Busy Busy weekend!!
We decided that on Saturday we would meet up with a family friend of Alex's, also called Alex, who lives in Nairobi. Alex M (I will call him) originally comes from Kisii which is on the west side of Kenya, by Lake Victoria. He then came to England to study at University. Since coming back to Kenya, two years ago, he has been living in a hotel type place as he apparently does not want to cook for himself or wash his clothes! Men are apparently the same everywhere in the world...
So we set out to Nairobi at about 10am and wandered into the city amrket, as it was Alex's first type into this type of market he was shocked at the way the men hassled you to buy things!! I did actually buy a large painting of the massai for 2000shillings - 16GBP ish, managed to get the guy down from 15000ksh, 120GBP!!
They Alex M picked us up in his car and took us to his hotel where we had a biffet lunch (everywhere we've been to in Kenya prefers a buffet style to a menu). We then went for a walk around the area his hotel is in, sat in a lovely grass area called Central Park. We then went for a cup of ginger tea (ginger = tangawizi) in a 5* hotel. We sat aroudn a pool and ate some delicious samosas - it was really lovely!
He then took us back to his for dinner, he wouldn't take no for an answer! even though we had dinner waiting for us back at the orphanage!! He ended up driving us all the way back to Mlolongo as it was very dark and too late for us to really safely have caught a matatu.
On sunday we got up early and although we were going to go to Nairobi Museum first, we realised that the orphan elephant sanctuary was only open for 1 hour a day 11-noon! so we quickly changed our plans and headed off to the Ele sanctuary. We guessed which Matatu to get on and whilst on it, even the driver didn't know where this place was! Luckily a passenger told us that we were on the right matatu and we eventually saw a signpost.
One thing that the guidebook didn't tell us, however, was that the palce was in Nairobi National Park and as the guard for the park told us, it's evry dnagerous to walk in there and even if you did risk it, it would take to long to walk it! Luckily about 5minutes later a taxi appeared out of the park and offered to drive us to the orphanage!
When we arrived there were a lot of tourists! I had not seen so many since I got to kenya, I think they all stay hidden in the hotels and on tour busses! Luckily we got there at 11.05 so we had plenty of time and I got to take hundreds of pictures of the cuties and got to stroke a couple!! The landscape itself was beautiful and all you could see for miles was the park!
Next we got back on a matatu to Nairobi where we met Alex M, had some luch and he dropped us off at the museum. It was 800ksh each which we felt, once we had been round, was a tad pricy for a fairly small place. It was interesting nonetheless and we learnt some interesting things about Kenyan history. There was a snake farm in the grounds but it was an extra 800ksh each which we felt was a rip off as it didn't look that great!
We grabbed a cold drink at Alex M's and then grabbed a matatu back to Mlolongo! phew! Very busy weekend and quite tiring but it was fanatastic!
Lottie x
Wednesday 11 August 2010
Saturday 7 August 2010
Thursday 5th - Friday 6th
Although nothing 'exciting' or 'out of the ordinary' happened, I feel that these days still deserve a mention because I have found out some really interesting things about why Grace has come back to Kenya so soon after she was last here!
She came to Kenya in January? of this year to do exactly what I myself am doing and through the same company! Although she was here for 2 months.
Whilst in Mlolongo she discovered that there was a huge problem concerning 'street boys'.
These are almost always boys and they are a variety of ages and due to being either orphans or coming from poverty stricken families they end up on the streets. There can earn a tiny bit of money picking up 'plastics' and taking them to buyers who in turn receive money from large companies who recycle them.
However, not only do these boys have no shelter at night and minimal food during the day, they also very easily get into bad habits such as drug taking, a very common form you see daily on the streets is glue sniffing. It's a type of gum used to glue shoes back together and the empty or nearly empty bottles are tossed onto the streets (there are no rubbish collectors here, it gets tossed onto the street and then burnt in piles) where the boys pick it up and sniff the remainder. The boys can also not afford to go to school, and they are very often of primary school age which means that they have future, so to speak, other than living on the streets for the foreseeable future.
