back safely

so i am now home, sat in the kitchen by the computer gradually adjusting to the western world. but to be honest trying hard not to become too adjusted, as the lessons learnt and the experiences had were not for nothing, not to come back with the same attitudes as before. yes now there is hot water here, available food, clean streets but these are all things that i can continue to be grateful, or at least try to. in the west i am struck that we have so much, i opened my wardrobe for the first time and felt truly like a princess. why, where and how did i aquire or deserve all of these luxuries? my shoes are all arranged neatly in boxes, look almost brand new yet i know some of them have been there for years, the array of clothes neatly hung, no dust. i just sat and looked in awe.
as was preached in church last week material posessions are no bad thing, but its wise i'm thinking to keep grateful and not dependent on them. ive lived for months out of a small bag and had the time of my life (ok not THE time as i hope that there are many more good times to come!) so i'm not gonna stop wearing my clothes or start protests outside NEXT but i am going to try and preserve a grateful, thankful attitude towards things.
so what has changed? here not much, inside a lot. it was very wierd coming off the plane and seeing what has been my home for many years (ok not that many i am not ancient!) in a completely different way. everyone is white, everywhere is clean, the traffic is calm, green grass, no piles of rubbish, smart cars, the smell of roses in our garden, one strange thing that i was drawn to do was collect toilet paper whenever i saw it in public loos- in Kenya its a must to carry around a wadge in your pocket as holes in the ground dont come suppled with loo paper!had to catch myself from doing that!
then in the house, the size of the fridge, fresh coffee, a garden not shamba, SO MANY plates, cups etc where i have been used to one each, NO DUST, computer, SPACE. i kept wanting to take photos. as in the back of my mind i knew that it would not be for long that i saw all of this as odd. and i was right, now i just head for the computer in the morning, put on the kettle, eat from the fridge...
but what has changed? how has kenya changed me? how am i going to keep those positive changes and turn them into habit?

well one obvious change for my mother was that i strolled off the plane in a suit. so i know how to dress! another is that i have started cleaning, my Kenyan friends banged into my head that the daughter should dust clean etc. im not sure how long this will last but at the moment there is comfort in tasks such as that listening to my swahili grooves - so another change is the music that i listen to!
but more importantly i feel that i have grown as a person, developed into more of what i was inside, who i wanted to be yet only was sometimes.
i've seen my passion in life.
learnt to appreciate my upbringing - supportive parents both emotionally, spiritually, educationally financially - compared to some of my friends who's responsibility it was to put food on the table from a very early age.
i've learnt confidence in myself and my capabilities.
i know i CAN do 'it' whatever 'it' is if i set my mind to it.
i've learnt the value of today as well as working for a better tomorrow, as there are times when truly i did not know if there would be one.
i've learnt to live in comune. to love life. to make relationships with even the most unlikely of people and to talk to anyone.
iv learnt to cook more simply, live more simply in fact, to see that yes food is nice but its who you share it with that counts.
iv experienced overwhelming generosity from the poorest of people. iv learnt to dance to lingala to pray out loud.
to listen even when i disagree strongly.
to be appreciated in the workplace, to pull off the seemingly impossible.
to live on the edge. that parents love lasts across the oceans. that life belongs to god.
how welcomed one can be - now it is to me to do the same.
ive learnt about culture, had to change my attitude towards time, learnt to relax, i know how to skin a goat and pluck a duck, to work long hours for no pay.
how to dress knife wounds and how to cope when a friend gets taken into hospital, so support friends and in turn be supported.
that true friends are still there when you get back from it all, even if they find it hard, they still try to understand.
i'll never be the same, don't even want to be. as the experience i've had matches no other that i can speak of.

thank you for being faithful readers, for sharing in my comic escapades, supporting me through the challenges, praying when times got tough and for being there for my family.

now i'm to the task of getting ready for university, adjusting back to 'new' surroundings but at the same time want need to honour my experiences so am planning to write them down so that they can be shared. some things are too great to carry alone.

last post?

i am now writing what will perhaps be my last post from out here in kenya as im boarding my flight in only 3 days! tuesday just after 11pm is when im set to fly, my friends will all (ok as many as we can cram into the land cruised, the max is meant to be 14 but i think 18 might be ok!) accompany me to the airport in a red cross land cruiser, as we are volonteers and staff, if we fuel it and make the request (which we did long ago) we can take the vehicle! wich i am much looking forward to. then tomorrow they are organising me a "surprise" bash involving goat being roasted! it was to be a surprise but i saw the goat prancing around the compound and the beans were spilled! it should be a good event (of which l be sure to post photos when i am back to the land of internet in the house and fast computers)
so what have i been0 doing in my last week? i was on a desaster response training for a few days which was very enlightening, but other than that it has been packing, sorting, and spend ing the last time with many people. its sad but i have to remind myself that i am nod dying, i can always come back! there is internet and there is phone!
so what are the feelings? anticipation, fear, excitement, sadness, joy... ALL of them. its funny to think of leaving this all behind but i am ready, this is the start of a new chapter in my life which starts back in the UK. so until i see you in person,
love to you all,
Bee xxx

Gecomba

the BIGGEST market that i have seen in my life. the mother of all matumbas (second hand clothes markets)
was led to this masterpiece and marvel of geniousity when i was in Nairobi with winnie last week accompanying her to an interview.
i cannot believe that i am only discovering this lace now, when ever people come to visit me here it will be a top destination!
the place is amazing i kid you not - rows and rows of stalls - ie wooden constrictions or just piles of clothes stretching on for miles - the roves are plastic bags or wooden posts (don't go imagining some picturesque cottage in cornwal, it is very far from that!) overlap each other so it is as if you are going through a rabbit warren. there is no order at all, they are higldypigdly almost on top of eachother and people and animals are running in all directions.
there are hats, tops, coats, jeans, suits, trousers, dresses of ALL sizes and descriptions of very negotiabe prices. i gloat not (ok that is a lie) but a mango jacket for 2 pounds fifty! an evening dress for 7 pounds! where else i dont know.
then there is no chance to get hungry as th usual wheel barrows of pineapple, watermelons, bananas, mangoes and the sellers of sausages, yams, sweet potatoes and samosas are all close to hand.
this is not a place to go flashing your cash though, and not somewhere that i would dare to venture alone, no no! you watch your bag, keep it to hand and use the other to bat off the hawkers flying in all directions! one highlight was when we told one jeans seller that we were actually looking for dresses and he said 'oh yes i have those just here' then proceeded to lead us in a round about way turning so many directions for at least ten minutes till we were well and truly lost! African 'just here' is not parallel to the English one! THEN when we arrived there they were fit for old ladies! hehehe we did giggle.
managed to locate some mighty fine purchases though and left feeling well satisfied.

