Half Way Camp
So about 20 volunteers from ICYE,
Some from Youth Volunteers for Change,
and a few locals,
Met together in a small village called Mituri near Bondo in Nyanza,
To evaluate the last 6 or 12 months in Kenya and to help a community build some structures for a school.
We attempted to build:
The stand for a water tank,
2 Semi Permanent Classrooms,
A Kitchen
and Pit Latrines.
We didnt manage to finish all but we have made a start and hopefully will have inspired the community to complete the rest of the work together.
We also visited two secondary schools to play football matches and on the last day visited a primary school to give a talk about HIV.
During the week we stayed with host families in a pretty rural setting. This was nice for those guys volunteering in Nairobi or other towns to see how the other half live.... to me it was actually an upgrade from home in Kiptere. The reason we visited the last school was because I'd mentioned to my host mum that I work with youth and HIV prevention in my project. She decided it would be a good idea for us to go and talk to the school...so unfortunately it was up to me to organise the programe of what we would say and to try and remember all the stuff I've learnt on HIV in the last 6 months. In the end the I had expected to be really nervous to be leading something like this in front of all my volunteer friends, ICYE Kenya and maybe 200 pupils. But really it wasnt so bad, seems that with practice these things don't scare me anymore!
Then we played some crazy Kenyan circle games led by one of the Kenya volunteers (Who's going out to spend a year in Switzerland) and then a game of human tug-of-war where the girls decided to immediately let go so we lost 3-0.
On the final evening in Mituri we went out to the local pub and then made a camp fire. It was Mid summer's eve...which to most people means nothing....but it seems in Sweeden and Iceland (according to our volunteers) it's actually a pretty big deal! So we sang songs and told stupid stories and generally had a really good evening. Then at about 5am most of us decided it was time to sleep, since we had to be back in our host families to pick up luggage by 7am. There being no places inside to sleep, we slept outside next to the fire in a long line of about 10 volunteers all from different countries but all in Kenya together.
So then we basically wanted to sleep for the whole day! But we had to go to Kisumu where we ate some really good food, went out to watch the USA vs Ghana game and then stayed the night. The next morning Bianca and I went searching for fish at Lake Victoria but didnt find anything that was what she was looking for so gave up. Most of the volunteers took a matatu shuttle back to Nairobi where as I and one other volunteer headed in another for Kericho. I picked up some shopping for home (Seeing as we get through 2kg of sugar in a week and the kids always appreciate lolipops!).
When I reached home I found out that the weekend had also been my host-sister's wedding and I had missed it all! It's a long story as to why she's got married at 16 but maybe I'll tell it sometime...otherwise you can guess for yourselves....
Since that week I've spent a week in the office and then last weekend in Nairobi with Jana and Lisa. Who treated me as the village girl I am and almost held my hand as we crossed the crazy busy roads. Nairobi is too busy for me and I don't know where anything is so I'm not so keen on the place. But it was nice to be with friends and to see their project etc. The reason I went to the big city was to renew my visa, get a work permit and to apply for my Alien card (residents card)...that done on Monday I was able to drink a really good coffee before heading home on Tuesday morning.
There is possibilty I might be back in Nairobi for 17th since there's some partying to be done to say farewell to the volunteers that were here for 12 months or only staying 6 months. But things are busy in the village so I will have to see what happens.
Ok, I need to finish planning for my recorder lesson this afternoon...teaching songs for them to sing at Mass... Yeah I know, you can't run away from church no matter how hard you try! :-)
Then I should be starting the computer classes from Tuesday next week but I'm not even sure if they've arrived yet so that might not happpen... I'm hoping that I'm actually able to teach comupters because I've never tried anything further than instructions to my mum on how to do things! I think I might be a bit out of my depth here but we'll see!
Anyway hope you are well where ever you are and that you're having a good week!
Missing you all!
Thursday, July 08, 2010
Ok...so I'm a little useless but here is my latest update that I sent to my church in Coventry, Some of it is repeating what you already know but some could be news....
Something to read anyway!
It’s unbelievable that I have now been here for six months! The time has gone so fast and I have done so many different things that it’s hard to know what to tell you first.
