HIT THE ROAD – So a couple of weeks ago I finally got chance to take my first official holiday since being in Kenya. There are sooooo many places to explore and discover in Kenya and in a way I want to see them all as fast as I can, i have no patience, but living here is not about going on constant holidays, so I need to wait until opportunities arise and funds allow. Unfortunately as I am still waiting for a residency permit I have to pay tourist rates, which totally sucks as they are sooooo high compared to resident rates, but in time it will come. So myself, David and Juliet hit the Mombasa road south down to Tsavo West and then moving on to Tsavo East. Tsavo is the biggest national park in Africa (possibly the world, I’m not sure). Tsavo has always been a favourite of mine, it is vast and spellbounding, everytime I go my breath is taken away, and then you study the map and realise that we only ever really drive round a tiny part of it. Because of its size you don’t always see many animals, and for those just visiting on holiday and wanting to see the big 5, its probably not worth coming to Tsavo because you are most likely to be disappointed, but if you appreciate a stunning landscape, rapidly changing scenery and the feeling of truely being in the wild, this is the place to be. We stayed at a tented camp (quite luxurious – I managed to sneak residency rates here which was great, just had to pay tourist rate to enter the park). Our tents overlooked some hippos pools, where the hippos resided all day, splashing around, and cooling off in the water. Crocodiles also inhabited the pool, and on the last day I had a baby one just under the wooden structure on which my tent was placed. At night time we had to be escorted to the main bit with the restaurant as the hippos move from the pool and head out for their night time feasting. On the way back on the last night as my Askari walked me to my tent we spotted a Python slowly moving across the path just to go under my tent structure. In all the time I have ever spent in Africa I think this is the only situation I have come across a random snake in the wild, I have seen others, but not like this. Thankfully it was just a young one at 1.2metres long. It was white with dark brown markings. He was on the hunt and moving slowly. I knew that he wouldn’t be too interested in my tent as he looked hungry and was looking for food. Later on we spotted him again going past my tent and heading off to the bush. It was so cool really feeling like you are in the wild, with so much wildlife around you. We spent 3 days there, doing game drives, enjoying the scenery and relaxing in the swimming pool (which cooled us down from the 40 degree heat). I love Tsavo, and will always be a special place to me.
ORPHANS OF A DIFFERENT KIND – One of the most popular tourist things to do in Nairobi is visit Daphney Sheldricks Elephant orphanage where they rescue baby elephants and bring them up to go back into the wild. Now if you sponsor or foster one of these elephants you can book to stay at Ithumba in Tsavo East. Tsavo East is not as popular as Tsavo West, especially in the nothern part. Partly because the area is so dense with bush you can hardly see anything so its not a place for game drives etc. Well David and Juliet and 2 other friends Tim and Shellen, sponsor elephants, so we all booked at Ithumba for the second part of our short holiday. If Tsavo West was in the wild, this place is even more so. There are no other lodges, camps and tourists in the area, it was just us, the elephant part and the Kenya Wildlife Services headquarters. It was awesome. A very bumpy 2 hour drive off the main road, passing through tiny villages, listening to some great tunes on Ron’s stereo and waving to the kids who love spotting Mzungu’s (white people) and constantly wondering, have we made a wrong turn, the deeper we go the further it will be if we are lost. But we made it to the camp, it has only 3 tents and a large open structure which has comfy chairs, dining tables and lamu style beds for relaxing during the day. Its self catering but also not that basic so you do feel a little bit of pampering. When you book you book the whole camp, so we had it all to our selves. So 4kms down the road is where the young elephants are. Once they are old enough Sheldricks moves the elephants down from Nairobi to this camp and start the re-introduction to the wild process. There were 8 elephants when we were there, 6 older ones and 2 younger ones (one of which was quite sick and had a heart problem, also my favourite). We would wake at 5:30am drive to the ele’s and feed them with milk at 6am, which was cool. Come back and eat breakfast and sleep, then at 11am we would meet the ele’s out at a small pool. After their breakfast they head out into the wild for feeding on branches etc and go with a couple of carers, so they always arrive at the pool at 11am, where we feed them with more milk. Sometimes the ex orphans turn up as well just to say hi which is very