The funny things you learn

We have just finished our evening meeting together as a group, discussing the last few items for finishing each project. It seems rather strange to be talking about the end, as it feels like only yesterday that we started this together back in Groningen. I remember when Robin first came to me about this project and how unimaginable it felt back then. Today I sit writing to you all with such immense admiration and respect for this group of students who have given their all out here and achieved so very much. I only joined the group last week, but in this short time have had the priveledge of seeing their work first hand, meeting the children, teachers, professionals and other volunteers they have been working with. The developments made have been huge from each and every group. They all frequently had obstacles in their paths and difficult working conditions, yet each time they found a new way to adapt, creatively finding solutions that would exhaust every avenue and option. They may not have always received their desired results, but the true success can be seen in their personal journeys and the lives of many they have touched being here. 

It is a wonderful thing as a teacher to be able to honestly say when you learn from your students. Not only have they taught me all about Kenyan culture, getting into matatus and bartering, they have taught me about what can truly be achieved when we work together as a community. They have shown me that there are amazing people, willing to give up their energy, summer vacation, and sometimes even health or sense of safety, to do something good for others. 

There have been so many of you out there who have helped make these projects possible. Please know how grateful I am that you did what you did. I hope you can see what a difference you have made.

Thank you all so much. Asante Sana!

Gemma

Time is flying by...

Friday morning Gemma touched Kenyan ground and was picked up by us. After an 8 hours flight from Frankfurt to Mombasa and some trouble shooting beforehand with her flight from Amsterdam to Frankfurt, she finally arrived. Having a quick breakfast and a refreshing, we left by Matatu to Blue Bell Nursery School in Mtwapa for the Fire Protection Training with Mr Jackson from the Mombasa Fire Brigade. The kids were really exited about the training and were listening carefully to what Mr Jackson told them about fire prevention and how to react when a fire is breaking out. 3 hours later, some of us left Blue Bell and went further to Majengo to St. Joseph House of Hope to introduce Gemma to the students and show her the premises. For Friday evening Carol, the head of St. Joseph, invited us to her home for dinner, so at 6pm our group arrived in Majengo and were picked up by Carol's son. We enjoyed a wonderful evening full of typical Kenyan food (very delicious), nice music, campfire and a tour around her property. Furthermore, we had a delightful company by some of Carol's students to whom she is offering a place to live, as their parents cannot affort to take care of this. As the day passed by, Gemma received so many different impressions in one day and the group realised how normal the life here is for us already and that we feel a part of this city and not 'Muzungus' (foreigners) anymore.

The next day, the St. Joseph team had the normal business class from 10am to 4pm with a special guest from the Kenyan Agriculture Institution to discuss the possibilities for building up a chicken farm in combination with the St. Joseph House of Hope and the entrepreneurs. Besides this, our team also received some of the student's business plans and gave them back Monday that further changes can be made to hand in their final business plan by today. On Sunday, we went again to the feeding center in Mtwapa and helped handing out food and drinks for more than 1,500 children. It was heart-melting to see all these children waiting in front of the center to get a hot meal and some food to take home for the entire week. Later that day, some went to the Haller Park, where they watched animals such as hippos and crocodiles being fed.

To sum up a varity of first impressions for Gemma and for the team the last weekend here in Mombasa, it is hard to believe that the last week has already started and it is also the last week for us to work on these projects in person. While staying and working in Mombasa, the team received many other chances to be invloved in many different projects and this is a great idea for all curent and future honour students, who could not join the trip or were in their year abroad, to also take part in this great ConTribute Kenya project!

Mtwapa Feeding Center

On Sunday the 21st of July, some members of the team joined the Mtwapa Feeding Center for a few hours of volunteering. The center offers a meal to 1000 to 2000 local children every Sunday. In addition, each child can take home a bag of flour. Therefore, it is clear that the local families highly rely on these feeding operations to subsist.

Before entering the center, we are amazed to see hundreds of children queuing before the entrance. In a way, it was heartwelming to see all those kids playing around, smiling and waving at us, exited to get a meal. On the other hand, it was difficult and heartbreaking to realise that the meal they were about to get was a real luxury: most of these children come from poor families and subsist on a bowl or two of Ugali (maize paste) per day.

Many volunteers were working at the center that day, we had the pleasure to meet youngsters from all around Europe (UK, Denmark, Germany) who, like us, came to help the center besides their other activities in Kenya.

The menu of the day included rice, beans, bread and orange juice. After being prepared, the food was distributed to the kids in groups of four. We were amaze at the organization of the operation: in a matter of an hour, 1600 children got fed and were ready to return home. We were told that usually the feeding is a lot busier, however, many local children did not attend due to the Ramadan.

