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When we first heard about the Calne Foundation Trust Enrichment Scholarship Scheme, we knew that this was a worthwhile opportunity that we wanted to make the most of. At the Calne PGSM Christmas Fair we met Jax Comyn, the co-founder of Bushbells. Bushbells is a company that sells handmade clothes from Kenya to raise money for Bluebells, a school they founded in Kenya. Bluebells is at the heart of the community and has 150 pupils, many of which are from the most impoverished of backgrounds. Jax mentioned the prospect of volunteering at the school, and this was the start of our ongoing communication and planning of our trip. We proposed our trip to the Calne Foundation Trust and were very grateful to receive a grant to cover our flights to Kenya.
This summer, for 3 weeks, we had the most fulfilling and exciting time living in Watamu, a town on the coast of Kenya. The experience exceeded our expectations, as we got to know so many different people from contrasting backgrounds to our own. What particularly struck us was how willing people were to welcome us into their homes and their lives, every day we had a new experience that was unforgettable. A typical day for us would begin with Jona, our boda driver picking us up and driving us to Bluebells, where we would check in with Mwana the principal and start teaching lessons. Teaching was always a highlight of our day, and we really enjoyed being creative with our methods when we were dealing with such a strict curriculum. We created a teeth brushing dance, to educate the PP1s (3 year olds) on how to brush their teeth, and also made a song with the year 4s to help them remember how to look after a young fruit tree. During lunch times we would play games with the children in the field and have an amazing meal cooked by Mwana. At four o’clock we would then return to Eco Villas, where we stayed and were taken in as part of the family by our hosts.
Some of the highlights of our trip were meeting Katana, who was the first person Jax sponsored, who is currently at University in Nairobi. He kindly invited us to dinner at his house, and we also went for dinner with him at the Crab Shack, where he had a summer internship as an accountant. Another highlight was going to Jona, our boda boda driver’s house, where we met his whole family and he showed us some of the songs he learnt on his guitar and after that we sang with their whole family which we loved. We also managed to fit in a lot of other activities, such as volunteering at the local turtle sanctuary for a day, visiting the Watamu snake farm, snorkelling on the reef, exploring the Gede Ruins, seeing monkeys and finding wild elephants in the Sekoke Forest.
Overall, we would like to thank the Calne Foundation Trust for enabling us to have such a worthwhile time in Kenya. We hope that we were able to teach the children as much as they taught us, and we would encourage anyone to support Bushbells and Bluebells in any way that they can.
Grace Law and Elan Fryar
