Kayshani's Travels

2009-03-26T08:41:00.000-07:00

Pokhara has a huge variety of things to be doing, trekking, kayaking, sightseeing and shopping.... but not many easy ways to exercise unless you want to swallow a lot of dirty lake water... so hearing my complaints that i was getting fat - one of the boys, Kamal, invited me to go jogging with him in the mornings. I was expecting a light bit of running but he toured me half way around the town and really made me sweat - he even tried to get me to do pull ups on the bars at the park - there i drew the line.
Unfortunately after a few cold mornings of this i caught a cold - which gave me a good excuse to catch my extra hour of sleep :D

Instead i've been teaching the girls badminton, it seemed unfair that only the boys were any good,, and then the boys teaching me to play table tennis - as they have no net they have to use bricks and the rules are a bit sketchy... but in anycase it keeps us amused and takes their minds off the dreaded exams that are going on currently.

For the last few weeks an ex-volunteer, Rita, has been in town. The greek village she lives in had raised some money for the children so we wined and dined in style with a picnic in the park and pizza in the dark :D

She was also around for the festival of holi where everybody goes around covering each other in color for good wishes and luck in the future. Being European bee-lines were made towards us and at one stage we even had a group of about 20 children chasing us down the road... i just made it to safety behind the gates of the childrens home but i'm afraid Rita was lost to the swarms.. until she led them in to get me!

As a leaving present Rita gave the children several boxes of beads, we spent one afternoon making jewelery before Uncle band it for the exam period. But the children keep making them in secret so it seems every morning i am given a new bracelet or necklace to wear - one of the little boys, Geevan, made me 4 strings of beads and it was very tricky trying to persuade him that i didn't need ALL of them!

Thank you Rita and see you in the summer hoepfully! :D

As i've been in Nepal for almost 3 months now, the ladies of Himalayan Encounters (where i live) decided i needed to 'go native' and took me kurtha shopping. We spent hours wandering in and out of material shops until Gomaya didi and i both found material we liked, then we took it off to the tailors and i picked up the final products a day later.
I wore mine to the picnic with the children and i dont think they believed it was me, they younger children called me a 'heroine' from a film and told me only to wear my kurtha for special occasions so that i didnt spoil it!

Last weekend i decided to go for an explore to Bandipur, there i visited another set of HE staff and extended my Nepali family even more. It was lovely to get out of the city for a couple of days and fill my lungs with fresh countryside air.

I climbed up to the viewpoint and sat lording over the village until the sun was hidden behind hills, then had to rush down before all the daylight disappeared so i wasn't stuck on the hill all night... the next morning i made my way down to the nearby caves (nearby being and hours walk away). I was expecting a 10 minute look around in one cave but on arrival a guide informed me that it was too dangerous to go in alone,, and he was right! There seemed to be hundreds of caves with odd tunnels and holes in the wall interlinking them all, one cave from floor to roof is 70m high! There were also odd formations of rock, stalegmites and stalegtites so my guide pointed out an Elephants ear, special seeds that make up a traditional nepali necklace, a niche in the wall where a priest sat for a month praying and my favourite - a ghosts mouth.

From the caves i made my way down to another village where i grabbed some lunch and caught my breath before jumping on a local bus back to Pokhara. Everyone warmly welcomed me back and wanted to hear all my stories of Bandipur, heaping cups of tea on me and hugging me like they hadn't seen me in years - it really felt like i was returning home to family... i know when i leave i'm really going to miss the guys here.

Speaking of which - i must get back for breakfast so until next time!

xx

2009-02-28T22:25:00.000-08:00

Well,, this last month has been pretty busy both at the Childrens Home and in my own time...

I went with the kids on their big school picnic they have once a year,, to a nearby a monastery on the outskirts of Pokhara. Katerina came too, as her last day with the kids. There we helped prepare the food, sang songs as part of the entertainment and went with all the children to visit the monastery.

Then off with 7 other volunteers for a few days of trekking. The views were amazing, weather beatiful... although we did have half an hour of wet walking on our second day - but it meant we saw the mountains a whole lot clearer :D
As if 4 days of walking wasn't enough, the boys and i decided to climb up to the peace pogoda the day after we got back!

Once back with the kids, i accompanied them to dance class - they all get pretty sweaty i tell you! I amused the younger ones with making glasses out of pipe cleaners, and colouring in pictures. Then the older ones with games of ping pong and badminton,, i've even had one of the boys asking him to teach me what little yoga i know!

As well as working with the children at the home, i'm also helping a little boy down the road with his ABC and 123. Half his body was paralysed and now he's learning how to use it again, also i think he may be autistic so finds normal school very hard. I visit him every few days, and both him and his sister are always very pleased to see me.

