Today presented us with some issues. The first being the driver dropped us off at the University of Rongo and said he’d be back in five after he refilled the gas in the bus. That five minutes turned into almost 2 hours waiting for the driver. I felt so so guilty that the community members were waiting for us and had started to leave. 

Applying my own experience; I am someone who immigrated to somewhere that is fraught with awful stereotypes about the people in my country. I feel like I am constantly trying to explain to people that no, everyone is not an awful bigot, and that my country is huge and there are plenty of amazing people there. English people can think Americans are fat, bigoted, and stupid, but the worst part about all those stereotypes is that hate is a disease that has spread in my country, and obesity and education are linked often with the growing class divide and socioeconomic issues. Acknowledging those ugly truths is hard for me  because I don’t want people to think of Americans like that. 

The Kenyans have gone out of their way to be hospitable because they are excited to share their culture and their land with us. They want us to love their country so much. I can’t imagine how difficult it must be, how much humility they must have, to be able to share their communities experience about issues like FGM, child marriages, etc. To pull back the curtain and have the courage to share not only with each other but with strangers is incredible and courageous. Another reason why I felt so guilty. 

Once we got there, things were still a bit disorganized, but it was worth it to here the women speak, and to hear the community members speak. It gave me that feeling again – that feeling of “Right, this is why I’m here“. I am glad we filmed it, that we got a chance to show them without words about how much we care about what they’re saying, because we do.

So thankful for everyone on this trip. Everyone feels the same as I do, and everyone is here for the right reasons and to work. I honestly can’t imagine a better group of people to do this trip with.

After the community members spoke, we had some waiting time before the chief arrived. This was much to Katy’s dismay, because during the time that the community members were speaking she got really, really ill. I felt so badly for her, especially because I know how much she cared about this project that she now couldn’t take part in.

After the chief spoke, we had to rush our next activity, which was going to a community meeting where the chief introduced us to the community and spoke about why we and the Rongo students were there.

We spoke after about the uncomfortably about how we were sat in chairs at the front, next to the chief, and the Rongo students had to stand at the back. It felt like a power imbalance and felt invalidating to the fact that it was a partnership; the Rongo students should have been up there with us. I chose not to sit because I didn’t want to visual confirm that.

Again, I feel so grateful that we are in this together, because trying to articulate these difficult feelings can be challenging, and to have people that can be empathetic to this and are experiencing these things alongside me is really meaningful.

Today we went to Cham Gi Wadu for the first time. We didn’t get there on time at all; we were supposed to get there by 10 but the bus arrived around 12, so we stayed for lunch at 12:30 and left after.

We took the bus there and the the views in Rongo are amazing. It’s like everywhere you look is another amazing picture – I think I said that already in a blog but I don’t care, I’ll keep saying it because it is so true.

Once we got to the community, we set up cameras and audio recorders with the Rongo students to capture the social workers Pamela, Jayne, and Jane speaking about the community radio and its impacts. Hearing them discuss their issues was moving and it grounded me back to why we are here, why I’m here; to connect with these people and document their stories. The issues that they struggle with are things that I can’t even comprehend, and I am so deeply moved by their vulnerability and strength to stand up for people who don’t have a voice and make a change. It is so powerful that I get to be a part of it, even if just in a small way.

After they were done speaking, we packed up and headed back to the university for dinner, and then headed back to the hotel.

We left late again today… sensing a pattern here. We went to go have a lecture but the students weren’t there so we had to wait until after lunch. We sat around and read and talked in the sun and shade.

We met the Vice Chancellor before lunch. He and Peter spoke about the benefits of the community and university partnerships, and how it impacts the students to be able to work together. The chancellor, Samuel Gudu, spoke about how it helps the University of Rongo to have these external partnerships because it helps legitimize them to others, which in turn gets them more funding. Partnerships have so much emotional and educational benefits, and because those are the benefits I glean from the partnership, I forget about the monetary benefits that come with them as well. We brought the suitcase of equipment to open and show the chancellor, but it was locked and we didn’t have the key. Very fitting for the tone of this trip.