First Aid Comp (and how to give birth in a matatu)

so last weekend i went on a three day (so obv not just the weekend!) First Aid Training course under (low and behold what a surprise) the Red Cross. i have already done a fair bit of first aid what with working for the Red Cross as a volunteer and in PGH hospital for those gruesome months and also done the basics under the Girls Guides and Duke of Edinburgh award scheme but what with the certificate orientated world we now live in i thought it best to take up the opportunity to0 get another more official looking one. in fact the course was excellent. i learnt so much new information as well as refreshing the things that i already knew and it was great to be in a forum for discussion. the course was both theory and practical ranging from CPR to bites, to burns, to fire extinguisher use to emergency childbirth!
so in three days 8 till 5 i was able to both have fun and cram my brain with new skills, the firemans lift practical being one of my favorites! we also did emergency scene management: for example there is a scene where a car has collided with a truck leaving 5 casualties, one is unconscious, one is running around madly, another is burnt as the car has caught on fire, and the remaining two are screaming with limbs in awkward positions. what do you do? in these practicals we were taught the triage of cases, how to use bystanders, the 8 steps to first aid etc so that in real life we would know what to do. it was very fun and challenging.
then this yesterday it came into practice as we had the grassroots first aid competition hosted here in Nakuru next to our branch in a primary school. there was a seniors section and an out of school youths section each with around 10 teams from schools, colleges and businesses in the Nakuru area. i formed an impromptu team composing of (Kim, Charles and I as each team was to have three) that morning after my original team disbanded and we managed to come third place! pretty pleased with ourselves considering the fact that we hadn't practiced as a team prior to that day! imagine how good we could have been if we had!
the day was nerve wracking, we had to hand over our phones and stay in isolation until our teams turn came, then after we were aloud to stay and watch how the remaining teams reacted. the scene was a motorbike and a bicycle collision, there was an unconscious casualty (of course that is the one you are meant to address first), a casualty with a severe cut to the head and a third with suspected neck injury and an obvious leg fracture. we had seven minutes in which you are supposed to

1. call for help (introduce yourselves to the bystanders and call the emergency services correctly)
2. assess the scene for danger (you must not become the next casualty! ie get bystanders to stop traffic, move casualties away if there is a fire, move dangerous objects, contol the crowd)
3. assess the casualties (ABCs of life, assess the casualties in order of urgency ie dont go to the one that screams loudest first!)
4. arrest bleeding (correct use of bandages/improvisation)
   
5. support head and neck
   
6. secondary assessment (whole body, now also move to burns and breakages)
   
7. take history (AMPLES: allergies, medication, past experience in hospital, last meal, events leading up to scene, signs and signals)
   
8. transportation (correct method)

so there is alot to do! plus you are also being judged on your co-ordination, teamwork, delegation, use of materials (eg dont act without gloves), speed, use of bystanders, whether you vocalize your actions, handling of patients... and alot more as i dont want to bore you with EVERYTHING that we learnt on the course!
it was hard work! first aid is something that i am defiantly more confident in and want to keep improving my skills in now, leading up to the day we went to some schools giving refresher classes, something id be interested in offering my services in the future with, as what better way to keep in practice than to teach!
so fake blood and scenarios out of the way now its back out int the world to get doing the real thing!

IDPs

so what has happened to the political situation here you might ask? as i have been typing more about personal issues of late rather than the situation in the country.
well they are still there. the ICRC (International Committee of the Red Cross) is pulling out of the situation and the Government claims to be trying its best to move the IDPs home. the Red Cross is not helping with this other than to give them tarpaulins and basics to take with them as it is against Red Cross principals to facilitate in taking people back to places that they have fled from.
so we want to close the camps but the people are reluctant to go. not because there is violence but because they feel that they are entitled to some monetary compensation after the violences and they know that their chances of getting this are greatly reduced to nothing at all if they return. but as it stands i cant see the government giving anything anyway as they would have done it already if there was a plan to do so and besides the bill would be so high that the already damaged economy could not handle it.
so the camps are still full, my red cross branch (nakuru) also runs the camps in Molo and Naivasha, last week one of the camps in Molo was closed but lo and behold this week we have more IDPs turning up to the showground FROM MOLO because they don't want to stop receiving food and free clinic etc. so despite the fact that the camp is dirty, they are in falling apart tents that are cramped together, there is rape and SO MANY psychologically affected people running around, they still want to stay. there is definitely a dependency syndrome here.
we have stopped with issuing the tarpaulins due to this very fact, if they are to go home then they will receive another so it would be a waste of resources to issue two. but what to do till then? (not for me as obv i have many other activities to get involved in!) but when it rains? two thirds of the camp has, the other third does not.
even as i am going around the schools with the certificates for the walk there are so many of the principals saying how can we assist them, they want free food for the IPDs in their schools. i dont know whether i am right to be, but this angers me greatly that they think that it is their right to be assisted by us- have they seen all the work that we are doing and all the people at the camps? we are supporting so many, how can they expect us to start dishing out food to children who are actually in schools and in homes? especially when this comes from schools who have raised so little for our walk and have just finished demanding we give them a t-shirt for it.
what of the rest of the country? well, last night i was watching the news and was astonished to see that in Kisi there were 35'witches' burnt alive in their homes yesterday. but what astonished me more was the reaction from my friend Le and her sister Phyllis who said - oh yes there are a lot of witches there in Kisi, you know you can't travel by day there or you will be bewitched (!) they weren't joking. my oh my.
so politically we are calm, unlike SA as we are are all seeing on the TV

post walk

have looked on my list of posts and this is my 70th! wow that show i've been here a while now!
now that the walk is over, sad to say that i did not actually take part due to the fact that i was taking over the duties of my friend who was sick in terms of hospitality AND that on the way to the walk i fell over a pile of rocks (it was dark at 5.30am so i didn't see them on the road) and really messed up my big toe. the walk went well but my head was not really there due to tiredness and worry about my friend who was in hospital. at 10 i skived out to go and see her for a while.
over 2000 people came, the mayor spoke, we had the national youth band lead the way. the problems came on the organizational side: catering for all those people with snacks and drinks, and getting certificates prepared. a mission.
now a week on i am still working at distributing the certificates - there are 96 schools remember, and getting up to date information and contact details to make next years job easier (pity i won't be here to enjoy the ease of task though!) so am collecting together all the messy scraps of paper we have and creating a very nice excel document. doesn't sound that fun but it will be useful for not only the walk but all the other work with schools that red cross normally does during peacetime (to be honest i'm unsure why it hasn't been done before) such as visits, setting up red cross clubs, first aid training...
then this weekend i'm going on a first aid training myself here at branch. it's for three days and i'll get a certificate at the end. seems somehow to put all my work in the hospital to shame, as i obviously know first aid pretty well by now after working in that terrible place, but it's good to have a certificate and the formal training.
have done other things this week such as helping Winnie to set up a bank account, looked into getting a counselor for my friend, get a new camera so i can take all the snaps i need before i go, sort out what i am going to give away, undergo proper dissemination on the red cross, but nothing life threatening enough to go into detail on.
thank you for all of your support, it means so much, especially when times are hard, to know that there are people behind me flowingly my progress back home,
so till i see you, do email if you have the time.

prayers this way please

one truly awful day. apart from being completely snowed under with work and there being no co-operation one of my best friends has been admitted... to PGH (remember the hell hole that i used to work in?)
this follow-ups job is a joke, the drivers of the motorbikes, the people that we are meant to get phone credit from, and the schools themselves have been so helpful that i almost blew it this morning 'here i am working my ass off for free and this is the thanks i get!!!' i exploded to the motorbike driver who arrived hours late to collect me to go around the schools. then there is no fuel. then the schools don't even remember about the walk. or they complain that we have not assisted them with food for the IDP kids who go there.
but then i got a call from Winnie my house buddy and work no longer seemed of any importance. one of our closest friends has been admitted against her will to the most terrible hospital ever. for malaria and also more serious problems that we're not sure how to help. she doesn't want to take drugs.
what i thank god for is the support from my friends here, and the knowledge that challenges are there to build us. at the moment i am praying for strength to keep me going and the wisdom to know how to handle these difficult situations i keep landing myself in (and more hours in a day to accomplish everything, but doesn't everyone want that!)

so, the walk...

as prompted by my lil bro (though not so lil i hear these days!) i am henceforth to give some more details on Saturday's upcoming walk...
so it's 18 km, (yes i agree not really all that far!), so i would not so much be asking for sponsors for my walking efforts but more for my organisational skills (though i will also be participating) on the day i'm gonna be registering participants with my two friends who are BOTH incidentally called Charles, i'm also organising getting the forms to the schools (there are 100 schools, we went to 5 today...), getting the donation forms, making sponsor forms, getting the forms to the branch so that certificates can be made, organising for refreshments, helping plan the programme, overseeing that the tents and chairs for the celebration are set up correctly, organising enough water and glucose, checking on the ushers and of course going to all the committee meetings. WHILE also over seeing the good old tents.
should be a good event, 100 schools, 20 - 50 per school, guest speakers, entertainment... just hope we can pull it all off!
the money is going to help with the branch's activities, supporting the youth activities, replenishing the supplies in the stores... much money has come in to help with the disaster but the funds for the branch's normal activities are long since over. getting dissemination materials for example. very important but not related directly enough to the disaster. so any sponsors that i ca rally round for would be highly appreciated, especially this year when everyone here has less in their pocket due to the events over the last few months and increased prices. my bro has already pledged his 10 pounds earnt looking after the Joneses dog.
wish me luck in smooth running of the event!

