A warm ‘Hi’ from Kenya!
Half of our stay is already over, and filled with countless experiences, emotions, and impressions, we are now reporting on our first month at the MCC. We are Paulina & Vanessa, two volunteers who will spend their time in the project from October to December.
Our stay began with the emotional and physical settling in at the MCC, which would be our new home for the next two months. We got ourselves set up, met the children and the local team, as well as the surroundings where the MCC is located. We had our first experiences in the various departments and got an overview of the prevailing structures. Together with Mercy, the social worker on site, as well as Barbara and Julia, who were also visiting from Germany, we also gained insight into the Skills Centre and the Mobility Centre. Time and again, we felt the strain within ourselves, which came over us due to the initial sensory overload.
A lot of beautiful and new things have happened in the past few weeks. It is the time when the holidays are getting closer, the final exams are being taken, and endings and new beginnings are celebrated. It was fascinating to witness these celebrations. We were able to be part of the graduation at the primary school – each class contributed to the day, and the pastor was also there to pray together. Afterwards, each class received a delicious and colorful cake, followed by a communal lunch for all the guests. The ending phase of school was also celebrated in the secondary school. There were joint prayers for Form 4, who will take their National Papers in November – the most important exams and also the last ones they will ever take in their school career. In the evening, we organized a movie night with popcorn for all students to appropriately conclude the school year – apart from Form 4, all other students said goodbye for their well-deserved holidays and headed home to their families.
Living in the MCC lets us feel the energy that the kids express together, but also individually. In the first few weeks, they showed us their home, their daily routines, and traditions, like how they celebrate birthdays. And it’s incredibly fun! The birthday child gets washed, which basically means being doused with water by the other kids – this usually results in a water fight, where everyone runs laughing through the garden trying to get each other, until in the end everyone is wet, including us.
In order to get to know the country and its culture and society better during our stay, we used our free days to repeatedly travel to Tala and Nairobi. After coordinating with the team, we also went to Lake Naivasha for a weekend – which was great!
For many of the kids at the MCC, the holidays also started at the end of October. A new daily routine and new activities await for the next few weeks – for us as well. A few more projects are planned for this. Before that, we already took the time to bake delicious apple cake with the kids – they definitely have not lost their love for apples. To stay true to the unspoken ritual of the volunteers, we also cooked pasta with the kids; we chose spaghetti with spinach cream sauce. After initial skepticism, the kids went along with it and ended up being quite enthusiastic about it – experiencing their joy was a really wonderful feeling! In November, among other things, we want to redesign the library and will need new shelves, which we plan to build together with the kids. Additionally, by the end of our stay, a goal wall should be set up in the garden – stay tuned!