cool. On both days they came, but that was a little scary because these ones were like 10 – 12 years old, so very big and slightly wild now, but the carers make sure us tourists are fine. The ele’s eat, swim and then move on. Then we go back and crash, laze around, have lunch, sleep, melt in the 40+degree heat and then at 5pm go back for the last feed, as the elephants come back to their camp. It was an awesome experience, sometimes tiring, but feeding the elephants out in the wild by the pool was the best bit. On the last day loads of the ex orphans came along with a totally wild elephant, I wasn;t too worried, until the head carer quietly said...”hmm maybe you should get behind that tree”... so the 5 of us cowered behind this pathetically tiny tree from this giant elephant who wasn’t too pleased to see us. But he calmed down and we all carried on. It is so different being out in the wild, on foot, not inside your vehicle, the feeling is soooo much different and special, you are not protected by some large metal machine, but standing there, exposed to whatever wildlife is around. The adrenaline, the connection with nature is fantastic and I love it. The great thing also was to see that 2 of the older elephants had decided to spend the night out with the ex orphans, the young ele’s can move into the wild whenever they want, they tend to go away for 1 night, then come back and then go for longer etc until they finally leave, it was great to see the re-introduction actually happening before our eyes. (See photos below this post)
THATS HOW IT FEELS - After the 3 days Ithumba we did our last feeding of the elephants and I felt a real sadness as we drove away. I tended to feed the sick elephant and in such a short space and time I felt quite attached. But I also reflected driving away how similar this situation is to Cheryls and our volunteers. I felt really attached to these young elephants after only 3 days, thinking that feeding them each day I had built some connection, but in truth it was more in my head than in the elephants. The carers don’t really want the elephants to get too used to people so they cope better in the wild, but you feel you do, but in reality you don’t. The elephant comes to you because you have a milk bottle in your hand, and the carer is near by so he trusts its ok. He soon leaves when the bottle is empty. I left on the last night wanting to matter to these elephants and feel significant to them, but actually thats because I wanted to feel significant and important, the truth is it’s the carers that really matter and who are important, they work incredibly hard, in harsh conditions and for long hours and weeks. They dedicate their lives to these elephants. They are the important ones and they are the ones who really gain the respect and love from the elephants. As I left I suddenly felt a comparison to volunteers I manage at Cheryls. We have a mixture of volunteers who come to us, some are fantastic, some are maybe a little hard work. But most people come with a desire to help and support us, but I know that feeling, that desire to feel significant and to matter to someone (or something) that needs help. I think this is totally natural and normal, but i guess the truth is the same here, its the staff that really matter, they are the ones who work so incredibly hard, sometimes not getting paid, sometimes being taken for granted, but they are making the long term and significant impact on these kids, just like the carers of the elephants. The sad thing is sometimes they get unnoticed by volunteers and visitors, and volunteers can occasionally come with an attitude of its them (the volunteer) thats making the impact and can change the kids lives. Don’t get me wrong, having volunteers is fantastic and a really important resource we need at Cheryls, so if you are thinking of volunteering please do come and visit, you are totally welcome and I want you to come. But what i hope visitors know and understand is that we have an awesome bunch of dedicated and hard working staff who love these kids and sacrifice a lot for them, they are here through the drought and through the rain, they are the ones making the difference. The great thing about being a volunteer at Cheryls and with the Elephants is that you get a chance to catch a glimpse of this, and in a small way support those staff who are working so hard. That can be a real priveledge and awesome opportunity. I guess at the end of the day volunteering is about sacrificing time and resources to help others in whatever way is necessary, but probably more dominantly a time to learn and experience how others are living and working, being educated, and thats awesome. For me at Ithumba, it was useful to experience that side of volunteering again (which I haven;t done for a long time) a reminder of the feelings of a volunteer, the importance of a volunteer but also knowing where the true significance and importance is, the staff. Oh and I definitely want to go back and volunteer there again!
