Back in Kenya!

I'm back! I arrived at Peter and Dee's at around half past midnight on Thursday, having been a bit delayed on the journey. Luckily we'd arranged that they'd leave the key under a stone by my door, where I found it plus a gecko! Everything had gone so well at Heathrow - we'd arrived in good time, no queue for the baggage drop, lovely breakfast and through security in about 5-10 minutes (not like last time!), onto the plane... and then a boy on the plane was sick and they decided he and his family had to get off. I felt so sorry for the parents - they had 3 children including a small baby, I hope they were ok. Of course it then took about an hour for their luggage to be found and unloaded so we were very late taking off. The flight was fine, but when we arrived in Nairobi we had to wait for ages for the door to be opened as there was some problem with the bridge thingy. The baggage took a while as well, but the sight of the staff riding on the carousel thing and even through the little gaps where the bags appear/disappear helped to relieve the tedium!

Anyway I arrived, got myself a little organised and got a few hours of sleep before Patrick the friendly taxi driver picked me up at half past 9 to go to Mahali. I brought lots of stuff with me so I wanted to get it to the school sooner rather than later. Friday was the day for handing over the uniforms for the children who are leaving us - we buy their primary school uniform, including school shoes and rucksack, so they are fully equipped to start their education. Here's what I took with me:

That's a bag full of squashed teddies by the way!

The rucksack is a lot bigger than it looks, and contained 29 pairs of shoes that my school in England had collected for Mahali!

 
When I arrived, Lucy (headteacher) and Helen (who taught pre-unit last year) were there unpacking the uniform, and a little while later some of our children turned up. We helped them try on their uniform and I took some photos. They all seemed rather quiet; I imagine it was a mixture of nerves about their new school, not wanting to leave Mahali, and probably they've not been well fed during the holiday so they were lacking in energy too. But it was lovely to see them, and I had a hug from Hannah who looked very proud of her uniform:

Here we are helping some of the other children into their new uniforms:

And here are the children looking smart and proud!

They all wore their new uniforms home! Some of the children will be coming to collect the uniform on Monday, as they are still up-country with their families. And we had one dad come who has told us the family are moving to live with the Grandma in the country as life is too expensive in Nairobi. It was too late to change the uniform but hopefully he will be able to sell it on and then use the money to buy the uniform for whichever school his daughter will go to. It's a shame, her younger brother was in baby class and we'll miss him. Another dad told us their house had burned down in early December, and they have lost everything. Apparently they think there was some kind of gas explosion when someone was cooking and about six houses were destroyed. His daughter is the one in the first of this last set of pictures. She's a sweet girl, it's hard to think of her and her family going through such a terrible time. I don't know whether we will be able to do anything to help, I think at least they are staying with family at the moment so they have a roof over their heads. Hearing these things really underlines the hardships that our children face on a daily basis and remind me that Mahali is so important not just in educating these little ones but in giving them food, love, a safe place, and some stability in the midst of their unstable lives.

After we'd finished at the school Benson (the manager/administrator) treated us to lunch at a new hotel/restaurant in Karen. It's so new that they're still building it! But the garden was open so we sat at a lovely table under a canopy and surrounded by beautiful trees and flowers. There were even fancy music speakers dotted around the garden, each protected in a special cage-thing with a roof! Here is one:

And here are a couple of views of the garden:

We sat at the table at the far end

There was no menu, but we agreed on a whole chicken to share, with chips, roast potatoes and spinach to accompany it. By the time it arrived (about 3:30) we were very hungry - and it was delicious!! It was good to spend time chatting to Benson, Lucy and Helen as well. After that Benson kindly took me to the shops to get a few essentials like milk and bread. Whilst walking to the cash machine I was accosted by a guy selling movies, who offered me Downton Abbey series 6!!! I laughed and told him there wasn't a series 6 - I think he was a bit crushed - but I had a little chat with him and told him I'd got the latest series for Christmas so I wouldn't be needing any today! I was quite impressed with his customer analysis though - how did he know I liked Downton Abbey?! Benson then ran me home, where I had a very enthusiastic greeting from Asali and the other dogs - I could hardly get out of the car!

Today has been less busy - I lazed around in the morning then had lunch with Dee, Peter and Barbara (Dee's step-mother) which was lovely. It was really hot, and I was glad of a lift into Karen with Barbara as I needed to go to the shops again. I bought a bit more food plus top-up cards for my phone and internet - I'm using a dongle as there's no internet here at the moment but it's expensive if you're not careful! I also stocked up on hydrocortisone cream ready for the inevitable bites - and bought some citronella - Dee adds a couple of drops to water in a spray bottle and uses this instead of insect repellent, so I'm going to give it a go. After my shopping I got a matatu home - the first one of the year! I think it's a bit like riding a bike - I was a bit nervous about it but it was fine (if a little crowded and annoying cos I kept having to get out to let people off).

Anyway, I had better get to bed - I'm trying to get used to the time change but my body is still rather confused. I shall leave you with a picture of the lovely flowers Dee put in my room: