The trip to Londiani was incredible to say the least. The very long journey to get there was definitely worth the wait- although I was asleep most of the time anyway… We got to stop off at the Great Rift Valley for the first time and the view was insane! Seeing for miles the beautiful landscape was amazing- albeit a little scary at the great height of the fall from where we were standing! As always we were swarmed by the locals trying to sell us all their goods for a ‘good price’ with their opening line of ‘which country?!’ but we managed to successfully avoid them with a little help from Peter! On the road again to finish our ‘3 hour journey’ according to Rufus- which took more like nearly 5 hours in the end! He blamed it on the bumpy roads and if he was driving he could’ve done it in 3 hours- Kenyan time playing it’s part here again I think!

When we arrived the scenery was beautiful. The arrival was overwhelming once we’d climbed the massive hill that our driver JJ had kindly driven Peter up and left us behind through miscommunication! Arriving at the school to be greeted by all pupils and staff singing and dancing for us was incredibly overwhelming. The children were all so excited to see us- bar one kid who cried at the sight of a white person!

Going to the school and seeing how much they appreciate us just being there was remarkable. The smiles on their faces will stay with me forever. The passion displayed by Daniel, the founder of the school, was unbelievable. The school try to facilitate the children who cannot travel to and from school with the boys and girls dorms. With only 18 beds in each and 40 children sleeping in each dorm it was clear there was work needs to be done to help facilitate the children better. The same can be said about the well that is used for kitchen use. It was a small well which can only be filled when they receive rainfall- which is only 8/9 months of the year. Obviously these are obstacles that the school face but creating partnerships between Universities and others can help to aid and build on these to better facilitate the children.

Not only has the trip to Londiani been a real eye opener, but it has made me consider working in the charity sector. Seeing what a difference can be made through small improvements and development projects is aspirational. Seeing first-hand how much little things mean to others is incredible. By far one of the best bits of the visit was Peter getting the children to shout Chelsea as the pictures were being taken and making the children laugh hysterically when the teachers had to do it! I did feel a little bad when we were saying goodbye to everyone and all the children bundled in to high five us and got into trouble for getting too excited and running at us!

All in all this was the best day so far! I’ve found out so far that any expectations I’ve had for each day are always being topped and I hope the trip continues this way!