Last week i went paragliding!!! The clouds behaved nicely and allowed a good sight of the mountains and the sun felt lovely against the cold air so high up,, i saw the whole of pokhara stretching out into the haze and uncountable rolls and hills in all directions.. my pilot was a french guy and sang to me as we swooped and soared away... Why was i born a human being?
I'd do it every day if i could but it's very expensive, so i'll have to save that as a hobby for when i become rich and famous.
Unfortunately i've no pictures as i just wanted to enjoy the experiance instead of snapping away - but i think a friend of mine got a couple so maybe you can see in a few more weeks.

We also had Shivaratri last week where everyone celebrates by heating up sugarcane on a big fire and then banging it against the floor to pop it open. I bought i kids some so that afternoon we all got very sticky,, then in the evening we went to join in with the big fire down the road where there was singing, drumming and dancing too.

The day before yesterday i got back from Chitwan, there with 3 other volunteers i went canoeing, riding elephants (saw a rhino :)), visitng cultural museums, taking part in stick dances and bird watching,, all in the space of two days. I used the 5 hour bus ride home for sleeping!

Well typing all this up has been almost as exhausting as doing it all again... so i'm gonna call it a day.

Puchi vetum la - See you later/ Until we meet again

2009-02-04T00:01:00.000-08:00

Life in Pokhara has now settled into a routine, i wake at 6.30 every morn to hurridly slurp down a cup of tea and then off to the home by 7.30 to help peel potatoes or chop cabbages for the morning dhal bhat.
Usually i get a couple of the kids wanting to help and i have to watch out that the younger ones dont cut themselves.

Theres always last minute homework or desperate revision to be done so i'm pulled in all directions, with the girls all needing their lovely long hair to be plaited too.
The kids then all squish into the dining room and gobble down their morning dhal bhat usually getting most of it on the floor,, which i then have to sweep up later.

By this stage we're usually late with only 15 minutes to get changed, brush teeth and rush to school. The children all look tremendously smart in their uniform and take great pride in looking good. After singing the national anthem we trundle onto school in a line (youngest to oldest) with me practically dragging the two youngest ones to hurry us along.

During the day i was helping a girl in class 10 with some English and Maths revision as shes having her SlC exams now. Shes been very worried, as in Nepal if you don't pass all your exams you don't get to move up the year and if she doesn't pass she can't go to college.
I also helped with sorting rice, cleaning round the house and playing with the cute little puppies of their dog - Joni.

.. However i came here to work with kids not to cook and clean,, so with Auntie we decided i should have the rest of the morning off and then after picking the children from school, stay later into the evening.

There was also another volunteer - Katerina, at the childrens home when i arrived. We became fast friends and spend lots of our spare time together, drinking lots of tea and making friends with a local band... but shes now decided its time to move on so the next couple of days are her last here :(

Once the kids are safely home and changed into more comfortable attire, they all get some tea and fruit or biscuits before being sentenced to the study room for homework time.
Here i get questions left, right and centre usually with a little one on my lap as i read them a story. They have lots of English story books but not very good English so i usually have to translate the story into Nepalese for them - thank goodness theres no language barrier here!

The kids here get a lot of random holidays as the government every now and then decide to have a 'bunda' so on one of these days Katerina and i took the kids to the park. The boys all disappeared off to play football and so with the girls we played stuck in the mud, grandmothers footsteps, duck duck goose and many more. I'd bought them all some juice and biscuits which made a nice break from all the running around.

This is Katerinas and my favorite tea place (they do very yummy tibetian bread) with Clare, another volunteer who came recently but is working in another placement.
...

Well my cameras just died which means i can't get any more photos off it.. but ones of the school picnic we went to yesterday and my first ever football match (this afternoon - yeay!) to come.

.. Ibi .. you'll be glad to know the weird sandwiches are still going on... I've discovered marmite and chocolate ice cream :D

Ramro din gurnuse - Have a nice day!

2009-02-03T04:05:00.000-08:00

Righto, hallo all!

These photos are off my first two weeks in Nepal (and all back to front), not any of kids yet but uploading those soon.

The first week here i stayed with Clare and Purdeep, old friends of dads. Their two kids, Siddy and Kanchy were off for the xmas hols so it fell down to me (and their grandma Pat) to entertain them. The four of us explored Patan durbar square and Thamel and i came up with crazy ideas for play games. First we played dressing up games - becoming pirates for the evening and kidnapping various household members to walk the plank on our makeshift ship. Then we decided to build a huge den, using hundreds of kikoys and poles and sofas, it was so big that i could actaully stand up inside it!
On my last day with them we decided to construct a dragon :) Using cardboard boxes for the body and eggcup holders for spikes, we taped, glued and newspapered ourselves into a happy oblivion for the afternoon.
I had a great time with the kids and Clare + Deep were very hospitable but then it was time for me to start the real roaming.