SSSSHHHH IT’S QUIET – The school holidays are a great time, over Easter they last about 4 weeks, and we are now in the final week of hols. The majority of the residents go and stay with some relatives for a few weeks, which is great because it connects them with where they have come from and extended family. Usually these relatives can’t cope with the kids long term but can take them for a few weeks in the holidays. Most relatives are good at looking after them, but sometimes kids are here because they were abused by relatives after the parents dies. Thats why we still have about 20 kids left here, those who have been abandoned and those where relatives homes are unsafe. The place is quiet, it means the staff are given a bit of a break, the financial pressures for the this month are just a little less, because we need less food and less water etc. We run movie nights every weekend during the hols for those who remain and we have had some good times. I enjoy catching up with the high school kids and finding out how their terms have been, hearing all their stories and trying to get them all equipped for the term ahead. I think the holiday times are my favourite times, its quieter, you can spend more quality time with a smaller number of kids and I love seeing the high school ones and seeing them grow and mature, discussing jobs, careers and about their views on politics and life in Kenya. It is often sat watching a movie on movie night, with a small child sitting on your lap and seeing how happy everyone is just with a soda and a movie, that I realise I love my job, i love what I do and can’t imagine being anywhere else. Of course its stressful, frustrating and sometimes I can just despair, but the truth is what I’m doing is great and right now I don’t want to do anything else!
MZUNGU MADNESS – So over the last few weeks or months should I say, we have been checking out land for our building project. We having been popping up to Naivasha a few times to check out various places and we think we have found the perfect spot. It fits all our criteria, and myself, Samuel and Mike one of our board of directors all fell in love with it the first time we visited. Its also cheaper than the land we were looking at before Christmas. We still need to do surveys and more research but its looking good. We were quoted a price by the agents and then last week we finally met the owner. An older guy, a bit of a local tycoon. We entered his office, did the obligatory greetings, but to my surprise and joy he said, lets just get right to it, we all know why were are here. This is unusual., normally the conversation has to go around the houses before you finally get down to what you are supposed to be talking about. The sad thing though was he started on the price and he jumped from the price originally quoted, to almost double. I was so frustrated and disappointed, I could tell he had seen us, knew that a Mzungu was involved and probably thought he could try and get more money from us. I was annoyed and felt we have just wasted the last few months looking at this land. He kept waffling and I just thought whats the point of hanging round here, there is no way we were going to pay that much. But deep down I knew it was all a game. He was testing us, to see if we would pay more. I dug my heels in, knowing that at the end of the day the control is in our hands, we didn;t have to buy his land, there is always more land out there. Agents and owners always try and scare you into buying, this land is amazing (which it actually is) this land can go for a higher price, this land can be easily sold to someone else... etc. But the truth is, its just like negotiating in the markets, if you seem keen and start increasing the price you offer, the owner knows he has got you. I looked disinterested in the question, stated the original price is what we can pay thats it, if he doesn;t want it we will look elsewhere. He pressed the conversation on further, just saying we needed to add a little more. Eventually we left, myself feeling frustrated the deal had taken this course. We said we would go away and think about it and talk, he would do the same. As we left he whispered to the agent the price he would sell for which was a little extra on top of the original price, nowhere near what he was fishing for 30 mins earlier. He was obviously testing us and realised there was no dice, this Mzungu wasn’t going to roll over and just pay up. We came back to Nairobi and discussed it, my advice was to hold firm at the original price, believing that in the end he will sell. If he doesn’t we will discuss paying slightly more, because the land is good and probably worth it, but for now we are standing firm, and latest I have heard is that he will sell at the original price but wants a little extra for some fixtures and fittings on the land such as a water tank and small house, but I can appreciate that and believe that’s fair enough, so we will have to negotiate a price on those things or an addition per acre. This happens though, people see a Mzungu involved in the deal and try and squeeze more money, but I’m not interested in that, this is money donated by people from around the world, we need the best price we can get and this Mzungu ain’t just going to roll over and pay double!
