In April, we had a full month of vacation activities ahead of us. We were a bit nervous about it, as keeping 39 children busy for a month sounded like a pretty tough task. But our worries were completely unnecessary. The vacation time turned out to be the best time of our lives. Thanks to our social workers Mercy and Joseph, we had a weekly schedule that was also discussed with the kids, which served as a great guide for us.
According to the plan, workshops on topics like proper hygiene, time management systems, and saving electricity and water took place on Tuesdays. Each staff member could choose a topic. We decided on the topic of “fine dining.” We combined this with preparing a new dish, fitting for the “Cooking Around the World” project. The older boys aren’t included in the kitchen schedule, so they were able to prepare the goulash with us. The workshop also included practicing table manners. The meal and the workshop were a total success. The goulash was devoured by both the kids and the adults in no time. A few of the children even call it their new favorite food now, which of course makes us very happy. It was our personal vacation highlight. With lots of singing, dancing, and laughter, we were busy in the kitchen for a full five hours!
Since we had already started with the goulash, we thought about launching a small project: “Cooking Around the World.” To go along with it, we baked pretzels for Easter. With our baker Philip and a few nimble-fingered children, we ended up with 100 beautifully twisted little pretzels on the table for Easter breakfast. All the children were thrilled and wanted even more. Of course, Italian cuisine couldn’t be missing either. We cooked two things: first, the highly coveted pasta with tomato sauce, but this time we made the tomato sauce ourselves from 20 kilos of tomatoes and 40 onions. This was met with enthusiasm by the children, because until now, the pasta had been served with store-bought tomato sauce that was more like ketchup. After a long search in the supermarkets to find mozzarella, we were finally able to make pizza at the end of April. Here too, we made the tomato sauce ourselves and baked the pizza in the wood-fired oven. Everyone was more than full afterward but happy, and there is definitely a need for a repeat. Those of us with a sweet tooth weren’t neglected either, so we baked a typical American pastry called “banana cake”; this was a great choice because there are countless bananas here that are already super sweet by nature. Our children had never tried Dutch cuisine either, so we baked a Dutch apple pie together with the Ulinzis. The children’s favorite fruit is apples—you could tell while slicing them, as a slice or two disappeared into the kids’ mouths.
To top off the vacation, there was a campfire on Friday evening with sausages and stick bread. In the afternoon, the boys were climbing around in the trees to cut down the sticks for it and then carve them into points. It was a lovely way to end the day for the kids and for us too. Listening to music and chatting, we sat together around the campfire and enjoyed the warmth and light from the fire.
As described at the beginning, there was a schedule for the vacation. The tasks for the different groups were also assigned in it. The Simba group goes to the shamba (farm) every day with our farmer Boniface and helps with various activities. We accompanied the boys three times a week. It was a lot of work, but with the thought of eating the mangoes from the tree at the end, we had much more motivation. We were allowed to help with fertilizing, but also with weeding and planting spinach and tomatoes. The mood was always great, so time flew by and we were able to ignore the heat of the sun. Another reward for the work done was seeing how much the plants had already grown 2-3 weeks later and knowing that we were able to contribute to that.
It was Easter break, and we wanted to bring the children a little joy on Easter Sunday. We went to church with them in the morning and then prepared a little scavenger hunt for the afternoon. After lunch, the kids found the first clue, and one by one the riddles were solved and the treasure was found. Unfortunately for us, it was pouring rain, but that didn’t stop them from just running and searching. The treasure they found was a lot of sweets and some school supplies for everyone. For breakfast, of course, there were also the Easter eggs we had dyed the day before. Even if the color was met with skepticism by some children. We spent the afternoon playing inside the house, as the weather didn’t quite cooperate as we wanted.
Our secondary students went home for the four weeks of school vacation. We thought that was a real shame, as we would have loved to spend time with them to work on projects, which is rather difficult during the school term because of their schedule. But after the vacation, we will do our best to implement things with them as well, and we would also like to participate in their lessons. We are already looking forward to them being back in May.
Since the project doesn’t just support the children in the home, we really wanted to include the community kids. Those who live close enough came during the week to play and participate in smaller projects. But we also wanted to organize something bigger during the vacation for the children who live further away. So, with Mercy’s help, we planned a sports festival. May 1st is a holiday just like in Germany, so it was the perfect opportunity. The children could divide themselves into teams and then compete against each other in various disciplines. There was something for everyone: long throw, egg-and-spoon race, sack race, eating contest, Math Olympiad, and even charades. For a snack in between, everyone requested goulash. Of course, we couldn’t turn down that wish. With Mama Amos’s help, we cooked for a total of 100 people. Exactly according to Mama’s recipe with mashed potatoes and coleslaw. The children were all so motivated that there was a little something for every participant. To finish off, everyone wanted to play soccer together. So the day ended very nicely with a wonderful sunset. Unfortunately, the community kids already had to head back home, but they left satisfied and happy! A tiring but successful day for all of us.
The city of Nairobi shouldn’t be missed for the experience either. Because we enjoyed our first visit to the Masai Market so much, we went back again right away. You can buy the most beautiful things, from jewelry to salad servers, dresses, and decorative items. We really went all out and bought things for ourselves and for friends and family. The people there are incredibly warm, and we met many people who told us their stories. Everyone was very impressed by the project and asked many questions.
Mamba Village is a crocodile park on the outskirts of Nairobi. Since Emma is a huge fan of crocodiles, a visit there was on her bucket list. Once we arrived, we were really surprised by how little was going on. Besides us, there was only a small school class there, but they didn’t stay long. Our guide never stopped telling us facts about these very fascinating animals. Besides the crocodiles, they also keep turtles and ostriches, and there were countless facts about them too. So, a huge recommendation if you are ever in Nairobi!!!
Now that the vacation is over, our last 3.5 weeks here are beginning. We are enjoying the remaining time as much as possible and experiencing new things every day. We can already say how incredibly grateful we are for this experience! For us, this was the best and most exciting time ever. So if you also feel like spending your time with children, getting abs from laughing, and getting to know Kenya from a different side, then feel free to apply to Hand in Hand for Kenya. We can only highly recommend it to you. It is an unforgettable time.
Emma and Marta