Red Cross

at the moment we are preparing for the annual humanitary walk. this is a Red Cross fundraiser that takes place every year around nakuru. i am on the committee (strongly beacuse i was promised a Tshirt if if i was on the committee - something highly sought after around the branch what with so many of us volunteers) but also because i rather do love organising things.
so the role i was given was doing follow ups - sounds pretty straight forward and easy yes? well no. not really when there are over 200 schools participating, the numbers range from landline to celtel to safaricom so i have to use a combination of three phones. then there is the fact that half the numbers seem to either be 'metega' (out of reach) or not to exist at all! then when/if i do get through they often have no idea about the walk despite the fact that they have been issued with sponsor forms last month. some don't get my accent (even though my mother did comment that i was sounding especially 'african' on the phone these days) and usually the line is terrible.
i am also featuring in the hospitality comitee chaire by my close friend Harriet - my role here, apart from founding up budding volunteers for jobs like ushering and tent pitching, is to find enough snacks and drinks (donated not bought) for a couple of thousand participants and guests. so on Monday off i will set on a motorbike to undertake this task, wish me luck, i think im gonna need it!
anyone who does fancy donating money towards this sponsored walk (which i will be walking as well as organising) just get in touch with me by email and forward very much appreciated donations to my mother who im sure will be able to get them to me so that i can take them to the branch

other than these activities i am still hard at work with the tarpaulin action. when i arrived back last week they were plodding along doing 10 tarpaulins a day regardless of the fact that it rains pretty hard every day so consequently the large majority of the camp is getting wet as the tents all leak. now we have bumped up the number to 60 a day. im pretty proud of my impact here!

back to Nakuru...

Have left the beach and the heat back to cool nakuru (kenya cool that is not the british variety!) where i have returned to my usual red cross antiques and healthy plates of ugali, its funny how i actually miss kenyan food without it for a week or so now!
usual dramas at the branch, new faces, new scandals, but all in all good to be back. the process of getting things done is still painfully slow, was rather unimpressed at the amount of tents that have been repaired in my absence, but getting hold of the materials such as string and tarpaulins is more hassle than it should be. we continue though!

Mombasa!

right now i am typing feverishly away in an internet cafe in MOMBASA! the Ventners (check out their holiday pics at www.ventersinkenya.blogspot.com) have been extremely kind to me and invited me on their holiday to Mombasa, a way was opened up to them to spend a week in a resort for missionaries which happens to be right on the beach. this was a surprise for Timothy, Joy and Stephanus, who all thought that they were going to stay for a few days somewhere much nearer to home. so the exciting secret has been well kept but Wilco, Lydia and Maki. SO many times it almost slipped out but luckily it was only when we were actually 300km away from the destination that Joy started to question just how far away these friends we were visiting did stay, and that Stephanus was recognising trees from the time that they went a few years ago that the secret was spilled. what an exciting secret eh!
so the place we are staying is great, we have a whole house from which you can look out to the sea and walk into the sea. the place has been set up for missionaries to take a break at so it does have a few funny rules such as no bikinis (i've been wearing a vest on top of mine) but is so peaceful, has a games room, three bedrooms, A SHOWER, fridge, cooker etc.
we are very much in luxury and i feel very privileged to be sharing this experience with the family.

Nakaru National Park (second trip)

so my first port of call (if not in practice but definitely importance wise) was to go check in with the Venters and see how they were fairing after the escapades of last month's "visitors". I was glad to see that both Lydia and Wilco's wounds have healed very well with tremendous speed, and that adequate security has been put in place to pre-empt any follow up attacks. the house now proudly sports heavy metal doors, a new alarm system and there is also a night watchman (so yes mum i was highly safe there!).
the whole family has been though so much, i really wanted to create a fun day for them, so i manned the wheel of the car and mobilised the kids for a very unforgettable trip to the game park (not without first dropping Lydia and Wilco in town to spend a kid-free day together) so off we lurched in the vehicle (not a small one) in the direction of the park. there was saw all manner of animals, but most amusing for my park was the look on Timothy's face as a monkey CLIMBED INTO THE CAR and starked making a feast of our chocolaty treats kindly purchased by Lydia. Luckily for all involved (not the monkey though) i was able to snatch back the box with minimal damages to said snacks.
the national park has many paths, but you can also go off onto the grass, turning in the road was somewhat hard and ended up in more than one ditch.
we really do have to thank god for our lives though, i tell you my heart was in my mouth as i navigated our way around some of the routs. there was a view point to which one must drive up an incredibly steep incline with your foot as hard down as it could go. the thing that was really going through my mind, apart from the fact that we could have slipped backwards off the cliff, was the fact that i would have to navigate DOWN after the nice view! geezze i have no bones about declaring that i was proud of myself for that.
until we realised back in town that the turnbar (i think its called that...) under the car had broken. GREAT. or the following day when in turned out that THE OTHER TURNBAR was ALSO broken! fab driving eh. Timothy came to me today and said, "Bee please i don't want you to drive us, you are a crazy driver". but i believe fun was had by all that day so it can still be counted as a success despite the setbacks!

will they learn?

seems things are going down hill again. in Elbagon today two people have been killed. there have been reports of a couple of burnt houses too. just as people seemed to have settled down. had these politicians got their act together and formed a government cabinet by now which could act and make some decisions for the benefit of the country then this might not be the case. over 3 months since this all exploded there is still no government. those two powerful men no longer have respect of the people as i see it, people want them to stop being greedy on their choice of cabinet members etc and get something sorted.
today i have been in Molo in a peer education training for IDPs in the camps, they are learning about protected sex, relationships, drugs and generally growing up stuff, this is the worthwhile stuff that needs to be done not endless table discussions. have the MPs been seen around here since before the elections when they wanted the peoples support? no.

back 2 bee's village...

so i'm back to the tents, unfortunately they were very poorly designed so they all either leak or have broken poles it seems, i.e. a lot of work for Bee, Kim and Issac, the RX tent team. but i love it, its great to be back. the job at the moment is attaching tarpaulins and replacing the poles, also a spot of numbering so my nails are back to their black, non existent state. despite the fact that the international press has lost interest in Kenya we still have 14,000 on the camp where i work, 4000 in the other Nakuru camp, several camps of 4000 around Molo, a camp in Londieni and Nivasha all under the Nakuru red cross's love and care. it is estimated, quite rightly i think, that there are still over 300,000 IDPs to this day.

today the Secretary General of the Kenya Red Cross, Abbas Gullet came to the branch and to visit the camp (rather like our version of Robbie Williams) so you can imagine we have been excited. he even came into the office and said hello when i was in here. exciting eh. so we will all be watching the news today in case we are on there!

