The trip to Ruiru changed and adapted on the run up to our trip to Kenya.  A lack of communication with Kris, due to connection problems, meant the plans kind of fell through. Callum had been in talks with Kris in getting a music session set up with the community members and ourselves- but this was dismissed due to lack of planning and communication.

We still went over to Ruiru for Peter to have a meeting with Mike, Roman, Kris and Vincent about future plans of collaboration between partners and different communities. This was very interesting to sit in on and play a little role of contributing my thoughts and ideas on the subject matter. The plans everyone had in mind were strong. There were many logistics to work out to ensure the plans could be followed through and work to benefit the communities and partners alike. Firstly, facilitating the communities by using accessible technologies was highly important. As throughout our work so far, it is important to ensure alien technologies are not introduced within a community that they will never be able to use again or gain access too. This causes more harm than good, which is why working within their means is essential. Alongside this the importance of long term sustainability was also important.

The meeting was interesting to get a taste of what the future holds for the community partners and the initiatives that want to be implemented to benefit community learning.

Next we moved over to a childrens orphanage. This was a real eye opener- just like Kingsway School earlier in the week. We stopped off to get some lollipops at the shop prior to our arrival (thanks Peter!) to give to the children. This instantly made each and every child happy! The smiles on their faces when interacting with us were so rewarding. Just talking to each of the children, finding out their names and playing some games kept the children smiling the duration of our stay. Inevitably, as noticed this trip, they were fascinated with the digital cameras and we took lots of pictures of the children with their blue tongues from the lollipops all smiling!

The trip keeps getting better and better! Let’s see what’s going to happen next with the Maasi Market and the following remaining days…