so i'm currently sitting on one of camp kenya's lounge chairs.. we're in this outdoor living area - there's a rickety pool table held up by travel books on one side, a few tables and benches, a little bookshelf full of old yellowed books in all sorts of languages, low-hanging lamps and a blackboard. this is where we'll be spending a lot of our free time i guess.. it's evening now, the bugs are out and we can hear monkeys chattering far off in the distance. there's a slight breeze coming through the coconut trees and everyone is sitting around quietly, winding down after taking in the day's events.
us aussies got picked up by the camps international bus from the hotel and to our delight saw 20-odd british travelers on board. after hoisting our bags up onto the roof (with help, thankfully!) we drove on through Mombassa to pick up another 3 people who were staying at a different hotel.. only 2 climbed aboard, the third already has malaria and is staying in town for the next couple of days after a trip to the hospital. such rotten luck. the long journey to the camp office was interesting - once again, chaotic traffic with ever-changing lanes - each vehicle to their own - yet surprisingly enough no accidents. merchants thrusting bottled water, sunglasses, hats and other trinkets against our bus windows and inaudibly shouting about their goods. a ferry crossing with hundreds of people and vehicles waiting their turn to cross from the north to the south [just imagining having to do that each day to get to school is unreal.] there are coca cola signs everywhere [apparently africa is the world's largest consumer of coke] and random brand names and slogans scrawled across buildings. queues for the bank snaking around the block and men pulling loaded wagons worthy of a horse or two..
once out of mombassa and driving through Diani, the scenery changes. we're now in a coastal town with wider spaces and open dirt roads, the breeze has picked up and the atmosphere is more relaxed. at the office we're told to leave our passports and cash in the safe and it's onwards to the camp. it's a half-hour dirt road trek and the landscape becomes more and more wild. we take smaller tracks and wind through the undergrowth until we arrive at a village, take a side-turn and drive up to the camp's front gate. welcome to Muhaka.
the first thing i see is "HAKUNA MATATA" written in woven palm fronds on the gate. that greeting alone is enough for me to get a good vibe from the place (; we're given a warm welcome from the camp staff and each presented a coconut to drink, then get shown around to our dormitories. the buildings have tall thatched roofs and rows of beds, each with an individual mosquito net. there's around 8 bunks to a room and a long shelf to place our belongings upon. it's simple but it's all we really need. we all start making small talk and trying to get to know one another. i lay out my clothes in neat piles on the bench and try to set up a bed side table with my photo frames.. my belongings look so small and scarce and it's slowly sinking in that this is going to be my home for the next 3 MONTHS.. this is going to be my bed and my wardrobe, the camp perimeter my safe place. we are in the middle of nowhere. and although i'm excited for an adventure i've got a big lump in my throat and half wish i could be snuggled up in my bed with my boy.. i'm feeling a bit homesick, which is strange for me, all of a sudden thinking back to my family dinners at home and trying to picture what everyone's doing with their evenings.. i hope it'll pass
the afternoon is what you'd expect from a camp orientation - a hearty lunch, some free time to unpack and then a briefing and some information about the location, surroundings and camp routine. as soon as our itinerary is explained, the lump in my throat vanishes and my day is turned around. i'm so keen for all these new projects and activities, and the more we hear about them the stronger that feeling becomes.
last thing for the day is a short walk through the camp's closest surroundings. Gladys (one of the camp instructors) shows us some past projects of camp kenya - a school building constructed from scratch, school furniture, new paint jobs and few homes built for villagers after their own houses collapsed. and this is only within a 100m radius!! i know we're here for construction but actually seeing the physical result of past volunteers' sweat and blood is a new kind of motivation. small children appear out of nowhere and all of a sudden we have kids holding our hands, asking to be swung up into the air and giggling with glee. it's nice to feel the locals know who we are and why we're here, the daunting feeling of mombassa city is long gone. i realise that within the next 3 months real relationships can be forged and i look forward to learning the language and making some friends (:
we meet a gorgeous old tailor who seems keen to make us dresses/pants/shorts/bags cut to size whilst we're here, an old old woman living alone with her grandkids, another elderly lady raising 6 children alone who turns palm fronds into roofing material for a living.. the small village school holds 600 children in only 8 classrooms, a lot of whom walk ridiculous distances barefoot on the hot dirt in order to get there. there are a few shops selling cigarettes and biscuits, and the only shop with a fridge selling soft drinks.. what at first seems like a small community slowly grows larger and larger as we walk down different dirt tracks and see more houses in the distance. i can't even begin to describe what it's like.. there are coconut trees everywhere and the buildings are all sticks and mud. the school has a beautiful green field where we're told we can play soccer with the children.. the longer we spend here, the further we'll get to explore and i'm hungry for more.
i know i haven't done this place justice in my writing for the night but i'm getting eaten alive by bugs out here and am gonna stop being antisocial and chat with the other volunteers (: tomorrow its buying local sim cards, snorkeling and Diani Beach orientation.. i can't wait to soak up some sun!! i'm missing home moreso than i thought i would 3 days into my trip but this is going to be amazing.
some british kids with our welcome coconuts
the dining/social area
our trooper of a pool table
jane in the shower
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