It’s Saturday and I’m off to Kenya! Woke up after not much sleep, anxious about the trip ahead. Started to pack my stuff, fitting in as much sports equipment, writing equipment and gifts as I could. My flight was delayed by 3.5 hours but I still had to check in at the original time, which meant lots of time to spend by myself, whoopee! Bit of a nightmare at check-in with baggage, but Daddy Lupton came to the rescue and sorted it all out, I was able to take out everything I wanted to!
It was an emotional goodbye to mum and dad and then I set off to do a good few circuits of the shops at Heathrow to try and waste some time. On the flight I was sat next to a Welsh girl who was flying out for a medical placement in Tanzania as part of her degree. Lots of funny stories to tell me from her previous trip on her own to India where she stayed with Indian families. It gave me some encouragement and made me excited to get stuck into the Kenyan way of life.
Had a good long sleep on the plane, woke up a couple of times to find this girl asleep and resting on my shoulder which freaked me out as I didn’t really know her, but after a little giggle to myself I just went with it!
Sunday 27th July
Arrived at the airport with all my stuff and saw Mike, holding up a sign saying ‘JO LUPTON’. Relief. He is lovely, a very polite nice young man with a good heart. I am to spend my time in Nairobi with him. Our driver is Peter, again very nice but a bit shy so have yet to really get to know him. The first thing that hit me about Kenya was the mayhem on the roads. The driving is quite aggressive and cars will fit through the smallest of gaps to overtake and get where they are going. The cars are also competing with the huge numbers of people walking on the roadsides and the bicycles. The public transport is also something to be seen, brightly coloured personalized buses that rally around the roads quite dangerously. The roads themselves are very bumpy. They are like the off road dirt tracks in England which only an off road 4x4 could cope with. But we were in a Toyota and you could hear the bottom of the car scraping and banging on the road. My little mini wouldn’t last a second out here. Jouneys which distance wise would take about 5 mins take about 25 out here because of the road surface.
He drove us to the church where I was to meet Fred. Fred is the youth pastor at a church and was leading the youth Sunday service. We drove in and I could hear his voice over the speaker. Mike took me into the service for the last 10 minutes. Hundreds of people in this community are all sat around looking immaculate in their Sunday Best. The service lasts for 3 hours and what really shocked me was how well behaved the really young children are, sitting very quiet and listening for the whole 3 hours, not sure you would find that back home. After the service I was introduced to many friendly people, who all wanted to shake my hand and hear my voice. Quite a surreal experience but one I think I will get used to.
I had my first African meal at Mike’s house. Bread with butter and banana (they are breaking me in gently!) and Mike came around the table with a jug of water and a bowl to wash my hands. They eat everything with their hands and things like bread I am fine with but if it comes to rice then I am in trouble!
I got out all of the equipment and gifts so that Fred could advise me on where it would be best put to use. The bibs, whistles and cones Fred was very excited about and said they should go to the football academy where I was going later that afternoon. I also gave him the Arsenal gifts which he was very pleased with!!
The football academy is amazing. We turned up to see over 80 boys enthusiastically running around and warming up ready to play. There are only 3 coaches so the boys who aren’t being coached at one particular time must organize themselves. I was quite overwhelmed by this. These boys, some under 10 years old are warming themselves up in quite a regimented fashion, very focused and in time with one another They then organized themselves into a skills drill where they imaginatively use 1 ball between 30 to occupy themselves. Amazing, something you definitely wouldn’t see back at home. The bibs, whistles and cones were gratefully received. Fred said I was an angel sent from God as they desperately needed the bibs. They were put to use straight away and the boys all looked very chuffed with them on. It meant they could play matches and small sided games against one another and also protect their precious uniforms which were previously donated by Sporting Chance International.
I got the chance to introduce myself to the boys and take some photos. I am really looking forward to getting more involved next week when I go back. While at the academy we stopped into see the coach Steve’s wife Milka. She was lovely and made me very welcome. She gave me some coke and we sat and watched a Nigerian film. Not sure I completely understood what was going on but quite enjoyed myself nevertheless.
