IT’S CHRISTMAS TIME... – So the Christmas season has ended and now we are all into the gloomy January days... unless you live in Nairobi where it’s bright sunshine and the hottest month of the year! The Christmas period has been an eventful one for me and not the best, in a way I am glad it’s all over, but there were some good times had with kids. Below this post you will see some photos from our Christmas celebrations with the kids. About a week before Christmas we put up a Christmas tree and decorated it as well as doing some homemade decorations for the hall. On Christmas day I made my way into the home mid morning, and then headed off to the Police station to report the robbery from the day before to get the police report. Back at the home around lunchtime we started to cook something a bit different for the kids, bacon, eggs and beans. It was a bit tricky cooking outside on the charcoal fires, getting the timing right was the biggest challenge but we managed to get everyone fed and there was a mixed reaction to how good the food was... interesting the baked beans didn’t go down too well, which surprised me as they eat beans all the time with rice, but perhaps it was that Baked Beans are sweeter, but the scrambled egg was a big hit! In the afternoon various visitors came and spent time with the kids, this is one of the interesting things about Kenya, on Christmas day many families do their own celebrations and then head out in the afternoon to spend time with the less fortunate. In the evening we played some games outside while the volunteers moved a huge mound of presents, that had been stored in the library, down into the hall under the tree. After the games the kids came into the hall with tables set for dinner with Christmas crackers and seeing all the presents, they were sooooo excited! I had brought 2 large stockings from the UK which were then stuffed with toys. Each child came up about 3 times to get something from the stocking just before we ate. Dinner consisted of beef stew and chapatti, that day I decided to get a higher grade of beef and so the kids loved it! After dinner we handed out the presents and that’s when the real excitement came. Last year each child managed to get some small toy and a second hand book. This year most kids had at least 2 presents and many had 3 or 4 (especially the little kids). It did feel like we had stepped up a bit there. A big thanks to all those that contributed to presents and Christmas which covered wrapping paper, decorations, presents, crackers and decent food! Of course we topped the evening off with a showing of HOME ALONE, the kids favourite, it never seems to fail. Overall a great day, I made it home about 11:30pm after dropping off volunteers, legs, eyes and well the whole body was pretty weary so my bed was like heaven when I got back.
BOXING IN THE SUN – The next morning after Christmas I was up at 7:15am, heading off to church to lead worship for the first time at KVC. It seemed to go well but to be honest I was struggling to keep my eyes open and have the energy to play and sing. After church I whizzed up the road to David and Juliets. The whole armed robbery was starting now to play on my mind as I knew it would come up in conversation over lunch. David and Juliet had invited about 15 people I think round to theirs for lunch. Some people I knew, others it was a first time. There were a few kids playing around, drinks in the garden, and they had put up some dining tables in the garden too, decorated really well and then it was time to eat. We had such a lovely time and for the first time I actually liked Christmas in the sun because it was such a nice day and wonderful to be sat at this elaborate table outside in the sun eating a gorgeous lunch, fantastic. There were the inevitable conversations about what happened on Christmas eve and this was the first point I guess it sunk in that I could have actually been shot and either wounded or dead at this point. Pretty hard to take. But the day was good and I met some new people and made new friends which was nice.
DOUBLE BLOW – Monday I thought I would pop into Cheryls and see how everyone was. I was greeted by an undercover policeman who was talking about the robbery. He was pretty sure that within a couple of weeks they would have the guys responsible. I was sceptical, but entertain his discussion anyway. Tuesday came and I headed into work feeling very low, I guess everything had caught up on me. I headed into hospital with Peter who was getting checked up after his last chemo. He had a slight bump on his head from banging it on a bunk bed and we wanted to get it checked. In the hospital the docs were concerned and decided he needed an xray, our big concern was the cancer was back. I started to walk him to X-ray, wondering what his meant, if his cancer is back what does that all mean. My phone rang and it was my sister with bad news, my Grandmother had just passed away in the night. Trying to concentrate on the phone call in the busy hospital it felt like my world was just turning upside down. The conversation ended and we headed to x-ray. Back at the docs reviewing the x-ray I told the doc what I had just heard, it was all hard to take in. The decision then was to get a CT scan... but all I wanted to do was get out of the hospital and go think about my gran, but I had to persevere for Peter. We did the X-ray and scan and sorted out a few things for Rukia as well. Eventually I left something like 4:30pm. I was exhausted, confused, upset, relieved that Peter seemed to be fine in the end. I dropped him off, gathered my stuff and headed to David and Juliets to stay with them. Walking in the door it all hit me and I burst into tears. Later that evening I spoke to my parents and arranged flights etc to come back to UK for the funeral.