So when Grace was last here, she decided that she had to do something to help and so set up a rehabilitation for street boys project. This involved finding a cheap but suitable shelter, a teacher and a cook. I have seen, since being here, that she now has all three and she also funds the lives of 11 boys. I know that this is quite a financial struggle as apart from a few bits of fund raised money and the occasional offer of food, she pays for it all herself and this comes in at around 1000GBP a month. I think that she is amazing and once I am back in the UK I want to provide all the support I can, in terms of fund-raising and also just being someone else who has seen first hand, the change she has brought about in these boy's lives!
this is just a brief delve into what she does but I am sure that as soon as I am back home and she has set up a website etc I can provide more information and start to fundraise.
My primary objective is to raise enough money to provide the boys with a school sports kit!
Lottie x
She came to Kenya in January? of this year to do exactly what I myself am doing and through the same company! Although she was here for 2 months.
Whilst in Mlolongo she discovered that there was a huge problem concerning 'street boys'.
These are almost always boys and they are a variety of ages and due to being either orphans or coming from poverty stricken families they end up on the streets. There can earn a tiny bit of money picking up 'plastics' and taking them to buyers who in turn receive money from large companies who recycle them.
However, not only do these boys have no shelter at night and minimal food during the day, they also very easily get into bad habits such as drug taking, a very common form you see daily on the streets is glue sniffing. It's a type of gum used to glue shoes back together and the empty or nearly empty bottles are tossed onto the streets (there are no rubbish collectors here, it gets tossed onto the street and then burnt in piles) where the boys pick it up and sniff the remainder. The boys can also not afford to go to school, and they are very often of primary school age which means that they have future, so to speak, other than living on the streets for the foreseeable future.
So when Grace was last here, she decided that she had to do something to help and so set up a rehabilitation for street boys project. This involved finding a cheap but suitable shelter, a teacher and a cook. I have seen, since being here, that she now has all three and she also funds the lives of 11 boys. I know that this is quite a financial struggle as apart from a few bits of fund raised money and the occasional offer of food, she pays for it all herself and this comes in at around 1000GBP a month. I think that she is amazing and once I am back in the UK I want to provide all the support I can, in terms of fund-raising and also just being someone else who has seen first hand, the change she has brought about in these boy's lives!
this is just a brief delve into what she does but I am sure that as soon as I am back home and she has set up a website etc I can provide more information and start to fundraise.
My primary objective is to raise enough money to provide the boys with a school sports kit!
Lottie x
Thursday 5 August 2010
Wednesday 4th August - The new orphanage!
Wednesday was the day of the big national vote! Yes or No to a new constitution. No one was quite sure whether there would be any rioting as there had been at the last vote! As it was a voting day, many places were closed, including the animal orphanage where Alex works so he had a free day!!
And so, I decided to show him how to hand wash his clothes! Which he struggled with slightly... Must get a picture!
Theresia and Joseph, the founders and the 'parents' of the children in the orphanage took us to the site of the new orphanage! Basically, the government had allocated 3 acres to the project and with this, they could start to build their own orphanage in a nice new community. Although there are very few houses around, the community is just starting and it aims to be a really nice place, nicer and safer than Mlolongo, for the children especially. Once the orphanage is finished, they hope to also relocate the school to the grounds and build a church, amongst other things. However they still need to raise over GBP100,000 to finish a building which will house around 300 orphans! It will be fantastic and there will even be running water! No more bucket showers! ([pictures to come)
In the afternoon Alex and I were shown how to make chapattis from scratch. First we rolled the dough into similar sized balls, we then rolled them into larger flat circles, although mine and Alex's were slightly more square.... You then put them on a metal dish, like a frying pan but without a handle. This was on top of a coal stove. You then used your fingers (ouch! hot) to spin it around to stop it sticking! Firstly you did this for 30secs each side without oil. yiou put these to one side and then you did the same to them but for longer and with oil to brown them and make them into chapattis!
Yum!
Lottie x
And so, I decided to show him how to hand wash his clothes! Which he struggled with slightly... Must get a picture!
Theresia and Joseph, the founders and the 'parents' of the children in the orphanage took us to the site of the new orphanage! Basically, the government had allocated 3 acres to the project and with this, they could start to build their own orphanage in a nice new community. Although there are very few houses around, the community is just starting and it aims to be a really nice place, nicer and safer than Mlolongo, for the children especially. Once the orphanage is finished, they hope to also relocate the school to the grounds and build a church, amongst other things. However they still need to raise over GBP100,000 to finish a building which will house around 300 orphans! It will be fantastic and there will even be running water! No more bucket showers! ([pictures to come)
In the afternoon Alex and I were shown how to make chapattis from scratch. First we rolled the dough into similar sized balls, we then rolled them into larger flat circles, although mine and Alex's were slightly more square.... You then put them on a metal dish, like a frying pan but without a handle. This was on top of a coal stove. You then used your fingers (ouch! hot) to spin it around to stop it sticking! Firstly you did this for 30secs each side without oil. yiou put these to one side and then you did the same to them but for longer and with oil to brown them and make them into chapattis!
