Next part of the project

It is interesting, as I start the teaching part of my stay here, to reflect that this was my first idea and reason for coming to Kenya again - to teach the women to make some of the things I have been making. The vision has become so much bigger than that, but it was good to also do this part of the work.

Our day - all six of us - began with two separate taxi rides to Utange. We did think of using a Tuktuk as well as Zachariah's taxi, but Zachariah so needs the work that we went just with him. Frances, Will and I surprised Florence by arriving half an hour earlier than she expected, but we explained the reason. Inside the room I found this lovely welcome:

The ladies arrived in "African time", but we made a great start on cutting out various animal and bag patterns, with some ladies starting the sewing. 

It was clear that the concept of seeing patterns was new to most of them, but they rapidly picked it up. 

It was disappointing to find that the sewing machine did not work properly - it seems that the feed dogs are not pulling the fabric through - so I will be taking it into Mombasa tomorrow to try to find the shop and get them to sort it out.

Some of the ladies also worked on their crocheted bags - these are made from old bags which are cut into strips.

 

In the meantime, Will took lots of photos and got to know the locals while Phil started interviewing the ladies, one by one. The plan is to produce a short fact sheet about each of them, to accompany the things they make.

Phil also talked in detail to three of the ladies about micro finance, and they were very keen. His plan is to arrange a meeting for them with the government official he met on Monday so that they can get this set up. That was a very pleasing result.

We returned for a short break at the hotel (just long enough for a cup of tea for me) - and, while sitting enjoying this, one of the gardeners (Peter) gave me a beautiful pot of flowers, my second during this trip. So lovely!

It was time to set out again, this time using Wilson with his tuktuk, to visit Bombolulu centre. This is an amazing place. It is a centre where people with physical disabilities make, from scratch, the most fantastic items.

Outside, workers were carving wood and bone into beautiful jewellery - all kinds of wonderful items. 

In the jewellery workshop, we saw the process of them making necklaces and other metal items by hand. First the designers

Then fashioning the links using an ingenious contraption base on a drill

Pressing patterns into the brass:

Cutting out the brass shapes with a hacksaw:

Joining the links together:

We saw other ladies creating the loops for earrings from wire

In the textile workshop they printed fabrics using screen prints

And sewed so many lovely items: bags, fusion covers and more.

I chatted with the designer in the textiles workshop and gave her the address of my blog, telling her about my recycling and inviting her to use any of my designs.  

We saw the workshop where wheelchairs and bicycles are built, including this amazing model which is a mobile shop. 

We went to the plant nursery, and met this lovely man:

who told us that he had planted the majority of the plants around the grounds, including an amazing bamboo tree, 30 years previously!  Ronnie was persuaded to buy some seeds and this plant, which generates itself from a single leaf.

Then we were the first customers ever to visit their new shop. The previous one burnt down last year, destroying all of their stock, and they were in the process of setting this one up.

I bought myself a lovely new handbag  -

and then met Jonny, who had made it! 

I also bought a few gifts to take home. They had a fabulous range of products and all at very reasonable prices, and Ali who gave us a guided tour was so knowledgeable. Do visit if you go to the area - or buy from them online.

Truly a highlight of this trip.

Safe arrivals

After a slightly eventful journey involving a visa mixup, Ronnie, France's and Will arrived safely this morning. The rest of the day was spent recovering and enjoying the pool and the sunshine - so not much to report. Except that the lovely Jacob, another guest at the hotel, brought me needles and threads which he had bought for me in Mombasa after I mentioned that I had lost the needles I brought with me from England. People here can be so kind.

Being a tourist in Mombasa

Phil had arranged a meeting to find out more about micro finance with a contact of his in Mombasa this morning, so we head d off there. The meeting was a successful one; a government official was present and outlined to process to Phil. All that is needed now is to find between two and four groups of women who would like to save together in this way and who can each nominate a woman within the group who they see as responsible and trustworthy. These representatives can then meet with the government representative and training and support can be delivered. What is more, this will provide a way for me to transfer funds to any group to support them in their cooperative ventures. All very positive.
We then headed odder to Fort Jesus to be tourists! We were intercepted outside by Humphrey, who proved to be an extremely good guide.

He told us all about the fort and its history. The fort was amazing and it's history really fascinating. The views from the fort were also incredible. The fort is built in the shape of a man - an amazing feat in itself.

Humphrey was a mine of information and explained things very clearly.
He then took us into Mombasa Old Town. This felt like stepping into Kenya's colonial past with its verandah buildings and narrow streets.

We stopped for a drink at a lovely cafe overlooking the old port which had fabulous views.

We also saw many wonderful shops selling traditional crafts. This one was our favourite - again, I thoroughly recommend it. The prices were very reasonable and the staff helpful without being pushy.

I bought this lovely drum for Will.

We went on to the old market and looked at wonderful displays of pastas and spices. The smells were fabulous.

