Tuesday 18 October 2011

GapBreak volunteers elated to finish biulding project in Kenya

As our first month in Kenya came to a close we said goodbye to some of our friends and welcomed several new faces to Muhaka. It was immensely satisfying to see our school project finally come together as the doors we made from scratch were cemented into the building, and some of us who raised money in Australia put it to excellent use paying for paint and for the instalment of a water tank adjacent to the school.

Fresh from the thrill of seeing something constructed from start to finish, we turned enthusiastically to demolishing an old ruin with sledgehammers!

Our fifth week in Kenya was spent in Camp Kaya, outside the sacred forest where the people of the region lived thousands of years ago. After a lengthy prayer to the spirits of the forest, we were taken on a walk through the forest. We caught a glimpse of a Sykes monkey, one of the many species in the forest, and at sunset we watched 50 or so Baboons make their way past the camp.

We cleared the area outside the camp for casaurina planting, and the following day we planted the trees with the students of Muhaka secondary. It felt really great to add to the number of areas used to teach the local people farming skills, especially when working alongside the community.

We also cleared areas of the forest, culling invasive and unwanted plants and hacking down trees the Kenyan way - with machetes! The arrival of new people meant another trip to the zoo in Mombasa and this time we were accompanied by the children from the local school who were very welcome company on the long bus ride. This time we watched a large group of Nile Crocodiles leaping out of the water for meat - the photos are amazing!!!

However the highlight of this week was our visit to one of the local houses. It was eye-opening to step inside the heartrendingly small bedroom, shared by 8 children and their grandmother. We all agreed to buy them mattresses and were relieved to know that Camp Kenya is already in the process of building a new house for them.

We played another soccer match against the local team and lost, however after the match everyone was smiling and joking around - the teams are getting to know each other quite well and both sides enjoy screaming Taka taka (meaning 'rubbish') whenever the other team makes the slightest mistake. Now we are moving to a new campsite, closer to the sea, and we are looking forward to the next week's work there! Interested in becoming a volunteer in Kenya? What about teaching English overseas? Antipodeans Abroad specialises in gap year program and volunteer travel. Find out more here.

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