The Mtwapa feeding center is run by wealthy locals and this weekly operation is financed by various companies and charities. We were told that on that day the operation was financed by an  Asian company. Every Sunday, the center spends around 200 000 Kenyan Shillings (2000 euros) to finance the food, the cooks, cleaners...etc.

This experience was truly incredible and definitely an eye-opener. Working at the feeding center made us understand how lucky we are to have an unlimited access  to food and drinking water. Daily in the Western world we waste huge quantities of food, without realizing that a meal is a luxury for some people.

Blue Bell News

In week two and three of our five week community project at the Blue Bell Nursery School in Mtwapa Robin and I worked mainly on adjusting the final changes to the accounting system and teaching Gideon how to work with it. Gideon the person in charge of the book keeping at the School required us to make a couple of changes in the demo accounting system that we had presented in week one. Among these changes was a more detailed breakdown of the expenses the school has on a monthly basis. The idea behind this breakdown is to enable the school to monitor their expenses more closely and see how they vary from month to month. This break down in extremely important for the school to see whether their expenditures are within the scope of their budget. An example of the expenditure break down can be seen in the images below. 

After updating the accounting system we started to teach Gideon the basics of excel and how to navigate the program. To our surprise Gideon picked up the basics very quickly and within a couple of days understood how the program works and in what way it can support his accounting activities. Towards the end of the week we then explained in depth how the updated accounting system works and started working with it. We entered the income and expenses for the two previous months and the system automatically created financial statements for those two months. In addition to that the system produced a detailed breakdown of the expenditures for the months May and June which enabled Gideon to compare expenses for those two months. In the following weeks we are going to continue making Gideon familiar with the accounting system and excel.

A lifetime of experiences in only 15 minutes

Arriving in Mtwapa, the Matatu desperately searches for some space between the hundreds of locals standing around wildly gesticulating. It tries to stop and leave out its sweaty, irritated passengers, among which the three of us. Even though a Matatu ride generally entails various complications, it has become the norm for us to choose for this transportation mode, since it brings us one step closer to blending in with the locals and – of course – with an amount of 20 Schillings (approx. 0,20€) is by far the cheapest option.

Mtwapa is the place where we step over from Travaler’s-Mtwapa-Majengo, where we teach at St.Joseph’s. Next to some old buildings, it consists of a small fruits and vegetables market, where the locals sell Mangos and Avocados for 30 KSH (Kenyan Schillings) or if you are a good negotiator maybe even for 20 KSH. 

The first challenge we face every time we want to come on board of one of these 14-passengers capacity mini-vans called Matatus, is to negotiate the price. Starting off paying 3 times the price we should have, we have gotten to understand that after naming the desired destination, while stepping into the car we quickly, but with great determination have to mention “20, hey?!”, underlining the statement with the “Piece” sign, each finger standing for 10 KSH equaling a total of 20KSH. Once this first hurdle is mastered, finding a place to sit is the next challenge. If there are actually seats available and you do not have to stand bend over at the door of the car, you face 3 options: 

1. Either you squeeze yourself all the way through the very limited space in between of the seats through to the end, where you will likely have barely any space; not for your legs and definitely neither for your head, since the ceiling is very low so you have to sit bent over. Furthermore your legs are likely to be covered by easily infecting scratches after a couple of these maneuvers, since safety is not the biggest concern for the locals, so rusty iron sticks, broken seat parts or loose screws represent tricky obstacles. 

2. A second option is to choose one of the seats in the middle, various of which entail getting up every 2 minutes for passengers leaving or new passengers getting on board. However getting up is not only getting up. It usually consists of squeezing yourself all the way through the gaps between the seats, stepping out of the car, letting the passenger pass, and squeezing yourself back to your seat. 

3. The third option is to choose to sit in the front row. Here 2 challenges expect you: Firstly, often you have to be very careful where you put your legs, since there happens to be an extremely warm piece of metal at your legs which is not always covered up and which would probably slowly burn your leg away if you don’t pay attention. Secondly, the drivers’ assistant, who tries to find new customers and always sits/stands together with the passengers in the car, is the one standing when there is no seat left. From working the entire day and from deodorants being considered a luxury good and therefore not being used by everyone, the assistant tends to bend himself over you, in order to fit under the low ceiling. The front row offers the unique experience of literally smelling the assistant’s hard work while having the feeling that somebody might give you a small kiss if you don’t make sure your head is clearly turned to the other side. 

