Meet Philip!

It feels a long time since i saw my friends in Kenya, but i go back in just three weeks.

In the mean time i thought it would be good to tell you about one of the boys from the Sunshine Rehabilitation centre.

This is Philip. He is 9 Years old and one of the youngest boys in the Sunshine Home. Philip has been living at Sunshine for only 5 months and has settled into living at the home very well. Now Philip sleeps in a warm comfortable bed, he eats a good diet and has access to education. School is so important for these boys to escape poverty and Philip, like many other boys, is looking forward rather than backwards as he grows up. He is forgetting the past, and is hopeful about the future...

I've come home

I've had a very special few months representing Mission Care International in Kenya and Uganda overseeing their projects. Being a volunteer in a completely different environment can be a real challenge, i've faced a fair few, but facing these situations enable you to grow. Working with Mission Care International to share love, hope, peace and justice is a great opportunity.

Being at home gives me time to see my friends and family and share with people in the UK how we are changing the lives of many poor boys, girls, men and women. I will be returning to Kenya in October where I will continue to write blogs about the progress of each of Mission Care International's developments in East Africa.

Keep in touch!

Visitors...

At the moment I have my sister, Aimee, and her good friend Leonie staying with me and travelling in Kenya. The Sunshine Boys love to have guests and the girls bought the boys lollipops, which went down well!

Can you spot Aimee and Leonie in this picture?

All move...

Right now there are sixty boys attending primary school who live at Sunshine. They are spread over two sites, the old and the new. The great news this week is that with the painting of the dormitory, as you can see in this picture, all sixty boys will be moving to the new Sunshine Centre next week!

This means that they will live in a warmer, safer, cleaner and more comfortable home, and this is all thanks to the funding and project management provided by Mission Care International. So thank you all for your support - you have made a big difference! The boys will now all live next-door to me which is very exciting!

The next thing that Mission Care International will be doing is building the kitchen as for a while the boys will be going back to the old buildings to eat. The boys are very pleased though - I know they love their new bedrooms.

Pencils for the displaced children...

I visited the IDP camp in Naivasha today and took with me the gifts of pens, pencils andpaper collected by Bickley Primary School.

The teachers and the children at the camp were both very grateful. These small tokens of our interest in their lives and in their education bring hope to their lives. For us, a pencil may not really mater, but for these children it is really important. They don't have a building to go to school in, they don't have a house to go home to, and they have travelled a long way away from where they used to live because they were in danger.

The pencils given by the children in Bickley are signs of hope - they show that people care, that people know that things are difficult for them, that people want to help them. We know that the children at Bickley Primary want to help the children in Naivasha - and these pencils have shown it!

So a BIG thank you to all of you at Bickley Primary!

Other exciting news from Naivasha is that at the Sunshine Complex where I live they have bought a cow, and the cow is expecting a baby! I will keep you updated - in the next couple of weeks I hope to let you all know about the new baby calf being born.

Mfangano Island...

At the far right of this map of Western Kenya you can see Mfangano Island. The island is in the Kenyan side of Lake Victoria and is home to the Suba people. There are about 30,000 Subas living on the island and it is where I spent my Easter weekend.

By boat it took an hour and a half to reach the island from the mainland. I even got a chance to drive the boat! The island is very secluded, which means that not many people go there, and it is also quite unaffected by some of the modern changes we have seen in the United Kingdom. For example, there is no mains electricity, the showers and toilets are nothing like the ones we have in our houses, and the first car to drive on the island was only last year, on 2nd February 2007 - and even then it only drove 500m as the roads aren't finished yet!

My time there was amazing - it makes you feel free living without all the things you are used to and you really count your blessings and all the things you do have. But life for the people of Mfangano Island is really difficult. They don't have roads so it is very hard for them to get to a doctor or to hospital if they need to. Due to the diseases and sickness a lot of people die very young and it is common for grandparents to look after lots of grandchildren, nephews and nieces if their parents have died.

My friend Moses, shown in this picture with Opeia, who is one of the people on the island who he helps, is working to make life better for the people who live here. Most of the people are fishermen - but they can fish all night and only earn 50 Kenyan Shillings - which is about 40p - and you can't buy very much for that. Since they can't grow everything they need on the island they have to buy it in from other places, which makes things very expensive.