After a quick snooze in the car (I am so tired from the flight by now) we stopped at a restaurant to have dinner with the other SCI trustees. They were very nice and we chatted about teaching, life at home, my parents and their families, along with finding out a bit more of their work for SCI. The food was good but different. Rice, different meats and vegetables, followed by fruit. I am not going to go hungry out here!
We then made our way in the dark to Fred and Esther’s house where I will stay for the first night until I fly to Mumias the next day. It is a long way away down VERY bumpy tracks, but we got there in the end to be greeted by Esther who is very nice and welcomed me straight away. I gave his children, Morde and Marvin some gifts which they played with, and then we prayed together. Those reading this from home will know it is unusual but I quite enjoyed it! I stayed in a room with the 2 children and Damaris, Esther’s sister. Nice and cosy! A jam packed first day and I am knackered.
Monday 28th July
Fred woke me up at 5am. He had prepared some hot water in a bowl to ease me into the cold water situation. At that time of the morning is certainly helped. I got changed and packed up all the things I wanted to take to Mumias, then had some hot chocolate and drop scones, and left with Fred, Esther and Peter for the airport. Unbelievably at that time of the morning there was traffic. Not just traffic but very long tail backs down very bad roads and it took us 1 hour and 20 mins to get to the airport, a journey which should have taken 40 mins. My flight was at 7.30, so I sat in the car quite stressed out as Peter drove alongside the other cars in the gutter to get us there faster! We arrived at the airport at 7.05, and unbelievably it wasn’t too late. My flight was full so they were taking me to Mumias on a different airline. I was the last to be checked in and they told me to walk straight to the plane as it was about to leave. I asked if my bags would be put on and they said yes but I wasn’t sure. I walked out to the plane, a very small 60 seater ish plane and sat down at the back. Very quickly we took off, and within minutes it seemed I was landing at the other end. My bags had been put on, astonishingly and with no baggage reclaim, I took my bags off the cart, more or less on the runway and set off to find my name on a board again! Pius was there to greet me, part of the SAIPEH team and he took me to the car where we drove for 2 hours to Mumias. We stopped off at the field office. A tiny little room at the back of some run down rooms where Pius worked from. There were some pictures of Alan presenting uniforms to a team on the wall, as well as many other photos of projects the SAIPEH team are running. I went into the work rooms next door, where teaching in tailoring and computer courses run for those children who do not make the grades to go to school. The sewing was very good and the girls doing it seemed very happy. The power was down so the computer teaching was not happening but I understand I will be assisting with it at some point during the week.
We then went to the SAIPEH construction site so see the new offices being built.
There was a theatre group there, who are working together to go and teach about HIV and AIDS through music and drama. They greeted me and wanted to sing me a chorus.
They sang the words ‘we would like to welcome our visitor, from en-g-land’ and ‘please be patient, we want to tell you our story’. They sang the same words to drums and symbols for about 4 minutes. They also danced for me and I tried to join in!
Next stop was the head office of SAIPEH to briefly meet Justin. He seemed very nice and understood I was tired so had arranged for me to rest at the guest house where I will be staying. Pius took me for lunch, scrambled egg and bread and then onto the Guest House. I thought I was staying with Justin and his family, or a teacher friend of his so was disappointed to be staying at the guest house. It is very nice but as I am traveling on my own it is very lonely and I need to keep myself busy so was difficult to be on my own for a long time. Justin said he would come and visit me at 5. He came and sat for an hour and talked, we got to know a bit about each other and it was really nice to chat about the difference in our cultures. He talked about teaching Chemistry with only one text book and set of equipment. It is very different back home. He told me what I would get up to for the next few days. I will get to see the projects fighting HIV and AIDS and the community group projects which help feed orphans along with many others. I am excited to be teaching lacrosse tomorrow at a local school where Storm started it on her visit at Easter.