Even though it is not always easy to deal with all these new impressions, I love taking the Matatu! I find it amazing to be part of the local culture - and driving the Matatu definitely is. Especially when the music is turned on full power, smashing out Kenyan or Jamaican songs such as “Paper Love” (my personal favorite) or “every little thing, is gonna be alright” by Bob Marley, you understand how Kenyans are able to enjoy small moments, that us “westerners” would probably effectively use for work, or spend catching up with our lost sleep while throwing meaningful looks at everybody who talks to loud for our taste. 

Waste in Kenya does not necessarily equal waste – you can see that very well in towns like Mtwapa. Every little piece that we would undoubtedly consider as garbage is, as Robin explained previously in his post, being re-used for another purpose. Even though we could criticize various different aspects in terms of sustainability, I must say that this is actually really sustainable! Nevertheless the garbage that can’t be found another use for is often simply thrown into the streets, where the waste piles up into small mountains. Some are being burned because they block the way and nobody seems to know what else to do with these useless piles. Others are being attacked by cows or goats that try to find any eatable item possible. What we consequently might find on our plates in the evenings is something we deliberately avoid thinking about, it might make us switch to purely vegetarian meals. 

Having entered the second Matatu, we drive towards Majengo, our final destination, requiring an additional 20KSH. Usually the driver and his assistant memorize each passenger’s destination and stop in time. On rare occasions they forget and we have to notify them to stop and leave us out. Given the age of the cars, it does not come as a surprise that there are no bright red “STOP” buttons you can press. Instead you simply knock 2 times against the side of the car, which is being understood as “let me out”. When stepping out in Majengo, we are usually greeted by various motor bike drivers who wish for us to pursue our trip on the back of their bikes. However with the traffic we got to know, the lack of safety and of course an unwritten no-helmet policy, we choose to forego this option. Entering the small village of Majengo, we pass a Muslim church and many small shops, selling mostly clothes items or food and drinks. To us well-known stores for computer hardware, cars, perfumes or mattresses would go bankrupt here - there simply isn’t any money available for luxury goods. 

Suddenly I feel something touching my hand. Surprised I look down and find a little girl holding my hand, walking with us – barefoot. She has become our faithful companion through the village and almost always coincidentally appears when we enter the village. When asking her about her name, I received silence. “Fina is only 3 years old, so she doesn’t speak English very well yet” I am being explained by some other children of the village. Together with the others, I have made it my task to teach her a couple of sentences, starting with the obvious “My name is Fina”. 

After a 5 minute walk, we arrive at the wooden gates of the St. Joseph school, which is being opened for us by the female guard. Leaving Fina with the rest of the kids to go back to the village, we enter the large but very simple facilities, consisting of various small clay houses that are clearly “handmade”. We walk past the water well, which provides the children with fresh drinking water and water for cooking lunch (which is the same every day) to the office of Carol. She is the headmistress of the school, who provides us with chalk every morning and a big smile to start our day with. “Where do we have class today Magda?” 

“Form 2 and Form 4”

“Alright, I’ll start with Form 2, see you later”

Another day at St. Joseph has just started, and even though the day has barely yet begun, we have already experienced a lot!

(written by Roxanne)

Next to strikes at Mombasa Fire Brigade

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!

Fever Pitch - Kenya

Finally East-Africa has its first player in the best football league in the world Premier League. For Kenya’s football the last week has been very special, Celtic Glasgow’s Victor Wanayama has transferred for a record fee of 12.5 Million Pounds to Southampton at which 23 year old Victor Wanyama will play a central role for Southampton ambitions goals. With this news in the background, Biko and I decided to explore the football scene in Kenya a bit closer. Both of us decided to attend a local football tournament at which St. Josephs House of Hope participated as well.

As you will see in the pictures it was once again a fascinating experience for both of us. 

Behind some clay-build houses we found a football pitch close to Majengo. The word ‘football pitch’ cannot be used to describe the scene presented in front of us. The so called pitch looked more like the bomb-crater fields of Verdun than the typical football fields we used to have in Europe. The match that we watched was very professionally set up, at least for Kenyan standards. Both teams marched onto the pitch and bowed to the approximately 300 spectators sitting on the grass or on ruins all around the pitch. The two teams wore old German-Retro-Football jerseys of two German amateur teams and one team even had EDEKA sponsor logo written in front which is kind of ironical. A referee was also present, so with a whistle from him the match started. Both parties battled heavily from the start and in terms of speed and technical skills many top amateur teams could take a leaf out of there book. It was really spectacular and both of us had great fun watching some goals and moves on a disgrace to the word pitch. 

With the sun setting, we left still marveling at some of the players who played for 90 minutes barefoot but without any handicap being noticible. We are both very sure with some proper nourishment, good fortune and support some of these players have the chance of being the next Victor Wanyama.