The lecture was good, and then we went out and worked with the equipment. We split into groups of audio, video, and photography. I volunteered to do photography because a lot of people choose to do video. It was good, and I worked with Ellie and a student named Hillary. We all swapped information and it felt good. It felt gratifying to collaborate with the students finally because that was something that I was really looking forward to doing. It started raining so we went back inside after about an hour. 

Today we met the VC and students of Machakos Uni. We were given a tour of the campus and told about the green initiative they have to combat global warming.

The students were so friendly and kind. They were eager to know more about our lives in England and tell us about student life outside of university in Kenya! It was really interesting comparing how we live.

We then went to a local community where they told us about their culture and issues they faced. We were greeted with a traditional Kenyan welcome of singing and dancing, it was truly amazing.

Seeing how many people had come for this was insane, they shared with us traditional cooking appliances and told us more about their lives.

When speaking of issues, I think we all struggled. Again it’s so hard hearing how these people live. In this community, they were particularly struggling with crops due to drought and water due to sewage being dumped in their closest water source.

In some ways, we felt like they were asking us specifically to help. But I thought about it and I think that these people are more open to speak about issues they face (unlike in the UK) and want to share with us their experiences of life. In addition, translation will always pay a part – I don’t think they wanted our help specifically but they want to raise awareness of the challenges they face day to day.

Throughout the talks, a little girl was playing with me. She was so cute! Fascinated by my nails, hair and tattoos, she kept coming back and forth for hours upon hours. I loved being able to connect without even having to speak – moments like this really make me so grateful to be alive.

They finished with a dance and song. This was honestly so amazing to watch, I left beaming after being able to experience this!

Finally, we met with the local government and shared our thoughts on why community radio could benefit the area. We were very clear in that we do not know enough to tell them what will benefit the area as we have only experienced a few hours there – the only people who could give the true answer to this are those who live it every day.

This was the most amazing way to finish the trip, it brought all the knowledge we had learnt in the classroom and throughout the trip together in such a meaningful way. We all left feeling ecstatic, I feel like we really made a difference. I think out of everything, I’ve learnt so much about myself and I’ve got a new found thankfulness for what is my normal.

I could not have done this without such an amazing group of friends. This truly will change me not only academically but personally.

We had a relaxing morning at the hotel today. We adventured out to lake Victoria in the afternoon – I am still so shocked by the site of the Marabou Stalks, I don’t think I’ll ever get over them!

Everyone else went on a boat trip, I stood with Jerry. He told me about his life and the places he’s studied and his pigs he had at home! We admired the scenery as he laughed at me for being scared of the boat…

We then headed back for our last dinner at Rongo uni…

Kenyan time seems to run very behind the time I’m used to… it’s been the norm that we are late to EVERYTHING. But today… we are on time!!!

We visited three schools to see what they had prepared for the event on Friday, displaying the findings of research into modern day slavery. Again, we are filming this process in groups.

At school one, I felt a bit off with the group work. It’s been quite hard to engage the Kenyan students in the setting up process. Once this is done, everyone is happy to help though.

This was a secondary school. Their journalism club had prepared a poem. They read this in front of the school, about children running from FGM. The children were picked to come and preform, they didn’t come across like they wanted to do so though. Many girls were involved at this school in comparison to the boys!

Another student says she wants to make people laugh. She did her performance in Swahili, which I really enjoyed listening to. Seeing people speak in other languages and young students as they were at this school translating into another language really makes me feel sad that I never learnt languages.

Despite the performances not being what I expected, I enjoyed speaking to the students and seeing how they interact.

To finish, one of the Rongo students (Anjeri) reads a poem about the fate of life. The passion in her voice was so touching, you can really see how passionate she is about life.

At the next school, they performed a short skit about child pregnancy and abortion. It is still illegal in Kenya, so the general message was to avoid men who coerce you into these situations. I thought it was actually really engaging and loved watching how excited the children who weren’t involved were watching their classmates.