I have had dinner of fish and rice and am settling down for the night in my room. Feeling quite lonely to be honest, just hoping I can be kept busy tomorrow to take my mind off it. I wish I had someone to be sharing this experience with. The things I am seeing are quite emotional. Think I will go and chase some mossies around the room to keep me entertained for a while!
Tuesday 29th July
Woke up before my alarm because of the howling dogs. Snoozed a bit until 7.20 then got up. Breakfast was supposed to be at 7.30 but I have to get used to this African time because it wasn’t until 8! I then packed my stuff up ready for the day. Justin came and visited me to see how I had slept. Pius came at 10 rather than 9 to pick me up (African timing again!!) It is becoming a bit of a joke now as when Pius shows up he just says… African time!
First stop was to one of the community self help projects in a small village. There was a meeting happening to discuss how the enterprise groups work. I got the chance to see some of the donated cows and goats and poultry from the project that helps to feed the orphans and their families. They all were very welcoming and all wanted to shake my hand! This meeting had lots of people and visitors, with about 30 people on benches and the floor while the visitors and chair people sat on chairs. After introductions I got up and spoke about why I was here and Pius translated for me. Over here in Mumias unlike Nairobi only the very well educated speak English. They then stood and danced and sang for me. It was really good and they got me involved and I danced with them. Before I left I heard two presentations from people about being HIV positive and what they are doing know they know their status. It was very interesting.
It was an emotional goodbye to mum and dad and then I set off to do a good few circuits of the shops at Heathrow to try and waste some time. On the flight I was sat next to a Welsh girl who was flying out for a medical placement in Tanzania as part of her degree. Lots of funny stories to tell me from her previous trip on her own to India where she stayed with Indian families. It gave me some encouragement and made me excited to get stuck into the Kenyan way of life.
Had a good long sleep on the plane, woke up a couple of times to find this girl asleep and resting on my shoulder which freaked me out as I didn’t really know her, but after a little giggle to myself I just went with it!
Sunday 27th July
Arrived at the airport with all my stuff and saw Mike, holding up a sign saying ‘JO LUPTON’. Relief. He is lovely, a very polite nice young man with a good heart. I am to spend my time in Nairobi with him. Our driver is Peter, again very nice but a bit shy so have yet to really get to know him. The first thing that hit me about Kenya was the mayhem on the roads. The driving is quite aggressive and cars will fit through the smallest of gaps to overtake and get where they are going. The cars are also competing with the huge numbers of people walking on the roadsides and the bicycles. The public transport is also something to be seen, brightly coloured personalized buses that rally around the roads quite dangerously. The roads themselves are very bumpy. They are like the off road dirt tracks in England which only an off road 4x4 could cope with. But we were in a Toyota and you could hear the bottom of the car scraping and banging on the road. My little mini wouldn’t last a second out here. Jouneys which distance wise would take about 5 mins take about 25 out here because of the road surface.
He drove us to the church where I was to meet Fred. Fred is the youth pastor at a church and was leading the youth Sunday service. We drove in and I could hear his voice over the speaker. Mike took me into the service for the last 10 minutes. Hundreds of people in this community are all sat around looking immaculate in their Sunday Best. The service lasts for 3 hours and what really shocked me was how well behaved the really young children are, sitting very quiet and listening for the whole 3 hours, not sure you would find that back home. After the service I was introduced to many friendly people, who all wanted to shake my hand and hear my voice. Quite a surreal experience but one I think I will get used to.
I had my first African meal at Mike’s house. Bread with butter and banana (they are breaking me in gently!) and Mike came around the table with a jug of water and a bowl to wash my hands. They eat everything with their hands and things like bread I am fine with but if it comes to rice then I am in trouble!
I got out all of the equipment and gifts so that Fred could advise me on where it would be best put to use. The bibs, whistles and cones Fred was very excited about and said they should go to the football academy where I was going later that afternoon. I also gave him the Arsenal gifts which he was very pleased with!!
