Breaking up with 20 people in the same evening

After a month in Kenya, I'm transferring to Thailand. A bit of a surprise but exciting none the less. I prepared by talking to my colleagues in Thailand, finding out about the center there, trying to get as much work done as possible to cover my travel days and of course the inevitable packing.

What I didn't prepare for was leaving the children.

I was only in Kenya for one month so I assumed that the children (even the 20 girls in my dorm) wouldn't be too surprised or sad at me leaving. Volunteers come and go all the time at IHF so I thought they would be used to people coming in and out at the center. I was wrong. Some of them were really angry with me, and the rest of them were really upset.

Chelatan spent the whole evening with tears in her eyes, Chembalau wouldn't really talk to me. I didn't appreciate how important love and affection is to these kids - and how much they rely on the stability on someone's continued presence in their lives. I think I allowed myself to forget that they don't have anyone else.
Thankfully, Madie arrived in the dorm to hang out the last evening I was in Kenya so the general depressed mood was lifted by general mucking around - including games that my family will recognise as being reminiscent of Sisters-de-McKeon action. Hearing the sound of giggles was a big relief.


- flying Chemongot...

Keeping clean in Nakuru

So, one of the theories about the name "Nakuru" is that it's derived from tribal words meaning "swirling dust". This would make a lot of sense. It's a pretty dusty place. Everything is coated in a layer of dust. You step outside and after a few minutes you are covered in it. You would think that you'd need hot showers three times a day to cope with this. However, you quickly learn how to keep clean with the resources you have available....

Kenyan cuisine

Food is important to me. There's not much I don't like about food. So when the type and quantity of food I am able to eat is restricted, I turn from a food enthusiast to a food obsessive. So here is a blog all about Kenyan food.

In the morning, the kids have tea for breakfast. We have tried many times to persuade them we should spend the money on porridge instead but they have none of it. They are determined that they have sweet kenyan tea (brewed with loads of sugar) with loads of sugar as their morning  intake.

As a result, I nip over the road to a little shack by the factory and grab a bag of mendazi for 20KES (about 15p). They're like doughnut-type things and you get five in a bag. I have managed to eat all five in one go, which left me in quite a lot of pain but was pretty enjoyable.

Lunch at the center is githeri - maize and beans in a soupy kind of thing. It's pretty uninteresting but hey, it's protein. Dinner is ugali - which is made from maize flour - and is sort of like a palenta-type substance. We have it with cabbage or kale (althernate day). Thankfully it gets quite addictive, which is just as well when you eat it every day.

I'm very grateful that I bascially enjoy any food and the only thing I draw the line at is beetroot (not come across any beetroot in Kenya) as it makes eating the same, tasteless food every day much easier. However, I spent the last six months in England eating fantastic food - including a final meal at a delicious chinese featuring crispy fried fillet steak. It was a long way to fall. I blame Griff...

As a result, I've found that I've turned into one of those grim westeners who go to a different country and only want to eat their own rubbish food. I crave burgers, pizzas, big blocks of processed cheese, chunks of stodgy bread and potatoes. However, my occasional treats are more general on the healthy side as the one food stuff that is amazing in Kenya is fruit. Kenyan mangoes at the most delicious mangoes I've ever had. They're 20KES each, really big, really juicy and completely amazing and to be honest make the endless days of ugali totally bearable....

A quick tour of IHF Kenya

So here's a little video I made...

Something for the IMPs

Some of you may know that last year I did a lot of work for Orange when I was with IMP Media. And amongst other things I was involved in multimedia product for them called ZAP!

So you can understand why it made me giggle when I got off the plane and launched my bags onto one of these. And then arrived in Nakuru and was greeted with a plethora of signs advertising ZAP! To be fair - it's not the same ZAP! (it's a mobile network) but still. I was a tad horrified at first but it quickly became a sweet reminder of my fantastic ex-colleagues - now I think of you all every time I'm in town!

P.S. If any of the IMPs know a quick way I can make blogger display these horizontally in a gallery rather than vertically down the page that would be "super handy". 

Bethlehem Butcher also quality signage.

Things to take, things to leave

Before I left the UK, I had a hilarious evening packing with Kat  and Caroline.  Of course I was trying to take too much stuff and couldn't fit it all in my bags so they were helping me veto. For them, this was basically an excuse to take the piss out of me for a good three hours and remind me just what I would miss after I left. Things that were discarded that caused the most hilarity were: a flat headed and cross headed screwdriver ("Oh my god Anna they have tools in Kenya you know") a three way plug extension lead (no actual comment for this one due to too much laughter) and a lovely informal suit jacket ("when on earth are you ever going to wear THAT!").

So, especially for Kat and Caroline, I thought I'd do a quick blog on the things that have proved to be the most useful, and the things I could have really left behind.

The what-would-i-do-without-it list:

 - Swiss army knife. A loan from Caroline. Very handy for chopping up mangos.
- Ear plugs. A gift from Kat. Said I never use them as I can never sleep in them. However when you're separated from a room of 20 girls by what is essentially a piece of cardboard, trust me, you find a way.
- Little grey boots. SO glad I've got these. Great for tromping round in. Getting knackered already but they are loved all the more for it.
- Dynamo torch. Donation from Jaime which I very nearly shunned. Essential for going to the toilet after 8.30pm, or doing anything that's not in my room after 8.30pm (not many lightbulbs here). The kids are also totally fascinated by how you charge it.

The I-haven't-touched-this-in-three-weeks list:

-Nail polish. Yeh, I wear this about once a year in the UK. Not sure what I was thinking there.

- Pretty handbag. I love it, and it reminds me of home but god knows when I'll ever use it.
- Exercise/stretching band. Nice idea. Highly unlikely.

And things-I-wish-I'd-brought:

- Another pair of jeans. Not sure what I would have discarded to fit these in, but have a surplus of tops to bottoms.
- Sports water bottle.
- Griff. Would be dead useful on the farm, that's all...
- A different hair colour. I have a good brown/red two tone going on with my roots at the moment. Nice.

Wherever I am, I love my bed...

A quick hello from inside my mosquito net.