Written by Jade Hipkiss-Winder; GapBreak Kenya September 2010
As I write this blog, the camp in Kenya comes to a close for the Christmas and New Year. There has been a lot of mixed emotions that surround the atmosphere. Excitement, sadness, relief and the feeling of returning home as a new person. We leave on the 25th whether it be a continuation of travel or going straight home.
I'll start from the top though, last week a group of us were in Makongeni while all the rest are still in Tsavo. I loved Makongeni (apart from all the digging we did). This camp is based 30 minutes away from Muhaka, and is based on helping conserve the habitat for marine life. For the week we continued digging up lake-sized pond for fish and prawns (maybe a bit of exaggeration on the size, but it is huge). Our legs sunk up to our calves when digging out the mud, it felt disgusting but it was very funny. During our time at Makongeni we also learnt how to weave palm trees to put in the pond - this is to help produce algae for the fish to eat, and also picked Mangrove seeds to plant with the kids at the local primary school.
One day was dedicated to teaching the school kids all about Mangroves. This was so much fun! We arrived in class not knowing what to expect, Sarah and Dave led the way with a 'fill in the blanks' exercise. This was then followed by a diagram that they had to copy and fill out. To finish the lesson we all did a role play of how Mangroves help the community - they loved it! Smiles and laughter filled the room. We then sang a song to the tune of 'Waka Waka' from Shakira and with the lyrics on the board they sung it from the top of their lungs. We all left the class with it stuck in our heads, it was fantastic! Oh and of course my highlight of being in Makongeni was watching The Lion King at a locals house (the big TV stopped working) so we all got to watch it on a TV no bigger than a shoebox, but it was such a great experience. I forgot how much I loved The Lion King! Sarah, Marion and I also got to go to one of the friendly locals house (Rashid) here his mum taught us the traditional way of making Chapatti's and boy were they good! We were so full. It was amazing fun though, I loved every moment.
For the rest of this week we finished Mama's toilet and did as much as possible to the school. I also handed over the 19 Soccer Balls to the two local teams in Muhaka to Dotcom and Ajax. The look on their faces was incredible! It was so sweet! And after I had handed out the photos if the SASI team they tucked them under their shirts to make sure they didn't get ruined. Balls were flying everywhere and pictures were being taken and smiles were passed around so contagiously! I am so sad to be finishing up at Camp Kenya. All the staff and locals have been nothing but kind and helpful. Muhaka feels like home and everyone feels like family. I have learned so many life lessons and become so much more aware of the poverty that comes upon so many unfortunate communities. One day in the future I will return to Kenya, return to the place I now call home.
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