Kenya Blog 3

It’s Wednesday morning and we are off to buy some footballs from Alive and kicking, a non profit organization in Nairobi. They make special leather balls and employees earn a good wage.

We were due to meet Fred, but he has no water at home and he is unable to travel to Nakuru with us. Matt and I go alone. Matt is going to drive. All is well until we arrive at Gilgil. The main road is still be remade from last year and now we are on a treacherous unmade track that is difficult to describe. It is the main highway to Nakuru.

We eventually arrived at Ken Andayi’s home at 2:15 for lunch. He insisted we attempted to eat raw sugar cane. This is a real challenge to the back teeth. Apparently the sugar keeps the teeth white. Ken gave a good report on the continued use of the kit we gave him.

From here we drove back to Fran & Mike Kaime’s home above Lake Elimentitia. There they run a street kids home called House of Plenty. It is a chance to catch up with old friends and relax.

On the 26th we returned to Nairobi and met Fred and Mike Kibathi to travel to a Masai community near Kitangela. It was way out in the sticks. The dust in the air gets into the throat, taste buds and eyes. The pitch is located in a vast expanse of savannah grassland. They are new to football. They are running a tournament for four teams. From this the best 5 in each team will form a district team to play others. They hope to form a league. As in so many communities, there is little for the youth to do, so football is excellent in helping. In the last ten years girls have been considered with more respect and we were able to donate two kits from Kerrier Terriers, a disbanded Cornish ladies team. They were thrilled.

By the time we arrived back at our new lodgings, Sportsview Hotel, is was 22:30. Ridiculous police check points where strips of nails are laid across the road slowed down our progress and created dangerous traffic congestion, which the police both create and ignore. It is a kind of every man for himself with little regard for other road users. It is always frustrating to me that Kenyans find this funny! It was a long, but successful day.