of the afternoon was pretty relaxed. I sat using the laptop while Matthew platted and John began to pack. He is leaving us on Tuesday, so right now he is getting his things together and leaving us with his unused medical supplies and insect repellents.
God Bless x
No Joke.
Saturday morning and we woke up slightly later as breakfast on Saturday starts at 8 rather than 7.30. So I got an extra 30 minutes snooze and then after we went into town to buy a pole to hold the TV aerial in place to hopefully receive a reception for the TV we have but cannot yet use. Originally we were going to go on a bike ride but the weather wasn’t so great plus we really wanted to get this TV working so we had a little more to do when we weren’t getting on with our project. We bought a pole that was 20 foot long. It was half an inch thick and it cost 1000 Kenyan Shillings. That’s just short of a tenner and is a bit expensive but never the less we still made the purchase. There were three of us, Me, Matthew and Dennis but we sent the pole back home on a Buda-Buda, which made its way home very safely and dropped off the pole at the compound. We went round a few more places until finally making our way back home.
Even though the weather wasn’t so great, it was still warm so we decided to do some washing. I didn’t have much this week, just some socks and underwear and a couple of T shirts and trousers, so I threw them in a bucket and got them washed. Matthew and I were discussing the whole process of “making wrist bands” and we came up with a brilliant idea in conjunction with the Transformation Kenya programme. Originally with the Children of IcFEM section, at the end of the year, children who had made a donation would receive several things such as certificates but would also receive a key ring as a thank you gift. We had a great idea which would help use our funding for the programme wisely and we thought instead of sending key rings, why not send wrist bands. If you were a child who had donated to a charity would you prefer to have a key ring sent or a wrist band? Better yet a wrist band made by one of the children you had been donating towards. Well anyways we were thinking of using these wrist bands as thank you gifts and even though its still early days, we are thinking of getting some of the school children involved if they would like to.
After lunch Matthew and I nipped into town to purchase some cotton balls, this time for Matthews’ purposes. Matthew began “batch processing”, cutting strips of each colour resulting in piles of about hundred being placed on the table in the lounge. I sat and watched and had a go at cutting and platting some cotton myself but didn’t do so much. He was determined to have 50 done by the time the evening meal was ready and he was certainly having a good go. I spent some time in my room relaxing and listening to some music and by the time dinner was ready, we had almost completed his 50.
Back in the lounge Matthew continued to cut cotton. A bit of alliteration for you there, not something I tend to use too often. I stuck around for a while and watched him continue to give himself a RSI, then left for my room as I was feeling a bit down for an unknown reason so I spend some time to myself reading then went to sleep.
This morning I had arranged with Anthony to go with him to Moi Kamusinga Girls boarding school and accompany him while he gave a talk on “Integrity”. Matthew and I met Anthony at the gates of the school at 8.30 where soon after his friend and band member, Lambert appeared with his guitar, again ready to accompany us with some music. We locked up our bikes outside the small staff area and the 4 of us sat around the table where Lambert played a little music to get us going. He was like one of the dudes from the group Boys to Men. I even told him, I was like “Dude, have you heard of Boys to Men, you remind me of one of them”. He knew the group and he didn’t seem to be offended so that was good. He was a good singer and guitarist too and we asked if he would be up for coming and teaching us sometime which he said he would.
So we made our way to the main hall where today’s talk was to be held. The hall was full of around 700 girls, dressed smartly in their blue uniforms with some of them stood on the stage at the front singing and playing instruments. We were shown to the front where we would sit for the two hour talk. After the students had done their little part of the service, Lambert got up with his guitar and gave a little talk before playing a few songs. He played a couple of gospel songs and even sang You Raise Me Up, which was recently re recorded by Westlife. He got the students and us to sing along with him and he was really great. They treat him a bit like a celebrity and he was really modest about his talent which was cool to see. After he finished his set, he passed over the microphone to Anthony to begin his talk.
Anthony began his talk by congratulating the girls on their achievements. They had just recently won the national athletics competition and first place was a big deal for them. They gave the loudest screams ever and my ears began to ring. He then introduced me where I came to the centre of the stage to say a few words. I spoke in a little Swahili, just asking how everyone was and said Thank you for allowing me to be here. I began to then continue in my usual approach of using my hands a lot and talking really fast, but it turned out good and the rest of Anthony’s talk went successfully also.
After the talk had finished and the 700 girls occupying the hall had ran in excitement to meet the team that had just come back from the competition they had won, we stopped off again back in the staffroom for come Chi and sandwiches. We didn’t stop long, but had a quick chat and came home for lunch.
The rest of the afternoon was pretty relaxed. I sat using the laptop while Matthew platted and John began to pack. He is leaving us on Tuesday, so right now he is getting his things together and leaving us with his unused medical supplies and insect repellents.
God Bless x
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