I met up with Himalayan encounters and they handed me an itinery so packed that i felt tired just reading it. That week i spent wandering round all of Kathmandus big tourist spots, temples, stopas, cremeation grounds.. and ice cream parlours. A small stint out of Kathmandu and into the countryside for a couple of nights, delicious suntalas which we picked off trees and hot fresh milk at 6 in the morning. We did a tiny 2 hour trek to a temple... where i played (and won!) a game of table tennis with some local teens, and enjoyed a bowl of fresh yoghurt in Baktapur,, then the following day - made it to the Trisuli centre just in time to help the 'Trisuli youth friday litter clean up' - great. All the gang at Trisuli and hostfamilies/staff along the way were very welcoming and astonished at my Nepali, i had fun surprising everyone with my language skills. But finally at the end of a chaotic week we finally made it to Pokhara where i got to meet the staff i'd be living with for the next 3 months.

It was great to be assigned a room - which was mine alone - to contain all my mess and somewhere i could settle into. Now, two and a half weeks down the line i feel like this is home. I've got my close family - Bj, Raj and Chakra dhai as well as a few extended family,, i've explored the area quite a bit - gone kayaking and been on Nepalese radio,, and am thoroughly enjoying my daily allowance of two meals of dhal bhat a day :D

More stories on the kids to come within the next week.

Namaste!

2009-01-19T04:54:00.000-08:00

Hallo all,, new address to write to me by is:

Kayshani Gibbon
C/O Pashupati Timilsina
Himalayan Encounters
Dikopatan
Lakeside - 6
Pokhara
Nepal

Sorry Shelley and gran it'll probably be a while before either of you get an email from me - but thank you, great to hear all the news from home.

Photos for the next blog are up but in backwards order - please forgive me :P

Love.
xx

Explorations of the Kenyan coast

2009-01-10T03:45:00.000-08:00

Hallo there everyone! Merry xmas, happy new year and all that jazz... here i am finally back after my gallavanting around Kenya.
I do apologise for not being such an avid blog keeper (gran....and adam) but i supose this can be a new years resolution.

The last month of work with the kids was much the same, more chopping of vegetables, sorting of beans/rice, teaching and general helping out around the home and school. As a goodbye i took all the BA kids to the beach, there was just over 30 of us and i the only adult in sight! You can imagine what chaos insued.
On my last day at the school all the teachers i had been working with and the 3 classes i had taught, stuffed themselves into one classroom and we had a few goodbye speeches. A few of the children said a few words and the teachers all said something, they all thanked me for my hard work and wished me the best of luck for the future. By the end i had tears in my eyes and was trying very hard not to cry, the children all gave me hugs and made me promise to visit again,, the time flew by so fast and i didn't feel prepared to leave at all.

I had a few days before a friend of mine (Ibi) arrived from the uk, so in that time i finished off my Dive Master - i'm fully qualified now! whoop! And made the most of Prisca, Charity and Steph while i still had them.
Once i'd left i still kept in contact with them by txt messages and phonecalls every now and then, i even took Ibi to meet them for a night.

The beginning of our travels started in Mombasa, we chose our base to be Sha's house (Ibis dad), left most of our baggage there, and then set off into the distance. First we headed off to Watamu for a night on a roadtrip with one of Ibis friends (Owl), we spent the night trying to squeeze three of us into a hammock and covering up to avoid the mossies. That night we paid the most for camping compared to anywhere else we stayed... and that was 700/= the equivalent of just under £7, but we did get the use of the hotel pool and the bar/resturant :D
The prices in the resturant however were well out of our price range, so we drove down the road to a little hotelli where the price of a cup of tea was 10/= instead of 100/= The mzee working there was a classic, although his little cafe was built out of tin sheets with rickety wooden chairs inside.. he wore a shirt and tie to work! He looked like he belonged in an office, not a dirty little Kibanda.

The next day we decided it was time to move on to Malindi, here we stayed in the KWS campsite where it was only 150/= a night to camp! It was also a lot closer to the beach, so on one of the two nights we were there we went to slum it on the sand.
In Malindi we made it a point to eat at a different Hotelli every meal time, all the them very cheap but with delicious oily chapatis and greasy tea, at one of them we had a waiter called 'sorted'!
While there we visited the famous 'silversands' beach, named because the sand sticks to you and looks like flakes of silver. Here the two boys decided to jump of the pier, it was only afterwards that they realised they'd jumped into all the fish chum that the fishermen had thrown in. As they were doing that i made friends at the fishermen who were insistent on trying to teach me to fish, although they couldn't seem to understand the concept that i was vegetarian and didn't like killing animals.