IT’S STARTED – One of the things I have been working on this last few months is the sponsorship programme, it is now up and running in the UK through our charity there, CWK but also worldwide as it has been for a number of years. Our aim is to get at least 100 new sponsors by September. So we have got 4 new ones this month, its a start, but we have a long way to go. I can’t express how much of a difference the sponsorship programme will make to Cheryls and also just my working life on a personal note. If we can get 100 new sponsors we will have a regular income and that will take a massive pressure off us. At the moment we have nothing in the bank, but next week will have to equip the high school kids to go back to school, get all their shopping, pay their school fees, and on top of that get ready for our own primary school to be up and running. We need to pay salaries for this month, buy water, pay the electricity bill and cover all the general running costs. Money that is donated comes in at different times, and not always when its needed. Having children sponsored means money comes in regularly, each month and we know when its coming and how much, which means we can plan ahead and have that confidence it will be there. This is why we need 100 new sponsors. If you are reading this and you know of someone who might like to sponsor a child can you point them to this web page: http://www.box.net/shared/o96v6386is it has a child sponsorship form which you can download, print off and send to the CWK guys, it has all the information. If you are from somewhere else in the world other than the UK just email me directly and I can get an international form to you: kjbkenya@hotmail.co.uk I really want us to reach 100 by September. Each new sponsor brings smiles to the staff here, even by the 4 new ones we are encouraged, because we feel we are being supported and know there are people out their standing with us working with these children. Oh and a small request if you have or know someone who has already filled in a form but not quite got round to posting it off yet, please do so as soon as possible, the sooner it is up and running the better. Thank you soooooo much for helping with this, blog readers, lets spread the word and find 100!
DOWNWARD PRESSURE – So last blog entry I had loads of medical issues. Well the good news is that my face is back to normal (well as normal as it can be), both sides are working fine which is great, so I don’t have this stupid half face grin when I smile. Also the blood pressure is dropping back to normal and staying that way without the medication which is fantastic. I still need to keep an eye on it, but its good news. The numb foot is still there and occasional back pain but its gradually getting better, but will need more work from the physio etc. So all in all, blood pressure is dropping and I’m relieved!! I can enjoy the rest of the Easter holidays, before the craziness sets in again next week. In June, July and August I am going to have a huge number of volunteers coming and staying at the house, which is awesome but it will be a busy time too, the future looks busy, but good.
Tuesday, 27 April 2010
Tuesday, 6 April 2010
BACK IN AFRICA
NOT NORMAL ANY MORE – So its been a while since I put up a blog post but that is mainly because I took a trip to the UK in March for about 3 weeks. It was great to go home, see friends and have meetings with various folks. Really nice to have a change of scenery and also enjoy a bit of cold weather (ok so I enjoyed it for about 20 minutes and then after that I was freezing cold and had a real chill in my bones, it took me about 4 days to get used to it!). It was a very busy time and I had loads and loads of meetings which seemed to go well. Some folks thought it was a holiday, but it really wasn’t, the plan was to come back and meet with the trustees and do some networking. I think my veins were running with coffee and tea by the end of the 3 weeks! The funny thing about coming back was that the UK didn’t feel normal, it felt strange. I had only been in Kenya 5 months, so I thought I would just slip back into UK life really easily. But that wasn’t the case, everything felt different, going to a cash machine felt strange getting british pounds, so many white people walking around, everything being clean and shiny, driving at night time and not worrying, walking everywhere (my legs were killing after the first time I walked round Edinburgh!). I was rushing from church and headed down this road, in the distance I saw blue flashing lights and police. I immediately stopped the car and was about to turn round, because my instinct said, best avoid the police to avoid risk of being stopped and having to pay a bribe, but then I remembered I was in the UK and the Police were not going to stop me and were certainly not going to take my money. It was funny, I just automatically stopped, but after I realised my stupidity I set off again, happily going past the police without a care in the world! Things in the UK are just not normal any more, Kenya has become the norm! I had not even thought about Reverse Culture Shock, of coming home.
FAMILY – returning to Kenya and my home was also a bit strange. In my house Peter (the boy with cancer), James (an older boy looking after him) and also Samantha (a volunteer looking after both of them) had been staying while I was in the UK. I was returning to my house, but it was full of people now in their own habits and routines, and I had to adjust my own routines of living there to fit in with them. It took a while to catch up and get used to it, but we soon fell into a groove. It was kind of strange because we were a little family unit and it was my job to provide, so suddenly I had not just to plan dinner for myself but for all the rest too, suddenly I was the Daddy and they all looked to me for provision and guidance. Very strange feeling. I know that Peter has been bored though at the house so recently we have moved him back to the childrens home for a week, he seems much stronger and its more fun there, so until next chemo he is staying at Cheryls, where he is very happy to be back. It also gives me and Samantha a bit more quiet and space, which is usually needed after a long day!!!!
