Asante sana!

Friday 16th November: The project at Mumias. If cycling through Kenya had been a rollercoaster of one kind, visiting the project ICT was supporting at Mumias was a whole other experience. We left Kakamega late and rather the worse for wear after the previous night's celebrations, but the Kenyans had prepared about the best hangover cure imaginable. As we arrived at the project site in Mumias we were met by hundreds of children singing, beating drums, and waving flags and banners. It was a wonderful, moving and quite overwhelming experience. I don't think there was a dry eye on the bus. As we disembarked we were met by a host child (or more likely a group of children) who took our hands and led us to the entrance to the project, where we queued to sign the visitors book and then were guided to our seats for what followed.

The project we visited is a collaboration between ICT and WEAEP - Western Education, Advocacy and Empowerment Project, a Kenya-based, child-centred NGO. It is estimated that there are around 800,000 orphaned and vulnerable children in Kenya's Western Province. The aim of the Mumias project is to build a Child Protection and Community Centre, in ICT's words

to provide care and improve quality of life for orphans and vulnerable children suffering from extreme poverty, disease, abuse and neglect. When complete, the centre will provide access to basic rights and protection to 500 children and young people per year by offering: consultation and assessment of needs and aspirations; psychological therapy; legal advice and child protection; rescue services for girls abused by violence; linking orphans to foster parents/guardians; community training in child rights and protection; and integrate/place orphans and street children in formal education. The centre will provide vocational training to vulnerable youngsters at risk and provide toolkits for those who successfully complete their courses, enabling them to find work or become self-employed.

It sounds really worthwhile in the abstract, but to experience it is something else again. The shell and ground floor of the building have already been completed, helped by some of the money raised from ICT's Cycle Cambodia ride the previous year. Without doubt it will be the best building in the area - a real beacon of what is possible. But the project is so much more than just a building. Many of the children had T-shirts that had obviously been printed for our visit. On the back they said " Cycle Kenya Team 2007 - International Childcare Trust, and then below that "Thank you for giving me back my life". Needless to say that had us blinking away the tears again, because it wasn't hyperbole, it was true. The project and the Centre are an absolute lifeline for these children.

Our visit coincided with the official opening of the Centre, at which we were among the honoured guests. The centrepiece was a set of performances by children and women that the project had supported: a mix of songs, poetry and drama expressing aspects of their lives and their hopes for the future. Richard, ICT's wonderful chairman and our constant support and companion over the event planted a tree - a symbol of the project as a place of shelter - and then we were given a tour of the new building. Throughout the morning of our visit we continued to be moved by our experience of the children, the little boy with the big smile who had scarred himself by cutting words into the flesh of his arms and legs. Wonderful Valentine, a 14 year old AIDS orphan who lived with her aunt and dreamt of becoming a doctor. There were so many stories, and now so many memories that still have the power to move me to tears.

In the end it was all over too quickly. Another (foreshortened) game of soccer, a quick lunch and then on the bus to take us to our flight back to Nairobi. This turned into a very different kind of experience. Simon had worked out that our scheduled bus trip to Nairobi could easily take nine or ten hours, limiting our available time at the project and wiping out our plans for a celebration dinner on the last night that we would be all together, so we had agreed to pay the extra to charter a bus to the nearest airport and then take the half hour flight to Nairobi. The bus arrived on time, and we set off, with the driver assuring us that he would take us on a shortcut away from the main road that would have us at the airport in an hour. Yeah right as we Kiwis say. What followed was the hairiest hour and three-quarters you would want to experience on four wheels as we flew over dirt roads going through god knows where. At one point we stopped in a village and a package was unloaded off the bus and a group of locals tried to get on to our already full bus, while Simon went ballistic and physically barred the door! It was pretty clear that, hire or no hire, the bus crew had their own agenda as well - another example of the differences between the African and Eurpean way! We did finally make the airport, with about twenty minutes to spare. Simon and Kate sprinted off to get our tickets... and found that the flight had been delayed by half an hour.

The rest of the journey back to Nairobi and our hotel was uneventful. By 9.30pm we were settled in "Carnivore" - a bit of a Nairobi landmark - but probably not the first choice of restaurant for two vegetarians :-). We finally collapsed into bed at about 2.00am, conscious that we had another early start on Saturday, as we had signed up to spend our last morning in Africa on safari in Nairobi National Park - 64 square kms of reserve just 20 minutes outside the city.

We have gained so much from this challenge. We’ve made great new friends, developed muscles that we never knew existed, and above all experienced being in Kenya, the joy of the children, and the generous welcome of so many people who stopped to wave and shout "jambo" as we cycled past. We’ve been contributed to by our many friends and supporters here in England and abroad. We’ve held fun fund raising events and now we are exploring how to create a legacy for the future, by creating a trust after our first annual ‘Cycling for children’ event, where children from 5years old to 11 came out with their parents on a sponsored cycle ride. Its been an extraordinary journey - both physically and emotionally. Asante sana Kenya! Thank you very much ICT!