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.