Posted in Kenya on August 15, 2024
Day 1
Day 1 and this team rocks! The introductions were short and brief which was just as well as everyone seemed anxious to dive right in and get to work. In no time at all we had sorted ourselves into sub-teams; stained the wood for the roof rafters, working on rebar for the reinforcing lintels, and mixing mortar, moving blocks and generally just helping the masons. By 10:00 am the first three courses of block were laid in the first section of wall. By the end of the day 10 courses were laid in the two side walls and the front and back walls were up to 5 courses capped with reinforced steel concrete lintels. Absolutely amazing work.
And interspersed with this work was a chance to meet some of the Grade 8 students who did their best not to laugh at us as we tried to follow and imitate their dance moves. This was followed by a free for all soccer scrum with all the kids and team members racing up and down the field just having fun kicking the ball. Amid all this Christina was having an intense conversation with the Grade 8 teacher and 6 or 8 of her students who had to duck every now and then as the ball flew over their heads. The group of conversationalists in the middle of the soccer pitch didn’t seem to slow down the rest of the players one bit.
David Lyon, DWC Team Leader
Day 2
After a few days here in Kenya I reflect on the people; so far they seem kind, friendly, and they definitely have a sense of humour. Gladys our liaison likes a laugh. The kids were wonderful. Our drivers Joesph and Isaac interact with us, help us feel welcome, even the Uber driver that took me back to the airport for my luggage was interactive and very helpful, he went beyond what I expected. The workers on site are very welcoming and encourage us to participate, though I’m curious about what they and the other people here think of us. Do we seem strange to them? Or are we all very similar in many things we do? I guess if you break down our daily lives, we are not much different, though I do think that their sense of community and family is stronger here than at home, I like that. I’m looking forward to getting to know them all a little better.
Mark Murray, DWC Volunteer
Day 3
Live a good story
Issac, our guide/driver, has a T-shirt with the caption, live a good story, on it. My thoughts are that this volunteer trip is allowing us Canadians to live a good story – visiting Kenya – and allowing us to support a better future, a good story, for the children in this community.
We are fortunate to be building the grade 9 classroom (up to this point the school went to grade 8).A DWC team last November did the intensely physical work of building the foundation and the weight bearing columns.
In our Day 1 and 2, the masons, with support from us, put up the walls. It went amazingly quickly!
Day 3 has been all about preparing for the roof.
In David’s orientation, he mentioned, this project would have gone ahead without us, we are simply pressing the fast forward button to get it done sooner.
We are so much enjoying getting to know the children that come to visit us each day. So happy, curious and open. Each day we can talk with them in between our work and after lunch they show us what gifted dancers they are!
Christina Cederlof, DWC Volunteer
Day 4
A Day In Naro Maru
Waking up and listening to the birds outside my room feels like I’m still in a dream. I slowly wander down to breakfast in search of amazing Kenyan coffee and food.
We hop into a bus that carries us away to Karinyaga (think spelt that wrong) school where we settle into the days work.
Today that work involved William gently guiding us to hammer holes into steel strips, carry blocks then clean and carry blocks again. 😂
The development of the classroom in 4 days is astounding and I can’t wait to see what we have accomplished in 2 weeks time.
Somewhere in between all the work we rest for coffee and biscuits, an amazing lunch and the kids dance. I have shown each class the Macarena and without fail they master it in minutes. I think I need to bring something harder to the table next week.
Everyone is so gracious. Gladys and Lucy make sure we are fed and taken care of.
In the evenings if the weather is warm some of us brave ones will take a dip into the “refreshing” waters and then off to our rooms to get ready for dinner and make a night cap with Egan.
As a group I couldn’t have asked for a better team. The mesh we have is undoubtedly the grounds for some everlasting friendships. Everyday I look forward to learning new things about our DWC team and the people we work with on site.
Missie Champagne, DWC Volunteer
Day 5
I can’t believe it’s been a week already. We started with a foundation, and we’re almost ready for roofing. Maybe not on Monday, lol.
I’ve met so many amazing people. The workers are always smiling while tolerating our numerous questions.
The workers here are so inventive. We’ve had hammers made from wood, drills (for holes) made with wood with a steel nail pounded in, scraping tools (for cleaning bricks) made from the metal strips we were making holes in earlier, etc.
I’ve worked on painting, pounding holes in metal stripes, curing the brick walls, making squares with re-bar, mixing and pouring cement, washing bricks, moving bricks from here to there, to there and back to here, lol.
I wonder what new experiences we’ll have next week. 🤔
Heather Gill, DWC Volunteer
Day 6
I thought it might be nice to meet some members of the Kenyan team.
William is kind and soft spoken. He has overseen and supported our treating of over 200 boards with a termite prevention stain, the stamping of metal ties, and the preparation of the gable bricks, to name a few tasks. William is always there to gently steer us along. He shyly grinned (looking pleased) when I said, we were William’s harem. After working with us he goes home to tend to his potato farm with his daughter, Terry.
