Reflection – first volunteer tour January 2013

Cathy Booth

Founder, Director & Team Leader’s Reflection

January 2013 Volunteer Trip to Umoja Orphanage, Kenya Project

Volunteers

Cathy Booth-Founder/Team Leader – East Bundaberg Rotary Club / teacher Queensland Australia

Adele Hughes – Gladstone Midday Club, Queensland Australia

Ian Ritchie – Mackay West Rotary Club, Queensland Australia

Trish Gilluley – Rockhampton West Rotary Club, Queensland Australia

Leonie Hills – Gladstone Rotary Club, Queensland Australia

Austin Grillmier – Rockhampton Sunrise Rotary Club, Queensland Australia

Katie Trulson – Bundaberg /teacher Queensland Australia

Leanne Petersen – Bundaberg / nurse Queensland Australia

PURPOSE:

To give volunteers the experience of..

• Visiting Umoja’s land and building construction to date
• Assisting hands on, on the building project
• Experiencing our project in the embryonic stages
• Observing a mentoring orphanage in the 3rd year of operation
• Observing a mentoring orphanage in the 8^th year of operation
• Comparing and Reflecting on the growth that occurs as an orphanage grows and develops and implications for Umoja
• Visiting an orphanage on a rented premises
• Volunteering at the children’s feeding station, where 2000+ starving children are fed each Sunday by community  volunteers
• Visiting a school for 400 disabled children and understanding the implications of physical disability in Kenyan Culture 
• Experiencing  a wildlife safari up close, visiting three vastly different National Parks
• A visit to a traditional Masaii village
• Experience the rich culture that is the Kenyan way of life
• Face to face discussions / meeting with Kenyan nationals involved in the immediate vicinity of Umoja’s land (eg, Village chief, surrounding landowners, contractors, material suppliers, surveyor, architect, and mentoring orphanage owners.)

Tsavo East, Amboseli and Tsavo West National Parks.( for comfort I booked two safari vehicles) The purpose of having the safari first was to accommodate the plans of Katie Trulson, who was still climbing Mt. Kiliminjaro, as a Umoja fundraising climb. Katie joined us our return from safari.

ARRIVAL

As the Team Leader, I arrived in Kenya on the 29^th December 2012. The volunteers experience began on the 3^rd/ 4^th of January 2013.  On the 5^th January we began our 5 night/6 day safari to Tsavo East, Amboseli and Tsavo West National Parks.( for comfort I booked two safari vehicles) The purpose of having the safari first was to accommodate the plans of Katie Trulson, who was still climbing Mt. Kiliminjaro, as a Umoja fundraising climb. Katie joined us our return from safari.

Saturday 5^th January 2013

SAFARI – TSAVO EAST NATIONAL PARK : DAY 1

With recent rains in the parks all parks were lush and green and having been on safari 3 times prior it was wonderful to see such a vastness of green, and so much birdlife this time. Each time I had visited prior, the parks had not had rain for many, many months and animals were more on the move.  However, the volunteers were not disappointed with the animals they saw in Tsavo East and the birdlife which pleased Austin no end.  It was a little harder to see some animals with the high level of foliage at times. We stayed one night at Ashnil Aruba Lodge where I had stayed previously.  The volunteers had a wonderful view of the animals coming into the waterhole late in the afternoon.

Tuesday 8^th & Wednesday 9^th January 2013

SAFARI – TSAVO WEST NATIONAL PARK: DAY 4 & 5

The drive to Tsavo West had Mt Kilimanjaro, with its snow-capped peaks looking down on us, in the distance virtually the whole way. The volunteers appreciated the lava flows and history behind them, also the Mzima Springs and its wildlife, which is a natural spring originating from Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania.  Tsavo West’s landscape is diverse and we were fortunate to see a leopard.  With the scrub so copious, we were not fortunate to see a rhino, but were lucky to see a group of 4 cheetahs.  Our accommodation at Ngulia Lodge sat on a rocky outcrop overlooking Tsavo West below, and each evening a leopard or two come to eat meat that is hung out for them in front of the terrace.  Also animals come into the waterhole that is under a spotlight.  We were not disappointed either night with the leopards coming in to eat, and the hyenas coming to access the leftovers. 