I met some amazing people like Peris Juma in this picture, who is about sixty. Her husband and two of her chidren have died so she is now looking after her youngest child and five of her grandchildren. She earns money by fishing through the night, which is very hard work and dangerous when there are strong winds and sea currents. Moses is hoping to help Peris in the future so that she is able to get more food for her family, who currently do not have enough to eat.

It was great to meet people and try new things and my time on the island made me very grateful for the things we have and want to help people who are working so hard but still find it very difficult to make sure there is enough food for their families.

Moi-Ndabi...

This photograph shows Moi-Ndabi. The people who live here were displaced many many years ago (see my post below for more about displaced people and what this means). They live on flood plains here beneath the mountains, which are areas where it is likely that the water levels can get high enough to cause flooding. As you can see from the picture, the people in Moi-Ndabi live in houses made of sticks and mud. If you think about the story of the three little pigs, and what happened to the house of sticks was in that story - then you can understand that the houses are not very sturdy.

While I was there visiting the village Chief this week, I saw how scary the floods can be. It wasn't raining in the village when I was there; it was all dry. The water comes from the nearby mountains and no one can tell when it will come or how strong the flow will be. While I visited the Chief, the water came and flooded a gully, cutting us off from the road home. If the water had broken the banks of the gully I think that houses and animals would have been swept away. It is a dangerous place to be living, but many of the people here are so poor they don't really have a choice.

Mission Care International helped the people of Moi-Ndabi by bringing water to the village. Before January 2007 people had to walk up to 20km a day to fetch water - now there is a pump right in the village for people to use. This makes such a difference to the lives of the villagers.

Displaced people camps...

Last week I visited the Internally Displaced People (IDP) camps in Naivasha. "Displaced people" are people who have had to leave their homes because of difficult situations like violence and have nowhere to go. There are at least half a million people living in these camps across Kenya - that's a lot of people - they would fill up Arsenal's Emirates Stadium eight times and there would still be people left over.

People have lost their homes and many families lost their loved ones. I always quite enjoyed going camping - but these people are crammed into tents as far as the eye can see. All they have are the clothes that they ran away in - everything else is gone.

These children at the camp were brilliant - happy to smile for their photo to be taken. But they are living in horrible conditions - they live in tents, their doctors are working out of tents and while the teachers are doing their best to keep the children in education, there are hundreds of children in every class - and not enough books or pencils to go around. That is like having one teacher for your whole school. All the health workers and teachers are doing an amazing job but it was very sad to see so many people living like this - and with no real plans for things to change. Anything that we can do will be a great help to these families who have nothing left.

Meet Harriet Kibichi...

This is my newest friend in Kenya - Harriet Kibichi! "Kibichi" means "green" in Swahili, the language that is spoken here in Naivasha, and it is also used to mean "cabbage" so my new dog is really called Harriet Cabbage!

I bought Harriet from some of the street boys who are sadly living rough on the streets in Naivasha Town. It makes me so sad to see them - they live in what looks like a rubbish dump, they don't have enough to eat, they are always dirty, and they get involved with things that really hurt them. The boys are able to make some money to buy food by selling dogs - and that's where Harriet came from. Buying her also helped me to start making friends with some of the boys still on the streets. There are lots more boys who need help since all the trouble in Kenya earlier this year - most families are having to survive with even less money than before since all the problems and many families had to leave their homes behind - only keeping the clothes they had with them when they ran away.

Harriet is a German Shepherd puppy. I have built her a kennel and am sure she will grow up to be a sturdy guard dog!

Gifts...

You may remember that in December, I told you about the container that was being sent out by Mission Care International, carrying many gifts from our supporters for our friends in Africa.

Some of the gifts were sent by our partners, Footsteps International, to the children at the Association for the Physically Disabled of Kenya's Rehabilitation Clinic in Port Reitz. I visited the clinic when I was in Mombasa. There were toys, books and other gifts for the children, who have been through really hard times due to their illnesses and the problems that they have with their physical bodies. The children stay at the clinic for surgery to correct some of their problems and there is a school at the clinic as well. They were so excited to get their gifts - they clapped and sang and really enjoyed playing with the toys!

Back in December I visited our friends at Bickley Primary School, who kindly donated a number of computers to our projects in Kenya. It was really exciting to share about our work with the children at Bickley - they are great kids and real champions in my eyes! I am pleased to show you this picture of one of the Bickley computers being used in Kenya! The pupils at Bishop Wambari School and at the AIC Polytechnic College are now being taught computer skills which are so important to today's young people. A big thank you to everyone at Bickley from everyone here in Naivasha!

