SCHOOL DAYS

A BROKEN PROMISE – Ok so leaving the UK I promised to update my blog once a week, but unfortunately I have failed... oops! Sorry about that. Life has been very busy, but it has been good. Last week I had some visitors from the UK. Mark and Alice came out for 10 days to visit Kenya, work at Cheryls and visit their sponsored child in Kisumu and at the same time a volunteer called Clare moved into the hosue to rent a room. I spent most of the time hosting them, so that is my very poor excuse for the delay in writing the blog.

MATCH OF THE DAY – Over the last couple of weeks I have been watching the Cheryls Childrens Home football team. We have 2 teams, one Under 14s and the other Under12s. There name is “Young Tigers”, which I am not sure why, as there are no tigers in Africa, I think it’s down to a volunteer from long ago, oh well never mind, it makes them seem tough so thats good. They played a big tournament on Saturday. The refereeing has to be considered especially dubious, most refs seem to like standing on one spot on the field, judging crucial decisions from afar! Occasionally with some slightly controversial decision or if the game is heating up they decide to plod down the pitch a little to get a little closer to the action, but lets be honest, that was rare. We had our fair share of biased refs against us, but our older team made it to the final. It was just 5 a side, but it was riveting. The young tigers played against their arch rivals in the final, the rivals all dressed in a kit which basically represented the American flag... again volunteers am sure on their patch were responsible. Anyways our team took on the fake Americans but alas the game ended 0 – 0, it all went down to penalty kicks. In the game for the younger ones we lost out in the semi final to penalties, and I started to get suspicious that my Englishness was rubbing off on our team and I am sad to say it did again. We lost in penalties and came runner up to our arch rivals. It was a real shame, but the boys handled it well, hugging Albert the goalie and those that missed. Still the runner up trophy was big and shiny so there were plenty of smiles later!

JUST A BABY – so the other day I had some friends round. While we waited for dinner to finish cooking we sat on the veranda having some tea. The light was fading as the sun began to set. As we chatted away, sharing stories, updating each other on how things have been, David suddenly lifted up his feet and pointed and made a kind of “oooooh” sound. It was a baby, crawling along the floor, just under all our feet. Now for those who won’t come and visit me in Kenya, or are worried about coming because of creepy crawlies, just stop reading now and move on to the next story. For those with more inner strength and who can face their fears just read on. The baby moved up to the pole of the veranda and against the wall and into a small crack. It was a baboon spider, we think just a baby, because it wasn’t so big, just about 6cm in diameter (legs that is, not just body). The Baboon spider is a cousin to the tarantula family. We shone our torch on it and all lifted our feet, and wondered where he was heading? My worry was he was going down to my bedroom end of the house. The good news based on the reaction of people who have lived in Kenya for a while, is that they mustn’t be seen too often and well lets face it, there is more food outside than in, so I am sure he won;t bother coming into the house.... hmmmm.... at least I hope. Seems a good theory! Basically the rains seem to bring them out more, I guess they may live in holes in the ground. So if you are worried, just visit in the dry season. Anyways i haven’t seen him since (touch wood) so all is good, he was just a baby anyways.... where is his mum though???

THE FIRST OF MANY – What I expected to happen while working here at Cheryls, did happen last week. We get a number of volunteers coming to work at the home. I had anticipated I would end up making friends with the volunteers and then end up with a lot of short term friendships as they move on. Well it has already started. We were very lucky to have a girl called Jacks, who was from Canada and with us for a month. She was great fun to hang out with, brilliant with the kids and great around Cheryls. She has been such a star this last month, but sadly she was jumping on an Overlander trip down to South Africa. I helped her move on Saturday and get to the departure point. I was sad to say goodbye and had a taste for what is bound to happen more often. The strange thing working in another country is that you bond much quicker with people from a similar culture than perhaps you would at home. You are reliant on each other for many things, including just general chat with someone who probably understands where you are coming from. We talked about it, a group of us the other day, saying actually you can get close as friends quickly here, but then people are gone and in reality you may never hear from them again. Its great on the one hand and sad on the other. After dropping Jacks off on Saturday, I was sad to say goodbye to a new friend, but braced myself for more of that in the future. A small downside from life here in Nairobi.

WHATEVER YOU DO....DON’T RUN – This is the title of the current book I am reading, well in fact I just finished it last night. Its very funny and very easy to read. Its all the crazy and funny stories from a Safari Guide based in Botswana. It has been very amusing and a nice light read. Well during Mark and Alice’s visit to Kenya we did a little safari up to Lake Navaisha and Lake Nakuru. We spent some time in a couple or parks and I showed them the sights of up country. The most fun part was going into Lake Nakuru National Park in Ron (my 4 x 4). At last it was my chance to play at being Safari guide. The great thing about Nakuru is that it’s big enough to spend a few days exploring but not too big to get lost in and also very easy to see lots of animals (great for pretending to be a Safari guide). We saw all the usual , G-rafs, Zebbies, Wartys, impala etc etc. I knew we would see Rhino, but I didn’t expect to see so many, but thats always one of the biggies to show the tourist. We saw a lot on the first day, but none of the cats. I knew in reality we were highly unlikely to see any big cats in Nakuru, they have very few and unfortunately no Ellies either (but its a great park and not far from Nairobi). I didn’t want to disappoint Mark, Alice and Clare, so I kept our hopes up, but they wanted to see a Lion kill, i said that would never happen and I would eat my hat if we saw a lion killing something, knowing with 99% certainty we would not see that. In all my time in Africa I have never seen something killed. In the evening at the hotel we chilled out and in the shop I was speaking to some other visitors, trying to see what animals we had missed... “What have you seen today?” I asked a couple from England... “Oh we have seen everything, you know, lions, leopard etc”, “WHAAAAAAT” I exclaimed (aloud in my head), “Where did you see them?” I then asked, hoping to get an insight so I could scout the spot in the morning and try and find them for Mark and Alice etc, the answer was “Oh here in Lake Nakuru park”.... “DUH!!!” I had figured that out for myself, but realised actually they were just tourists being taken by a guide, they would have no clue where they saw them in the park anyways, they had no map etc. SO the next day we trekked out and based on an old painted picture I saw in the bar showing lions in the plains below the hill where our hotel was I headed in that direction. Ok so the painting was like 20 years old and I was sure the lions would have moved from the tree they were painted sitting under, it was still worth a look. That morning after 10 mins, we found them, we were the first out the hotel, the first driving in the park, the first to find them. The thrill of this is awesome!!!! It was soooo special, and I was so pleased Mark, Alice and Clare got to see them. I felt we were lucky, I have been in Nakuru a few times and the only time I have seen lions is a couple of furry golden yellow ears poking above some grass. Here they were laying under a tree in good view. As other tourists arrived we moved on, in the vain hope of finding a leopard (which we didn’t manage to find). And as our car pulled away from the lions, Alice piped up.... “right time to see a lion kill so you have to eat your hat”.... we left the park later that day, my hat fully intact with no bite marks!