FUNNY FACE – back in the UK, a week before I left I managed to injure my back again, although this time the pain wasn’t in the back it was in my leg, and was seriously painful. I went to see a physio who said it was related to my back, and gave me some exercises to do. My biggest worry though was the plane journey back... 8.5 hours stuck on a tiny seat on a plane. The amazing thing was I seemed to manage ok, and my leg for the time on the plane really didn;t cause too much problem, I was amazed and relieved. I’m still seeing a physio back in Kenya, at least 3 times a week, but its slowly improving which is good news. Then the other day we were out doing some research at a market for a new venture some of the volunteers, I ate a meal which had some peanuts in (i didn’t know at the time) and I had the worst reaction ever, I’ve never been that bad but it wasn’t fun, thankfully it wasn’t full on throat closing and dieing, but it wasn’t pleasant. But then a very funny thing happened. My face went funny. The muscles on one side stopped working, and I couldn’t eat properly, smile properly, drink properly. It was a bit scary as all that rushed through my mind was mini-stroke. I went to the docs on the Sunday, she wanted to do some tests for diabetes, high cholesterol, and it seems I have high blood pressure. That night I was sooooo worried, what if I had diabetes or worse problems. I went for the tests the next day and sat in the docs waiting room for the results. Thank goodness blood sugars and cholesterol were fine, but still had a little high blood pressure which the doc will monitor. The face was still not right and she said hopefully it will just heal. A number of people have mentioned Bells Palsy, which I reckon is what it is. Thankfully this week it seems to be improving, slowly so hopefully in a week or so I won;t have such a funny face any more (at least just the normal funny for me!).
No.2 – So the other evening I had some volunteers at the house and we desperately need Tortillas, an essential ingredient to the whole Fajitas making process. So me and Elspeth jumped in the car and zoomed off to Ya Ya before the supermarket closed. Thankfully they had some in stock, so we jumped back in the car and headed home. We started turning left onto Chaka road, as most of the traffic heads on straight, the road widens for those turning left. There was a lot of traffic and it was not moving on the road going forward, no problem for us we are turning left. I indicated and started moving into the wider left part of the road, when just at that point the bus in front also started moving left... no indicator, and as this is not a bus route I assume he is just moving out of the way of a car infront, also he must see that I am in that lane moving left. He continues to turn, I continue to turn left when I begin to realise he is not moving out of the way of a car he has decided to go down Chaka road and I think he doesn’t see me!!!!! I slam on the brakes (I mean I;m only going 5 miles an hour anyways), but I realise its too late, I bang on the horn but he is oblivious (not checking his mirrors) and the bus turns in front of my car with the side of the bus hitting and scrapping the front right hand corner of Big Ron, there is a load noise, my car (Big Ron) is shaking as the bus driver finally realises what he has done and brakes to stop. The bus conducter lady looks out of the bus and sees what has happened, there is a worried face on her as she sees my car! I’, no worried we will have to wait for police, deal with insurers etc... sucks!!! Especially as we are 300 metres from my house! I get out and check the damage to Ron, thankfully the Bull Bar has taken most of the hit, with Blue paint on it and a small chip of metal taken out, other than that Ron is fine. I look at the bus, the bull bar has put a decent size hole i the side and the paint is scraped all down it for about a metre. Some of the passengers on the bus start to try and get off knowing that it could take hours to get this sorted, but the conducter emplores them to stay on as she looks at me to see my reaction. I look at Ron, he seems fine, apart from a little bull bar bruising, I look up at her, shrug my shoulders and raise my hands as if to say lets no bother going down this process, she takes the hint, signals the bus driver, I get back in the car and we all move on! In many ways I am relieved we don;t have to go down the whole insurance process, I know I was clearly in the right and the bus conducter was probably more worried about what this rich muzungu would do now the bus has damaged his car. But in the grand scheme of things Big Ron was fine, so what was the point. The incredible thing though is this: 3 days early I was leaving cheryls and James stopped my car and pointed to the bull bar. It was hanging off, underneath the metal work had come apart and it was hanging on by its Bull Bar fingertips (I had been on a rough roads recently and also the kids regularly cimb on Ron and particularly the bull bar). So we limped along to a local welder in the slum and for £7 he fixed it, and reinforced it, showing what a rubbish job had been done in the first place. Now if this hadn;t happened, and I hadn’t got it fixed then when the bus hit me the bull bar would have just come off and the car would have been majorly damaged!!! It was unbelievable the timing. So what seemed like a pain to fix the bull bar actually saved me from a much greater problem a few days later! This was Kenya car crash No.2
