Aman’s report
I thought that for continuity and understanding sake, it might be easier if I split my blog into experiences as opposed to days! Hope you enjoy!!
The general school experience – The second time around
It was beyond words this time around. I feel like the last time I came, because I was on a mission – most of my time was spent trying to achieve a variety of things at once, I didn’t get a chance to sit back and take my time doing every-day activities! My experience of school this time was different because I had a lot of time purely dedicated the children. Our main goal was to link Kitagwa Primary with John Gulson, and as a result, I got to know a lot more about the school and the children that make it truly special.
The hospitality of the pupils and its teachers are two things that were truly unforgettable! Everyday the food that we were served was genuinely spectacular! We were accommodated unbelievably well – whey beyond the realm of necessity and into that of true kindness.
Monday – The first day
When Heather and I visited on Friday, I guess I was a little disappointed to find that the kids wouldn’t talk to me. We had just gotten off our 2nd plane in a row then too, so I guess I was too tired to make a HUGE effort! On Monday though, it was all systems go!! We were greeted by the Head-teacher of the school, had our formalities…and then for the fun bit!! The pupils had prepared a WICKED traditional dance performance for us, and it was 100% live and people powered, none of this interactive white-board and stereo surround sound stuff! They were singing, dancing and playing instruments, I was amazed at their talent!!
…While I was sitting enjoying the dance, I suddenly heard my name being sung amongst the rest of the Swahili… I knew what this meant…
…To confirm my suspicions, Naomy shouted “Aman, they are calling you, go and dance with them!!” So here I am, amongst these little kids shakin’ it like there’s no tomorrow…and then there’s me…I felt like the old auntie at the party who has no rhythm, but insists on dancing anyway!! It seemed to put smiles on the faces of the many parents, school governors, teachers and pupils alike, so the humiliation was worth it in the end!! If you’re lucky, Mark might even put the video on the blog, haha! The John Gulson kids saw it and enjoyed it, without a doubt!!
After our dance, we were escorted into the staffroom where a MAHOOSIVE feast awaited us! Okay, so it wasn’t huge, but when you think about what they would normally eat and the money that the school has, it really WAS massive!!!!!!! It always amazes me how much Kenyans go out of their way to do their best for you, even when they don’t have much. It truly is remarkable, there are NO words to describe how special and welcome they make you feel. After the food, I snuck off to spend some time with my class 8’s, who, once I entered their classroom and made an effort with, were bursting with questions, stories about their lives for the past year and saying thank you for coming again!! We sat and chatted, I asked about their lives, and we exchanged all that we could for the remainder of dinner-time! This was more like it!! It was so nice just to sit around and learn about them, something I didn’t really have the chance to do last time. It was beginning to feel like a mutual exchange, I think they were beginning to see me more as someone their age, who though from a different country, was somewhat similar. Not the same – I don’t think that the time I spent with them was enough for them to see me as equal, though I wished they would.
The Linking
Well, this was an experience and a half, I can tell you that much!! Trying to work with kids whose English is quite limited was quite difficult, especially when working with the class 4’s. With our trusty translators Ann and Cyprian onside though, nothing was impossible!
To prepare the kids for the calling, first, we would do a session in which we gave them the cards that John Gulson sent, told them a little about England and Coventry, gave a little talk about life in England. We also asked them to think about the questions they wanted to ask and things like that. We then did a separate session in which the kids would be talking on the phone – that’s where is got interesting!! I didn’t have a loud speaker on my phone, so for the first two days, I was pressing my head right up against the head of whoever was speaking on the Kenyan end, and trying to translate etc. It was more amusing than anything else, hopefully it didn’t freak the kids out too much!!
On the whole, the experience was pretty cool!! It was exiting for everyone involved, and the children on the Kenyan end seemed to enjoy it lots! Many of them hadn’t used mobiles before, and almost none of them will have spoken to people in England on them!! They engaged in the activity well, asking questions – most quite amusing to us like: “How many cows do you have”, and others which were slightly less so.
If anything has concerned me about the activity, it’s the amount of hope that has been placed in this project in Kitagwa! The teachers, pupils and parents hope to visit here one day – I just hope that as a community, we will pull together and work as hard, both, to make this possible and to welcome them as warmly as they did us.
General Schoolyness
As I said before, it was really nice just to let Heather take control of the project, and to have a chance to sit back and take as much from the experience as I could without feeling entirely responsible for everything! She and Imlah would leave school at around 2-3 to go to Kisumu, and I always stayed until the end – 5:30. The last two hours of school were always fun, because the kids were free to do as they pleased, so we spent lots of time together just really getting to know each other, and sharing in each other’s lives! They’re so vibrant and caring – being around them was always loads of fun!! They took great pride in teaching me Kiswahili and their Mother tongue, loved to sing and dance, play games ask lots of questions and be asked questions back, it was pure comedy from start to finish!
As well as the good bits, there were definitely sad parts, and realities which were hard to stomach. When I visited last year, my favorite class were class 7, then relatively care-free and easy going – now class 8, and getting ready to leave primary school. While we had some crazy times!!…I could see that they were growing up, and feeling the responsibility that their age was bringing them. Many of them simply can’t afford to go to secondary school and so their lives now, especially the boys, lie in providing for their family, getting married and bringing up their own family. These kids, most of them were aged around sort of 16-17, have to grow up so fast, and due to lack of money, waste their potential. It really is a great shame.
Aside from that, learning about people whose parents died from HIV and AIDS, about their general routines…I knew all of this before, but this time, I think I just had more time to process the information I was being given. It was horrible knowing that the country that I live in, has a part in making Africa as poor as it is today – inadvertently, I have a hand in the suffering of these children. World politics is so damn unfair, thinking about things this way makes me so angry – and determined to try and do all that I can to help.
