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community, thoughts, your next step
An early start and we set off back up the dirt track towards Mombasa. The long dirt road, the dodgy main road and then a ferry trip back in to the city.
At one point we had a stop off at a resort. We drank smoothies, someone parachuted in and landed on the beach and a man was offering camel rides on the postcard perfect white sand. The change in surroundings from the roadside poverty to the beachside luxury was unbelievable.
When we eventually pulled over into the volunteer housing area and piled out of the van. The plan was to visit 2 schools and a community project. We met head teachers and community leaders. We walked through slums and were greeted my smiling children doing their best to swing off our arms, parents sat back watching and smiling. The slums always felt safe. At one point, Lou our guide was calling over to a kid in a field. Apparently he should have been in school; he came whooping and hollering round the corner, full of life with a huge axe in hand. He promised that would be in the next day and skipped off to re-join his much younger brother and sisters in the field.
The community projects were fun to visit, there was plenty of banter flying around and lots of learning being done. Math’s and English were at the top of the agenda in a huge shed/church/community center.
As the trip started to wrap up it gave me time to really think about volunteering. I started with a couple of questions embedded in what I was looking for in this experience;
1. Who does it really benefit?
2. Are people really as friendly as we hear?
Volunteers fund schools that are looking to become independently sustainable. One of these schools was closed when the volunteers first started to work in the area. Now it gives 242 children a meal everyday. No school = no guaranteed meal. The school gives them a uniform. Lessons are taught top the children in Swahili however exams in Kenya are in English. Volunteers teaching English help children pass exams and continue in education. It evens gives the prospect of a job. As one head teacher proudly announced, ‘the volunteers give us hope’. I think that that answers question 1.
Some groups have the reputation of being colder and less friendly. Others places are the opposite. After getting back home recently I crossed an estate heading to my parents place, and at the time I remembered feeling far safer, in the pitch black, walking through the slum in Shomoni. The children always waved, the parents smiled and always said hello. The people I came across in complete poverty always made me feel welcome and safe.
I did not expect to see such clear answers to my questions. Yes, there are tough decisions to be made, where does the money get spent, who gets and who does not etc etc. Even through this volunteering at the projects I visited makes a huge positive impact on the lives of people who really need the help and this itself does great things for the volunteer.
Go do it :-)