Maybe I will give a bit of an over view of my work in the project. As I mentioned before Community Watch and Rescue Team (COWART) work with HIV prevention and peace building. We are trying to reach out to the young people in this rural area. There are very many who are just sitting idle waiting to go to college next year or looking for jobs. Not unlike the young people back in the UK after exam time is over!
We try to provide them with some positive activities to fill their time and to help them with applications for colleges/jobs.
Peer Youth Education: This programme involves about 25 young people who have finished school coming to the youth centre for training on HIV prevention and peer counselling. They come on one morning a week and then on another afternoon I send them out to different schools across the district to teach what they have learned to the students in school too! This way we get to reach a vast number of people with correct information and training in a short time. This set of trainees are about to graduate in a couple of weeks and it is amazing to see the difference in them now after spending 4 months together, some who wouldn’t speak about anything to even a group of 4 people can now hold the attention of a class of 60 for 2 hrs!
Football: From Feb to May I also had the company of another volunteer from England called Lucy. Over the Easter holiday in April we organised a football tournament involving primary and secondary schools as well as some outside clubs. The event took place over the weekend of Easter and was a great success. The finals were held on Easter Monday and the District Officer (one of the most important people in the area!) came to give a speech and to kick off the last game between the youth centre’s team (COWART FC) and Sosiot (A neighbouring village). Unfortunately our team did not do so well and we lost 3:1. It was a great opportunity to get together with the whole community and to talk with them about peace. There are big problems with tribalism here and the upcoming elections in 2012 are expected to cause violence, as in 2007. We are working hard to encourage dialogue between different tribes and one thing that always brings people together is football!
Tree Planting: The major source of water for the people in Kiptere village is the river. Most go and collect water for their homes and all of the businesses rely on the donkeys that bring containers up several times a day. In the past the river was very high but today it is barely a stream. There have been a lot of Eucalyptus trees planted along the banks and these are drinking up to 200 litres a day! We are hoping to mobilise the community into helping us remove these Eucalyptus and plant indigenous species of tree in their place. This is going to involve planting up to 3000 seedlings over what we hope will be a two week project. Our only problem now is looking for the seedlings from big companies like Unilever Tea Company (Formerly Brooke Bond) and the local forestry ministry. We are also searching for some funding to provide lunches for the local volunteers who will be helping us. Since the project should be starting in a couple of weeks, we have to get moving fast! Unfortunately… nothing happens fast in Kenya!
Income Generating Activities: Kiptere and the surrounding villages have one of the highest percentages of unemployed youth in the whole of Kenya. As I mentioned before, a lot of youths are just idle waiting for the next activity. We find that they are not very motivated to find work and sometimes expect the Europeans to find it for them! So we are working on some projects to encourage them to set up their own businesses. Currently we have a video show which will be showcasing matches from the World Cup and people will pay around 20p to come and watch a game.
We are also looking into setting up a hairdressing salon or a shop selling fresh juice and puddings. The problem here is getting the youth motivated to work and to believe that they can achieve something. Hopefully soon we will show them that they are capable and don’t have to wait for handouts, they can do for themselves!
Computer Training: I am also starting up a computer training school to begin teaching people some basic skills such as word processing, spreadsheets and PowerPoint presentations. Most people here have never really used a computer and look at me amazed if they see my typing…apparently they didn’t believe it was possible to type so fast! I am running this project with Sister Lucy and we hope to start the classes in the next two weeks.
Building a Youth Centre! At the moment we are renting some rooms in a building near to the village market. It is in a good location but really the building is almost falling down and is not very welcoming for the community. So we are looking to find some land to build our own centre that could incorporate a library, recreation room, space for our HIV counsellors, a training room, computer lab and offices for the staff. It’s proving difficult to find land but hopefully soon we will find some and start building! I can’t go looking for land since the unfortunate thing of having a white face means the price is tripled so I am waiting for the locals to help me out… as usual ‘slowly, slowly’ is the order of the day!
Holidays!
I’m now looking to see if I can get a chance to climb Mt Kilimanjaro (on the border of Kenya and Tanzania) at some point during my remaining six months.
