First Days

I arrived safely in Nairobi Sunday morning, albeit exhausted as it was an overnight flight and I didn’t get much sleep.  I had a minor panic at the airport when I couldn’t find one of my suitcases at baggage reclaim, but after an hour or so of waiting and with the help of a couple of the airport staff, I finally found my bag…not sure what happened, but it was a relief….wouldnt have been much fun recycling the same set of clothes for the next 3 weeks.  

Eleanor, the director of the charity (Action for Children in Conflict, AfCiC) that I will be working for, met me at the airport; she is British and has been in Kenya for about 4 years.  Before making the hour long trip to Thika, we stopped off at the Masai Market in Nairobi.  I ended up buying a few scarves and a lot of another unnecessary items.  I think I got a bit carried away with the bartering,  it can get quite addictive just seeing how low you can go.

We arrived at the volunteer house early afternoon, and Eleanor left me for a couple hours to have a rest and unpack. Later that evening we went out to eat at a local bar and then to bed, ready to start work the next day.

Monday morning I attended the bi-weekly operations meeting and was able to meet the staff members and understand more about what AfCiC do. The organisation’s aim  is to break cycles of violence, hated and despair by providing physiological, emotional and educational support to those affected by conflict, focusing its activities on children and young people.  I was fortunate to meet some of the street  kids staying at the centre,  I was somewhat of a novelty to them, whilst AfCiC have had a number of international volunteers, very few have been of Afro-Caribbean decent, like myself. When I introduced myself to the kids and told them I was from England, they didn’t believe me.  One boy replied “no you are Kikuyu” (which is one off the local tribes in Thika), another boy asked “where are you really from?” I assured them that I was born in England, but they just weren’t convinced.  It was only until I explained that my parents were born in Jamaica that they were able to relate...”Oh Jamaica..yea mon!” one replied, “so you are Jamaican, are you related to Bob Marley!?”  I would have loved to have replied “yes!”.