HALF WAY AND THE 100 – being in the Uk was great to do some promotional work for Cheryls but while I was away Samuel had been working on some things, particularly on the finances. He wrote a budget for this year and he worked out with our predicted income (which is not always a guarantee) we are expecting half of what we need to come in for the year. This was pretty scary when you read the figures. But its also useful to know the details and see why and how we come up short every month. One of the things we want to do in the coming months is improving administration and as our organisation grows we now have an accountant working with us full time which will help us be much better prepared and access information much easier and quicker. Despite the scary stats of seeing how we are only predicted to get in half of what we need, I quickly worked out on a calculator that if we could get 100 new sponsors for kids we could almost cover our shortfall. This gave me and Samuel both hope, it should bee achievable and it will make a massive difference, so our goal is to get 100 sponsors in the next few months!! Samuel was quite stressed while I was away, both of us feel the burden of carrying this project, and when things are tight when you go home at night its even harder, but knowing that there is a way out of this is amazing!!!! It makes such a difference, it gives us hope, that even though we may be short, if we can galvanise enough people to sponsor kids the future will be easier for both of us and we can focus on the bigger picture and the building project. Just need to find 100 people first!
NO EGGS – So the weekend just passed was Easter and like in the UK the Friday and Monday are public holidays. Its funny though it seems although church is on Sunday etc and thats the officially big day, Kenyans seem to make more of the Monday. We don;t buy meat often for the kids, its expensive, but we do on special occasions, so we bought meat for Good Friday and then I assumed we would get it for the Sunday, but nooooooo its for Monday. How strange??? But thats cool, thats how they roll here. Also I looked and looked but no Easter Eggs anywhere to be found. Its funny, Nairobi is becoming more and more westernised and Christmas did have some of the usual commercial stuff, trees, presents etc but Easter, no eggs! It will be interesting if this changes over the years (although could be because the chocolate might melt??).
HERE TODAY, GONE TOMORROW – So again while I was in UK, Peter still continued with his chemo and treatment, but also he had a CT scan. I came back to see an incredible thing. ON the original scan the tumour was huge and very clear but now on this new scan it can be hardly seen, there is a fuzzy line round part of his skull, but apart from that its normal. Its unbelievable, he has had less than half his original treatment plan and the improvement is astounding. So whats next? As there was never a concrete diagnosis we have to be careful now to try and make sure every bit goes and its not going to grow back. Peter will now receive chemo once every 3 weeks for about 8 months. This means time wise its going to take a while, but from our point of view it spreads things out a bit. So I guess its about 10 – 12 more treatments, Im not actually sure yet, assuming nothing goes wrong. He will need more tests and scans in the future to see the progress but its good to finally be on a steady plan (I think). We are next in this weekend for treatment. We have enough money for about another 2 treatments but after that we run out, so will need to raise more money soon for Peter so we can sure to provide for the rest of his treatment and also cover any unexpected issues such as infections. The great thing is he is feeling good, not had any problems in the last few weeks which is great and he seems strong. I’m so pleased with how its going now and to see such a dramatic change is awesome. I am sooo grateful to everyone for the support and prayers, it was really reassuring being the UK to hear how everyone cares for Peter and want to see him get well, that encourages me and keeps me going!!! Hopefully the tumour will continue to disappear!