Simon is our gregarious foreman. He starts us off each morning telling us the tasks of the day. Also, Simon has assessed the skills of our team. You can often hear him call a DWC team member by name to take on a particular construction task.
Clearly our team has proven our competence in his experienced eyes. Simon rides his motorcycle to work each day, he lives 4 km away on a rough road. He also lives on a farm and has two sons, Marvin and Alvin.
Christina Cederlof, DWC Volunteer
Day 7: Resourcefulness
We are building trusses to support the roof. It isn’t prefabricated here! Our builders are very resourceful in creating work arounds and using what is available.
Cement bags are used for brick scrubbers, or to seal up the holes in the concrete molds. For the metal wraps we made, the hole stamps were created with a nail in a board along with a mallet made from a piece of 2 by 4 (machete used to shape the handle). Buckets created by cutting off the tops of drums earlier used for solvent or molasses with wire handles. If a tool breaks, it gets repaired rather than replaced.
Everyday as we work away I’ll look up to see a couple children peaking around the side of the building at us.
Some are a bit more courageous and will wander on to the work site while others are shy and hide behind their friends.
They are eager to chat with us, ask our names and many random questions.
Last week Heather and I went around to the back of the school and we were immediately swarmed by the grade 4 class.
They were happy to sing and dance for us and were thrilled to have us video them and eager to watch the replay.
Most days after lunch they do a performance for us. Singing, dancing and always cheerful with big smiling faces. They usually have 1 or 2 that will lead but they all dance as one group.
They are happy to challenge us to a game of football and are quick on the ball.
I am impressed with how caring the children are with each other. They look out for one another and get along really well.
It’s so refreshing to see a field full of children playing, laughing, enjoying life together.
Brenda, DWC Volunteer
Day 8
The day the trusses went up!! It was a big day! So wonderful to witness the next step towards a finished building. Amazing to watch it done with ingenuity and strength.
Plus, the last of the bricks were scraped and washed!
These are some of the Kenyan Access and school volunteers that have made our time here so special.
Lucy greets us every morning and ensures the smooth running of our mid morning tea and lunch. A very kind motherly figure both to us and the kitchen staff.
Gladys is the Access representative. She starts us off each morning with a focus on the progress made, acknowledging the good work that has been done. Gladys has also worked alongside us, scraping and washing bricks, painting, pitching in wherever possible.
She is also a teacher and yesterday gave us an impromptu Swahili lesson in the classroom the was built by previous DWC teams. She has explained that a typical elementary and high schools’ classes have 50 – 53 students to one teacher and they rotate around between subjects. It is very evident the pride she has in her colleagues and the students.
Christina Cederlof, DWC Volunteer
Day 9: Challenges and Rewards
On my first DWC trip last year, things all seemed to go pretty smoothly. In Kenya, I had an issue right at the start. I somehow picked up a bug. It arrived in the middle of the night on Sunday night and led me to be unable to work on Monday, the first day of work. I had serious FOMO but knew I could not travel to the site with the team. By Tuesday, I was feeling a bit better, and was able to do some work on site and meet the Kenya team. They were so welcoming and assigned me manageable tasks on the first day. I took a couple of van naps and was back close to normal by Wednesday.
All this to say that things can happen when you travel to a new country. One’s body is used to certain patterns and food. At times it will rebel. But this is part of the adventure.
This group of volunteers that I have been fortunate enough to join have been so supportive of one another., teaming up in different groups to get the rebar bent and wired, scaffolding built, concrete blocks stacked and cleaned, what seemed like a thousand boards painted and nails pulled, lots of cuts made with increasingly dull saws, nails hammered with hammers bent and repaired and inadequate for purpose. All the while chatting with each other and our Kenyan crew mates, joking with Simon, Moses, William, and the others. Our special teammates, Isaac and Joseph, who in addition to driving us everywhere on rough roads, were enthusiastic members of the construction crew.
Today, as we headed back to the Lusoi Resort after our last workday, I reflected on the impression this country has had on me. The beautiful landscape in the shadow of the elusive Mount Kenya, over there amongst the clouds, the people in transit by motorcycle or foot or bicycle, mother and child, hand-in-hand, an old gentleman in a neat suit jacket and toque, protecting himself against the cool breeze that arrives promptly at 4 o’clock in the afternoon, people waiting for other people, or just talking with one another, living their unhurried lives. I will miss you Kenya, and hope to see you again, sometime soon.
Geoff Jeffery, DWC Volunteer
Making Do and Hope for the Future
Being part of this DWC trip to Kenya was an incredible experience. We contributed to the construction of a new classroom, enabling children to walk shorter distances and stay in their community for an additional year. However, there is still much work to be done.
On our last day, the deputy principal, Peter, showed David and me the primary classrooms at the school. To put it mildly, they were bare bones. The remnants of the March flooding were evident, with damaged learning materials and uneven dirt floors still bearing the imprints of water flow. The classrooms in the poorest condition, with their rough wooden walls, housed students from kindergarten through second grade, and the gaps in the walls were large enough to see outside—and let the rain in.
