Arrived on Monday evening to a warm and pleasant Nairobi and then we hit the bara bara (Swahili for road). Paul, the country director of Kenya, kindly took me to the office with guesthouse and showed me everything.

Day 1

Today the second sea container with vocational equipment had arrived, it was sitting in Nairobi at the International Container Depot (ICD). This is where containers get checked and cleared by the Kenyan customs office. As always this took quite a while before we got the ‘OK’ from them. In the afternoon I met Vincent, the manager of the vocational center and we discussed plans of what needed to be done the next few weeks to become operational.

Day 2

Today it was offloading time, among other things, there was a great big 2 ton generator in the container, which needed a serious machine to handle it. Paul had arranged for a forklift to come for that. To get to the vocational school you have to get down a slight slope. First of all the truck with the container didn’t dare go down the slope afraid of ending up crashing into slumhouses, because his brakes weren’t good enough. So we had to offload from the top of the slope. Luckily a whole crowd of people came to assist us in unpacking all the goods that Ruud, Pim, Frans, Willeke (our volunteer warehouse team) and I packed in Haarlem. At around 18.30, after a serious physical day, we finished unloading all the goods and put them in one of the new classrooms used as storage.

Day 3

Yesterday we couldn’t put the generator in the right place with the forklift we had rented. So, today they came with a self loader (with zebra print) to put it in place. After that we started setting up desks and cabinets for the vocational offices. The kids at the primary school were surrounding me, a muzungu (white person) is something they don’t see every day. I actually thought they were saying things in Swahili to me, but after a while I realised they were saying ‘Chuck Norris’. Don’t ask me why…

Day 4

Today we continued setting up the staffroom with a conference tables, two computers, a fridge and lockers for every teacher. We had a meeting with the contractor to discuss the finishing touches. We also went to see Zam at the Kibera office, from where she runs the Home Based Care program (HBC). A few times a week ChildsLife Kenya receives vegetables which they distribute among the projects. Today we took the vegetables to the Kibera office for Zam.

That is it for now, my next blog will follow soon!

Robin

After a great weekend of giraffe feeding at the giraffe centre and visiting the Karen Blixen museum it was time to get back to business on the vocational centre.

Monday

Today was all about finishing the offices and staffroom and equipping them with computers, printers and get them ready to use. After finishing with that we added the final restored computers to the computer lab. Now the computer course was ready to be used by the students the next day. Leonard, the instructor for this course is very pleased with the way his classroom looks. 

Tuesday

After arriving at the vocational centre this morning we went to have a look at the new students at work in the computer lab. It was great to see the enthusiasm on the students faces in their new study environment. Then we went down to the storage room of the machines, tools and cabinets to decide the distribution of this equipment among the classrooms. We got help moving the equipment to the designated classrooms from several volunteers.

Wednesday

We continued today with moving the equipment to the right classroom. Some of the equipment was extremely heavy so this was quite a challenge. We saw the little ‘Chuck Norris’ primary students again today, they surrounded and showed me that they could count in English. As they were doing this, some of the children were intrigued by my arm hair and were pulling at it. In Africa, people don’t have arm hair. In the afternoon we went back to the office to handle emails from the headquarters. I received an offer of a variety of vehicles from Turkey that I had to respond to.

Thursday/Friday

Today and Friday it was time to find instructors for the rest of the courses. We had interviews planned for several functions. We had a total of 17 applicants to assess today. We were very successful in finding a couple of qualified appropriate instructors, some of the other vacancies however still have to be filled.

This weekend I had the opportunity to visit the Masai Mara national park and attempt to see the ‘Big Five’. After 5 game drives I was able to see 4 of the big five and a whole lot of other animals. It was great to see them in the wild and be so close to them. Then it was time to start with already my last week of work in Kenya.

Monday

We are setting up a fitness facility in the vocational centre to help bring in funds to run the vocational centre. We shipped 6 fitness machines from the Netherlands for in the gym. Today we had to find good rubber flooring to protect the floor from the weights being dropped. We had a fun time haggling down the price with the woman behind the counter, who eventually gave in and gave us a good price. After getting through slow traffic and back into Kibera I sat down with Victor, the gym instructor and we made a lay out of how the machines will be put in place.

Tuesday 

This morning we went out to the Kibera office. This is where we run our Home Based Care (HBC) Mothers program, which empowers mothers with the HIV virus that there’s still a future ahead of them. We were invited to join one of their sessions and discuss the issues they have in daily life in Kibera. Life for these women is so much harder than anything I know, but you could see how strong these women had become through the HBC Mothers program.   

Wednesday

Every Wednesday from 9 in the the morning, Zam, who runs the HBC program, has a radio program on Pamoja FM. This is the local Kibera radio station that is used to entertain, educate and inform the people in Kibera with music, news and current topics that affect them. I was invited to come and talk about the HIV problem in the Netherlands. I hope I was able to give Kibera a slight idea of what the differences and similarities are between the Netherlands and Kenya regarding HIV related issues. In the afternoon it was back to the Vocational centre and continuation of activities there. We checked the generator and started it with a new battery. We sat down to discuss the rules and regulations regarding the fitness centre, talked about opening hours, price categories, contract agreements and membership passes. I designed the leaflet for the fitness centre when I got back home/office.

Thursday

Zam had arranged 2 house visits for me in Kibera with 2 mothers that are in the HBC program. This was the first time I was going to experience the worst areas of the slum, because that’s where nearly all of these mothers live. I can still remember the smell of the open sewer and rubbish that was everywhere. Children were playing in these places like it was the most normal thing on earth. Almost every child that we walked past yelled out to me repeatedly; hello, how are you? Fine. This is because it’s part of a song that they learn in school for English. Then after a long walk, we arrived at the first home, it was one of the worst houses in the slum, right on the bank of the main open sewer waterway. The house was in a very bad way, the wall that was on the water side had a huge crack and holes along the bottom. The mother that lives there with her 3 children told us that snakes come in through the wall at night and when it rains the sewage water comes into her house. Still she kept strong and told me that the HBC program is helping her hugely with food, mental support and it’s teaching her that there is a way to a better life. This was a real eye opening experience and definitely one that I’ll remember for a long time.

Friday

My last day in Kenya, sadly enough!! Last night, Mr. Hans, a Dutch professional carpet layer, arrived in Nairobi. Paul and I picked him up from the airport and welcomed him to Kenya. He donated two big rolls of linoleum, a total of about 50m2 and furthermore he volunteered to come and lay three classrooms with his donated flooring. To be able to do this we went looking for the necessary supplies in Nairobi’s industrial area. That evening it was already time to pack my bags.. 

These past three weeks have made a huge impression on me and have given new insight into the people of Kenya and the projects that ChildsLife runs there.