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Posted on October 2nd 2023
Four-Week Kenya Experience With Community Projects
This Summer, eight students from Harris Boys' embarked on a four-week expedition to Kenya with Camps International.
During this experience of a life-time, they had the opportunity to support community projects, such as building a school and beach conservation, as well as enjoing the wonderful experiences Kenya has to offer.
Below, are some excerpts from Caleb and Stanley's diaries of the trip. A huge well done to all the boys and big thanks to Mr Grant who helped support the students throughout the expedition.
Caleb and Stanley's journal
Friday 4th August
Today was the day we had to leave for the next camp.... Diani Beach Camp – a rest and recovery camp situated a minute's walk from the shining sands of the Indian Ocean. It was a five-hour drive, but we all enjoyed seeing different parts of the country as we drove through Mombasa, took a ferry, and gradually started to get near the coast. Once we got to camp, we relaxed, used the Wi-Fi for the first time in two weeks and all called/ contacted families.
Saturday 5th August
Today we went snorkeling! Setting off at about 9am after a nice breakfast, we walked down to the beach and hopped in a glass-bottomed boat for about 20 minutes, driving out to a sandbank out in the Indian Ocean, surrounded by coral reef. We snorkeled for an hour, watching the fish swim by and ate fresh fruit boatside before heading back to camp and relaxing by the pool for the rest of the day.
Sunday 6th August
For today we were working on beach conservation projects, such as litter picking, monitoring and surveying microplastics and getting a brief lesson from the Olive Ridley project about sea turtles and their behavior. After the talks and playing in the pool we went down to see the ocean for the last time before heading to a special dinner out at a British pub.
Monday 7th August
Off to Camp Muhaka now for some heavy project work! A quick 30-minute drive and we arrived in the village of Muhaka and Camp Muhaka, landscape transformed from ocean views to almost jungle-like greenery. For the first three nights we camped in our own private tents, which was nice to have a tent for yourself. Then we walked around the village with one of the camp staff, looking at what camps have done in previous years, providing homes, refurbishing schools, etc... For the rest of the evening we relaxed, playing card games, and socialising with teams we had met at previous camps.
Tuesday 8th August – Friday 11th August
These four days we worked on a Mama’s house, providing a home for single mothers in the area with children. We continued work on these houses started and developed by previous teams for the previous month. Throughout these four days we worked on three houses doing water pumping, plastering, painting, flooring, installing doors and windows and concrete mixing, all to help bring the houses to a condition where they could last decades if maintained properly, providing for families in the local community.
It was really rewarding to see the house take shape, and good, physically demanding work that made the cold showers seem like luxuries! We had a few Swahili lessons as well. Let’s just say we slept well for four nights after that.
Saturday 12th August
Today we worked on a school refurbishment at a local school, setting up planters and filling them with soil. We dug the soil, collected water, and carried wheelbarrows of soil over to the planter. In the afternoon we were supposed to play football with Kenyan secondary school kids however, it was a hot weekend, and nobody showed up so instead we handed one of the Mama’s houses over to the Mama herself.
Sunday 13th August
To start the day, we walked over to the spiritual Kaya Forest, learning about plants' medicinal value from a local ‘medicine man.’ Then we watched a man climb a coconut tree and ate/drank fresh coconuts. Lovely. In the afternoon we learned how to make the famous chapati with local women and coconut rice which we enjoyed for dinner.
Monday 14th August
Today we had a rest and recovery day! We drove by car to a local supermarket and then to a beach hotel where we enjoyed some luxury: the pool, playing for hours in the ocean, free Wi-Fi, ordering food and the beach. What a day to end it all on. In the evening, I and a few others bought from the local market, practicing our Swahili, and negotiating skills.
Tuesday 15th August - Thursday 17th August
On Tuesday we travelled through the rain to Tsavo for a one-night stopover, reuniting with a few teams (five-hour drive) and then from Tsavo to the airport (eight-hour drive). We then got a 11:45 pm flight to Frankfurt and a flight from Frankfurt home to London. It was so surreal for us all to see such built up infrastructure again and great to reunite with our families!
Caleb and Stanley