unarudi nyumbani!!!

last day in SA today, tomorrow i return to Kenya. so i guess this may be the last post for a wee while as we all know i'm not that good on the ol contact side o things back there!
Many thanks to Lucy's family, Auntie Vee and Mike for welcoming us at the bus station, great to have an escort in a comfy car after the suspensionless bus plus use of computers/washing machines and all manner of modern electrical items muchly appreciated as was curry - not sumt we've had for a while!
the time i have spent here in SA has been a great opportunity to rekindle links with a side of the family that is now dwindling what with the lack of my grandparents and father on that side. Milton, Niki, Richard and Kate have been fabulous hosts welcoming me right into their lives here, i have also gotten the chance to meet my Nana's cousins Rodney and David and their wives who are both appropriately called Joan!
it has also been a great eyeopener into a side of Africa that i had no idea existed. i knew that there were Brits living over these sides but never imagined the standard of living here, no jokes: most of the time one wouldn't guess that you were in Africa at all!
Joberg is highly developed but there is still a long way to go as far as internal relations go; apartheid wasn't that long ago.
so until i get to a computer again, love to all my readers and please pray for peace in both Kenya and Zimbabwe.

A nourished thirst for history

yesterdays visit to the Joberg Apartheid Museum gave me a nourished thirst for my chosen uni subject (much to the delight i'm sure of those family members dubious of the likelihood of my return to 'the real world'). i saw just how little i actually know about a subject that has been so formative in Africa's most economically developed country today. Milton (uncle type figure - his father is my dads mothers cousin), having reservations about the bias of said museum has never paid it s visit despite being a Joberg resident all his life, so took my being here as the opportunity to pay it a visit himself. we were both enthralled. on entering the place at 2.30pm we only noticed the time at 5.15 when the lights went off as a not so subtle sign that we should get out pronto if you please (or if you don't also id imagine), a rather good sign of its ability to capture visitors.

i don't intend to give you a list of facts, more to encourage anyone heading down to this side of the world to bee-line the place.

but what did strike me was just how recent all of this was. in my life time the segregation was still taking place. no wonder there is violence here now, id be angry still if id have been forced under those conditions.

back in the land of dairy milk...

still have a firm standing on my 'little Britain' claim, all i can say really is that it is a good job that i went to Zimbabwe first where i had my first major culture shock as i wouldn't have managed it here if not!

am currently staying with a distant branch of the family on my fathers side, not of the Moore variety but the Jones side, or Espley-Jones as the South African dwellers chose to change themselves to over a hundred years ago. seems there are members of our clan spread far and wide over this global neighborhood of ours, pretty good for me as a traveller!

they live in a HUGE house with a heated outside pool, rooms with big ceilings, hight tech security, so i am probably more safe here than i have ever been in my life! there is not only a sky high gate and a constant both day and night patrol of cops but also an alarm system for outside during the day and in the night it also runs across the house. this means that i cant go for any sleepwalk wanderings as i'd be prone to set it off. and this is no mamby-pamby system either - if it goes of the cops get here pronto to investigate. serious stuff.
but what was the most shock i have to say was to discover a fully stocked fridge and snack cupboard. you would not believe my eyes at the sight of a dresser laden with chocolate easter eggs, bunnies, marshmallow eggs, Lindor truffles (you know those red ones - it is so long since i have seen them that i have forgotten what the official name is for them), jars full of coloured sweets (the big, old fashioned lollyshop variety), then a WHOLE CUPBOARD of chocolate digestives, finger biscuits, custard creams, pink wafers (not waffers Achacha if you are reading this!), and more varieties of which i cannot even describe. and that is not to mention the crisps!

i tell you, there was more variety than a large Zimbabwean supermarket.

so obviously the 'slim up' idea has been quite rightly thrown out the window in favour of the delights of this new discovery. Milton has said that i must help myself as if not he will feel that he has to offer me things all the time and that would become tiresome leading him never to invite me over again. so dairy milk double decker it is for breakfast!

SA (Little Britain)

have arrived in the legendary 'danger centre' that is South African capital Joberg. have to say we are very disappointed, we have not been mugged or attacked once. I was rather looking forward to the stories we could exaggerate on but we have none at all!
jokes aside though we are here at last but sad to say that is the final day of the fab travelers duo that is Lucy & Bees travels in Africa.
traveling here was a mammoth expedition including a 16 hour bus journey from Bulawayo to Joberg during the night. put me right off buses it did, the 3 hour wait at the border in the middle of the night and a toilet covered in barbed wire being highlights. journey started off to a bad start, driver was not there, so finally leaving an hour late (so on time for Africa really) we were on the road and had bagged a three seat for the two of us so happily munched our cucumber. but sleeping was next to impossible given the suspension on said bus and I had developed a peculiar itch on my whole face and there were cockroaches galore. but the border was the pits. not even a shop to purchase the usual womens solution to undesirable moments, a chocolate bar. so we sat and after exhausting games of: think of something, cards and remembering the top ten disgusting trip things/stupid things said and food consumed I gave in to sleep and snuggled (as much as one can snuggle with no bedding or pillow into lucy's bright orange bivy bag. rather a sight I hear, so good thing I have no high regard to randomers laughs on my sleeping habits. Surprised to see such clean streets, new cars and brittainesque feel to the place. rather peculiar really.

me at the wheel for the first time since I got my licence! driving the truck, much to lucys fear (note the slightly scary face!

a picture iof lucy with a rather surprised looking kid at "Just Kids" in Harare where we went to look around the orphanage and were highly surprised to see how good it was compared with my sightings in Kenya and Lucys impression of the rest of Africa. did not spend more than a day there as they seemd far to well equiped to need us!

photos

this is a pic showing lucy and i at Goremonzi visiting the preschool set up by Jackson and Marie under the SEED project. we were sitting in on their sunday service and had the chance to join in on some songs and listen to Roberts fantastic translation of the preaching! met the lads from the gardening project who were fun to meet but not quite as keen on the actual gardening part as i got the impression that their leader was! one of them sported a highly fetching harry potter tshirt which caught our eye. they invited us to their easter celebration conferance (lasting 4 days) to which we attended an afternoon much to their pleasure. im not sure that i would have lasted the whole hog though, and im sure that we wouldnt have survived off the mutumbo stew!

this is a pic in the back garden of the Nazombes during our easter kids party (read down for more details on that fun event!) while they were running the first race. this was prior to the egg and spoon, sack race and popcorn eating contest all lof which provided much amusement for both us and the kids!

Victoria Falls

Wow. That is almost all I can say. Wow.
Today we went to the falls for the first time and were blown away (fortunately not quite literally!) they are SO BIG and SO AWESOME I was amazed and thinking to myself that I couldn’t wish to be anywhere else or to do anything else (pretty lucky seeing as all the activities are rather on the expensive side here being the tourist magnet that it is!)
There is a great walk that takes you to various points where you can see the falls from different angles getting progressively more adventurous and wetter as you progress. Luckily for our belongings someone warned us in the morning about this so we had packed our things inside plastic bags inside our rucksacks, as we were COMPLETELY drenched! The view was amazing and the experience matched by none other (apart from when we went to see Uluru as a kid maybe…) so we did not mind the water at all. Especially as it is very hot here so one can dry off very quickly!
Have taken lots of photos, unfortunately not the patience to load them right now but they still are still a poor reflection of the experience itself.
The experience made me think how possibly can such a thing exist, when looking at something of the sort I don’t think that one can question gods input into our earth! I feel very lucky and privileged to have seen another of the seven wonders of the world. 