From here Ibi and i left Owl to make his way home and we hopped on a bus to Lamu. The bus company we went with had a brilliant motto 'We fly, others run' and its true, a suposedly 5/6 hour journey only took us 4... although at some stages i was worried that the bus might roll as the driver was a maniac and the road was not flat but a curved surface.
Getting of the bus we made our way to the ferry, a tiny little boat which managed to pack everyone who had been on the coach and what looked like their entire households of furniture and goods. The sun was setting as we made our ride and the view over the trees and water looked amazing, however pale in comparision to the other sun sets we were to see in Lamu.
We made a very grumpy and uncomfortable walk in the dark to our new home, a place called Dudu Villas which had the most eratic, crossed eyed man you could ever meet as the owner. The place was perfect, a double bed of both of us with an on-suite bathroom and a balcony where we could hang our hammock, Mr. Dudu left us with a goodnight and 'if you need ANYTHING just ask me!'

After washing what must have been a truck load of dust off ourselves, we made our way into town and treated ourselves to a huge dinner.. i think thats probably the most we ever spent on a meal during our travels.
Over the next few days we explored Lamu's little craft shops and the 'culture workshop' which was left in charge of two boys who i reckon were only about 10/11. In any case they did a brilliant job of trying to sell us everything inside and telling us how to recycle flip flops. We also went to the 'Wildebeest' Which was an old house that was now used as an art gallery and a place for travellers to stay. There were huge hangings that had been sown by hand, beads and glitter and bits of straw making up massive pieces of art.

We also walked down to Shella most days to bask in the sunshine and try and defeat the waves, sometimes in the evening we would climb up the sand dunes which were the size of mountains! From there we would survey our land watching the sunset.
As one of the boat crew on the ferry had promised me, there was no traffic in Lamu as there are only 3 cars there.... but there is a lot of Donkey traffic! Everywhere you go you can see donkeys, and there is a donkey sanctuary to stop people mistreating their donkeys. One morning after breakfast we found our favourite donkey, 'bandit donkey'. He had a black bandana type cloth tied round his neck, black hair and his poor tail had been chopped off! We found a quite a few odd animals on our adventure, another being a cat who was most definately a direct desendant of a lion who stalked bits of fluff and had a broken tail.

Our breakfasts in Lamu were the best i've had so far on my journeys. We would wake anywhere between 7 and 11 and stumble our way into town with our eyes half closed like zombies, searching out 'the new star cafe'. There we would place ourselves for at least an hour if not two, and devour freshly cooked mahambris and cup of tea after cup of tea.. they also did a fantabulaticly scrumptious mango milkshake and once i'd discovered these there was no stopping me, i had a pint of it every morning.

After our breakfast we would try something new each day, we once decided to try and walk the distance of Shella beach all the way to the tip of the island... thats about 13k. Well... We got half way and realised we'd run out of food, water and shade, so in the blinding heat of the day we turned round and made our way home. In all i think we walked for 6 hours, we were VERY tired by the end.
Other days we swam to the sandbanks near by and played bao (an african game) with shells, digging holes in the sand to use as a board.

When we had planned our travels we were only going to stay in Lamu for 3/4 days, however we fell in love with the place and decided that a good excuse to stay was the 'Lamu Cultural Festival' ... so we stayed for 10 days! Definately worth it though, part of the festival were donkey races, dhow races, swimming races, live music, dancing, food and craft stalls. We made a group of friends so every day we would meet with them and amble round town stopping whenever we felt like it to see a race or some music. Ibi and i survived on mango milkshake takeaways, shake in a plastic bag with a straw.
We went on a dhow ride to watch the sunset, then again with our friends to Manda island for dinner around a campfire and swimming with phospherance under stars.
On our last day in Lamu Ibi, Monsoon (a friend we had made there) and i all swam across to Manda island. We timed it so that we were swimming at low tide just turning, but the current was still very strong and it took us about half an hour to swim each way. Anyway the fact that we got to the other side was enough to put a grin on my face for the rest of the week. On the swim back to Lamu island we had dolphins following us and Ibi got really excited as it was the first time he had seen dolphins in the wild.

The day we left Lamu i think was the worst day of our travels. Neither of us wanted to leave so we were in bad moods, we had reached the end of our money so our breakfast wasn't as large as we'd have liked, the coach back was over packed so we both got claustothrobic, we needed to pee, we were thirsty...just everything was awful.