Yum!
Lottie x
Wednesday 4 August 2010
Tuesday 3rd August
Monday night was lovely, Alex and I chatted to two of the older boys, Patrick and Thuko about England and the differences between there and Kenya. Thuko is also responsible for preparing our food day and night and is a really lovely 16 year old! Polite and respectful but also a good laugh! He has also offered to show me how to make chapattis and Mandazi!
Tuesday was a really exciting day! Grace decided to take me to the Massai Market which is held just once a week. She promised me it was going to be an experience and it certaintly was!
I washed my hair and dried it in the sun before we went out, it's difficult to wash in the evening because where you wash yourselves is poorly lit. We caught a Matatu at around 11am, as it was my first time in one it was quite an adventure. We manage to get front seats which is apparently a lot nicer and less cramped than the back! We got off in the city and made our way to Patrick and Grace's (our volunteer company) office. We had some really yummy mango juice, it was thick like it had just been squeezed out of a mango and nothing had been added! Must get some more before I leave!
Grace (volunteer company) then took Grace and I (it is confusing with everyone having the same name!) to the Hilton Hotel, where underneath there is an arcade with shops selling souvenirs. This was so we could see how much items cost in a shop as markets will easily rip off tourists! After lunch in the office, fried potato things, we made our way to the market! It was quite a walk!
It was such a unique experience it's hard to describe. As soon as you enter and you look like a tourist, you are accosted by a couple of men who promise to take you around and get the best deals (I later found out from a shop keeper that this is not true and to always buy froma seller direct). They follow you everywhere and if you bend down, or even look at something for longer than a second they will pick the item up and carry it around and say 'this is a maybe, if you like you can buy. no pressure. no pressure' but of course there is! They will not let you walk away empty handed!!
after the market we went to Tusky's which is, I think, the largest supermarket chain in Kenya, or at least in Nairobi. It was gtting quite late by this time so we went to catch a Matatu from the main Matatu station (next to the train station). There were crowds and crowds of people and not many matatus so the price was slightly more expensive back home. The ride home was more of an experience than the rest of the day put together!! Firstly a car crashed into us which was quite scary as the brakes we slammed on and we went up an embankment! Grace told me that this regularly happens as matatu drivers are notoriously bad! Then the engine seemed to die and struggled to get us back to Mlolongo!! We didn't think we'd make it!
But we did! Alex couldn't believe that we were later than him! It was an exhausting day so I had a very early night!
Lottie x
Tuesday was a really exciting day! Grace decided to take me to the Massai Market which is held just once a week. She promised me it was going to be an experience and it certaintly was!
I washed my hair and dried it in the sun before we went out, it's difficult to wash in the evening because where you wash yourselves is poorly lit. We caught a Matatu at around 11am, as it was my first time in one it was quite an adventure. We manage to get front seats which is apparently a lot nicer and less cramped than the back! We got off in the city and made our way to Patrick and Grace's (our volunteer company) office. We had some really yummy mango juice, it was thick like it had just been squeezed out of a mango and nothing had been added! Must get some more before I leave!
Grace (volunteer company) then took Grace and I (it is confusing with everyone having the same name!) to the Hilton Hotel, where underneath there is an arcade with shops selling souvenirs. This was so we could see how much items cost in a shop as markets will easily rip off tourists! After lunch in the office, fried potato things, we made our way to the market! It was quite a walk!
