Welcome to Africa!!
It's not every day that you get to pat a cheetah!!
From the South of France to Nairobi, Kenya…it’s difficult to
imagine that there could be a bigger contrast from almost every perspective.
Our first 10 days in Africa has comprised of an introduction to
some of the poverty and harsh realities of African life, some hard work, a bit
of culture shock and already some magical scenery and exploration.
After 3 great weeks with Aurelie’s parents recharging our
batteries over Christmas and New Year, we’ve thrown the backpacks on again and
parted for Africa. First up on our African itinerary was a month in Kenya,
volunteering at a local orphanage called Faraja Children's Home, situated 40 minutes from
Nairobi (capital of Kenya) in a village called Ngong.
Upon our arrival, we were immediately introduced to our
Kenyan host family. Four other volunteers (all females), two of whom were
volunteering on a HIV/AIDS program and the other two were volunteering at a
different orphanage in the area, were also staying with us. Bunks beds, no hot
water, no oven or microwave, a diet of beans for breakfast, lunch and dinner,
and seven girls with Shane under one roof is going to make this a very
interesting month!
With seemingly no time to waste, we were taken to Faraja, a 3 bedroom orphanage, barely bigger than our house
in Sydney. It is home to 38 children aged between 2 - 17. We had very little
idea of what to expect and arrived with an open mind but the intensity and
extent of the poverty that we were confronted with shocked us! All the
kids have been left homeless due to either not having parents alive or violent
upbringings. Some of the stories that we have heard throughout this first week
in Africa have been quite horrific!
Aurelie carb loading on 'Githeri' - a traditional Kenyan meal
In spite of this, our first impression of the kids really
has been one of amazement. They greeted us with massive smiles, high fives,
hugs and welcomed us into their home. You wouldn’t have believed that they were
in the situation that they were. We also got a great appreciation for what kids
of a very young age in this environment can do! All kids have their daily
chores with kids as young as 3 and 4 years old scrubbing floors, hand washing
clothes, gardening, cleaning and basically fending for themselves. Not
surprisingly there is not a semblance of a mobile phone, an ipod or a DS in
sight!
Afternoon chores...Joy, Nancy and Theresia hand washing the kids clothes
Inspired by this, it was time to role up our sleeves. There’s
no shortage of projects that need doing so we will certainly be kept busy
throughout our stay. The first week or so has included digging out a vegie
patch, cleaning, painting doors, building a shoe shelf to house 38 pairs of
gumboots, and a large bookshelf for their education area. Shane who has had the
help of another Australian Johnny (carpenter from Melb), were pretty happy with
their handy work given everything was done by hand as power tools seemingly don‘t
exist in this part of the world…!
Shane, Johnny and a dozen carpentry apprentices showing off their handy work!
Our exploration of what Africa has to offer is also under
way. We spent a full day visiting animal orphanages around Nairobi. First up
was the chance to feed a giraffe. We discovered that it was not only there
necks that were enormous…their tongues were also pretty big too! We then
visited an elephant orphanage housing baby elephants whose parents had been
attacked by poachers. We got close enough to touch them and pat their heads.
Aurelie getting up close and personal with a baby elephant
We also squeezed in a visit to a local park in Nairobi where
we were covered by little monkey’s, very cute these little guys and certainly
not shy!
Shane, Aurelie and a couple of curious locals flocked by monkeys
The ultimate in our animal adventuring was a refuge for all
varieties of African animals. We had the pleasure of seeing Buffalo’s, hyena’s,
baboons, lions feeding, leopards and last but not least cheetahs. As we
strolled around, Shane was tapped on the shoulder and asked, any interest in
patting a cheetah?! After coming to an ‘arrangement’, and being assured that
she was a friendly cheetah, next thing we knew, we were walking straight into
the cage where we camped down next to the big cat and gave her a little tickle
behind the ears! Money really does talk in this part of the world, that’s for
sure!
Having met an inspirational 22 year old American who has
made Kenya his home over the past 18 months, we decided to take him up on his
offer of an exploration of the local Savanna. Being already impressed
by the beauty of the surrounds, midway into the hike, we were presented with a
flock of at least a dozen Giraffes in their natural environment only 10 minutes from where we are staying! They towered above
us from a distance of less than 10 metres away and surprisingly, they seemed just as
intrigued with us as we were with them!
Aurelie, Tony, Shane and a curious observer in the Savanna!
Amazing stuff and a great taste of what’s install over these
next 3 months here!
Another busy couple of weeks ahead at the orphanage. We’ve
also got a couple of little adventures coming up combined with the task of
tracking down some Kenyan athletes…exciting times!!
