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.