NEW YEAR – The week progressed, flights were booked for the following week and I wanted to get as much work done before I left. New years eve I finished work at 7pm exhausted again and headed over to David and Juliets, there was big group of folks from South Africa staying with them and we had a nice meal, although I have to confess I could have easily gone to bed at 8pm. We ate, we laughed and then headed to Peter Toners house for midnight. Peter is from Scotland and so had organised Haggis and a piper. It was a fantastic night and for a few hours I laughed and joked and forgot about everything that had happened. We left not too late hoping that the new year would bring more joy than sadness!
BACK IN THE COLD – So last week I was in the UK for my grandmothers funeral. Everything went as well as a funeral can, it was difficult saying goodbye, but I was relieved that I had managed to see my gran on my last trip in November and that was a nice memory to have. I just caught up with a few friends and family and didn’t do too much work apart from dealing with a few emails. It was kind of tiring changing beds every few nights and living out of a bag but nice to get a break from Kenya.
BACK IN THE HEAT – So back in Kenya now and it seems the joys of 2011 are not quite here with us yet. Peter, the boy with cancer it turns out now does have big problems, the lump on his head has started to grow again and in the 2 weeks I have not seen him it has progressed at a rapid rate. I know the docs are confused and it seems unusual what has happened. I am yet to speak to them directly but its worrying times. I have heard words about surgery and all sorts but I don’t know for sure yet. It’s all up in the air. Also adding to this, before Christmas I spoke to the docs about Rukia, the other girl we have with cancer, they have told me she has only 30% chance of coming through this too. It’s not looking good. Last week she was in hospital with pneumonia and on oxygen. Thankfully she came home yesterday but her future is up in the air. Both these events are devastating and worrying, I’m not sure what is going to happen but we are in a serious situation with them both now and I know in the next few days we will have to make a very tough decision about Peter.
FINDING SNOW IN KENYA – Now if I asked you where can you find snow in Kenya, you might probably say on Mount Kilimanjaro, but of course you would be wrong, because Kili is actually in Tanzania. So where else would you find snow??? Up mount Kenya of course! It’s the second highest peak in Africa, I think only 1000ft lower than Kili so it’s still pretty high. I think there might be some snow on top, but just depends on the time of year. Anyways next week on Thursday 27th January, 5 of us are heading up mount Kenya. This trip has been on the cards for over a year or so, and it is finally here. We will take 5 nights and 6 days to do the whole trek. It’s going to be huge, sleeping in tents and huts, freezing cold, battling with altitude sickness etc but I do hear it’s well worth it, well that’s what I hear, I’ll let you know what I think when we get down! Only 1 week to go now!
CRIMEWATCH – So since the whole Christmas eve robbery things heated up around the Cheryls area. This one gang has basically moved in and been doing car jacking and mugging people at gun point. Sadly a child was shot nearby and other vehicles have been car jacked. However it seems things have now calmed down. The police did stick to their word about dealing with it. They moved in a big unit of under cover police and have been tracking down the gang. The easiest way for them to solve this problem is simply to shoot the gang and execute them, much easier than bothering with prisons and trials. It’s an interesting tactical approach one of which I have mixed feelings about. On the one hand it feels good that this gang will have gone, but at the same time just killing them off feels a bit wierd. They have chosen that life though and they know this is how the police react. So it seems things are quietening down again and hopefully back to normal. We are looking at improving our own security at the home, but I am hoping and do expect things will be back to normal. This kind of pattern happens all over Nairobi, a gang moves in, cause problems, police move in and kill them off, a new gang sets up somewhere else where the police are not around. So please don’t let any of this stuff worry potential visitors, you probably stand more chance of being run over by a car in the UK than anything happening to you here, so I reckon that’s the best way to look at it!
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