Despite these challenges, I was truly inspired by the dedication and creativity of the teachers. In several primary classrooms, spaces were designed like small shops, using repurposed product bags filled with pebbles to help students practice counting and handling money as they played shopkeeper and customer. In Peter’s fourth-grade classroom, he crafted homemade games from cardboard boxes, including a spin-the-wheel game for students to practice English antonyms.
It is evident that Kenyan teachers work hard to enrich their lessons with posters and learning materials, much like in Canadian elementary classrooms, although their resources are more basic. I believe the hope is that, over time, these classrooms will be upgraded, just like the one we were fortunate enough to help build.
Happy Sad Day
The second Thursday marked our final day at the school, which Gladys affectionately dubbed our “happy-sad day.” It was happy because we had accomplished so much in such a short time, but sad because we had to say goodbye.
Our morning was filled with finishing odd jobs and cleaning the worksite. After lunch, all the groups of students who had visited us during our time there gathered for speeches and a celebration of our achievements. Both students and adults joined in the fun, and our DWC team even invited our Kenyan workmates to dance the Macarena with us! I can’t help but think that in Canada, it’s unlikely you’d find a group of adults dancing together like this. The joyful atmosphere truly reflected the camaraderie we had built over the past two weeks.
After another soccer game with the students, along with visiting and picture-taking, we took our last van ride back to the hotel, filled with memories and gratitude.
Christina Cederlof, DWC Volunteer
Excursions
Before our trip, our team leader, David, collaborated with key Access leader, Nderitu, to brainstorm ideas for our cultural exploration time. Here’s a summary of what we did:
On our route from Nairobi to Naro Moru, we visited:
During the weekend between our two work weeks, we explored:
- The Trout Tree Restaurant
- Sweetwaters Chimpanzee Sanctuary and Ol Pejeta Conservancy
- Hiked on the route up Mount Kenya (we didn’t have time to complete the five-day hike to the top!)
- We crossed over the equator both days of the weekend
If you’ve ever considered going on safari in East Africa, you’ve likely heard of the “Big Five”—the iconic animals that visitors hope to see. During our journey, our team spotted rhinos, elephants, giraffes, hippos, and more. Nderitu, the owner of a safari tour company, arranged for our drivers, Isaac and Joseph, to lead us on these excursions. Both are also professional guides, and we formed a strong bond with them over the two weeks, whether we were at the school build or exploring these amazing places.
On our last day, we stopped at Aani ya Juu, which means “peace from above,” for lunch. We also had the opportunity to shop at their fair-trade store, featuring handcrafted items made on-site by refugees, including hand crafted household items and clothing.
Several team members planned additional excursions either before or after the school build. Many traveled to the Maasai Mara National Reserve, which is connected to the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania. Both parks are part of the same ecosystem and share an unfenced border. This region is also home to the Maasai people, who have worked to preserve their culture and way of life.
Was I concerned about my safety? Absolutely!
I had tried to find a travel partner, but my family and friends were either unavailable or didn’t have Africa on their list of destinations. Although I have traveled to developing countries before, this would be my first solo trip, and landing in Nairobi scared me as it certainly has a reputation that warrants caution.
Adding to my apprehension, just eight weeks before my departure, there was a significant and violent protest in Nairobi organized by university students opposing a tax bill. This was followed by a series of weekly protests addressing government corruption. With this context, safety was constantly on my mind as I prepared for my journey.
So how did it go?
Prior to my arrival, Joy, DWC’s Volunteer Program Manager, organized our group based on our arrival times at Nairobi airport. Our WhatsApp group chat buzzed with tips on navigation, updates on our locations, and information on how to connect with one another upon landing. DWC provided a driver to transport us from the airport to the hotel.
At the Nairobi hotel we learned that it was safe to walk around the Westlands neighborhood where our hotel was located during the day, although it was advisable to stay indoors after 7 PM. In pairs or small groups, we ventured to the nearest bank, situated in a mall that resembled any shopping center you might find in North America. This stood in stark contrast to the streets we passed on the way, and I was alarmed by the poverty we witnessed, especially since Westlands is considered a more affluent neighborhood in Nairobi. We didn’t take many pictures of the city, having been warned about the risk of opportunistic theft, particularly from passing motorcycles. We enjoyed our meals at the hotel, and the following day, we set off for rural Naro Moru, where, as mentioned in previous posts, we were exceptionally well taken care of by the Access team.
As it turned out, several solo travelers participated in this DWC trip. Of our group of ten, only three arrived together; the rest of us set off from our respective homes alone. However, we quickly became fast friends and workmates, united by a common purpose.
This trip was an incredible way to visit a place I have dreamed of for decades. It offered the chance to meet amazing like-minded Canadians who were eager to share their time and funds in service. Importantly, it allowed us to work alongside Kenyans who were equally dedicated to building a new classroom for this community.
While many people journey to East Africa each year to see the Big Five, we had the opportunity to interact meaningfully with the local community. In short, it was a trip of a lifetime!
Posted in Kenya on August 15, 2024