After scowling and moaning at each other we finally started to see the funny side of it and we decided the only thing to do was laugh. So although we were both fed up we at least weren't fed up at each other, and we endevoured to try and cheer each other up. I shared my ipod with Ibi and when we got to Malindi (where the coach stopped to drop off some passengers - phew!) he spent his last 50/= on buying us a soda each. We had also put aside some money especially for some Malindi Halwa, so we had lovely warm, squiddgy Halwa to fill our tummies on the second part of our journey.

From Mombasa we caught the over night train up to Nairobi, we played bao to chase away our boredom and made funny sandwiches for dinner. I discovered that kit kat, cheese and crisps make a very good sandwich!
In Nairobi we met up with dad and spent the night with him in his new cottage, we got to eat yoghurt, cheese and cereal! There are no words to describe how much i'd missed dairy products!

Early the next morning i drove us down to Elementita for the weekend. There we stayed with Juliet going for long walks in the bush, having gorgeous sundowners by the lake and getting attacked by all the crazy animals... poor dad - Ester the donkey fell in love with him.
Ibi and i lay on the lawn moonbathing both nights we were there, to keep warm i was in two jumpers and a sleeping bag with a hot water bottle! We both felt that our faces were dry and lips cracking, and we were wearing jeans and jumpers during the day... i was amazed at how different the air and temperature was between the coast and central province. We agreed it was good to get a different view on Kenya and disappear into the bush for a few days, away from the hussle and bussle of people on the coast.

After our lovely peaceful weekend it was ..guess where?.... Back down to the coast again! We just couldn't keep away. More funny sandwiches and Ibi won the bao game so he got to sleep on the top bunk... and then in the morning i woke feeling ridiculously overdressed in jeans and a t-shirt.
For Ibis last week we camped in Tiwi on the beach, every night we slept under the glare of the full moon (or just about full) and every day we swam in the pool of Africa. The pool of Africa is a giant rock pool thats in the shape of Africa, its fairly deep so we took it in turns boastfully jumping off the cliff into the pool below. As we had reached the end of our travels, so had we reached the end of our money. We lived on 100/= a day (about a pound) having a fairly large breakfast and then bread and oranges, or bread and bananas, or bread and coconut for our second meal at about 4/5 in the afternoon. Ibi told me, once he got back to the uk, that he'd lost 5kgs.

Living the tiwi life we met one of the more interesting people on our travels, a crazy 15 yr old who told me 'i want you to introduce me to your sister' and then offered to buy us sodas. He was apalled at how little we were living on and we felt like true 'down and outs' the way he pitied us. One night by our beachfire, he cooked some crab claws in a coconut shell,, with sea water and orange peel for a 'bit of flavour'. I was very impressed by his creativity and i dont think i'll forget his crazy cooking any time soon.
I also took ibi to meet the divers i'd been working with and they all bonded very well, my divers joking and offering to pay ibi for my hand in marridge.

At the end of a very lazy week on the beach, ibi and i finally said our farewells and he made his way grumpily back to England. I didn't realise how inseprable we'd become until he'd vanished off on a plane and i was still thinking 'he must have just gone to the toilet, i'm sure he'll be back soon'.
I didn't have much time for sulking though as a couple of hours after Ibi i hopped on a plane to Zanzibar!

There i really lived a fancy lifestyle, i was completely spoilt by my godmother(Shelley) and her friend (Paola). We stayed in posh hotels and ate meals costing what i would have spent on a weeks worth of food! Everytime i tried to pay for something they would glare at me and refuse my money, 'you need it for Nepal!' they said.
Shelley had lived in Zanzibar previously so she was a great guide and took us to the best bars and beaches, showing us the quirky shops of stonetown and the beauty of the island. I had a really lovely time catching up as i hadn't seen Shelley in 2 years! We discussed all the work i'd being doing and the different experiances i'd had. It was really good to talk to an adult who knew my background and the way i worked already, so we could really thrash out all my feelings and ideas of Kenya.

After 4 nights and 4 days of the two oldies, they left me to fly back to Tanzania and i was met by Hezena. She's the daughter to Shelley and i've known her since i was 9 yrs old! She took me to stay in her dads VERY POSH hotel on the north coast of Zanzibar and there too i was treated like a princess. The two of us stayed in the prestigious honeymoon suite, ate all the deserts available and relaxed in the infinity pool. I also made friends with her 3 yr old brother (Jacob) who i think i've fallen in love with. He was the sweetest little boy you could imagine, each morning he woke us up with flowers he'd picked from the garden,, and he was always hugging us and trying to give us his food.
The 3 of us, with the help of Lesley (jacobs mum), made the best xmas tree imaginable. We spray painted sticks from the garden and then wrapped ribbon around them and hung ball balls everywhere. I didn't think i'd get the chance to decorate a christmas tree so i was very happy at the opportunity to.