Finally, I have spent time with the Sunshine Boys this week. A good friend Alison Evelyn-Rahr and her family did a brilliant job before Christmas preparing gift bags for the ex-street boys. These bags were similar to the shoeboxes that some charities prepare for Christmas - you may have made up shoeboxes before - with gifts inside. It reminded me that there are so many things that we take for granted in the UK - the boys were so excited to see bouncy balls or cuddly toys inside their bags. It is brilliant to be able to work with Mission Care International and be part of making a difference to the lives of the Sunshine Boys. Thanks to everyone who has helped!

Mombasa...

Last week I visited Mombasa for the first time. It took us 9 hours to drive there from Naivasha.

While I was there I visited some of the projects that Mission Care International has been working with, together with Footsteps International. The first project we saw was Timbwani, which is a school, orphanage and housing project on the edge of the city. There are 600 pupils at the school and 28 children who don't have parents living at the orphanage. There is also a feeding programme ensuring that 200 additional children get the food that they need.

I also visited a project in Mombasa called the Bombalulu Workshops and Cultural Centre. This project provides wheelchairs to those people in Kenya who need help with mobility, and also provides jobs for people with disabilities. They work really hard to produce the most amazing handcrafted jewellery.

We have had good news in Kenya because the politicians have decided to work together in government which has led to peace. Sadly, many families have been forced out of their homes after the recent fighting, and they are now living in tents like the ones below.

I am glad that the politicians are going to be working together to help the people in Kenya who have lost so much in the first months of 2008, but I am sad for all the people who have seen such terrible things and hope and pray that they can be helped through this time of change.

Back in Kenya...

I arrived in Kenya on Friday morning. I am so glad to be back!

On Saturday I went to a wedding. Mark is a former street boy (which means he was homeless for a while, living on his own in the town) who was helped by the Sunshine Centre, where I now live. His life is now very different - he has a job and his own house and he is now married to Naomi. It was a lovely day and very special to see somebody who used to have no hope so excited about his future.

On Sunday I watched the Sunshine Boys play football against another orphanage. We were all gutted when we lost 4-0! I did have some good news though as my Land Rover arrived. It is really good to have my own car out here as I will have a lot of long journeys to make. I look forward to telling you about these.

On Monday I spent a day teaching drama to the four girls on the Fuhomi Project. This is one of Mission Care International's newest projects. The girls have finished secondary school and are doing a "gap" year with the Fuhomi Project. Lots of people in the UK do gap years, and this is the same sort of thing. The girls will be learning lots of teaching skills and then going into schools to take lessons about issues that affect teenagers here in Kenya. I am going to be teaching them drama, media and film so that their lessons and workshops are really interesting for the young people they will be working with. We had a lot of fun.

Today, I am leaving Naivasha to drive to Mombasa to see the Mission Care International work there. I will be travelling with our friends Martin and Mary Print who run Footsteps International which is a charity doing lots of work to help children here in Kenya. Mombasa is over 450km from Naivasha and the drive will take most of the day. I will let you know all about this visit in my next post - please visit again soon!

Going back...

I am pleased to say that things have calmed down a lot in Kenya since I had to come home. Having spent time thinking very carefully, we have decided that it is safe for me to go back to Naivasha.

I am very glad that I will be able to return to spend time with the Sunshine Boys and work on some of Mission Care's other projects. I look forward to telling you all about them when I get back to Sunshine Cottage. Please come back to my blog next week for all the latest updates!

In the news...

You may have seen the troubles in Kenya in the news a lot over the past few weeks. As I had to come home because of the fighting between different tribes in Kenya, and some terrible things that are happening, there is quite a lot of interest in what I saw happening.

I spent yesterday talking to some local journalists about my experiences. Look out for my stories in the News Shopper and Bromley Extra next week.

If you want to hear me talking about Kenya I will be speaking at a special evening we are organising on Saturday 9th Februrary, to be held at St Mark's Church, Westmoreland Road, Bromley, from 7pm. We will be showing some DVDs of the different Mission Care projects in Africa and I will be sharing about all the things that happened. There will also be some musical entertainment and some great raffle prizes. This would be a fun evening out for your family if you want to come.