FAMILY – returning to Kenya and my home was also a bit strange. In my house Peter (the boy with cancer), James (an older boy looking after him) and also Samantha (a volunteer looking after both of them) had been staying while I was in the UK. I was returning to my house, but it was full of people now in their own habits and routines, and I had to adjust my own routines of living there to fit in with them. It took a while to catch up and get used to it, but we soon fell into a groove. It was kind of strange because we were a little family unit and it was my job to provide, so suddenly I had not just to plan dinner for myself but for all the rest too, suddenly I was the Daddy and they all looked to me for provision and guidance. Very strange feeling. I know that Peter has been bored though at the house so recently we have moved him back to the childrens home for a week, he seems much stronger and its more fun there, so until next chemo he is staying at Cheryls, where he is very happy to be back. It also gives me and Samantha a bit more quiet and space, which is usually needed after a long day!!!!
FUNNY FACE – back in the UK, a week before I left I managed to injure my back again, although this time the pain wasn’t in the back it was in my leg, and was seriously painful. I went to see a physio who said it was related to my back, and gave me some exercises to do. My biggest worry though was the plane journey back... 8.5 hours stuck on a tiny seat on a plane. The amazing thing was I seemed to manage ok, and my leg for the time on the plane really didn;t cause too much problem, I was amazed and relieved. I’m still seeing a physio back in Kenya, at least 3 times a week, but its slowly improving which is good news. Then the other day we were out doing some research at a market for a new venture some of the volunteers, I ate a meal which had some peanuts in (i didn’t know at the time) and I had the worst reaction ever, I’ve never been that bad but it wasn’t fun, thankfully it wasn’t full on throat closing and dieing, but it wasn’t pleasant. But then a very funny thing happened. My face went funny. The muscles on one side stopped working, and I couldn’t eat properly, smile properly, drink properly. It was a bit scary as all that rushed through my mind was mini-stroke. I went to the docs on the Sunday, she wanted to do some tests for diabetes, high cholesterol, and it seems I have high blood pressure. That night I was sooooo worried, what if I had diabetes or worse problems. I went for the tests the next day and sat in the docs waiting room for the results. Thank goodness blood sugars and cholesterol were fine, but still had a little high blood pressure which the doc will monitor. The face was still not right and she said hopefully it will just heal. A number of people have mentioned Bells Palsy, which I reckon is what it is. Thankfully this week it seems to be improving, slowly so hopefully in a week or so I won;t have such a funny face any more (at least just the normal funny for me!).
No.2 – So the other evening I had some volunteers at the house and we desperately need Tortillas, an essential ingredient to the whole Fajitas making process. So me and Elspeth jumped in the car and zoomed off to Ya Ya before the supermarket closed. Thankfully they had some in stock, so we jumped back in the car and headed home. We started turning left onto Chaka road, as most of the traffic heads on straight, the road widens for those turning left. There was a lot of traffic and it was not moving on the road going forward, no problem for us we are turning left. I indicated and started moving into the wider left part of the road, when just at that point the bus in front also started moving left... no indicator, and as this is not a bus route I assume he is just moving out of the way of a car infront, also he must see that I am in that lane moving left. He continues to turn, I continue to turn left when I begin to realise he is not moving out of the way of a car he has decided to go down Chaka road and I think he doesn’t see me!!!!! I slam on the brakes (I mean I;m only going 5 miles an hour anyways), but I realise its too late, I bang on the horn but he is oblivious (not checking his mirrors) and the bus turns in front of my car with the side of the bus hitting and scrapping the front right hand corner of Big Ron, there is a load noise, my car (Big Ron) is shaking as the bus driver finally realises what he has done and brakes to stop. The bus conducter lady looks out of the bus and sees what has happened, there is a worried face on her as she sees my car! I’, no worried we will have to wait for police, deal with insurers etc... sucks!!! Especially as we are 300 metres from my house! I get out and check the damage to Ron, thankfully the Bull Bar has taken most of the hit, with Blue paint on it and a small chip of metal taken out, other than that Ron is fine. I look at the bus, the bull bar has put a decent size hole i the side and the paint is scraped all down it for about a metre. Some of the passengers on the bus start to try and get off knowing that it could take hours to get this sorted, but the conducter emplores them to stay on as she looks at me to see my reaction. I look at Ron, he seems fine, apart from a little bull bar bruising, I look up at her, shrug my shoulders and raise my hands as if to say lets no bother going down this process, she takes the hint, signals the