Looking back on my photos now i cant help but notice was a huge contrast in lifestyle that week was to my time with the children in Kenya.
I thoroughly enjoyed both lifestyles though and wouldn't trade either of those experiances for the world.

From Zanzibar i travelled back to Kenya and upcountry again to meet my family for christmas... unfortunately that involves uploading a whole lot more photos so you'll just have to be patient.

I've now also got a heap of photos of my first week in Nepal so you can look forward to those too. Tomorrow i meet with GVI and will be briefed on my project before i start work, so give me about a week!

Namaste.

Many new experiances.

2008-10-11T01:17:00.000-07:00

Before i start rambling on about how the last month has been, i just want to say: Sorry this has taken me so long to make another post, but internet here costs money and is very slow - so mum/dad, stop bugging!

I promised pictures of some of the children i'm teaching so here you go, the one of me with them all is my class 4 and they're the main group i teach. I also sometimes give a hand with class 5 and class 6; class 6 always seem to come running to me with questions about maths and so my mental arithmetic is being tested daily.
I also seem to be relearning most of what i studied in primary school and had hoped never to see again!
Shikamana is a community school - funded by sponsors and wellwishers, it is also in a temporary placement this means the classrooms are made out of sheets of wood and they have dirt floors. In the dust little bugs (funza) or jiggas breed, these bugs like to bite and bury themselves into the childrens feet,, once there they lay their eggs and the child gets 'infected'. The poor child who this has happened to is in agony till the bugs are removed. To prevent this the children are asked to wear closed shoes (but not all can afford this) and to bring water to school with them to water the floors. One day i went with my class 6 girls to fetch water, it has to be pumped up from a bore hole and you have to pay the owner of the bore hole a shilling a gerrycan of water. Walking back to the school they all balanced their pots of water on their heads, i tried but with no luck whatsoever!
The good news with Shikamana is that they have just bought some land and are now planning on building a permenant structure, this should mean good classrooms and better hygine for everyone.
On Monday afternoons once lessons are over, i've managed to partly take over the art club. Before i came along they were just doing drawings and copying pictures from storybooks, now i've got them doing sketches of their friends without looking at the paper (this has caused a lot of laughter at the portraits), finger-painting and drawing their personalities with shapes and squiggles. I also want to do some paper mache with them as it was such a success with the BA children.

I've been seeing the kids from BA at the weekends - when they don't have school. We've been trying to go to the beach as often as we can, as all the children love it there - however the tides not always in our favour and so we make fun at home.
One day when it was pouring with rain we decided to hold a dancing session, i asked to be taught the dances the children did in their shows (i'll explain in a sec),, and in return they asked to be shown any European dances i know. They were really impressed when i managed to learn all the steps to 4 of their dances, and trying to teach them the macarena ended with a line of kids on the floor- collapsed in hysterics. We even had a few of the boys showing of their brake dancing, never in a million years would i be able to learn!
I've been helping with odd jobs around the home too, such as unbraiding hair (they have to redo their hair for school every week), sorting beans/maize/greens and i was taught how to make chapatis!

A couple of weeks ago we had a group from a primary school nearby come to visit us, the children from the school bought us bags of rice, green grams, soap and lots of sweets (so they were welcome visitors!) and in return we cooked a huge lunch for them. It was a fun filled day with football games, skipping and an African style of rounders, the kids in purple are the ones who came to visit:

The shows that the BA children do are 30-40 minute dancing shows at hotels nearby, every Sunday they put on their best and we head off in a VERY full minivan to Leopard Beach Hotel. They also perform at other hotels but since i've been here they've only gone to Leopard as the tourists are so few at the moment. Our show is announced and the children dance to famous African gospel songs, the dj mentions that the children are orphans from a home and that their 'here to seek our support' - this means we get a few tourists donating money to our cause, or some of them buy the cd of the music the children are dancing to. We also offer for visitors to come and see the home (since i've been here we've only had one couple) and then maybe sponsor a child,, the home is funded purely by donations and has no other source of income although the pastor is currently working on other ways to gain income.
Last week we had the first visitors since i've been here, i went with the pastor to pick up the couple and then we took them to the nursary, the primary school and then to the home where the children work and live. As i've been here for quite a while i've gotten used to the way things are here, but showing the couple around the home and seeing things through their eyes made me realise once again what a different world this one is to the UK. Also that day i found out 3 of the children from BA (and one of them who has become a good friend of mine) have been told by their various headmisstreses/masters that they cant go back to school after half term because their school fees haven't been paid. It seems so unfair to me that these children cant go to school when they're really desperate to, and then in the UK we have so many children who skip school because they cant be bothered to go.