Night train (harry potter style)

Hehehe that was a great experience, just like either stepping back in time or into Harry Potter! The train was an old colonial beast run on diesel taking us the distance between Bulawayo and Vic Falls. Despite being warned of its dangers – possible break down, sleeping gas, robbers… we thought what the hell, when are we aver going to get a chance to ride though the night through Zimbabwe for a mere 4 pounds!
Even from the train station the adventures began (or when did they actually stop you might ask and I think you might have a point!) we were harmlessly chatting to a couple of guys at the café when one of them was unsurepticiously pulled over. When we questioned him he said that a member of the CIO (Zimbabwe CIA) had been asking him what we were talking about and whether we were reporters! Then another man, obviously not trained well in his acting skills, came and sat right next to us, completely obviously eavesdropping our every word! And this is not the first time that I have been mistaken for a reporter – in Gueru another guy asked me if I was there to monitor the elections. On the one hand we thought that it might have been beneficial to say that we were as we would have been sure to have gotten top notch security!
We booked first class, on Lucy’s insistance, I was begrudging about the extra pound, of which I was mightily pleased when the following morning I investigated third. So we had a cabin to ourselves, there were two bunks, a fold out sink (no water though), a cupboard, rack for our bags, fold out table, mirror, window, lights (but they didn’t work, and many other fascinating gadgets. Then much to our surprise, as we set off we were given sheets and blankets!
Despite the ‘luxury’ we were careful and kept the door mostly locked, especially after one guy in the corridor said ‘so shall we make a baby’ to me while passing our door! The train was incredibly slow and stopped in the middle of nowhere for no apparent reason for hours at a time but that was quite alright as we kept the window firmly closed and were able to get a good nights sleep!
In the morning I watched the sun rise and saw monkeys on the line which was ultimately fab. And got chatting to various males as Lucy is not a morning person. One asked to take me down the train to meet his brother, which I accepted, it being light at the time so probably not dangerous. The train was FAR longer than I expected and got progressively worse as you went toward the front. The cabins turned into four bed, then two benches, then no cabin, falling apart seats, holes in the WOODEN floor through which you could see the track, a hole as a toilet, missing doors and people strewn everywhere sleeping, selling bread, maize, sorting and washing greens, platting hair, just a hive of activity! But I was pleased that Lucy had insisted on first class as we would not have gotten a wink of sleep there, probably have got raped and had our belongings (the many of them) stolen in about half an hour.
I wish they had these trains from Cambridge to Scotland, they are much more fun than National Rail!

bulawayo...

currently back on the road again, or rail track rather, heading from harare to vic falls to continue our adventures. tonight we board the night train, should be an experiance! we have just spent two nights in guieru were there were many experiances including rats in the bathroom, a cinema with falling appart seats and just us, being m,istaken for a reporter and a v hectic canoe ride.

am having fun, enjoying the sun and watching out in the lead up to elections, we all hope it does not go the same way as kenya!

in our last week in harare the internet was not working, nor the phones most of the time so i have not been able to load the many good pictures that i was meaning to. but we have gotten up to some antiques, including chasing round catching a duck then helping pluck it for dinner, organising a kids party for 21 kids (we were left v exhausted and with an increased respect for our mothers!), taking maids out for pizza and a film, trips to Goremonzi to see SEEDs work there, helping in a sewing group and me aquiring a drawing student!

so i was ableto have an impact on a few peoples lives in a very differnet and unsustainable way than in keya but none the less i feel we have definatly made our mark.

it was great taking the maids out for their first ever pizza and what looked like a rather dubious martial arts film (chosen by them) but that actually turned out to be really good. it was a challange leading the preschool (be it only for a one day visit!) but my highlight by far was the kids party we threw on easter friday. we invited the kids that we took to the snake park and told them to bring their friends - news spread like wild fire as we had 21 kids turn up on the day! we were up early blowing up ballons, baking cakes and stringing popcorn for the games, by 2pm (pbefore the kids arrived) we were already in need of a quick nap! the kids enjoyed (as did we) the games, traditional ones such as sack race, piggyback race, egg on a spooon, eating popcorn off a string, apple bobbing, musical bumps and of course pass the pastle. i though that i would be able to deter a few with my forfits (eat a catapilar - of the cooked variety) but NO! they jumped at the opportunity which lucy declined, and even asked for more!

potential desaster came at snack time when the kids, having never seen such a spead in their lives (cake, dot coms, popcorn, jelly and crisps - less than the average UK kids party) were keen to eat as much as they could manage, and more if we left them too it! not keen for puking kids we were careful on monitoring and lucy set up some impromptu party bags. no -one wqanted to go home, the sign of a good party! so rather than 5 they were all out by 6 and lucy and i we left to ponder on the day, feel thankful for the maids helping us to wash up, thankful for Gogo and the rest of the family being so ameniable to our general vandalisation of the garden, and a strong seance of respect for our mothers effort shen we were kids!

so off we set into the sun, with meomires to treasure and new adventures before us...

please pray for the Venter Family

Just a message to request all those who have been praying for me while i have been away and reading my stroies to remember the Venter family, Lydia nad Wilco who set up YASHA, the school there i worked for some time before Chirstmas, a family very close to my heart, and to pray for them.
last week they were violently attacked in their home (where i stayed with them) by armed robbers to the extent that they were both hospitalised. the children viewd it all.
please just pray with me for them, let us hold thme in our hearts.

one of the many one day activities that we have done here was to spend time with streets ahead, a street kid project that has a centre in town for kids to come to, wash clothes, cook food, play sport, but eventually seeks to sent them home.
so last week i went on one of the reuniting operations. we took a kid who has been on the streets for 2 months back to his rural home - this is where he lives! real mud huts like you see in picture books! it was facinating to learn about them - the circular ones are for the kitchen, square for the bedroom...
but it was sad as the first place he asked to go - his aunts, the aunt shunned him. she would not accept him back. so we took him to his uncles instead WAY out far from anywhere. the uncle was not there even after we had waited an hour or more so we left him there as he seemed quite happy. i only hope he stays happy there.

the lion park

sunday's adventure was taking kids to the lion park. lucy wantd to visit the animals, but why not make it more rewarding by rounding up some random economically disadvantaged kids and treat them too? so we asked Gogo (Jackson's mum) to suggest a few, she came up with four very well behaved little girls who's mothers made their living selling fruits on the street - ie they would never have enough disposable assets to spend on a frivilous visit to a nature park.there were a few language barriers, ie they spoke no english us no shona but their joyful laughs and smiles said it all. even if we had just driven there and headed streight home it would have satisfied them as an adventure but the animals... they were so excited!there was a 300 year old tortoise wieghing 500g, lions, hienas, baboons...we also brought snacks for them and a kind group of felow visitors gave us a huge plate of chips- a real feast for some girls who never get to taste or see such things

zimbabwe experiances: week one

one of my highlights this week was visiting the state hospital, Harare's PGH. my expectations, given the image that the media in the uk portrays in the uk was that it would be of a lower standard than that of its kenyan counterpart, i was in for a shock. the place we cleaner, better equiped and managed than NNH, the private establishment that I was admitted to!

• all the beds had clean sheats, fitting the beds in nice colours without blood stains or holes,



• the bed frames looked as if they were stable not rocking precariously



• one person per bed



• smoothe floors for easy sliding of trolleys



• ample space in corridoors



• ventilation not in the form of broken windows- all the glass was complete and there were even curtains



• no appatent flys or mozis



• the food smelled good, a choice of rice or pasta, vegetables and chicken! served in plates and with cutlery (not mixed slop in a metal bucket served to you only if you have brought with you an appropriate vessel)



• the morge is fully refrigerated! and the place has generators for when there are power cuts (PGH has i have heard a pile -literally of decomposing bodies. i believe this as i have smellet it and have seen the look on the faces of my tracing friends from the red cross once they have been there to identify bodies. freshest on the top, decomposed on the bottom.)