The football academy is amazing. We turned up to see over 80 boys enthusiastically running around and warming up ready to play. There are only 3 coaches so the boys who aren’t being coached at one particular time must organize themselves. I was quite overwhelmed by this. These boys, some under 10 years old are warming themselves up in quite a regimented fashion, very focused and in time with one another They then organized themselves into a skills drill where they imaginatively use 1 ball between 30 to occupy themselves. Amazing, something you definitely wouldn’t see back at home. The bibs, whistles and cones were gratefully received. Fred said I was an angel sent from God as they desperately needed the bibs. They were put to use straight away and the boys all looked very chuffed with them on. It meant they could play matches and small sided games against one another and also protect their precious uniforms which were previously donated by Sporting Chance International.
I got the chance to introduce myself to the boys and take some photos. I am really looking forward to getting more involved next week when I go back. While at the academy we stopped into see the coach Steve’s wife Milka. She was lovely and made me very welcome. She gave me some coke and we sat and watched a Nigerian film. Not sure I completely understood what was going on but quite enjoyed myself nevertheless.
After a quick snooze in the car (I am so tired from the flight by now) we stopped at a restaurant to have dinner with the other SCI trustees. They were very nice and we chatted about teaching, life at home, my parents and their families, along with finding out a bit more of their work for SCI. The food was good but different. Rice, different meats and vegetables, followed by fruit. I am not going to go hungry out here!
We then made our way in the dark to Fred and Esther’s house where I will stay for the first night until I fly to Mumias the next day. It is a long way away down VERY bumpy tracks, but we got there in the end to be greeted by Esther who is very nice and welcomed me straight away. I gave his children, Morde and Marvin some gifts which they played with, and then we prayed together. Those reading this from home will know it is unusual but I quite enjoyed it! I stayed in a room with the 2 children and Damaris, Esther’s sister. Nice and cosy! A jam packed first day and I am knackered.
Monday 28th July
Fred woke me up at 5am. He had prepared some hot water in a bowl to ease me into the cold water situation. At that time of the morning is certainly helped. I got changed and packed up all the things I wanted to take to Mumias, then had some hot chocolate and drop scones, and left with Fred, Esther and Peter for the airport. Unbelievably at that time of the morning there was traffic. Not just traffic but very long tail backs down very bad roads and it took us 1 hour and 20 mins to get to the airport, a journey which should have taken 40 mins. My flight was at 7.30, so I sat in the car quite stressed out as Peter drove alongside the other cars in the gutter to get us there faster! We arrived at the airport at 7.05, and unbelievably it wasn’t too late. My flight was full so they were taking me to Mumias on a different airline. I was the last to be checked in and they told me to walk straight to the plane as it was about to leave. I asked if my bags would be put on and they said yes but I wasn’t sure. I walked out to the plane, a very small 60 seater ish plane and sat down at the back. Very quickly we took off, and within minutes it seemed I was landing at the other end. My bags had been put on, astonishingly and with no baggage reclaim, I took my bags off the cart, more or less on the runway and set off to find my name on a board again! Pius was there to greet me, part of the SAIPEH team and he took me to the car where we drove for 2 hours to Mumias. We stopped off at the field office. A tiny little room at the back of some run down rooms where Pius worked from. There were some pictures of Alan presenting uniforms to a team on the wall, as well as many other photos of projects the SAIPEH team are running. I went into the work rooms next door, where teaching in tailoring and computer courses run for those children who do not make the grades to go to school. The sewing was very good and the girls doing it seemed very happy. The power was down so the computer teaching was not happening but I understand I will be assisting with it at some point during the week.
We then went to the SAIPEH construction site so see the new offices being built.
There was a theatre group there, who are working together to go and teach about HIV and AIDS through music and drama. They greeted me and wanted to sing me a chorus.
They sang the words ‘we would like to welcome our visitor, from en-g-land’ and ‘please be patient, we want to tell you our story’. They sang the same words to drums and symbols for about 4 minutes. They also danced for me and I tried to join in!