I know you're all eger to hear more about my host family so let me give you a short bit of family history.
Prisca is mamayangu here and her husband called Gikaru works in Nairobi and comes home some weekends. Prisca also has a younger sister called Charity who lives nearby with her 9 year old daughter, Stephanie, i think Stephanie was the first real friend i made here with her first sentence to me being 'I can beat you in swimming! I'm faster then you!'
Over the last month and a half/two months i've become really close with the three of them and they feel like they've always been my family. I've also made friends with all the neighbours in our area and i cant ever go into Ukunda without meeting someone i know, it feels great to have settled in so easily but also quite scarey as nothing here can remain a secret!
A couple Prisca knows quite well got married recently and so the four of us went to the after-party of the wedding, there was an overload of food and drinks and lots of loud african music which we all danced to. One of the guests was a really, really, old lady (a mzee) - and she was dancing her heart out, to see an oldie dancing here is quite a sight to see,,, and to see a mzungu (me)is also a fairly rare sight... so too see a mzee and a mzungu holding hands dancing together is probably something you would tell your grandchildren about - you can tell what a uproar we caused!

Another odd bit of news: I've managed to have my first ever shower in the rain :D ...I got home from a jog one morning only to find we had no water (and theres still no water!), luckily only a few minutes after i walked through the door,, the sky opened up and bucketed thunderstorm rain. I decided rather than having a flannel wash i wanted a real shower, so i changed into my cossie and stood outside. I managed to shampoo and condition my hair and soap all over, i did have a bit of help from a tub collecting rain but i can say my shower was purely natural rainwater.

Right i hope this post has satisfied your thirst for another few weeks, i do have some more photos to put up but loading them here takes a looooong time - so please be patient.
If you want to know any more about BA or Shikamana please leave a comment and ask, or the BA email address is:

bornagainkids@yahoo.com

and i'll try to find out Shikamana contact details if anyone is interested.

Siku njema - Good day!

Diani - what i've been up to.

2008-09-13T23:29:00.000-07:00

Its crazy to think i've now been here for a month! The time has really flown, i was a bit scared of what i would find here but so far i've come across no monsters.

As Mombasa is an island to get off it and go onwards to Diani we either had to swim or get a ferry...we went with the ferry option. I was dropped off by my first mama and handed over to my second family; my new parents are lovely and are just as fussy as the ones i have back home. They were determined to keep me happy so after harassing me on what my favorite meals were, we're now having chapati's almost every night!

For the first week i was working with the children from Born Again Childrens Home, everyday i came up with something new for us to do in the form of art. It was great fun as i got to act like a kid again and throw paint around, we managed to make chainmen, paper mache, cards, envelopes and a massive poster saying Born Again Children (they decided on the wording)... i mixed up two bowls or paint and got everyone to dip their hands in and leave a handprint on the poster - even the adults joined in and now they're proudly displaying their work.

Now that term time has started the children from Born Again go to school during the week, so i've also volunteered to work at 'Shikamana Community School'. On saturdays and sundays i spend the day with the Born Again children, then on mondays, thursday and fridays i work as a teacher at Shikamana; and tuesdays and wednesdays have become my weekend. So for the last two weeks i've been desperately trying to remember the names of about 70 children- its not easy as the children test me and if i cant remember they pretend to be deeply hurt, they are such good actors that i'm nearly always fooled! (i will try to get some photos with my classes to put up next time)

Last weekend i took the children from BA to the beach and they loved it! Some of them had only been to the beach once or twice before - this i found surprising as they live so close to it. The children ended up taking turns with me holding them by their tummies so they could pretend to swim, and they all wanted me to teach them to float! We made sandcastles and buried Mercy, and had long jump competetions which everyone cheated in. I think it was a definate success so will probably be repeated again soon.

In my spare time i'm to be found mainly at the beach or in the public pool nearby, also i've managed to find a few people to go scuba diving with and am in the middle of doing my dive MASTER course.
I've been going jogging on the beach in the early mornings (watching the sunrise here is amazing) before going to work each day - so i'm getting almost too much exercise and by the time i go to bed every night i'm practically a zombie.
I managed to convince my mama here that having breakfast on the beach was a good idea so one weekend we tried it, she actually admitted it was good fun; although we did get a few beach boys hassling us as they wanted to know what a mzungu was doing on the beach at that hour.

Also as promised, my mossie bites: I have over 50 - just counting on my legs! We cant figure out where the bites are coming from as i'm wearing insect repellant and long clothing in the early morning and evenings, we use mossie spray in my room and around the house... and i have TWO mosquito nets.
The conclusion we've come to is: my blood smells so sweet that all the bugs in Diani are making beelines towards me :D

Hopefully i wont be coming home with maleria, so until next time!