• furthermore i did not have the overwealming urge to go and scrub the walls, they looked fine!

the imediate thing i notaced was that the place didnt smell. that putrid smell that eminated from PGH i cannot quite describe appart from the fact that it follows you all the way down the street. architecturally the place was also of a much higher standard, large storyed blocks interspaced with grass and trees, a kids playground and people strolling happily. the place could have been adenbrookes really!

ther was even a seperate childrens department with an xray, theatre, outpatients, waiting room...all the necesaries. plus more than enough staff dispite the poor pay (nurses getting less than 12 pounds per month) and all the cases we hear of doctors leaving for greener pastures over the boarders.

what was the most surprising unexplaned question though was the lack of patients- instead of the 1000 beds being full wards were empty. mens had 8 staff and 2 patents. there was only one delivery that day. and ICU with 2 patients... it was misterious and the doctors, nor the nurses could explain it. there is another general hospital but it is suffering similar problems. patients do have to pay but the rates are very low. where are all the sick people going?.?.?.?

Reuniting with Lucy!

this is a pic of us in Harare Zimbabwe where i arrived on friday and Lucy arrived on saturday. although i am sad to have left kenya, very sad in fact, all of my sentences begin with 'back home in kenya...' to the extent that i am sure that everyone is boared, i am excited about our new adventures here.
getting to the airport was a mission, involving almost leaving the passport in Narkuru, almost missing the plane in a traffic jam so taking motor bikes (weaving in between traffic on the wrong side of the dirt road at what i saw when i dared peek over the drives sholder 78km/h) then arriving at the airport to find that my ticket was niether a valid e ticket nor a normal ticket! but finally after much stress and near tears only the plane and off.

a range of kenya photos...

me nd ngore having a secret snack in the stores. that was way back before my birthday in jan when the stores actually had things to snack on! now there isnt even enough maise to give everyone and the kitchen has vertually given up...

this is a pic of me inside the M6 (vehicle donated to the Red Cross after the vietnam war) getting out clothes for distribution in Koresoi, this was back in december when we were just dealing with IDPs from the clashes bearing no relation to the elections, ok that is not quit true they were incited by the politicians even then, but we did not have IDPs on the same scale as now.

this is a pic of charles, me and scovia posing for fun when we were doing the family day at molo before christmas. i have had alot of fun making friends at the red cross, these two are particularly close ones.

this is a pic of me (with new short hair) at the campsite carrying a tent. as you can see they are hefty things, needing two to carry them. these are UN tents in which we have housed two families per tent, when i left there were around 1300 up. theyr pretty tricky as ten people are needed to hoist them up and often the poles are broken or the slots are stuck together. that is not to mention the difficulty of getting the IDPs to co-operate! but dispite the tough conditions, the work was great fun, the volonteers were a good team and i got a tan! all good... apart from the blistered fingers...

this is a picture of me at red cross branch stamping meal voultures for the IDPs at the showgroud a couple of weeks ago. thes where very premitave pieces of card, ripped into squares, stamped reading name, date, date of return, baggage, and a signature, and of course the red cross stamp i am holding to show it was bonefide. they were so scrappy coz we would need several 1000 per day, but really a joke as i did later find thjat the gateman was not even checking them! the idea was to monitor inflow but is is SO hard, people dont want to co-operate at all.

More photos arrived in uk - the camp at Lake Bogoria for Red Cross peer educators in December.

mougiki

the most notable change, other than the hair is that i must wear a skirt now. there is a cult, an extreem group of kikuyus who believe that women should dress traditionally, ie not in trousers. they are in town at the moment, lurking at the stage where you get matatus, and if they see trousers on a girl then they will demand they be taken off, if the wearer does not remove them then they will slash them of with a banga (big knife) and either way the lady must walk home stark naked. i have not actually seen this happen personally but the other day, Chiro, Harriet's friend who is also staying with us at the moment, had this happen, luckily she had a lasal (African cloth like a sarong) with her so could wear that home.
so i have been wearing skirts! it is interesting walking thought town, it is VERY hard to see any lady in trousers! this was problematic as i left all my skirts in Egerton when we left thinking that they would not really be very useful working at the showground pitching tents or in the store etc! so i had to buy one.
but dont worry, if you have a skirt it is safe. and i dont really go places on my own now anyway just to be on the safe side, and becase i get much less abuse or attention if i am walking with a kenyan friend. the street kids and leering men stay off a bit!

short hair!

yes some trivial news but oh well it excites me (that must be a good sign as it means nothing more durastic has been happening recently!)
iv had me hair cut short! yes very short!
its much more practical for washing bent down under a tap 1foot from the floor and it is much cooler in the heat of the sun.
a now look for bee.

latest update

I am working for red cross still, sometimes at the showground and sometimes at the branch doing paperwork- the IDPs get a bit tiring, sometimes it is nice to stay at the branch! But the plan is that this weekend the IDPs should be moving into personal temts- there are 1000 tents and 10,000 IDPs at the showground so we are hoping to arrange family groups of 10 per tent. I have seen the tents- they stretch for along way! Each family group is to also be given a kitchen set and food for a month so that they will be able to look after themselves more, there will be less hastle all around and we will be able to better know that each person is getting their share of the foodstuffs. If 10,000 people have to line up for food once a day at 4pm you can be sure that many are not getting it! The only problem that i see is that the tents are so close together due to the lack of space- but if one goes up in flames and they all will... the other problem is their belongings, most people came with all the belongings that they could carry- sofas, chairs, tables, bicycles, wall fittings... where all these things are going to go i do not know!

yesterday i was helping to pitch said personal tents, they are actually really spacious and nice but it takes along time to do, we did 40 yesterday, around 300 left to do!

link to photos

Lydia has posted photos on her blog space http://www.ventersinkenya.blogspot.com/ so you can see what happened last week.

from cambridge

Bronwen emailed me the the next few blogs which she wrote a week or so ago. The Nakuru cyber cafe was connecting to email but not the blog website today.

How the events have affected me

The first time that it really hit me the seriousness of the events was when my closest friend Nyox’s uncle was murdered. before that it had been kinda fun and exciting going around in the landcruser rescuing people and giving out food etc. even when we rescued someone who was about to be forcefully circumcised in the street it didn’t hit me properly. there were fires and people fighting but I was not really involved emotionally but when one of your friends loses someone…after that it hit me that people I actually know are affected.

