So having arrived in Kenya last night we had to have a few beers to get over our somewhat traumatic experience in Zurich. The camp was a bit of a culture shock to start with (especially the loos, which are not dissimilar to Glastonbury loos). At first getting up this morning was a bit of a struggle but breakfast in the sun was lovely.

After spending the morning getting to grips with the Kenya way and working on our training program for the next two days, I’m looking forward to getting started tomorrow.

After a long anticipated wait.. 12 hours of Hoola hooping and playing games in Zurich airport we finally made the flight to Niarobi! Being particularly sleep deprived i managed to snooze off for a solid 5 hours and wait up in time for some tasty plane food (my favorite). Arriving in Hartebeest campsite was exciting.. Starting to feel more at home at first it was a bit of a culture shock.. Mainly because of the toilets!
Waking up this morning was hard! But soon we were presented with a lovely breakfast to get the day going. A bit later on we sat down with Peter and started to talk about our plans for the next three days. Planning the workshops went smoothly and we have all worked out a schedule for the training. Willice soon arrived after the planning and we got to go through the plan with him. Overall i feel much more prepared for our activities and confident we can provide a successful workshop.

After a 12 hour overnight, sleep deprived group moan in Zurich and some delicious plane food and entertainment, we finally arrived in Kenya yesterday evening! We spent the night recovering from copious amounts of sitting with some more sitting but this time with beer; we drank and laughed until around 12ish then filtered of to our bunk beds gradually after around 5 plates of chips.

After a much needed sleep we leisurely got up this morning to some equally as much needed sausages and coffee then started our ‘what are we doing’ day. We planned our plan of action for the next three days and went through what we are going to cover with each other so we are all on the same page; this was then broken up by a brief hoop in the sun and a failed attempt at juggling, followed by a run through of our plans with peter, a trip to the local supermarket for some delicious nessecaries and here we are, sat in the sun finalizing our tomorrow plans. Tomorrow should be good!

After a 24 hour trip (with a 12 hour stopover in Zurich airport) we finally arrived in Nairobi safe and sound. The construction works at Nairobi airport meant none of the usual delays getting visas etc….we were through within the hour.

The campsite was quite full with US students but they are leaving this morning. We spent several hours acclimatising in the garden by the bar…..playing various games and watching Sonja, Taylor, Maddie & Chaz hoola hoop……they’re pretty good!

The stragglers went to bed at about 2 am and I’m letting them sleep in for an 11 o’clock start (they didn’t sleep whilst in Zurich)…..when we’ll make final preparations for the workshops we’re facilitating with International Youth Concil for the UN Volunteer Programme & Accord.

Well breakfast is calling and the first students are up so I’ll sign off until later.

Finally made it onto the Word Press site on the day we leave!

Everyone has done such excellent work to make this trip a reality and im ever so excited to set of on our adventure! Eeek in the not too distant future we will all be in Kenya!

So I have finally manage to set this blog up on word press. As it wouldn’t let me sign in with my new email address I used my old embarrassing email address. What i didn’t remember was, when i was in A levels i created a twilight blog as part of one of my assessments and so when this popped up i was pleasantly surprised. not sure if you guys can see what i have done but if you can have a read because its very funny and very embarrassing.

Anyway this is the first Community4Kenya blog on the eve of the departure date. (it is also the eve of my birthday). It has been an absolutely manic day with some finishing touches having to be done on manuals, a lot of packing, final trips to town and a lot of other work blogging.

I’m very excited to see everyone at the airport tomorrow and start making this trip a reality.

We leave for Kenya in two days now and I am trying to keep an open mind, free of any expectations! It has come around much quicker than expected and everything is starting to feel very real. Hopefully the culture shock won’t be too much to handle! All the fundraising has made the trip seem so much more worthwhile and has given me a real sense of achievement. At first i felt a little overwhelmed and nervous but after talking with the group i have realized now that we are all in the same boat; everyone has different skills and talents and i am sure we will be able to co-operate so that we bring the best out of everyone.

This is my first post, just to get to terms with how WordPress works before we leave on Tuesday.

The trip has come round really quick… after all the planning and fundraising we are leaving in a few days! I’m really looking forward to getting out there and implementing the training we have been planning over the Christmas break. I am a bit nervous about the change of culture/spiders but mainly really excited to throw myself into the work we have planned and to explore a new place 🙂