Thursday 10^th January 2013

RETURN TO DIANI BEACH: DAY 6

Morning drive to see more animals, then the trip back to Diani Beach. We stopped at Lion Hill Lodge for lunch so the volunteers could experience another lodge perched high up on another rocky outcrop.  It reminds me of the ‘Lion King’ as you overlook all Tsavo West Park below. The volunteers were told the story of the rogue lions of Tsavo West and some had seen the movie.  The railroad is still there.   We arrived back in the late afternoon, and the volunteers were glad to get into the pool for a swim and relive stories of the safari.

Friday 11^th January 2013

DAY 7: UMOJA ORPHANAGE LAND & FOOTPRINT’S ORPHANAGE

Volunteers were taken to the project to see our progress.

The volunteers were impressed with:

• What we had achieved since construction began in August 2012.
• The size of our land- 17 acres
• The short distance to Ukunda Village and Diani Beach (10 minutes approximately)
• The easy access to electricity and water
• The proximity to a newly constructed private secondary school
• The closeness of the newly constructed Kenyatta University campus.
• The fertility of Umoja’s land
• The water/ billabong hole on the land
• The abundance of fruit trees and coconut trees
• The overseeing and professionalism of our Project Manager, Patrick Kea.

The volunteers quickly understood Kenyan building standards in comparison to Australian building standards. 

 Tasks:

• Volunteers to meet with Umoja’s architect
• Surveyor to come and survey the land
• Purchase and install guttering onto our caretaker’s cottage
• Connect the water tank to the guttering so that water can be stored once it rains

 Urgently Needed:

• Land to be fully fenced: It was not possible to begin gardens around the caretaker’s cottage due to the high number of cattle and goats grazing on our land.

Katie Trulson had arrived on the 8^th January and been taken to Footprints Orphanage to volunteer while we finished our safari. 

• We arrived to see Katie teaching the children in the lower grades as the teacher not turned up for work for 3 days.
• Kerry, the owner, gave the volunteers an overview of how / when she started Footprints Orphanage, the problems she has faced and how she has overcome them.
• Kerry was asked many questions by the volunteers.
• Water is the biggest problem and lack of it, but procedures continue to be put in place.
• There is no electricity at this orphanage, and only small solar panels and a generator which gives about 2 hours of electricity a day. ( A problem we will avoid at Umoja)
• The orphanage has progressed since my first visit in 2010 and now Kerry is schooling village children from outside the orphanage plus the 18 orphaned children she homes.
• The volunteers talked and played with the children while Katie and myself (both teachers) helped Kerry interview a new teacher.
• After a traditional bean dish for lunch and headed back to Diani Beach. 
• Kerry’s manager was up country for some time and the generator wasn’t working so Ian offered to help. He explained what he was doing and what he thought the problem was to Patrick who is always keen to learn new things.
• Kerry lives at the children’s home and has been a wonderful mentor to me and the Umoja team.
• The children’s home is dormitory style with girls sleeping in one building and boys in another and all children eating together in one dining room.
• On arrival back in Diani Beach, Ian and Austin went to the hardware shop to purchase what they needed to work on Umoja land the next day.  A huge experience, as hours later they were still there and still didn’t get all they needed. This is Kenya.  (TIK)
• It was good to finally have Katie with us and for her to get to know the rest of the volunteers and so good to hear of her climb to Mt. Kili. We were so proud of her.

Saturday 12^th January

WORKING ON LAND

The men set off early in Umoja’s van to pick up purchases at the hardware store and begin installing the guttering while the ladies had a wanted a wee bit of retail therapy before heading out to the land.

