Hi everyone,

I figured this would eventually have to happen… I think it’s about time we started begging for donations!

As some of you might know we just started our first big project at the orphanage. Until last week we had just been focusing on fixing up gardens, hacking down cacti, digging massive rubbish pits e.t.c

However! As mentioned in our last post we just started work on the courtyard.

So far everything has been going great. We’ve removed all of the bricks from the floor, ripped out the old clogged drainage system and began leveling the ground. Today we just received an extra 20 tonnes of sand to use for concreting purposes.

We have high hopes for this project and would love to complete at least one major project of our own before we go back home. But… As per usual (especially so with Kenyan builders) the quote has been blown out of the sky… Yay…

We are about $1,000 AUD off having the funds to complete the courtyard and doing a good job of it. It would be great for the kids to have a clean and bright play area!

Any donations (through our donation page), no matter what size, would be greatly appreciated

Bentley

Hey guys,

We just started work on the courtyard renovation yesterday. So far we’ve ripped up all of the ridiculous bricks, cleared rubbish and removed an age old tree. This is something we have been completing with the help of the new volunteer Levea. So far Levea has been lots of help with all of the physical work and is helping to fund the courtyard renovation in conjunction with us

P.S. There’s new photos

Heya people,

I suppose I should let you guys know what our plan is for the next couple of weeks. We are currently working towards fixing some of the management problems at the orphanage. At the moment the staff are largely unorganised and we find that they aren’t actually working quite a lot of the time. Unfortunately this means that the children at the orphanage get the wrong idea about working and well… Not much happens sometimes.

Although Tim, Clay & I have pretty much no experience in managing staff (other than just being employees) with a bit of common sense we should be fine. So far we have written an action plan (not just for staff management, but to improve life at the orphanage as a whole) and a formal “management reform” to help ensure staff are working.

Don’t worry though, we are still doing lots of physical work. We planted tomatoes yesterday and this week we will finally be starting work on one of the projects! The tourist camp has been set to a lower priority at the moment due to well… Reality… But we will start transforming the courtyard. Our plan is to remove the brick flooring, plaster the walls, add drainage, concrete the whole area, add a garden and paint the walls with some colourful designs. It’s going to be a lot of work, but it should be really rewarding.

Bentley

We finished the weekend in the back of a Hilux with a ginger-ale and Tim’s sweaty wife beater wrapped around my freshly shaved head… Loving this country.

Three days earlier:
“I hate this damn country”, was the thought rolling around in my head as the three of us piled into a mutatu (the most popular form of transport in Kenya) – a Toyota Hiace on a set route with a 14P capacity, but about 20P crammed in – on our way into town for lunch and to meet with Ivan the owner of the “Mission in Action” orphanage which is located just out of town.

Lunch was sub-par and I’m pretty sure the meat on the burgers was rat, goat or something not sanctioned by the FDA. After lunch Ivan met us in a nice Toyota Prado and we left for his orphanage at a somehow even crazier Kenyan/Australian speed narrowly dodging cars and trucks alike.

On arrival through the orphanages gates it was like we had travelled through the epic fabric of space and time. We were no longer in the crappy Kenya we had grown used to. Our first thoughts were of how it seemed exactly like a nice Australian orphanage. “MIA” is beautiful and has an extremely well maintained compound with a huge house, regular bright & colourful classrooms (with more on the way), proper plumbing for the children’s toilets, tourist bungalows, a restaurant, caring & dedicated staff, 45 fantastic English speaking kids and Ivan’s family by his side.

Ivan and his two daughters, Rachel & Sarah, invited us to a movie night the next weekend. We had to quickly remind ourselves that we were in Kenya the next morning, as we had to catch another mutatu back home. We left “MIA” inspired and full of ideas about how we can help to improve Ian’s orphanage.

Monday came with the cramped space and stench of yet another mutatu. We were heading into town as it was Ian’s birthday and Ivan recommended that we should go to the “Merica” the grandest hotel in town. The Merica hotel offers a fantastic buffet and beautiful swimming pool that is open to the public. Us youngsters couldn’t wait to go for a swim (after we bought our berets of course). We enjoyed a good lunch followed by a ridiculously over-the-top cake-giving parade, something that substantially cheered Ian up after he had quite a bad morning. The three of us plus Rachel & Sarah hung out by the pool until late afternoon swimming and getting to know our new friends.

PS Guess how we got home.