I have been very pleased to see that my mum has loaded some photos for me! these are from quite some time back but nonetheless good to see!

as you have red from my mum’s post I had to flee from Egerton and am now safe in Nakuru, here are posts that I wrote earlier and had saved into a pendisk to go to a cyber with later. there was a computer at the school, YASHA where I was working last week, I was actually, (shock horror to those who know me well) TEACHING computer classes! and art which is not so surprising. but now at the red cross I have found a moment between work to connect to the internet through their special card thing (it is expensive though which is why I cannot send individual emails!)

so now, back at the red cross… I came pretty much in a state of shock on Saturday, from Egerton when we had come with the police escort, on the road there was no-one, just some burnt vehicles. then when we reached town the streets were lined with people sitting on their belongings, homeless. I was scared. I had wanted to come back to Red Cross but not like that! when we saw the house burning we were all just outside looking at the flames, hearing the wails and gunshots and sirens. the next day we went to see the sight, no one was hurt but nothing was left. Those people now have to relocate. so back at red cross I am now kinda an IDP myself, have been staying at various other volunteers places, Scovia who I was staying with before has gone to work I Eldoret, Winnies place has been unsafe as has Janice’s. Most people are hosting many other volunteers or family members, we all pull together at Red Cross, it is a great community. Today I am working in the office but for the rest of the week I have been back at the showground, one of now three camps operating under Nakuru branch red cross, things there are not as they wee before. we now have around 6000+ IDPs but it is hard to manage, they are being given only one meal per day- there is some problem as there is enough food but it seems no way of cooking efficiently for so many people. I was issuing gate passes but then found people walking willy nilly in and out. It is frustrating. the president was meant to be coming yesterday but then one of the leading opposition leaders was murdered in Nairobi leading to complete chaos. here in town things seem fairly stable, we can walk around again but there is still a curfew 6pm-6pm and many people out guarding their houses with bangas (big knives) even one of my friends Mash has been out in the night with the other men of their estate ‘providing security’, I wonder what good it is but then what do you do if all your neibours are out? Say no I won’t protect the women and children? so I understand why he is out. People are advised not to travel and if they do it is with a police escort. I would not go anywhere no my own at the moment. We wonder when all of this will be over. I was disappointed to hear Annan the mediator say that he hopes in the next year things will be sorted! A YEAR! That is too long but then look at the destruction…

Things turn bad…

Today, Friday the 25th of jan, I was intending to go back to Nakuru to work for Red Cross some more over the weekend and catch up with my friends there but the place is completely blocked off. People were killed overnight and the road was blocked from morning. Now there is a total ban of people moving in or out from any sides til 7 am tomorrow. I have heard from my friend Charles who is still working in the store at the showground that in the last 36 hours the number of displaced people staying there has risen from 4000 to 6000. and at the time of texting he could see a truckload of 100 approaching. And today was meant to be the last day of the showground hosting people! So much for that government initiative! Dispite the promising first talks between Kibaki and Raila last night things have really gone down hill. It is so frustrating and had really been breaking me to pieces today, watching all the events on the TV and being entirely helpless. I cannot go anywhere or do anything to help the situation. We are shut in, most evenings there are gunshots. School is down to half days so that people can get home early enough. Some of the teachers are camped out in the university, others have to flee to the fields and sleep outside. Half the kids don’t turn up. Yesterday the plot two along from the school was burning as early as 2pm, it has never been that early.

My 19th

That was really a great day, the night before I went back to Egerton and had a feast prepared for me by the Venter family, then a relaxing bath in how water with candles followed by timothy massaging my feet and Joy brushing my hair. Then in the morning we had cake at the school with all the teachers singing to me. After that I headed back to town with Moki to the showground, she was to come and volunteer too, where I got called to an emergency out in Rondi, a truck of refugees turned over by the side of the road. We had no means to get there so four of us red cross guys piles into a private car and sped it there in time to did first aid on the victims and help them pile their things into another vehicle. What shocked me most was counting the number of vehicles going the other direction, towards the showground. In one hour I counted 25, each holding up to 60 people. Bear in mind some of the would just be stopping for some food then move on but even still. That is a lot of people.

In the evening when we got back to the red cross branch, I of course told everyone that it was my birthday, in Kenya this is ‘bathday’ so everyone, mainly my male friends it has to be said, chased me around the compound with buckets of water! It was a good laugh and didn’t matter about getting wet as the weather was good. Even so I did not fancy walking back (yes it is safe to walk before dark again) in the wet clothes so made one of them fetch me some to borrow from the donations (I gave them back the next day) but the ones that my friend Tony selected (the main culprit in the wetting affair) made me look what Botto the driver described as a Chocho! (a grandma!) then to top off the day I got a phone call from my mother (still a novelty) and one from my friend Lucy in England – the first time that I spoke to a friend from back home in over 4 months! It was greta to chat.

The showground

This is where the IDPs (Internally Displaced Persons) have been placed. The majority are Kikuyus from Eldoret and the Black forest where they were chased away from their homes in fear of being murdered or having their homes burnt down. Many have lost relatives and are suffering illness and of course large amounts of trauma. These people arfe all displaced due to the post election violence. I was there, the previous week, as the first truckload came in, 60 or so people with all their belongings thinking, wow, what are we going to do with these people? By the 6th the place had estimated at around 150,000. People just kept piling in with as much as they could carry with them, you could tell they did not intend to go back. To leave your home and travel miles in a crammed lorry sitting precariously on top of your belongings holding your babies- what you were leaving behind must have been bad. The situation just grew to extents that no-one predicted, the sanitation, food everything had to be sorted at extremely short notice. It was somewhat like a festival, minus the bands and with no structure, who has a structure for a mass migration like that!? Us red crossers were running around doing all sorts gradually as the days progressed getting into the swing of it, but the first days, they were chaos. But equally people were leaving to new places, to friends, to family, wherever they could go. The situation was all over the news, reporters everywhere getting the story, (I even got myself on the ABC- Australian news and was seen by my granny!).

So shelter had to be sorted, to start with they were just in the showground arena on the grass, there was a room set aside for kids and mothers with babies but that was it. Then food, a committee was set up to cook for everybody. Then a medical station- luckily the showground is right next to PGH so over came all the councilors that I used to work with back in the Youth Centre along with their medicines and the student doctors- one of my days was spent in their room sorting out the tablets into envelopes- we were using old drink bottles for the syrups, that is how primitive it was. We also had our packs on and were giving out first aid. Then there had to be people to receive and register the IDPs, people to receive the donations, people to organize tracing- linking up people with lost relatives, security, night team, store team…

Before I had malaria I was in the store, somewhat cooler than in the sun sorting out the enormous pile of clothes into men’s, women’s and children’s!- I lasted roughly 2 hours of that before I was in a state of feeling faint! There I was working alongside two guys called Charles, one called Mash and our coordinator called Ron, then outside of it we had people recording the donations and others carrying them to us, it was important to keep the IDPs well away from the door and also the donators as the space was small and the IDPs might take things. We had to supply ALL requests for any type of donated item then record where it went. This was difficult for several reasons, 1, because the space we were operating in was small, smaller than out kitchen at home!(but with a bigger ceiling), 2, because SO many people came at the same time, 3, things kept getting lost under each other, 4, pens were scarce, 5, how to know who was genuine and who was just taking items- we had reports of people taking items in bulk from the store under the claim that they were going to distribute them out to the field then finding them leaving and selling them. So I was given the responsibility over the sanitary towel, toothpaste, soap, toilet paper, Vaseline distribution for the whole place to try and gain some coordination. This was difficult, to keep up with demand and to make sure that the items went to the IDPs not to people who might sell them. But I really enjoyed it, a chance for responsibility and to get to know some new people. The group in charge of the babies were fantastic, Farooq was catering for the needs of over 500 Babies, I felt privileged to be able to help these people.

A great highlight for me was WHEN I MET A REPORTER FROM ABC (AUSTRALIAN NEWS) WHO INTERVIEWED ME!!! And my granny and grandpa saw it!! International star or what.