• David, the architect, and Dennis, electrical engineer, were to arrive at land at 10am, but being Kenya was closer to 1pm.
• Austin, Ian, David and Dennis had much professional conversation about the land boundaries, the buildings, the well depth, soil quality, electrical etc.
• David had brought the site plan plus his computer to show the men other designs etc., resulting in valuable discussion.
• David and Dennis helped with the installation of the guttering.
• What was to be a morning’s work continued on until late afternoon, and most of the guttering was installed.
• Austin & Ian tried to ascertain the depth of the well.
• It was wonderful to see the team working together to have the guttering installed.
• The day was extremely hot and the ladies arrived with drinks and lunch for the rest of us already there. 
• New locks were purchased to lock the caretaker’s cottage now that we had equipment inside. 

 Suggestions from David and Dennis (architect and electrical engineer)

• The well needs to be much, much deeper even though we have water
• The septic needs to be much, much deeper even though we have an overflow

 Sunday 13^th January 2013

MOMBASA CITY TOUR, VOLUNTEERING AT KIKAMBALA CHILDREN’S FEEDING STATION AND VISITING DISABILITY SCHOOL IN MTWAPA

Cultural Mombasa city tour allowed the volunteers to see the older part of Mombasa and Fort Jesus and learn some of the history behind it and the ‘old town,’ to experience where the locals shop / live and to see how carvings and artefacts are produced whilst experiencing the local conditions.

• I also took the volunteers past the public hospital to allow them to see the coffin sellers’ right across the street from the hospital morgue.
• We needed to be at Kikambala by lunchtime to prepare for the mass of children which come to be fed every Sunday by the Hindu Community. They have been doing this since the 1960’s.
• The volunteers quickly began being allocated tasks: 2000 children walked 10+ kilometres to be fed (possibly their only guaranteed meal for the week). I had not seen so many children there before.  The most I had seen was around 1200, and the overwhelming amount of them lining up patiently, waiting to be fed in the hot sun was heartbreaking.

There was not a dry eye at different times throughout the feeding and the volunteers did me proud by pitching in and helping tirelessly. It was gut-wrenching to see the children devour the food (beans, rice, and a bread-roll each) like hungry dogs.  It is quite overcoming to see so many young children carrying younger children, mostly severely malnourished, such a long way and then having to carry them back, along with the food they are giving to take home. The organisers spoke of the increase of children over the past months.  It is traditional to sit down and eat with the Hindus to give thanks to them, and again they dished up an outstanding Hindu meal.  It was with much sadness we helped the children pack their food in rags to carry it back ‘home’ while also carrying the younger ones on their backs. They are all only children!

• The visit to the Disabled Children’s School was a surprise to us as one of the Hindu organisers offered for us to go and see his school and what he has done for the children.  We were speechless to see the children (all 400 of them) waiting for us. There was food for us to hand out to the children and we spent some time with them and the principal (who was so passionate about his work).  We could not help but have our hearts so deeply touched by these children who had been dealt such a difficult life. The school was entirely built on the Hindu man’s money, as was the new primary school, and high school he was in the process of building.   Such an incredibly generous man changing the lives of these children.
• With heavy hearts we returned to Diani Beach and took some relaxation by listening to a Kenyan band on the beach.  The volunteers had begun to understand the enormity of the orphan problem in Kenya (and this was only in one place, where so many little humans come to be fed).
• There was not much conversation as we sat in silence on the way back to our accommodation, but much reflective thought.

Monday 14^th January 2013

VOLUNTEER TRIP TO LUNA CHILDREN’S HOME IN NYALI, AND TO THE GOODLIFE ORPHANAGE, MTWAPA

• Today was a big day again as we visited 2 different orphanages at different stages of development and it was important once again for the volunteers to see how different orphanages are run and how we intend to have Umoja develop into a children’s village.