Next stop was the head office of SAIPEH to briefly meet Justin. He seemed very nice and understood I was tired so had arranged for me to rest at the guest house where I will be staying. Pius took me for lunch, scrambled egg and bread and then onto the Guest House. I thought I was staying with Justin and his family, or a teacher friend of his so was disappointed to be staying at the guest house. It is very nice but as I am traveling on my own it is very lonely and I need to keep myself busy so was difficult to be on my own for a long time. Justin said he would come and visit me at 5. He came and sat for an hour and talked, we got to know a bit about each other and it was really nice to chat about the difference in our cultures. He talked about teaching Chemistry with only one text book and set of equipment. It is very different back home. He told me what I would get up to for the next few days. I will get to see the projects fighting HIV and AIDS and the community group projects which help feed orphans along with many others. I am excited to be teaching lacrosse tomorrow at a local school where Storm started it on her visit at Easter.
I have had dinner of fish and rice and am settling down for the night in my room. Feeling quite lonely to be honest, just hoping I can be kept busy tomorrow to take my mind off it. I wish I had someone to be sharing this experience with. The things I am seeing are quite emotional. Think I will go and chase some mossies around the room to keep me entertained for a while!
Tuesday 29th July
Woke up before my alarm because of the howling dogs. Snoozed a bit until 7.20 then got up. Breakfast was supposed to be at 7.30 but I have to get used to this African time because it wasn’t until 8! I then packed my stuff up ready for the day. Justin came and visited me to see how I had slept. Pius came at 10 rather than 9 to pick me up (African timing again!!) It is becoming a bit of a joke now as when Pius shows up he just says… African time!
First stop was to one of the community self help projects in a small village. There was a meeting happening to discuss how the enterprise groups work. I got the chance to see some of the donated cows and goats and poultry from the project that helps to feed the orphans and their families. They all were very welcoming and all wanted to shake my hand! This meeting had lots of people and visitors, with about 30 people on benches and the floor while the visitors and chair people sat on chairs. After introductions I got up and spoke about why I was here and Pius translated for me. Over here in Mumias unlike Nairobi only the very well educated speak English. They then stood and danced and sang for me. It was really good and they got me involved and I danced with them. Before I left I heard two presentations from people about being HIV positive and what they are doing know they know their status. It was very interesting.
Next stop was a meeting back at the field office for the educators of the SAIPEH project who go out into schools and community groups to educate about HIV and the ways to prevent it. We did all of the introductions again and I found out what each person did. I introduced myself and then Pius gave me some things to present to each group leader. This was a bit embarrassing. I had to give them wooden models of a penis that they can use for education on the use and importance of a condom and safe sex, and so people could practice putting them on safely. There was quite a lot of giggling as Pius made me pose with each person and wooden model for a photo. Funny and serious at the same time!I then left to go into the computer and tailoring teaching rooms. I sat in the computer room and chatted to the teacher and students about England, they had lots of questions they wanted asking. It was quite surreal to see Windows 2003 programs being used on computers in a very small run down room in the middle of nowhere. But you can really see the big difference and how these programs will help students to go out and find work. I then went into the sewing room where they very quickly gave me some writing work to do! They said they wanted to see my handwriting but I think they wanted to see me work!
Pius took me over to the feeding project in another very small village made of mud huts. They have a water pump which was donated from the UK 10 years ago, still working from the same spring. It makes life much easier for them. I watched the volunteer guardians prepare the meal for the orphans, a meal of maize and peas with salt for flavour. They cook in this little hut which is so hot and smoky… I came out covered in ash. The children came at about 1pm for their lunch. The programme aims to feed the orphans at lunch to ensure they get at least one meal a day. I served each one of them with their meal and they went and sat in the shade to eat it. They all washed their hands and feet under the pump to cool them down. Walking 2km in bare feet in the heat must be very hard going. After they ate they came into the house so that I could present them with some gifts. There were 14 of them so I gave them each some coloured pencils and pads, a balloon each and some bubbles and skipping ropes to share. I demonstrated how to use them and they all seemed very excited if a bit overwhelmed. Pius said they have never had anything new before, and are very rarely given gifts.