Now, actually a week after I started writing this blog, the showground is still runnin with 4000 pople camed there, but now they are in tents for each family and the people running it are greatly reduced so as to get rid of the problems. The government wants the people to move on but where to? Their families and friends have also fled, they have no money to get anywhere. I dont know what will happen.

photos

Here is a photo of Bronwen with Timothy Ventner she sent us by CD. Plus two at NNH one showing the building and the other with Sipora who has just been released. The last is of Bronwen at Lake Nakuru taken back in September.

latest update - from cambridge

Once again Bronwen is finding it difficult to get on the net and give you more news so she has asked me to give my version of the latest.
She is now fully recovered from Malaria and had a good weekend in Nairobi with Scovia and Nyox and saw Lucy from Cambridge who flew in prior to an organised trip. The two girls will be travelling togther later. Bronwen has since then written a large chunk of blogs to tell you what went on over new year but the internet access at Yasha school has not been working well and the last 48 hours have been quite frightening.
Late Friday night - as I was talking to her on the phone- gunshots could be heard. The school has Kalenjin on one side and Kikuyu on the other fighting back and forth in the area. A little later they could see the neighboring houses about 500m away up in flames. They could hear screams and sirens and a huge fire rising in the sky. The children at Yasha were very frightened and the adults too. No-one slept properly. Next morning a decision was made to leave. The school may be the next target as the land is rented from a Kikuyu man and so the other groups will burn it down to get at him, not to get at the Ventners or the school kids - they are just in the wrong place. The school wil remain closed for at least a week. It was only half open last week anyway as many parents wanted to keep children home in case of a sudden need to flee.
'Everyone' packed a small bag - including Bronwen, and squeezed into the Ventner car to attempt to get to safety. By 'everyone' I mean the Venters and various children with no relatives nearby. The staff and other local school families who have been sheltering in the school area have nowhere else to go and so will stay and run into the forest if necessary. So Bronwen and the others are in a car trying to get to Nakuru - which has been closed to outsiders for the last few days. Armed men refusing entry on Friday when Lydia wanted to go to the dentist and Bronwen was trying to return to the red cross! Luckily they found a vehicle carrying wounded to hospital - accompanied by army conscripts waving guns. They were given permission to follow for a while. Then everything stopped and the soldiers came over - they held the gun close to the car and said that the 'family' could only follow on payment of a charge - Lydia handed over the cash (gb£7) willingly - Wilco through gritted teeth- and were allowed to continue. The armed youths at Nakuru let the convoy, which had by now acquired a police escort, through at last and they were able to go through the town safely. In town Bronwen could go to the bank and withdraw money donated to Yasha from the church and collected at my annual teaparty and a little extra so that if her card gets lost or stolen Lydia will be able to 'post' her some. She could also buy more phone credit so we are back in touch. Bronwen is now back under the safety umbrella of the Red Cross and very grateful for it. She says there is a real difference when you are out 'in the bush' and on your own compared to the protection of being in an organisation. After a period of the Red Cross camps winding down they have gone up to three camps being run from their centre and another in Naivasha opened after the trouble there today.
Lydia and Wilco got through to Nairobi and dropped off the children with relatives there. They have gone on with the adopted children to Garissa which is south of Nairobi and is more stable at the moment.

I ask you all to think of her and those of you who can , to pray for her continued safety. It may be some time before she gets on to the web so please be patient for news.

good news

SIPORA IS OUT OF NAKURU NURSING HOME! I am so pleased; this is the patient that I am sure I have mentioned who has been on the ward for 8 months purely because she cannot pay the bill. I did not ask too carefully who backed down, the matron, or did she produce cash as I thought it was irrelevant, she is out!

malaria...

Right now I am just recovering from a rather bad bout of malaria, something I NEVER want to have to experience again. On Sunday I felt that I had a stomachache, but left for Egerton (at long last I am actually going back to YASHA!). In the night it still hurt and I had very bad diarrhea so in the morning told Lydia that I didn’t think that I was well enough to go to school for the first day, in the process I blacked out on the floor, something that I have never done before, it felt bizarre, one minute I was feeling dizzy leaning against the wall willing the pain to go away, the next I woke up with Lydia worriedly saying “Bee! Bee!” so I stayed on timothy’s bed, suitably near the bathroom, while the others went to school. Lying still pretending to be asleep seemed to be ok but as soon as I stood up I felt dizzy and the headache started again.
Wilco came back to check at 10, I did not want to move at all, then he came back at 2, I had not eaten anything and still did not want to move but Wilco insisted that we should go to the clinic as he suspected that I had food poisoning like last time and some simple drugs would sort it out in a couple of hours (this had been true on the 27th when I was ill). So off we went bumping along in the Landover me in my pajamas still feeling sicker with every pothole, to the clinic in Egerton, I explained the case and some drugs were prescribed but as they were handing them over and I was complaining that I really just wanted to lie down, I found myself being carried to a bed. AGAIN I had blacked out. I was lying closing my eyes ignoring everything even the drugs that were thrust at me hoping that the whole thing would go away. But it didn’t. The doctor made me have the drugs and said it would be best if I went to a hospital where I could have a test for malaria. Personally I just wanted to go back to the Venter’s (Lydias and Wilco’s) and sleep, or pretend to at least. But he insisted so we went back to the house and, held by Wilco who was pretty worried I might collapse again, grabbed a few clothes and my phone. Off we went to Egerton hospital, poor excuse for a hospital as after making me WALK to the reception, THEN to the doctor’s surgery, not close places, he told me that they do not have the appropriate testing equipment or strong enough drugs! So off we go again, this time to town, me feeling sicker and sicker, not talking just wanting to lie down. Eventually we get to Nakuru Nursing Home (where I used to work for anyone who has forgotten) and I ask Wilco to get then to bring out a stretcher as I do not want to walk in then be made to sit and wait etc. I know that if you are on a stretcher they are much quicker at attending to you. Jane and Susan, two of my friends who work on the reception came out with a wheel chair looking suitably distressed. I have come in sick before (urine infection once, bicycle accident the other) but not this pale and ill.
They took me to the sisters’ office where I plonked myself on the bed, then, as Wilco revealed quite comically later, refused to move insisting that they move me on that, bear in mind this bed had wheels but it was not a stretcher bed but a normal one! There was no way that it was going to get through the door and around the corridors! So the wheelchair again, heading upstairs to a private room (ie has own toilet- kinda a must when one is nauseous and has diarrhea) and got straight in. immediately they put me on a drip to get back some of the fluids that I had been loosing rapidly and gave me the first anti malarials.
I had three strong doses of quinine through my hand into the blood, dripping painfully slowly into my blood over three days and periodical injections in my ass, both cheeks so that both sides hurt, great, then also a grand concoction of tablets. I was seen almost straight away by Dr Miner, the matrons son, not the one who’s wedding I attended but one that I have worked alongside in NNH and also at PGH which was pretty comforting.
The pain was horrible, for the first day, Tuesday, I was very weak, only walking as far as the toilet, the quinine gave me a very bad headache and loud ringing in my ears so that it was hard to hear plus also rather dizzy.
My friends were great, of course the ones from NNH came, but also almost straight away the Red cross friends also came, ones I knew well and those that I didn’t, I also received calls from friends from church. So I felt very lucky! Also not to be in PGH where I am sure that I would have come oput more ill than before. I also appreciate the fact that I can just go back to my bank account and know that there is something there to pay with.
So after two nights admitted I am out and on medication under strict instructions to REST! As the doctors know me well and know that unless instructed not to I would have the tendency to get straight back to work. Am feeling much better just tired.

Bronwen safe - message from Cambridge

Bronwen has asked us to post a short message to say that she is safe and well. At the moment it is difficult for her to go to the internet cafe to update her blog herself.
The post election unrest did not affect Nakuru as badly as some other areas and things are now much more normal. She has continued to work for the Red Cross and is staying with some of the volunteers. She has been doing first aid work at the hospital and also helping distribute food to displaced people (Kikuyu) from Eldoret and Kisumu who are at the sports arenas. Road traffic is very chaotic at times with lorries full of people and there are many accidents. She may return to Yasha School next week when schools open and hopefully the crisis will have lessened.
Today is her birthday - she enjoyed cake this morning at Yasha and then had a good day at the Red Cross.