My Visit to Kenya [Part II] - Trip to Kisii

The coast of Kenya, or at least the bit where I was, is beautiful. The beach is white coral sand protected from the Indian Ocean by a coral reef.

But it is hot. I could not stand the heat. I had to spend most of the day in the shade unless there was a strong breeze.

Even so, the two weeks passed too quickly and I found myself on the overnight coach back to Nairobi.

Nairobi is soooo cool. Everything is relative.

More meetings, phone calls and business followed. These included arranging a visit to Kisii to see the orphanage that I am representing.

The director of ACIS decided to come too, which meant we could use his car. That wa a blessing - I had seen enough of public transport.

We set off on Saturday after a lot of what I can only describe as faffing around. We eventually left Nairobi at about 10:30. Driving along the New Naivasha Road, we climbed and climbed. The Rift Valley was to our left and the foothills to the Aberdare Mountains on the right. We stopped at a viewpoint and got out of the car.

For the first time since my arrival in Kenya, I had to put my fleece on. It was bitterly cold, but then, we were at 8,000 ft and in the clouds. Despite this, we could see into the Rift Valley, Mount Suswa standing out like a beacon.

We were soon on our way again and descending rapidly into the Valley. It was soon hot and dusty - and the road was atrocious. If this was the New Naivasha Road, what is the old one like?

We passed through Nakuru and made for Kericho. We ate grilled corn cobs on the move as we were running late. At Kericho, we made our first stop. It was fabulous. It had rained recently so the dust had settled, the air was cool. We drank tea and relaxed for a while, talking to the locals.

Then, onto the lat phase of this trip, up to Sotik, then across to Kisii. We were met in the town centre by Vincent, the directo of the home, and he directed us to the home of his Pastor, who was putting us up for the night.

After a wash and a meal, we were taken to an annexe where some of the orphans were living.

As I entered, one little boy, Jospehat, who I recognised from photographs, took one look at me and fell off his stool. Josephat is only four years old and had never seen a close up mzungu.

Still, he soon regained his composure and planted himself on my lap to eat his supper.

My Visit to Kenya

In September 2007, having sorted out my affairs as best I could, I nervously boarded a Kenyan Airways plane for Nairobi.
I was met at Jomo Kenyatta airport by the director of ACIS, who whisked me to his house, which was to be my home for the next month.

After a wash and brush up and breakfast, we went to the office. It is situated in a nice block in the centre of Nairobi. Well, the office is one small part of the 5th floor - but it looks good!

Over the next few days, I was whisked off to meetings with politicians, directors of the WHO, KeNAAM, aspiring politicians and other businessmen.

I had decided to spend on the coast where my nice Kenyan lady lives.

I took the night train from Nairobi to Mombasa, where I was met by my nice Kenyan lady, her cousin, sister and three-year-old daughter, who decided that this mzungu was just too scary to even look at. I can't say I disagree with her.

An interminable distance in two matatus later, we were "home". I wasn't sure what to expect. This was, after all, a small rural fishing village.

But after a short walk, I found myself in a modern, block-built bungalow under the usual corrugated steel roof. It has runing water and electricity - more than anyone should expect.

It was also home to the extended family, my nice Kenyan lady, her two children, her sister, her two cousins and their children, and several family orphans. No chance of being lonely, or much privacy!

I spent my two weeks exploring the village, meeting lots of locals, and getting to know my nice Kenyan lady and her family. The little girl soon decided that the mzungu wasn't too bad after all.

Why work for an NGO?

This is a question I have asked myself for the last year or so.

It all started with a love of Africa, the sub-Saharan bit, anyway. I was contracted to go to South Africa in 1989, where I worked for a mere four months. But, they say, when you visit Africa, you leave a little bit of yourself there. That I did!

Since my return 18 years ago, I have felt homesick, so when I was offered the chance to work on a website for a Kenyan conservancy programme, I jumped at it. It did not involve travelling to Kenya, but it awakened my desires.

During research on the WWW, I met a nice Kenyan lady, quite by accident, I have to say. But we exchanged emails, SMS texts and letters for quite a while.

Then I was approached by the director of a Kenyan-registered charity, ACIS, who asked me to be the UK representative. Again, I jumped at the chance.

So everything was set for me to consider a trip to Kenya to meet the ACIS director and, of course the nice Kenyan lady.

In the meantime, I was contacted by the Mercy Gate Champion Children's Home in Kisii, SW Kenya and I became their representative in the UK.

So, that is how it all started.