19 June - Visiting Mzungus

The last two weeks has seen three ladies from Manchester staying in the Vision Africa volunteeer house at teh orphanage. It makes a nice change occassionally to not be the only mzungu in town. They were here for 2 weeks to offer training and guidance to local special schools in physiotherapy and occupational therapy to the teachers. Luckily this also meant they needed some additional equipment which we at Ithiru Youth Polytechnic could provide which brought in much needed income. This hopefully can be an ongoing relationship with these schools.

At the end of their stay I invited them to the Kibe homestead to sample some real Kenyan hospitality and a very welcoming home (I did check with Jane (the cook from the Poly) first!).

They were given a tour of the shamba and an education in farming of coffee, bananas, macdamia nuts, mangos and avcados before we had a fine feast and could not eat anymore as we prised ourselves of the sofa. A little spontaneous singing and dancing as we left ended the day nicely.

The tour of the Shamba with little Carol telling me to pay attention!!

Elliot, So So and me share a joke over supper

A cheerful farewell after the dancing

15/16 June - Masai Dancing in Nairobi and Kibera Slum

15^th June – went to Nairobi and stayed with Volunteers Dan and Helen who are sadly leaving soon as their placement is over. They had arranged a trip to Alliance Francais which is a large centre with a concert area. They were having a free concert of North Kenyan Music. There were about 10 bands 5 were modern style with electrc guitars etc the other 5 were more traditional tribal music. It was a great night and the dancing started from the first song (quite a contrast to the UK where it takes us (especially me!!) a little longer to get up and shake a leg).

http://kenyabuzz.com/whatson/details/5001-spotlight-on-kenyan-music-concerts

Anyway Oli (a new volunteer based in Meru) were given some excellent lessons in Masai style dancing etc by a group in the middle of the dance floor which made them giggle quite a lot !!

Saturday 16^th June – Kibera Slum – Today was my second visit to an SEP consultation day (www.sepkenya.com). This one was very different to the last one. We were based at a school in the middle of Kibera which is supposed to be one of the biggest slums in Kenya and it is suggested that there are a million people living there. Apparently there could be as many as 26,000 NGO’s! You can’t help thinking that could be done more efficiently if they co-ordinated more?

Anyway the format of the consultation was much better at this location as there was a playground at the school so Dan and I could break the ice with the kids there. Then by the time we were taking photos in the consultations the kids were our new friends and posing for the camera. Here are just a few shots from a great day. It is just a great shame I will probably not get a chance to meet any of the little stars again with Dan going home soon.

3rd June - Happy Faces (mostly!)

A great day today and much excitement at the Orphanage. An orphanage from Kibera (“unplanned development” – AKA slum) in Nairobi arrived this morning for a trip out and also to play football against Kandara Children’s Home. Three matches were played - Under 12, Under 16 and Girls.

Terasiah - Newton's Twin Sister                                                         Lucy in Thoughtful Mode

After a hearty lunch, with the kids in colourful football kit we were ready. About 100 kids with staff set off through Kandara town making a pied piper like procession and quite a commotion. I had 2 year old Newton on one hand and little Lucy on the other. The little ones rarely leave the Orphanage so this was quite an adventure. 

One of the Kibera boys posing for the camera

It is about a kilometre to “Kandara Stadium” a rather grand title for a football pitch on open ground but for the kids it was great. Half way there Newton grew tired and I carried him the rest of the way and earned a huge smile. That was until I put him down later when he sulked for a while only to smile again when my arms had recovered and I could pick him up again.  

The Girls Team

The photos here show what a great day was had by the orphans and large numbers of the community who joined the snake of kids to follow us to the pitch. 

Ester in Action (in the black)

                           Newton sulking                                                                                         .

  

The Fans from the Orphanage

 Jennifer                                                                  Terasiah

                                   Alice

                                                        Some of the Kids from Kandara Town                   

The game in full swing with the crowd in the background

Seth                                                                         Ester Resting

                                            John                                                            Wambui 

Saturday 2 June – Bride Dowry (Bride Price celebration)

Today I travelled to Ingararia to meet Simon Kariuki who is the Electrical Instructor at the Polytechnic. He has kindly invited me to the Bride price ceremony of a neighbour. Luckily I arrive after the slaughtering again. One day I should make it to this important part of the ceremony. I am not sure if I would keep my breakfast down though – check out all the blood in the photos. When getting married in Kenya the Groom has to provide the bride price. Depending on the status of the family, the “quality” and education of the bride to be and other factors the price is agreed in terms of livestock and cash. On this occasion a bull, a goat and a sheep were slaughtered together with an undisclosed sum in cash.

The animals had been slaughtered and butchered as I arrived around 11am and the fires were ready to receive the meat.

The men of the groom’s party sort out the bull meat and the brides team sort out the goat and sheep.  I sit in the circle of men as various body parts and internals are passed around and chopped/hacked. Bits of bone, flesh and blood splatter past and onto me intermittently. This is not one for the squeamish!

The head and hooves are put on the fire to burn off the hairs and skin. This is handled using a branch shoved up the poor things nose! Luckily after it has died (I think!). I get the chance to help scrapping off the fur.

Another great honour is that I am offered the horns of the bull. A real privilege, these are used to drink beer from at such ceremonies as you have to keep drinking as you cannot put them down without them spilling.