It was such a unique experience it's hard to describe. As soon as you enter and you look like a tourist, you are accosted by a couple of men who promise to take you around and get the best deals (I later found out from a shop keeper that this is not true and to always buy froma seller direct). They follow you everywhere and if you bend down, or even look at something for longer than a second they will pick the item up and carry it around and say 'this is a maybe, if you like you can buy. no pressure. no pressure' but of course there is! They will not let you walk away empty handed!!
after the market we went to Tusky's which is, I think, the largest supermarket chain in Kenya, or at least in Nairobi. It was gtting quite late by this time so we went to catch a Matatu from the main Matatu station (next to the train station). There were crowds and crowds of people and not many matatus so the price was slightly more expensive back home. The ride home was more of an experience than the rest of the day put together!! Firstly a car crashed into us which was quite scary as the brakes we slammed on and we went up an embankment! Grace told me that this regularly happens as matatu drivers are notoriously bad! Then the engine seemed to die and struggled to get us back to Mlolongo!! We didn't think we'd make it!
But we did! Alex couldn't believe that we were later than him! It was an exhausting day so I had a very early night!
Lottie x
Monday 2 August 2010
Monday 2nd August
There was a power cut in the village on Sunday at around 6pm which lasted until the morning! Apparently this is a very frequent occurrence and and it involves a lot of candles! this did, however, mean that Alex and I had a lovely candle lit dinner!
Yesterday morning, Sunday, we woke up and attended the orphange's Sunday Service which is held on the roof! It's the largest space they have and half does have a roof just in case! I really enjoyed the singing parts, they love to sing voer here, but as the service was 95% in Kiswahili, and it lasted from 10am-2pm, it was a bit tiring and got slightly boring for us! We were going to watch the African Athletics final but the service went on longer than we had anticipated so it was too late to go :(.
After the service it was lunch time and we spoke to two of the preachers - Francis and his wife Susan, who offered to show us around Nairobi! Francis spoke English really well and fantastically clearly! We also spoke to the minister and he explained that he was sorry that the service was in Kiswahili but as he was from a french speaking part of Africa, his english was not that good!
After lunch, Alex and I went up to the roof where we got to know some more of the younger children. We played a sort of skittles game with them involving old batteries and a stone each! Some of the names we learnt were: 2 Esters, Blalia, Leah, John, Elizabeth who were between 5-7 years and Helen who was 12.
When we woke up this morning (Monday) there was still no electricity so Alex had to get ready and shave in the dark!! haha! (it was 6am so there wasn't much natural light either!
I was given a Mandazi for breakfast which was yum! It's apparently just flour and water which is fried - must get shown how to make them!
Grace then took me on a tour of the markets in Mlolongo. Food is so cheap here! Nothing costs more than 5p except whole pineapples which are around 40p and enormous watermelons which are around 1.50 for the whole thing - they are bigger than any I've ever seen in England!
I'm now just waiting for Alex to get back, he is quite late so the traffic must be really bad! That's one thing I wasn't expecting in Kenya! Just how bad the traffic is around Nairobi!
Lottie x
Yesterday morning, Sunday, we woke up and attended the orphange's Sunday Service which is held on the roof! It's the largest space they have and half does have a roof just in case! I really enjoyed the singing parts, they love to sing voer here, but as the service was 95% in Kiswahili, and it lasted from 10am-2pm, it was a bit tiring and got slightly boring for us! We were going to watch the African Athletics final but the service went on longer than we had anticipated so it was too late to go :(.
After the service it was lunch time and we spoke to two of the preachers - Francis and his wife Susan, who offered to show us around Nairobi! Francis spoke English really well and fantastically clearly! We also spoke to the minister and he explained that he was sorry that the service was in Kiswahili but as he was from a french speaking part of Africa, his english was not that good!
After lunch, Alex and I went up to the roof where we got to know some more of the younger children. We played a sort of skittles game with them involving old batteries and a stone each! Some of the names we learnt were: 2 Esters, Blalia, Leah, John, Elizabeth who were between 5-7 years and Helen who was 12.
When we woke up this morning (Monday) there was still no electricity so Alex had to get ready and shave in the dark!! haha! (it was 6am so there wasn't much natural light either!
I was given a Mandazi for breakfast which was yum! It's apparently just flour and water which is fried - must get shown how to make them!
Grace then took me on a tour of the markets in Mlolongo. Food is so cheap here! Nothing costs more than 5p except whole pineapples which are around 40p and enormous watermelons which are around 1.50 for the whole thing - they are bigger than any I've ever seen in England!
I'm now just waiting for Alex to get back, he is quite late so the traffic must be really bad! That's one thing I wasn't expecting in Kenya! Just how bad the traffic is around Nairobi!
Lottie x
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