Over the next couple of days, at the beginning of our main week working with the Uni I steadily began to go downhill, feeling sicker and sicker each day. It didn’t help that everything continued to run late each day, so we all became a bit frustrated.

Monday and Tuesday were mainly spent at the Uni. We met the Vice Chancellor, which was interesting, and really opened my mind to “a different way of seeing the world” as the way he spoke about the project was from a totally different perspective to what I had in mind. I found it perplexing to consider different frames of reference, as although we had one idea about the project, it was clear that not everyone shared the same ideas. It was a unique learning experience.

On Tuesday we had a lecture on community radio, followed by a practical session practicing with the kit with the Kenyan students. I found that the group of students we practiced with had a similar level of knowledge to us, the only thing I managed to show them that they didn’t already know was how to use a histogram to check the lighting. Afterwards, I had a nice chat with Ami, one of the Kenyan students. We connected over our shared enjoyment of video editing, and it was interesting to compare what we’d done at Uni. I was able to give him some advice on a helpful YouTube channel I often use to learn editing tricks, and he said he’d check it out. Although I don’t feel like we taught them much it was a nice exchange of experiences just merely getting to know them.

By Wednesday I was feeling really rough, but we were meant to be meeting the community in Cham Gi Wadu that morning, so I was determined not to miss out on the main reason we came. Unfortunately, we didn’t end up getting there until the afternoon by which time I had started to feel really sick. I managed to help a bit with setting up the cameras, and listened to the three community members speak about their reasons for wanting a community radio station which was very impactful. Two quotes that really stuck with me were “we are the voice of the people” and “we are the media” – I really felt their passion for wanting a better method of communication in the community, and I wished we could have done more with them.

Sadly, it was around this point that I felt so ill I had to leave the room, and I won’t go into all the gory details of how bad it became outside. Sitting by the edge of a field (probably a sugar cane one, urgh!) feeling like death warmed up by the beating Kenyan sun, waiting to finally go back to the hotel and get some rest was most definitely a low point of the trip for me. When at last we left and begun the long, hot, bumpy ride back to Uni it was decided that we’d stop at a clinic to see if I could get some help. Which luckily, I did in the form of two different antibiotics, which would eventually salvage the trip for me.