Maxwell is a 15 yr old boy who is an orphan. He has no guardian and lives with and has to take care of his three younger brothers and sisters. He took a pot of bubbles to share with them. They all seemed such lovely children and to think they are orphans is heart breaking. We took some photos of them with their gifts and skipping and then they rushed off back to school.
We ate lunch in the village and I tried my first bit of gali bread (I think that’s what its called?!!!)
Just before we left they brought in a boy called Brian to meet me. He was badly burned in 2001 and as a result his brain was damaged and has to be taken care of 24hrs a day. He seemed very sweet but I am not sure he knew what was going on. I gave him some crayons and paper and we left.
I got my first ride on a boda boda today (bicycle with seat on the back!). It was fun to experience. I went back to the guest house to rest for an hour and pick up the lacrosse stuff for the teaching I was going to do later. The lacrosse teaching was really good. St Mary’s is a girls boarding school and the girls speak a little bit of English. Storm visited them at Easter and gave them 7 sticks to play lacrosse with. I never knew and completely underestimated how hard it would be to teach in a different country with a bit of a language barrier. The girls were all really keen and as soon as I got the equipment I had brought with me out, the girls picked it up and started throwing and catching. I tried to teach them a bit so showed them some tricks with the stick which they enjoyed and then did some throwing and catching drills. Eventually I gave up on this and Susan helped me to organize everybody into a game. I made the huge mistake of teaching them how to stick check. The game was complete carnage!!! Quickly I changed the rules back to no stick contact which worked much better. We talked about having defenders, mid field and attack, and moving into and out of space. The only thing I could relate it to was soccer in the air! So we went with that idea and it was really good to watch them playing. At the end I presented them with 7 sticks, donated to me by Wycombe Abbey School and 5 balls so that now they can have inter school competitions in houses playing 7 v 7. They were quite thrilled by this. I also presented the player of the match with my lacrosse cap, Susan, who wore it with a smile on her face! I took some pics and then left, while they carried on playing.
Back to the guest house for dinner and to rest. That is the only downfall to this trip. Staying in a guest house when traveling on my own means I am lonely and have a lot of time by myself. Am looking forward to staying with a family again in Nairobi. I know these entries are long but I am doing so much. My diary I am writing is much longer so am cutting down for this. Think yourselves lucky!
5 comments:
WoW Jo! What can I say...I am your mum and thought I knew you. I always knew you were really special but you have absolutely taken my breath away with your bravery and determination to go ahead with this trip on your own. I know you are very lonely in the evenings but you can take great comfort and pleasure in the joy you have brought into the lives of those you are meeting every day. I am really enjoying being able to share this experience with you through your 'blog'. Take care sweetie and keep up the good work! YOUR VERY PROUD MUM X X
Just read your blog and wanted to say what a complete and compelling account of your trip so far and it's only up to the first Tuesday. This is worthy of being published in the local paper surely!!! Reading your story makes me realise the magnitude of what you've taken on and I know how difficult at times it is for you. Still let's hope the days continue to be a fulfilling as they seem and that you can endure the evenings and nights without feeling too lonely. I've never felt more proud of you. Love you very much, Dad
Jo,
Reading your blog with great admiration. Keep smiling . Becky xx
Hey sis, bruv here, well impressed with your story so far its like reading a novel! Enjoy every minute as it certainly is a once in a lifetime experience. I'm off in a few hours to not so exotic Newquay and the forecast is heavy rain with the odd shower! Very proud of you and thinking of your adventures loads.
Ash x
Hi Jo
I've just read your blog and it is inspiring. To be brave enough to leave your home comforts and experience a completely different culture is very brave. I wish i had the guts to do what you have done. Nat xx
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