Half Way Camp: I will be spending the next week meeting up with the other ICYE volunteers to review the experience so far. We will also be building a water tank and classrooms for a school in a place called Bondo which is near by to Lake Victoria. It will be really nice to meet up with everyone again after all of this time. I’m really looking forward to a week with 25 other Europeans, not entirely sure the small village we’re visiting are ready for such an invasion!
I hope that everything is going well in the UK and that summer has arrived now to stay for a few months! Last time I wrote I asked you to pray for rain…it has now been raining everyday for the last 4 months! This is really good for the crops and for the water supply in the villages but it does mean there is an awful lot of mud everywhere!
I would really appreciate your prayers in these areas:
* Health – I have recently been ill with malaria and a bug I picked up from the water here, and then followed by a bad cold. I’m almost back to 100% now and would like to be able to stay that way so that I can get on with the work needed here.
* My host family – They are very poor but always want to give me everything they have. Please pray that they would stay well and perhaps that my host father will find a job to allow the family to survive more comfortably.
* For the project – That we can secure more funding opportunities to continue the work we are doing here.
* For Kenya – There will be a referendum on the proposed constitution in August and at the moment there is a lot of campaigning from different sides of the government trying to get the country to vote Yes or No. Last week there was a grenade attack in Nairobi at a prayer rally for the No side. We are really hoping that the referendum will not cause violence like that after the 2007 presidential elections. Prayers are really needed for peace between the tribes and the Yes and No campaigners.
* For all ICYE volunteers – For their health, projects and host families around the world as well as their families waiting for them to return home. There are a number of volunteers leaving for home in July after being abroad for 1 year and then a large number leaving their home countries to begin their volunteering experiences in August.
If you would like to send me a letter, I love getting post out here, you can write to:
Laura Griffin
St Francis Catholic Mission
PO Box 39 – 20213
Kiptere
Kenya
East Africa
Thank you very much for all your support and prayers.
I look forward to seeing you all in January 2011!
Something to read anyway!
It’s unbelievable that I have now been here for six months! The time has gone so fast and I have done so many different things that it’s hard to know what to tell you first.
Maybe I will give a bit of an over view of my work in the project. As I mentioned before Community Watch and Rescue Team (COWART) work with HIV prevention and peace building. We are trying to reach out to the young people in this rural area. There are very many who are just sitting idle waiting to go to college next year or looking for jobs. Not unlike the young people back in the UK after exam time is over!
We try to provide them with some positive activities to fill their time and to help them with applications for colleges/jobs.
Peer Youth Education: This programme involves about 25 young people who have finished school coming to the youth centre for training on HIV prevention and peer counselling. They come on one morning a week and then on another afternoon I send them out to different schools across the district to teach what they have learned to the students in school too! This way we get to reach a vast number of people with correct information and training in a short time. This set of trainees are about to graduate in a couple of weeks and it is amazing to see the difference in them now after spending 4 months together, some who wouldn’t speak about anything to even a group of 4 people can now hold the attention of a class of 60 for 2 hrs!
Football: From Feb to May I also had the company of another volunteer from England called Lucy. Over the Easter holiday in April we organised a football tournament involving primary and secondary schools as well as some outside clubs. The event took place over the weekend of Easter and was a great success. The finals were held on Easter Monday and the District Officer (one of the most important people in the area!) came to give a speech and to kick off the last game between the youth centre’s team (COWART FC) and Sosiot (A neighbouring village). Unfortunately our team did not do so well and we lost 3:1. It was a great opportunity to get together with the whole community and to talk with them about peace. There are big problems with tribalism here and the upcoming elections in 2012 are expected to cause violence, as in 2007. We are working hard to encourage dialogue between different tribes and one thing that always brings people together is football!
