PROGRAM: Expeditions
PROJECT: Leadership Expedition
WRITTEN BY: Churchie - Tom, Louis, Bill and Max
*See more photos on Facebook
On Friday the 21st of June, the Churchie 11 + 2 accompanied with Natalie set off for Kenya. The trip started with a 9hr plane flight from Brisbane to Bangkok. The boys were excited yet exhausted after the hectic flight just to be told that our connecting flight to Nairobi had been delayed by 7hrs. This resulted in a stay-over in Bangkok’s wonderful Novotel Hotel. We had dinner at 12am and we were to wake up at 5am to catch our connecting flight, just what the boys wanted to start the trip!
As we landed from our 9hr flight from Bangkok to Nairobi we were very optimistic on what the journey would bring. We thought the travel was over only to realise that Mombasa, our next destination, was a 10hr bus ride away. We stayed in Mombasa Beach Resort for the night and after a nice African breakfast we hit the road again to Camp Makongeni which was a further 2hrs away. The Kenyan driving is not like any other country. Tom and I were beyond scared of what was to come. To overtake cars in the same lane, Kenyan drivers go into the next lane, which is against the flow of traffic, which creates suspense throughout the bus rides. Finally, we arrived at Camp Makongeni to be greeted in the African way. The Kenyan people are the one of the nicest people in the world and it has been a great experience to learn the ways of the people. Don’t worry parents, we have secured many gifts for you and will continue to get some. Overall, the beginning of the trip, which has included a full day of work and soccer with the locals where Lachie Taylor scored our only 2 goals, has been a great experience for all the boys. Jumbo (Hello),
Asanti (Thank-you),
Mot (Tom Walvin) and Louis McAfee
The second insta;lment from the boys - we've arrived in Iten and we have internet! More updates to come...
Jambo again!
Yesterday (Tuesday the 25th) morning, after a grueling training we continued working on the community projects. We split into two groups and focused on two aspects of the school building. One group set to work on making door frames and panels for the three rooms, with the assistance of some of the experienced locals. Throughout the day, through constant chiseling, hammering and sawing the group finished exhausted with two frames and three door panels completed. The other group worked hard on finishing off the previous days work on the main component of the project, the concreting of the floor. Wanting to finish the floor a day earlier than planned gave us twice the amount of work to finish than the previous day.
Despite the challenge the group was able to pull through and complete our goal for the day. The afternoon finished off with another great game of soccer against the almighty Kenya schoolboy side, self-elected ‘Barcelona’. The next morning we again got up early and had another training session, running through the village to the greetings of the locals. After another excellent breakfast we loaded into taxis and headed to the beach, excited for a well-deserved day off work. Along with the amazing sight we were met with at the beach, the water was nothing but incredible, with some of the students even braving a camel ride from a local, definitely a highlight of the trip.
After everyone dried off and Jack Baird finishing his daily tanning work, we set off to the world heritage listed site of the Kaya Kinondo sacred forest. It was an excellent experience with both tree hugging and vine swigging involved, led by a knowledgeable tour guide who never failed to remind us of the strict ‘no kissing’ rule in place within the forest. We headed back to camp Kenya and started the preparation for the much anticipated football game against the local Barcelona youth team, consisting of some questionably aged players. A lot of fun was had even though we went down two goals to their ten. The day was finished up with giving out Churchie shirts and old sand and soccer shoes to the Kenyan team along with showing them a traditional Churchie war cry. As we depart the camp tomorrow we will be leaving with good memories for life.
Regards,
Bill and Max.
No comments:
Post a Comment