Tutaonana badai - See you later.

Contact details

2008-09-03T07:25:00.001-07:00

Kayshani Gibbon
Care of Ms Prisca Mwangi
PO BOX 572
Diani
Kenya

You may also want to add Ukunda and Mombasa after Diani but it should reach me without. Please DONT send parcels/money/anything of value as it probably wont make it to me.

Photos to come of all the art i've been doing with the kids and my new family... Also EXCLUSIVE! on my mossie bites :P

Hope your all well!
xx

Exploring Mombasa

2008-08-22T01:10:00.000-07:00

Over the last week i've been left to my own devices,, apart from KiSwahili lessons in the afternoon i have no responsibilities. So i've taken it upon myself to get to know Mombasa.
I've found my favourite cafe/resturant which does cups of tea for 35 bob, thats the equivalent of about 30p in English money, it called Badri Corner Cafe - as its on a corner of course.

I went down all the craft shop lanes and down on to the very seaweedy and rocky beach near Fort Jesus, unfortunately i've only got photos of that on my SLR...
..i also travelled down to the bottom of the island to see the baobab forest,, here i sat down for a while drawing and the amount of hellos i got was astounding.
From there i walked up the coastal road to see the lighthouse, this led me past the golf course, police/army base and many snazzy houses - that end of town is so posh and painted, creating a HUGE contrast to the craft and market area.

On wednesday i made friends with a doctor at a local hospital,, he accompained me around town and was very good at helping me practise my Swahili. When i suddenley realised i was bursting to use the loo he led me to a resturant with european toilets straight away - i think he was scared that i'd wet myself in the street beacuse he kept saying 'just hold yourself' with a very worried expression on his face.

I also had a lesson in how to wash clothes by hand,, things like a washing machine are a luxury most people cant afford, although Pricilla does own a microwave! The soap/detergent used here is very strong and by the time all my clothes were washed, my hands were red and sore,, but my clothes smelled wonderful and the sense of achievement i felt in having completed my task made me want to get rid of the washing machine at home. (Just look how dirty the water is afterwards!)

Another luxury here is being able to shower...not shower in warm water,, just to shower. So I consider myself lucky that i've got that oppertunity - even if it does mean freezing cold water pouring down my back!

Today i went off the island, back to pirates beach again as i probably wont get the chance to go there again after i've left Mombasa (and i'm leaving tomorrow). I walked through the shallow water with my bag held high so it wouldnt get wet,, once again because i'm a mzungu i attracted a lot of attention and i made one friend to fend off all the others. He said he was Captian of the peddleboats and he proudly showed me his peddleboat.

Well thats my week of Mombasa so the next post will be of all the sights to see in Diani.

Kwaheri! (goodbye)

Finally here!

2008-08-18T06:27:00.000-07:00

I stepped out my my door at 3:30 English time - 18 hours later - at 11:30 kenyan time, i arrived at Mombasa's Moi International Airport and was met by Angela and Nijeri, two travellers. They drove me over to my host family (Pricilla and her daughter Faith) and after an afternoon cup of chai i was left to settle in...

...a few days later and i feel like i've been here for months, i've got my bearings around Mombasa, been to various resturants and cafes, the local supermarket, the beach (called Pirates!) and even ridden in a matatu.

A matatu is the kenyan form of a bus, its a mini van driven by a lunatic with his accomplice hanging out of the side yelling their destination. If you feel brave enough to join them - give a arm wave and the crazy guy hanging out of the side, will tap on the roof and the matatu will come to a shuddering halt. You have to jump in pretty pronto because they start driving whether you've reached your seat or not! If you're mzungo (white/european) you will undoubtably be charged double so having the right change handy is advisable.

Today i had my first Swahili lesson and after the first hour i already felt exhausted, so many new words have been crammed into my head. I can say all the usual greetings and that i want certain things... i've also been taught what is probably the most useful word ever - sitaki, which means 'i dont want it'. Since i've been here i've been hassled constantly to buy things from various stalls, shops and even people carrying trinklets in their hands, now i've got this word i'm free as a bird!

I've also managed to convert my family into veggies, as i'm a vegetarian they've decided that this week we'll only have vegetables. We've had VERY salty fried spinach, various concoctions of vegetables in sauce, a kenyan type of mashed potato which contains peas, potato and sweetcorn; and even spaghetti... they've also managed to get me to eat an omlette and a slice of tomato which is no minor feat as they are some of my most hated food stuffs. I think by the end of this 9 months i'll be a lot less fussy with what i eat and hopefully i'll have adopted the kenyan attitude to life.

Hakuna matata - No worries.