THE BOYS AND THE GIRLS – on our way back from Nakuru, I managed to organise a visit for us to 2 of the high schools that some of our Cheryls kids go to. First Shiners Girls and then Shiners Boys. The girls school was big, with 1000 girls, in a nice area, looked reasonably ok, but the dormitories looked massive, I reckon at least 100 girls in each, broken down into sections, but still reasonably open plan. The girls didn’t really leave school at any time, they weren’t allowed off premises, but I saw some guys loitering outside the grounds (this one is close to town) and I am sure there is a little mischief going on now and then. We met 5 of the girls from Cheryls and brought them biscuits and crisps. They gave us a little tour, but I think they were shy, especially as everyone stared at the Muzungus looking around the school. It was great to see where they were though. We then headed down the road to the boys school and I met a very old friend. James, who I first met in 2004, he is now in class 4 and doing the equivalent of his A levels. He is also deputy head boy and basically turning into a great young man! James’ father killed his mother. They have been in the home for a number of years, traumatised by such a tragedy. But James is doing well, deputy head boy!!! He has such a big heart and is studying hard to get into university. He wants to be a politician, but not for the big bucks, power and the usual nonsense that Kenyan people go into politics for. He has a heart to serve those around him, he wants to make Kenya a better place. He is humble and a guy of integrity. If he makes it, it will be people like James who will change Kenya and get rid of corruption and greed in the higher powers. So James took us round and we caught up with some of the other boys from Cheryls, like John who wants to be a journalist. The school looked poor, not as good as the girls. The boys were busy doing their washing and as we came round to the boys dorm areas we saw glass from broken windows all over the floor. James explained that one of the boys had been beaten severely by a high up person on the staff, they refused to take him to hospital because they knew what would happen, so the boys rioted, smashing windows. The principal gave in and took the boy to hospital. He was still there while we visited. I was shocked. The dorms were horrible, cramped, noisy and it felt more like a prison. James explained that a lot of things get stolen, kids get bullied and the staff only care about the Sudanese boys who pay higher school fees. I left the place disappointed, for James especially. Here he was sitting the most important exams of his life, and surrounded by chaos he was able to keep his head, keep his morals and keep the respect of those around him and also focus on his exams. Part of my work here is to help find some land to buy so we can build our own high school. As we drove out the gates I felt determined to build a school soooooo much better than Shiners boys, a school we could be proud of, a school that these orphans and vulnerable children deserve, a school where no-one is bullied, where everyone is treated equally, where nothing is stolen, no child is ever beaten, a place that is beautiful, where children experience love, care and are driven to achieve all they can and a school where you can always hear kids laughing, that’s the kind of school James should be in and that’s the kind of school we will build.

JAVA JAVA JAVA – for those who have been to Nairobi, one of its greatest assets is the Java House, a coffee shop with a whole bunch dotted around the city. For western folk such as myself, its a little haven, a taste of home. Many of us, myself, friends and volunteers spend a lot of time there, chance to refresh and fill up our caffeine tanks. While some of the high school students were back on half term the other week I decided to take them to Java as a treat. They had never been, and when the ice cream sundaes came to our table I think some of their eyes nearly popped out! It was fantastic! They loved it. We sat and chatted and talked about school, life in Kenya, the politics and what they wanted to do when they grow up. Most want to do jobs like nursing, journalism, politics and law. All of them want to help their country. They are amazing children and every day I see what we are doing and feel so blessed to be part of an organisation that is making such a massive difference in these kids lives.

SPIELBERG – I wander around the slums, dressed in my classic muzungu dress, the big white man in shirt, khaki trousers and khaki boots with a big fat video camera. Today I am filming some of the foster kids for a short movie to be shown at the launch of our charity in the UK at the end of November. I have a lot to do, but i think we will make it. We walked through the slums filming the boys, generating stares from all the locals wondering who this white guy is filming. I felt intrusive and invading peoples lives, but I knew we were here to tell Michael and Jeffreys story. Their mums (both single parent families) welcomed us in to their one roomed shacks. I was humbled by their greeting and willingness to display their life to so many people. But I could see a pride in both their mothers eyes, in each house, for their boys, who are getting good primary school education and knowing that they were well cared for through Cheryls. As I continue to pretend to be Steven Spielburg what I hope is that this movie will show the difference Cheryls can make and what fantastic boys these 2 are. If you want to see the film then just go to the launch night, which I think is on the 27th nov, at St Paul’s & St George’s Church in Edinburgh.