It’s week three and we’re a few volunteers short of a
pack. Jane has gone home to Oz and Tara and Shar are away in Zanzibar until
Wednesday. Regardless, work continues. The women scratch, scrape and render the
windows in prep for the paint work, collecting bruises, scabs and blisters. The
septic tank hole continues to grow, along with Conner and Joe’s guns.
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| Belinda and Aleisha digging the septic |
Art and drama classes are the best so far. We put the
kids in groups of three and gave each a character: a robber, policeman or bank
teller. We told them they had fifteen minutes to come up with a small story to
perform in front of their class mates and teacher, which was initially met with
a nervous silence but then excitement and competition kicked in and they were
off and running. After five minutes Stella and I looked around and laughed at
their ingenuity. We hadn’t mentioned props but we could see the bank tellers
counting their wads of leaves and robbers and policemen pointing sticks at each
other shouting “surrender!”
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| Drama classes at Kamwangi Morning Glory. |
Each performance was Oscar winning. One was even in slow motion. I was
laughing so hard tears leaked from my eyes and a little bit of wee came out. When
I looked over at Stella she too was bent over in a fit of laughter. The kids
loved it. They looked gutted when we told them the class had come to an end. Art
was more subdued. We taught them how to paint using only materials they have at
their disposal. Dirt, water, coal and chalk. Their task was simply to draw
something they love. Images of family members, aeroplanes and pets began to
appear. And not to my surprise, a few smiling stick figures of a girl with long
brown hair called Stella!
We’re rewarded with a long weekend so on Thursday
night all the volunteers go into Nairobi for a big night on the town. Come
Friday we join her family in Nairobi for a feast of goat and chicken in
celebration of her birthday. James’ impromptu speech was a highlight.
Painting the tanks on Saturday afternoon with all the
kids was probably my highlight of this week which was only slightly marred by
the fact that dinner was being prepared right behind us so there was no
avoiding being witness to the slaughtering of two sweet little black and white
goats. One goat even had to watch his mate get skinned and gutted and made into
sausages before his turn came along. (Belinda, the only vegetarian of the group
filmed it, for those who are interested in some graphic visuals).
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| Baba painting the water tank. |
It’s Sunday morning and we pile into the school bus
with all the kids and head into Nairobi to Splash Waterpark. Despite shivering
from the freezing cold water the kids can’t get enough and squeal with delight
for two solid hours.
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| Enjoying splash! |
After, we head to Bomas of Kenya for a cultural hit where
we visit traditional tribe huts and watch Kenyans in colourful costumes dancing
to the bongo drums. Bridget and Agnes fearlessly took to the stage for some
serious booty shaking, putting the professional dancers to shame.
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| Katoni in a tribal hut at Bomas |
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| Agnes and Bridget shaking their booties at Bomas. |
It’s a sad feeling arriving back at the house after
such a huge wonderful day out with everyone. It’s the end of the third week and
I leave in five days. I’ve only just managed to get my head around the kids
names and in less than a week we’ll be saying our goodbyes. For the first two
weeks their personalities and faces seemed a mysterious puzzle I had no hope of
solving but over time, piece by small piece, it’s started to take shape and now
each child’s personality and smile seems as unique as a Zebra’s pattern.
Imprinted in my brain forever.
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