Meeting up with Zachariah to start our journey home was rather tricky in the busy streets, but eventually achieved, and a safe journey back to the hotel allowed Sue and I a pleasant late afternoon dip in the pool as refreshment from hot and humid Mombasa.

Matatus and mosquitoes

I started the day with a trip down to Nakumatt to withdraw cash, and decided to use a matatu to do so.  It was interesting.  When the matatu stopped I waved it on, because it was already overloaded, but then people got off and there was a spare seat, so I boarded.  I handed over the fare - 20 shillings, as I had been assured was the fee for all rides by both Jess and Juma.  "No - 30 bob!" I was told by the fare collector. "No," I replied, "the fare is 20 bob".  Well, we had quite a discussion, me staying calm and assertive and the fare collector getting increasingly rude and aggressive as he insisted the fare was 30 bob and he would "frighten" me.  It wasn't the most comfortable of journeys - interestingly nobody else in the matatu stood up for me.  as we neared Nakumatt I had a sense that the fare collector was not about to signal to the driver that we needed to stop, to I took matters into my own hands and banged on the side of the matatu (the signal to stop) and indeed, the matatu did stop and I alighted, with a sense of satisfaction that I had not been bullied!  I had already planned to take a tuktuk back (since I was withdrawing cash and buying water) and this part of the journey was smooth and straightforward.
We had an enjoyable morning sunbathing and swimming, then headed off to the butterfly park.  we walked down, joined by various Kenyans with various sob stories. The butterfly house was lovely - but sadly we were all attacked by mosquitoes - and only then did I learn that Phil is allergic to mosquito bites.  After a swift application of water and piriton we made an early departure to return to Severin.  I had been told that the butterfly park was where we could buy firewood for the ladies so duly asked at the information kiosk - only to be told that they had stopped selling firewood last week.  Blow!
We enjoyed the rest of the afternoon relaxing, and then an evening's entertainment provided by Masaii dancers.

Feeding programme week 3

Today was a very interesting and emotional day, full of God-given opportunities.
At breakfast, a German lady came over to ask where in England I was from.  She complimented me on my speech, saying that she found it difficult to understand many English people but had found me easy to understand.  We got talking, and I asked whether she had had a chance to visit an African village.  She said she had not but would like to, so I invited her to the feeding programme that morning.  She agreed immediately and said she would ask the rest of the family whether they too would like to come. In the end four of the five came: Leila, her husband, her older daughter and youngest son.
I phoned Zachariah to ask him to come, as well as the tuktuk I had already ordered.  Sue, Phil and I went in the tuktuk, and the German family with Zachariah.
I took everyone on a brief tour of Utange Baptist Primary, and we even managed to get in to one or two of the classrooms.  Then it was feeding time.
As usual, the children lined up to be served and were sent in a few at a time.

The German family served the food to the children today, and seemed to really enjoy it. 

After being served, the children spread around the school to eat their food.  Today I was able to take some time to photograph some of them.

 

 

Phil got very involved with the local children, organising them into an acrobatics display,

and Sue guarded the window (through which, sadly, many of the "helping" mothers tend to pass out supplies of food to their children). As a result of this, we again ended up with extra food, allowing some of the children to have second helpings, much to their delight.
All got involved with handing out the maize; we had a new system today with the children behind benches, and that really worked well.

At the end of the distribution there was an incident which reminded all us of the fragility of life in Kenya.  A little girl fell over and caused a nasty injury to her toe, removing a chunk of toenail and a chunk of skin.  We did the best we could and cleaned it, which was clearly very painful to her, put a large plaster on it and Paul drove her and her sister home.  It reminded us that without our help, the toe might never have been cleaned or dressed properly and a nasty infection could have set in.
We then returned to Casuarina House, where Debbie gave all the visitors a tour and explained how it had been set up.  The children sang to us, and then Debbie kindly ferried us back to the hotel in her car, since Festus was out with the minibus.
While at Casuarina House, Jess shared with me two photos from Facebook.  yesterday Florence collected the sewing machine for her group of ladies.  It has clearly already been put to good use:

On our return to the hotel, and after afternoon tea, Sue, Phil and I had a very pleasant paddle in the Indian Ocean - Phil even had a swim!  We watched the acrobatics display at the hotel, which was entertaining, and I had a much later night than I have become used to - and a very long sleep.

A thoroughly relaxing day

No exciting photos today, which shows how lazy I have been. I did take a trip down to Nakumatt, largely to withdraw some cash, but also to buy more water, a fifth hairdryer and some odds and ends. Apart from that I have been thoroughly touristy today! I chilled on my verandah, had a good FaceTime conversation with Will, had a swim, relaxed on a sun bed, ate some delicious chips (and stopped two monkeys from stealing them off my plate!) and chilled some more. Early in the evening Sue and Phil arrived. It is so good to have company, particularly over dinner. We have made some plans and put the world to rights. 

I will leave you with some cute monkey shots. These ones were not trying to steal my chips, so they were thoroughly cute!