Goodbye
I think Heather and Imlah will agree that we couldn’t have had a more magnificent send-off! It was just so lovely! We were all given presents, the school choir sang to us, as did the parents choir – WHO ARE AMAZING!!!!!!!!!! Various speeches were given – parents, teachers etc. The whole school was there, and then they danced for us again – me and Heather joined in voluntarily this time – Dancing Kenyan style is purely a lot of fun! We spoke to many people, and said our goodbyes. Heather and Imlah left early with Naomy…but I stayed to soak up as much as of the buzzing atmosphere as I could. I was surrounded by clouds of exited children – and in the middle was me, just as excited as them, and not much older really! We were singing, dancing and generally having a laugh!!
…One of THE best parts of my Kenyan experience to date came next – the kids decided that it was time to go home because it was getting quite dark! So still singing, dancing, banging on empty water canisters they escorted me home! It was amazing, they were singing something, all I could really hear was my name in-between – I did ask what they were saying but I’ve forgotten now! This was probably actually one of the proudest moments of my life – that so many kids cared enough to escort me home while singing, dancing and generally having a good old laugh! When we got to Naomy’s house, she let them all in, the kids flooded into her garden and we all sang, danced and had some incredible last moments together – I won’t EVER forget that experience 
Emuhaya
Seeing Emuhaya again was a little bit scary, but also very exiting! We were first taken to some land which they had bought – with the money that I raised with my last trip! The feeling that I got from thinking that the money which I took them made such a tangible difference in the growth of their organization is sincerely inexplicable!
Basically, they are using the land that they bought to grow crops on, and this has a number of benefits:
They learn newer and more effective farming techniques from Obed who is a community worker that specialises in modern agriculture
They pass on their expertise to the local people within the community, mostly young people. This benefits the community because they learn free of charge, but also Emuhaya because it encourages disabled-able-bodied people relations
The food grown is sold and acts as income for the group
The day was inconceivably great! We got to plant seeds and trees – it was so special for me to sow seeds in a place that I had a hand in creating. Naomy Mandela said something to me that I’ll never forget:
“Aman, this is your work, and we have dedicated this project to you. It is your trip that made this possible, and we wanted to honor that by creating something which would remind us of the great work that you did for us in 2006”
I felt like her words were entirely undeserved, especially because I didn’t feel like I’d done that much! But even a tenth of that sentiment alone was enough to make me want to cry!
Later, we went to Emuhaya’s meeting place, and were greeted by some of its members. We were given a wicked welcome, and some amazing gifts! Woven baskets, and some medals that they’d made us! They really were so grateful for all that we had done for them – even though they were the ones that truly deserved the medals.
This year, I really want to dedicate some time to fund raising for Emuhaya and Kitagwa! I hope that Hillfields and Foleshill, or anyone really will be willing to help me out!! It’s awesome that we’ll actually be able to see where our money has gone at the end of the day – to the people that need it the most – NOT to some director of some charity being paid crazy money!
Seeing Naomy, Rebecca and Ann again!
The best thing about staying in Naomy’s house is that is automatically feels like home, you never really feel out of place! It just has an air of comfort that surrounds it!
Seeing Rebecca again and getting to know Ann was purely wicked!! Whenever we were together, we would almost always be laughing – it’s so nice to share a relationship like that with them, they’re almost like family! I always looked forward to coming home after school because I knew both of them would be in the kitchen, and we’d have the chance to have some good times – the three of us and Rose (the maid) who was also LOADS of fun together! I guess I haven’t really got a lot to write about our good times that would be of interest to anyone else, but don’t think that because I haven’t written much that it wasn’t great!
Being in Nairobi with David and co!
Seeing Rebecca and Ann’s cousins Luke, David and co again was properly wicked!! We got to go to some bars, play pool and generally have a good time in Kenya’s capital! Great company in a great place – I couldn’t have asked for much more!
Other Memorable Moments
Exploring
Being able to explore the village was a huge novelty for me, the last time I was in Kenya, Naomy was very protective of me, and I don’t think she trusted the village as much as she does now, so I was never allowed to explore really. But this time, I did lots of walking around and going into people’s houses, it was really nice!
Fetching Water
While taking a walk through Kitagwa village one night after school, I come across some pupils who were going to fetch some water from the neighboring village! I wasn’t going to pass up that opportunity to join them, so we walked for what felt like ages, across uneven and some actually quite fun terrain to the Gambogi water point! It felt like a mini-epic…and on the way back, I carried 10 Liters of water, I was quite proud of myself! Woop woop for my climbers arms, eh!! I did try to carry some on my head, but that was a BAD plan!! 
Kids bringing water to Naomy’s house
Me, Rebecca and Ann were the only people in the house, Heather and Imlah were in Kisumu – and a surge of kids rushed into Naomy’s back yard, and started to deposit water into her tanks! It was SO exiting!! I’d never seen any of them in her home before, and for me, it was a wicked and touching experience! Having been to the water point, and knowing how far away it was, seeing them bring the water that they worked to hard to fetch really was a beautiful sight – yet another that I will never forget!
Making Sandwiches
Every morning I would make chocolate spread sandwiches for the class that we had, I don’t think I’ve ever made 50 in one go before, so that was a new experience for me – I am officially sandwich-maker extraordinaire!
So in short – Kenya 2007 – WICKED!
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Woo, go me with my interesting report! …I thought i’d start off the tons of comments that will inevitably flood this comments box….
Not bad not bad at all