Watching the reactions made me so happy, I loved watching how affectionate these children are. Constant arms round each other or holding hands (even the boys) which is something you would never see in England. I love how open Kenyans are with each other.

At the final school, we waited for a long time. Although irritating, I was grateful for the view. It was honestly amazing! The rolling lush hills behind the school contrasted to the orange colour of the ground was beautiful. I never expected the landscape to be so lush and green.

They had another speech from the journalism club and another skit. The skit was about a child servant who was missing school, I was a bit confused as there was a lot going on but you could really see the thought that went into it.

Again, watching the children react was beautiful. Seeing them laugh together and connect through these issues is amazing.

On the walk back to the bus, we were approached by a group of primary school children. They were so cute!

It was quite difficult speaking to them – they kept repeating that we are beautiful. When we returned the compliment, they wouldn’t accept it and said you can only be beautiful if you are white. It’s really harrowing seeing how much media and society can influence a child at such a young age into these views.

Later that night, myself and the other Brighton students spoke about this together. We tried to understand each others experience of this and support each other with the emotions we felt. I couldn’t be more grateful for the group we had, I feel I have made lifelong friends and being able to connect the way we did really sold that for me.

This morning was frustrating. We were behind schedule and waited around at the university for so long! We wanted to get down to the community to continue the work as soon as possible.

Once at the community, we were in much higher spirits. We took our packed lunch to share in true Cham Gi Wadu style – share with your neighbour!

We continued the radio meeting from the day before, except with members of the community there. They asked to start with a word of prayer, as they say that this opens ways.

It is a shared opinion between the community that the time it’s taking to create this station is very frustrating.

One by one, the community explained the benefits of community radio to the area. These were: allowing them to reach media for issues they face, jobs for the youth, helping all of sub county Rongo, enabling mass communication to people, allows condemning of bad behaviour, children can access more information, idea sharing and finally, to allow them to live “free of fear”.

Hearing their reasoning really sat with me. Understanding and seeing the day to day life these people live through really puts into perspective as to how lucky I am. Seeing how strong these people are makes me so excited for the things they will achieve through working together.

The chief joined us later in the day; he told us to feel at home in his community even though we are far from our own. I just love how eager these people are to share everything!

He explained how the people are so excited and ready for the station. He wants to raise issues such as child labour, early marriage and pregnancies and school drop outs.

During this process, we worked in our teams from the first day to record this process. Some students wanted to learn new skills and switched groups, I found it truly amazing to see our classroom knowledge play out in real life through this project. The students were teaching each other how to use the Zoom audio recorders through their own interests. I feel the process of learning these things together has really brought us together as a group and kept the laughter rolling from the first day.

On the way back, we stopped at a school and spoke to both parents and children. I loved seeing the snippet of their culture. The children were so smiley and happy, it was amazing to speak to them!

When we turned the corner round the back of the school, we were greeted by the community cheering. I was mesmerised by the sound they made, it was a high pitched sound that they made by moving their tongues. I just wish we had longer to speak to them. I would’ve loved to hear more about their personal lives!

Today was the day of the exhibition. Though the start time was delayed, once it began, it was a great success in terms of the performances and the children enjoying themselves. The only thing I must question is the views on abortion. It appears the angle is very much: girls must avoid male temptation, and if they fall pregnant, they must not seek abortion as this can be fatal for the woman. Addressing the latter, it is to me unethical for children (or women of any age for that matter) to not have a choice over this; something that effects their body and life so greatly. Safe practice of abortion offers an alternative. In terms of women ‘resisting’ men, I feel this is hugely misleading; the failure of addressing the cause leading to the continuation of such attitudes. My thoughts today can be summarised as : education towards all ages is crucial to unlearning sexist and unbalanced ideas and beliefs within a community.
This aside, we filmed everything necessary and are in our way back on the bus now. It was a tiring day, given the heat. I must have some time to unwind now.

Update: immediately after writing this, I fell asleep 😂😴