Coming home...

As the situation in Kenya is not getting any better and it is really not a safe place to be at the moment, we have decided that the best thing would be for me to come home. I am going to spend my day today at Nairobi airport, which is very safe and out of the areas of trouble, waiting for my flight home. I will be leaving late tonight and arriving back in London very early tomorrow morning.

I will post more about how I feel about this soon. It is a very difficult and sad time thinking about what has happened in the place where I was living, which this time last week was full of people going about their every day lives.

Being in Kenya...

This time last week I had just arrived in Kenya. I had thought I would be in Uganda for sometime longer but there was a sudden change of plan. Last week we were not sure whether we would be able to travel to Kenya at all.

An election took place in Kenya on 28th December to choose the president of the country. In many African countries this can be a difficult time, and this has been the case in Kenya. Most African countries are made up of lots of different tribes; these are ancient families that have traditions and rituals of their own. Today in Kenya they no longer live together in one place but are spread throughout the whole country. Most of the time they live peacefully alongside one another, however during a government election, tribes will vote for their own candidate, somebody from their own tribe.

The election here didn't go well. Some people believe that it was "rigged" meaning that the results were not the truth, but were changed. The winner of the election was a man called Kibaki, the same president as before. This caused people to become upset and angry with each other. Since 28th December there has been some violence in the towns and cities where different tribes live together.

Because of these problems we had cancelled our trip to Kenya because the British Government had said it was not safe. Last week, things had calmed down a lot and so the government told people it was ok to travel, but sadly, this weekend, things have become dangerous in Naivasha, where I am living.

I am safe in the Sunshine Boys Centre, which has gates and good security at all times. The British Government here in Kenya are telling people not to go out of their houses at the moment, so for now I am staying in.

My new house, Sunshine Cottage, was built for me by the Kenyans. When I arrived here to move in I was amazed at how big it was - they have done a great job in making it really cosy as well. Here is a picture of me outside my front door, with Colin Bloom, the Chief Executive of Mission Care, and Simon Kinyanjui Chege, who is the director at the Sunshine Boys Centre.

I have already done and seen some amazing things while I have been in Africa. While I was in Uganda I went to Jinja, and saw the source of the Nile. The Nile is the longest river in Africa, and passes through Sudan and Egypt. You may have learned about the Nile at school if you have studied the Ancient Egyptians. At the end, the river flows into the Mediterranean Sea. Uganda has the biggest lake in Africa too, and the source of the Nile flows from this lake, which is called Lake Victoria. There is a spring, which is an underground source of water which causes water to shoot out from beneath the Earth's surface. The spring makes the water in the lake begin to flow, and from the source of the Nile in Jinja it takes three months for the water to travel into the Mediterranean Sea - it travels a staggering 4000km. Here is a picture of our boat at source of the Nile:

Maybe you can leave me a comment with any facts you can find out about the Nile or about Lake Victoria. I would be interested to hear what you can discover about them as they are both truly amazing.

I also went for a drive to Nakuru National Park where I was really excited to see lots of animals in the wild - wildebeest, warthogs (like Pumbaa in The Lion King!), zebras, giraffes and even rhinos to name a few of the things we saw.

I am now hoping that the police and the Red Cross can sort things out in the town of Naivasha, where people have been fighting, so that it is safe for me to continue my work with the people here, especially the boys at Sunshine.

Arriving in Africa...

My flight on Sunday night from London into Kampala, the capital city of Uganda, took just over 7½ hours, it was a night flight meaning I was supposed to sleep, but I watched a film.

Moving out for seven months meant my bags were very full, so full that my hand luggage was almost too big to fit in the overhead locker on the plane, I really had to force it in.


The first two days here in Uganda were spent in a rural town called Kanganda; Mission Care will be working in this village hoping help the people there who are very poor and needy. I met some of the children here, their clothes are dirty, torn and shredded and most have no shoes. Lots of the children were smiling and laughing but they were malnourished, which means that they don’t eat enough and have a poor diet. They can’t afford to buy food like we can.

We were there to survey the land, measuring it before we can build on it. We had some very odd equipment that I didn’t know how to use, but Andrew, Mission Care’s architect, knew what to do and I helped him. While we were there it rained very heavily, and we had to run for shelter. Since they have little clean water in the village I took a picture of a rain collecting device one man had made. Very clever!