The strike of Mombasa city workers has hindered progress at the Mombasa Fire Brigade, but has provided the privilege of extending the team to various other tasks. One of these tasks includes assisting Salim, a Mombasa fire fighter specialized in water rescue and diving, in giving swimming lessons to children of Blue Bell Nursery School in Mtwapa. The lessons include teaching the children simple leg and arm stokes in frigid water at a local pool, and allowing the quick learners to display their skills while receiving a very supportive round of applause from fellow students. Regardless of being situated in the coastal region, much of the local population are either unskilled in swimming or have absolutely no training at all. As a result Salim is on a mission to increase water safety and awareness throughout the region, under the registered business name of ‘Coast Aquatic Rescue Team’. Following the swimming lessons the team met Salim at his Buxton home in the city center and his Bamburi home in the hillside not only to strengthen ties, but to find out more about his mission and business. By the end of the day we were very impressed his passion and vigor for water safety training, and we are now looking into possibilities to assist him in developing the ‘Coast Aquatic Rescue Team’.
On Friday the team was excited to read in a local paper that Mombasa city workers had been paid and the strike was no longer in effect. The very next day we welcomed Mandip to the team, and promptly introduced him to Mr Sammi Murimi, the chief of the Mombasa Fire Brigade. Upon arrival at the fire brigade on Monday morning it was clear to us that the local paper was politically biased and provided us false information. As a result we were only able to present the promotional plans we had been developing, and discuss alternate opportunities to promote the fire brigade. The next day the team arrived early in the city center to scan for opportunities and build up contacts in the region. One of the contacts we approached was Nation Media Group, the administrator of the largest national newspaper and television station. Much to our surprise they were very interested in our project and scheduled an interview with us the very following day. We are still waiting to hear whether or not our article will be published.
After the interview we headed to the fire brigade to meet Mr Jackson, a duty officer specialized in fire safety training and consultation. The result of the meeting was a fire safety training day at St. Joseph’s House of Hope, which took place on Monday morning. Mr Jackson gave a very captivating and professional lecture, followed by a practical session of fire fighting with a modern extinguisher provided by the team. At this moment the team is planning fire drills at various locations in Mombasa County, which we hope to conduct in the coming weeks. There will be three drills focused on the services offered by the fire brigade, namely: fire, diving and rescue. In the mean time we have printed stickers with the new logo and phone number, which will be distributed to every citizen, boda-boda, matatu, tuk-tuk and goat in Mombasa. Any questions, comments, or suggestions are always welcome!
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