How the other half live

We’ve woken up every morning to the smell of wood smoke at 7am. This is the smell of the fires used to heat the breakfast for the children who sleep in dormitories above our room. The toilets we use leak water from the base and the handles on some are broken. But yet there is constant laughter around us.

Today we did a short frame piece for the children and gave them some colouring to do which they loved!

After lunch we walked to the Grandmother’s village. This is where some of the grandmothers of the children live, along with other relatives. We were accompanied by Anne, who started the orphanage and some children from here walked with us to. Erin had the company of Little Ruth the entire time and they chatted endlessly. We were showed the first building Anne started in on the way (seeing monkeys in the trees) and then into the village where we were greeted with an enthusiastic Kenyan dance.

They live in small huts with corrigated iron roofs. There is electricity and running water. Some have TVs but it really does open your eyes to how the other half live and not how you traditionally think of that phrase.

Here, we were giving the children items we’d brought over, like toothbrushes and toothpaste, pens and colouring pencils. Finally, the grandmother’s were given a packet of Corn Flour from each of us that they use to cook food with.

Another song and a further Kenyan dance and we departed back to the Orphanage.

Within 15 minutes of getting back, I was asked to get the footballs out for a game. Unfortunately, they were locked in a storeroom that we didn’t have a key for, so we settled on Rounders instead. It was an interesting experience getting the rules over, but John, a man studying to become a social worker and who lives in the village, translated and they loved it. More of the same tomorrow. And some football. And definately some laughter.