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Rachael Wood, 34
Kenya Camp Life Programme
 Kenya Camplife Programme
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They say that people come to Kenya for the animals and leave wanting to come back for the Kenyan people. My passion is travel, new places, new cultures and new experiences, it's like an addiction. I have travelled to many underdeveloped countries, never before Africa, but as soon as I touch down in Kenya I know something is different, somehow it feels like I have come home.
I land in Mombassa, for a different kind of adventure - 2 weeks living in a tented camp and working alongside a rural African community in the Shimba Hills National Park, South East Kenya.
I work for a company that organises volunteer placements in over 30 countries, specifically for the over 30s. As marketing manager I promote the benefits of voluntary work in countries that really need our help. I have the same inner voice that I share with many other ‘grown ups'…the need to do something worthwhile and give something back to those less fortunate than ourselves. |
Upon arrival I have my last taste of luxury (and air con!) on the beautiful Indian Ocean before heading up to camp in the Shimba hills. The journey is spectacular, passing through mud huts villages with local barefooted children chasing behind the truck shouting Jambo! Jambo! The tented camp is perched on a hill overlooking rolling green hills, elephants roam freely on the verge opposite whilst families of baboons chatter loudly up in the trees only meters away.
My tent exceeds my expectation of what a ‘tent' should be, they are luxurious - proper beds, ensuite bathrooms and even hot water. This will be my home for 2 weeks...pure paradise. There is no electricity here, as nightfalls the camp is transformed by the stars and oil lamps and the night noises begin, bush babies separated by just thin mesh of tent walls. That first night I didn't sleep!
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The school is a 45-minute scenic walk over streams, dodging monkeys, through the local village. Stephen Kanja Primary School is basic, very basic. It houses 550 pupils aged between 6-16 yrs., with just a handful of teachers.
School starts at 7.30am and ends at 4.30pm - many of the children live in the outlying villages with sometimes a 9km walk to school. They leave as the sunrises dressed in nothing but rags and no food in their bellies.
At school they share a desk and a textbook with 3 of their classmates. There is no electricity and pens that they write with have been supplied by the previous stream of volunteers. |
| The project is part of a 3-year sustainable development programme in partnership with local communities in Kenya. Volunteers play a vital role, they are not looking for skilled or experienced people to help but those with a passion to ‘give something back'. Over the next 2 weeks I spend much time with the head teacher and the children in an attempt to understand the cultural differences, the problems facing Kenyan schools and rural village life. |
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The first few days are a humbling experience, the children crowd round and greet me with handshakes and greetings. They have nothing yet give me everything. I have learnt new skills, during my time I plant trees to insure a sustainable future for the school after the volunteers have completed their work, made wooden desks so the children no longer have to share and made bricks for a kitchen so as to give the younger children porridge in the mornings, all without an electrical appliance from the western world in sight. |
| As my time draws to a close the children have something planned for me. They assemble in the battered disused classroom that has been converted into the volunteer workshop. A hush descends, the voice of Clarice rings out in the still African afternoon air. The purity of her voice causes time to stand still. The feet of 20 of her classmates supply a tribal beat to which they join for the chorus. The song translated in English says never forget us. I cannot hold back my tears as my heartstrings pull with the emotion behind their words. |
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The headmaster looks in my eyes, sees the tears and says ‘yes, Africa is in your heart'. I will never forget this experience, how could I ever forget these children? I feel I have made a difference, however small, but to me the experience has been life changing.
Kenya Camplife Programme
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