England – So I left Kenya and 30 degrees plus sunshine and
landed in England at 6am to a balmy 5 degrees! I was lucky, the week before it
had been - 5 during the day!). It was good to be back for a couple of weeks and
catch up with friends and family. I had been away for the previous 2
Christmas’s. 2010 I worked in La Plagne in the French Alps for a ski season, so
I was there for Christmas and in 2011 I had been in Kenya sharing Christmas and
new year with volunteers here in Kenya (refer to earlier blog posts for 2011
Christmas and New Year).
I spent the first 3 days in Roehampton at my sister’s (Ruth)
new pub – The Kings Head, a Young’s pub that has just been fully refurbished.
It is a great place and if anyone drops by please mention you know me or my
blog and you may get a free pint!! Ruth always enjoys it when random people who
have encountered me drop by for a pint! http://www.kingsheadsw15.co.uk/.
My friends Eddie and Allys threw a party one night for all
the Kenya volunteers who were in the UK. Eddie is a great cook and around 10 of
us got together for fine food, a little wine and lots of catching up.
Then I travelled to my Parents for Christmas, before heading
to North of England to see friends and to the Lake District http://www.lakedistrict.gov.uk/
for some walking.
I was in the Yorkshire Dales http://www.yorkshiredales.org.uk/ town
of Settle for New Year and then meandered back to London before flying home to
Kenya. To those who made the trip special a big thanks for a warm welcome, your
patience when listening to my tales of Kenya and your fine food. You know who
you are……
Whilst at home, 3 kind donors had provided me with laptops
to give to the Polytechnic and assist with setting up an ICT/Computer course.
This gave me the amusing scenario at airport security. In my hand baggage I had
4 laptops, 2 cameras, a kindle, etc. Passing through you have to remove all
laptops and electrical equipment!!!
I put my bag on the counter and got the first tray. Removed
a laptop and pushed it on. Then another tray and another laptop, and another, 4
in all including mine, followed by a camera. 7 trays including my bag and shoes,
etc. clogging up the conveyor! Great banter with thankfully cheerful and
helpful security people who probably enjoyed something different from the norm.
I was a little worried about my reception at Kenyan security and how to explain
my bag full of technology but luckily there was no query at the other end and I
passed through in no time.
If anyone else has an old laptop gathering dust in a
cupboard, please consider donating it to our Polytechnic. Get in touch and we
can get it delivered to my Parents in Huntingdon, UK and then I will
co-ordinate with them to arrange delivery once we have a few. With planned
multiple classes each laptop will benefit 20-30 people a year. With the average
family being 6, if each trainee then gets a job and valuable income through the
skills learnt then, 180 people could directly benefit each year from the
donation of the laptop that is cluttering up your cupboard. If you are
interested, or know someone or a business that may be able to assist, please
the contact link to this blog or e-mail me direct simon.dixon67@gmail.com.
Wow! Those pictures of the UK are amazing! And great job with the computer training.
ReplyDelete