LUNA CHILDREN’S HOME

• This is a children’s home run by a 22 year old English lady.  She has 27 children in her care at a rented premises under the supervision of Mombasa Children’s Department.
• Ashley began the orphanage in similar circumstances to myself and has encountered many difficulties in her 8 months since beginning the orphanage. 
• Ashley has an amazing determination for one so young, (she was in her final year of law in Hong Kong), and is very astute.  All children are under the age of 10 or 11. 
• Her compassion is to be highly praised and her perseverance is infinite to the well-being, schooling and medical care of these children and her staff.

THE GOODLIFE ORPHANAGE

• This is the orphanage model that Umoja has based its children’s home on.  After I had volunteered at this orphanage twice and built a relationship with owners Mary and Kevin Maguire, they have been a continual help to us at Umoja.
• The orphanage is now in the hands of Kenyan nationals who run the orphanage day to day with Mary and Kevin visiting for around 4 to 5 months a year.  Mary and Kevin do not live on the premises, but have their own home away from the orphanage.
• GLO is virtually self-sustainable and is also known as possibly the best run orphanage and school in Kenya where they not only educate their own orphaned children but the poorest of the poor in the surrounding community.
• Mary took the volunteers on a tour of the orphanage, agricultural gardens, kindergarten, and school. 
• The volunteers were incredibly impressed with the set-up of the orphanage (6 individual homes for 10 children each, plus their own mamma and aunty), a very high standard of upkeep and operation.
• To give thanks to Mary, I took the volunteers and Mary to lunch at Mtwapa before we said our goodbyes.
• We dropped Katie at the airport as she began her long journey back to Australia. She was very sad to leave after only spending 1 week in Kenya.

Tuesday 15^th January 2013

• A free day for the volunteers. 
• The ladies went for a visit to an island for snorkelling
• The men went to collect more piping from the hardware shop then to the land to continue with finishing the piping on the cottage for the water tank.  Once again they learnt ‘porely, porely’ (slowly, slowly) at the hardware shop. 
• Austin had a game of golf with the owner of the hardware store in the afternoon.
• The remaining volunteers had a last evening dinner together.
• I went to Mombasa to organise the insurance for our van and to changeover ownership which was an all- day affair.

Wednesday 16^th January 2013

• A shopping morning for the volunteers.  Ian left early for Johannesburg and Adele, Leanne, and Leonie in the afternoon. I had Umoja business to attend to today and visit friends, and it was sad see them go.
• We were able to have a reflection of the volunteer experience which was very beneficial.

Thursday 17^th January 2013

UMOJA ORGANISATION, DIANI BEACH ROTARY CLUB MEETING, AND WORK ON LAND

• Lots of organisation today to have the surveyor ready to be at land tomorrow as well as the surrounding landowners, the previous landowner, the contractor who was building the cottage, and the village chief.
• Meeting with Lawyer to chase up our Certificate of Registration as a Non-Government Organisation in Kenya.
• Austin returned to land to finish off the last of the pipe fitting, taps etc.,
• Pleasant meeting with the Diani Beach Rotary Club at Leisure Golf Club.
• It was great to meet other members from overseas, as well as catch up with the Diani Beach members whom I’d met last year.  They were very pleased to hear about the progress of the project to date.

Friday 18^th January 2013

SURVEYING OF UMOJA’S LAND

• What was to be a couple of hours on the land turned out to be virtually a whole day.
• Meeting consisted of prior landowner, surrounding landowners, village chief, government surveyor, contractor, Trish, Austin, and myself.  Patrick our project manager was there for a very short amount of time as he was recovering from an operation 2 days prior.
• On my return to Kenya in late June I will meet once again with the village chief and the landowners regarding fencing of Umoja’s land.

Saturday 19^th January 2013

  

AFTER A SUCCESSFUL FIRST VOLUNTEER EXPERIENCE TOUR, THE REMAINING VOLUNTEERS AND MYSELF RETURNED TO AUSTRALIA