bus driver, I get back in the car and we all move on! In many ways I am relieved we don;t have to go down the whole insurance process, I know I was clearly in the right and the bus conducter was probably more worried about what this rich muzungu would do now the bus has damaged his car. But in the grand scheme of things Big Ron was fine, so what was the point. The incredible thing though is this: 3 days early I was leaving cheryls and James stopped my car and pointed to the bull bar. It was hanging off, underneath the metal work had come apart and it was hanging on by its Bull Bar fingertips (I had been on a rough roads recently and also the kids regularly cimb on Ron and particularly the bull bar). So we limped along to a local welder in the slum and for £7 he fixed it, and reinforced it, showing what a rubbish job had been done in the first place. Now if this hadn;t happened, and I hadn’t got it fixed then when the bus hit me the bull bar would have just come off and the car would have been majorly damaged!!! It was unbelievable the timing. So what seemed like a pain to fix the bull bar actually saved me from a much greater problem a few days later! This was Kenya car crash No.2
HALF WAY AND THE 100 – being in the Uk was great to do some promotional work for Cheryls but while I was away Samuel had been working on some things, particularly on the finances. He wrote a budget for this year and he worked out with our predicted income (which is not always a guarantee) we are expecting half of what we need to come in for the year. This was pretty scary when you read the figures. But its also useful to know the details and see why and how we come up short every month. One of the things we want to do in the coming months is improving administration and as our organisation grows we now have an accountant working with us full time which will help us be much better prepared and access information much easier and quicker. Despite the scary stats of seeing how we are only predicted to get in half of what we need, I quickly worked out on a calculator that if we could get 100 new sponsors for kids we could almost cover our shortfall. This gave me and Samuel both hope, it should bee achievable and it will make a massive difference, so our goal is to get 100 sponsors in the next few months!! Samuel was quite stressed while I was away, both of us feel the burden of carrying this project, and when things are tight when you go home at night its even harder, but knowing that there is a way out of this is amazing!!!! It makes such a difference, it gives us hope, that even though we may be short, if we can galvanise enough people to sponsor kids the future will be easier for both of us and we can focus on the bigger picture and the building project. Just need to find 100 people first!
NO EGGS – So the weekend just passed was Easter and like in the UK the Friday and Monday are public holidays. Its funny though it seems although church is on Sunday etc and thats the officially big day, Kenyans seem to make more of the Monday. We don;t buy meat often for the kids, its expensive, but we do on special occasions, so we bought meat for Good Friday and then I assumed we would get it for the Sunday, but nooooooo its for Monday. How strange??? But thats cool, thats how they roll here. Also I looked and looked but no Easter Eggs anywhere to be found. Its funny, Nairobi is becoming more and more westernised and Christmas did have some of the usual commercial stuff, trees, presents etc but Easter, no eggs! It will be interesting if this changes over the years (although could be because the chocolate might melt??).
HERE TODAY, GONE TOMORROW – So again while I was in UK, Peter still continued with his chemo and treatment, but also he had a CT scan. I came back to see an incredible thing. ON the original scan the tumour was huge and very clear but now on this new scan it can be hardly seen, there is a fuzzy line round part of his skull, but apart from that its normal. Its unbelievable, he has had less than half his original treatment plan and the improvement is astounding. So whats next? As there was never a concrete diagnosis we have to be careful now to try and make sure every bit goes and its not going to grow back. Peter will now receive chemo once every 3 weeks for about 8 months. This means time wise its going to take a while, but from our point of view it spreads things out a bit. So I guess its about 10 – 12 more treatments, Im not actually sure yet, assuming nothing goes wrong. He will need more tests and scans in the future to see the progress but its good to finally be on a steady plan (I think). We are next in this weekend for treatment. We have enough money for about another 2 treatments but after that we run out, so will need to raise more money soon for Peter so we can sure to provide for the rest of his treatment and also cover any unexpected issues such as infections. The great thing is he is feeling good, not had any problems in the last few weeks which is great and he seems strong. I’m so pleased with how its going now and to see such a dramatic change is awesome. I am sooo grateful to everyone for the support and prayers, it was really reassuring being the UK to hear how everyone cares for Peter and want to see him get well, that encourages me and keeps me going!!! Hopefully the tumour will continue to disappear!
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