Lucas, the bride’s brother, invites me and Simon to drop around to his house next door. I am handed a glass of cloudy yellow (I have to say urine looking) liquid. This is Muratina beer which is made by adding sugar, honey, sugar cane and water to a water container. Mixing it up and then leaving it to ferment for 3-7 days (depending on who I asked!). The result is “different” and I am sure it must be an acquired taste. OK for a small glass or two but I am not sure I could drink a lot.

Back at the party we start on the meat and soup (Broth from the boiling pans of meat). Not one item of the cow is wasted. By now it was about 1pm and Simon suggested we pick his wife up from his home. When there she had prepared lunch? We were at a feast of 3 slaughtered animals. Politely I ate it and it was lovely, a huge helping too and I was stuffed after it. Then back to the feast. On entering the party with a full stomach I was handed a chunk of meat. Shortly afterwards the buffet started. Simon and I left it till the last minute to maximise the potential for even a small space to appear in our stomachs. Being the only Mzungu the hosts wanted to make sure I had a hearty portion! Lovely sentiment but anyone who has seen the Mr Creosote sketch on Monty Python will know how I was now feeling! Never mind the dogs had a good meal! Then back round to Lucas’s place for another sneaky beer.

Then back for the speeches where everyone is introduced. Including random white men! I valiantly greeted the crowd in Kikuyu and then switched to Kiswahili after my 5 words ran out. I got away with my Kiswahili and they also appreciated my Kikuyu. By 6pm I made my excuses and left to try and get through Thika town before it was too dark. Best laid plans were ruined by a really bad car crash we came upon that we had to assist with – not pretty it had spun and rolled, if only people would wear seatbelts!

After finally making it to Thika and switching to the Kandara Matatu which luckily left as soon as I got on all was looking good. Half way to Kandara I noticed we had slowed and there was a hot water smell then BANG! And lot of steam. We rolled to a stop in the middle of nowhere in the pitch lack at what was now around 8pm. Not a place for a white man, the advise suggests, but what was I to do. Anyway the driver had a friend who was off duty and he arrived after about 15 minutes with an empty matatu and took us the rest of the journey. Thankfully and finally I was home safe.

I dropped into the dining hall of the orphanage and joined a party that was in full swing due to some visitors who were there and ended up dancing and playing musical chairs. Much to the great amusement of the kids on both counts!!

All in all a great day!

1 June - New Football Kit for the Orphanage

Friday Evening 1^st June – Whilst at home in May the youth team my Brother coaches collected football kit for the Polytechnic and Orphanage. The Poly already had theirs but I had held back giving the Orphanage kids their kit as I knew there was a football tournament looming. The time had now come as the matches were this Sunday. So tonight the manager and I gathered the kids together and I distributed 20 shirts and other bits and pieces. I had held back 6 specific shirts. Once the initial excitement had died down and there were a few disappointed faces, I returned to my house to retrieve the final 6, all Manchester United shirts. These are prized possessions in Kenya as they are passionate about the Premier League and especially Manchester United. The disappointed few were suddenly the envy of the others! 

I only wish my words could convey how happy this gesture made to these kids. Thanks Bro and co from all the  little stars here.

Friday June 1st - How to Make Real Coffee

Friday 1^st June - Hand Made Coffee – One of the things I wanted to do on coming too Kenya was to make coffee by hand from scratch. Today at the Kibe household Elliott showed me the ropes and I realised that dream and boy is it hard work!! Here is the process:

The beans had already been picked and dried a few days before and are green at this stage. A wood fire was lit in the “kitchen”. This comprises of corrugated metal sheets on a branch frame with little or no ventilation. This leads to a very smoky environment as you can see from the photos and our squinting and eyes watering. The chapatti pan placed on top of the fire supported by stones. A small amount of oil is added then the beans.

It is important to keep them moving so they roast not burn. This was done with a dessert spoon and with flames lapping around the edges of the pan there were no hairs left on my hands at the end of the day. I also have to confess to yelping a few times and dropping the spoon as I concentrated too much on stopping the beans burning rather than stopping my hands burning. Some how the smell of roasting coffee permeates the thick wood smoke and the most amazing aroma is a treat to my senses, mmmmmmmm!

Once the beans are the right colour they are transferred to the crusher. This is a 40cm long by about 15cm diameter clay block with a recess in one end. The beans are added in small amounts to this end. Then using a 2cm diameter x 30cm long rod the beans are crushed by the end of the rod being rammed into the recess.

The beans are still very warm at this point which makes them easier to crush. Once they are crushed to a fine enough consistency they are checked

Then if OK transferred to a plate/container awaiting the rest. This ground coffee is also shaken to allow any larger pieces to rise to the top and be returned to the crusher.

The process is repeated for the rest of the beans. For about 3 litres of beans it took around 2.5 hours to prepare.

The ground coffee is then added to a suffuria (pan) on the wood fire to boil and crew. A mighty fine brew it was too and very strong! I am given a tin to take home an enjoy in the month ahead.

One sad thing to note is that despite vast amounts of coffee being grown in Kenya, most Kenyans cannot afford the end product. Those that grow their own beans usually sell them as they are too valuable as a cash generating crop to “waste” on themselves. 

I get to the motorbike to ride home and discover another puncture! Another 3.5km ride with flat front tyre. On tarmac this time and I am in time to get it fixed at a different “Kenyan Kwik Fit”. I am not sure where they have come from but I have 3 punctures and the chaps remove 20 thorns from the front tyre and 15 from the rear whilst I am watching. This is Kamaragu a nearby village.