Tree Planting: The major source of water for the people in Kiptere village is the river. Most go and collect water for their homes and all of the businesses rely on the donkeys that bring containers up several times a day. In the past the river was very high but today it is barely a stream. There have been a lot of Eucalyptus trees planted along the banks and these are drinking up to 200 litres a day! We are hoping to mobilise the community into helping us remove these Eucalyptus and plant indigenous species of tree in their place. This is going to involve planting up to 3000 seedlings over what we hope will be a two week project. Our only problem now is looking for the seedlings from big companies like Unilever Tea Company (Formerly Brooke Bond) and the local forestry ministry. We are also searching for some funding to provide lunches for the local volunteers who will be helping us. Since the project should be starting in a couple of weeks, we have to get moving fast! Unfortunately… nothing happens fast in Kenya!
Income Generating Activities: Kiptere and the surrounding villages have one of the highest percentages of unemployed youth in the whole of Kenya. As I mentioned before, a lot of youths are just idle waiting for the next activity. We find that they are not very motivated to find work and sometimes expect the Europeans to find it for them! So we are working on some projects to encourage them to set up their own businesses. Currently we have a video show which will be showcasing matches from the World Cup and people will pay around 20p to come and watch a game.
We are also looking into setting up a hairdressing salon or a shop selling fresh juice and puddings. The problem here is getting the youth motivated to work and to believe that they can achieve something. Hopefully soon we will show them that they are capable and don’t have to wait for handouts, they can do for themselves!
Computer Training: I am also starting up a computer training school to begin teaching people some basic skills such as word processing, spreadsheets and PowerPoint presentations. Most people here have never really used a computer and look at me amazed if they see my typing…apparently they didn’t believe it was possible to type so fast! I am running this project with Sister Lucy and we hope to start the classes in the next two weeks.
Building a Youth Centre! At the moment we are renting some rooms in a building near to the village market. It is in a good location but really the building is almost falling down and is not very welcoming for the community. So we are looking to find some land to build our own centre that could incorporate a library, recreation room, space for our HIV counsellors, a training room, computer lab and offices for the staff. It’s proving difficult to find land but hopefully soon we will find some and start building! I can’t go looking for land since the unfortunate thing of having a white face means the price is tripled so I am waiting for the locals to help me out… as usual ‘slowly, slowly’ is the order of the day!
Holidays!
I’m now looking to see if I can get a chance to climb Mt Kilimanjaro (on the border of Kenya and Tanzania) at some point during my remaining six months.
Half Way Camp: I will be spending the next week meeting up with the other ICYE volunteers to review the experience so far. We will also be building a water tank and classrooms for a school in a place called Bondo which is near by to Lake Victoria. It will be really nice to meet up with everyone again after all of this time. I’m really looking forward to a week with 25 other Europeans, not entirely sure the small village we’re visiting are ready for such an invasion!
I hope that everything is going well in the UK and that summer has arrived now to stay for a few months! Last time I wrote I asked you to pray for rain…it has now been raining everyday for the last 4 months! This is really good for the crops and for the water supply in the villages but it does mean there is an awful lot of mud everywhere!
I would really appreciate your prayers in these areas:
* Health – I have recently been ill with malaria and a bug I picked up from the water here, and then followed by a bad cold. I’m almost back to 100% now and would like to be able to stay that way so that I can get on with the work needed here.
* My host family – They are very poor but always want to give me everything they have. Please pray that they would stay well and perhaps that my host father will find a job to allow the family to survive more comfortably.
* For the project – That we can secure more funding opportunities to continue the work we are doing here.
* For Kenya – There will be a referendum on the proposed constitution in August and at the moment there is a lot of campaigning from different sides of the government trying to get the country to vote Yes or No. Last week there was a grenade attack in Nairobi at a prayer rally for the No side. We are really hoping that the referendum will not cause violence like that after the 2007 presidential elections. Prayers are really needed for peace between the tribes and the Yes and No campaigners.
* For all ICYE volunteers – For their health, projects and host families around the world as well as their families waiting for them to return home. There are a number of volunteers leaving for home in July after being abroad for 1 year and then a large number leaving their home countries to begin their volunteering experiences in August.
If you would like to send me a letter, I love getting post out here, you can write to:
Laura Griffin
St Francis Catholic Mission
PO Box 39 – 20213
Kiptere
Kenya
East Africa
Thank you very much for all your support and prayers.
I look forward to seeing you all in January 2011!
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