As the six of us first arrived to the Vessel of Hope school in Kayole, we were brimming with energy to get started. P and I introduce the new team to Grace, the head master, and Sam our Fundi ( head contractor), who points us up to the roof of the school so we can…
Tag: Africa
Batoka Sky
The buzzing sound could be heard, but I couldn’t find the source. My first thought was ; it is a drone, how sad and American is that? As quickly as it came though, it was gone. Morning and evening the sound would return. After much investigation I came to discover that I was underneath the…
Mkuru Kwa Ruben
When BCK first visited this place, I mistakenly called the area Dandora. The industrial slum area of Nairobi is actually referred to as Mkuru Kwa Ruben. The feeling though has not really changed since we first saw it in 2012, it’s overwhelmingly eye opening, sad and full of desperation. For safety’s sake and out of…
Helicoptering over a Natural wonder
It’s been a few weeks since I went on my first ever helicopter ride. That was thrilling enough in it’s own rite, but when you couple it with a ride over Zambia’s wild countryside, amazing views of Victoria Falls, and diving and dashing over class five rapids of the Zambezi river, well….. You feel as…
Mukundi
Jimmy was just a boy when I first met him in 2009. Shy and working on improving his English, he approached my side, held my hand, and asked me my name. When I told him, he gave me some small bracelets to take home. ” for your Mum”….. Jimmy and I in 2009 Each year…
final thoughts on BCK’s last day in Kenya on the project….
When I think back to our final day on the St. Winner’s 2013 school project in the slums of Nairobi, it’s the faces of the little ones I see. Faces that haven’t seen a group of white people in such close proximity to themselves. As the days pass by though, we become closer as we…
the simple additions we added to St. Winners
As part of Build.Create. Kenya’s 2013 St. Winners project, we really wanted to beautify the school. Limited funds though meant we needed to get creative with the supplies and money we had, and I was so proud of the ideas we came up with as a team for the schools. Who doesn’t enjoy flowers and…
how nothing is wasted in Kenya
As BCK was cutting wood boards for the library shelves at St. Winners school, inevitably their were scraps leftover. As I was walking the dark hallway and observing the classrooms of children, I noticed that the floor was covered with little coats and backpacks. A rare moment of brilliance occurred to me. Why not use the…
the Fence
As the group arrived at St. Winners on the first day of the project, it was apparent what our primary task would be….the poor, dilapidated fence around the front courtyard. Nails were protruding from the dirty and broken fence posts. Build.Create.Kenya recognized that the school needed to look like a bright centre for learning, outside and…
Cody & the library
Build.Create.Kenya’s main Project for 2013 was to build a library for St. Winners. We had the supplies and the motivation. What we seemed to lack were people that felt comfortable in the actual construction of shelves with the building materials and budget that we had. This responsibility fell upon myself and eighteen year old team member…
Skylights
We could hardly see some of the children at St. Winners, the classrooms were so dark. With no electricity, the school had no light. Not the ideal situation for learning. So j.D and I decided to climb up on the tin sheet roofs and attempt to put in skylights in each classroom. We precariously walked…
how crabs awoke my conscience
It was the night of June 23rd, 2013 when the SuperMoon broke free of the heavy clouds over the Indian Ocean and bathed us in it’s light. Crabs could easily be spotted running in the moonlight from rock to rock, skittering crazily along in the sand. A couple of the guys decided to dig a…