Matt had many talents, however getting up early in the morning was not one of them. He often had to run the twenty minute walk to school because he had to have several “just another 5 minutes” in bed! So for him to have to be the first up must have been quite a challenge. When he came home from Africa and we asked him what he had missed whilst he had been away his bed was quite high on the list. Having said all of that, he met his challenge with time to spare – just goes to show he could do it when he had to …

Day 11 – July 26th 

  “Today it was my responsibility to wake everyone up, but I was doomed to fail as I had no reliable way of waking up at the right time. By sheer luck I woke up 10 minutes before I had to and roused the troops.

After breakfast I was immediately collared by the headteacher to talk about money. Last night Callum and I had realised that the paint seller had overcharged us by 9,000 schillings and the headteacher wanted to know the details so we could try to get the money back.

As leader I was in charge of macro-managing the entire operation for the day: 2 people teaching, 2 people digging a rubbish tip and the rest painting/restoring classrooms. My problem was that I got too caught up in the individual tasks, I spent a good hour helping the diggers with a pickaxe and a hoe before Craig walked over and reminded me that I was supposed to be managing the big picture. I also did a fair amount of painting but I tried hard to step back and delegate.

Our breakfast was late due to waiting on milk, so when the milk arrived I took the diggers (at this point Gavan and Matt Hyde) and together we buttered bread and made tea for everyone before delivering room service to the various workplaces. Craig and I found a long straight log which hopefully we will use tomorrow to replace the dodgy netball post, and I delegated to Adam the task of repairing the crippled door to Classroom 2 with wood and nails we bought yesterday. People are now regularly referring to my broom as the “Nimbus”, and it has proved invaluable for so many cleaning tasks.

The window fitter came and now 2 classrooms have a full set of glass windows, we are hoping that the lost 9,000 will pay for another classroom’s worth (9,000 KES ≃ $110).

After a long day’s work we played volleyball for games. We lost so horrifically last time that Robert fielded a team of girls, but we have now figured out the rules and tactics and we beat them soundly. At one point Robert shouted, “If you lose to England I will cane you,” but thankfully he then laughed. I should probably clarify that this is not Robert our guide from Naivasha, this is Robert a teacher at Oronkai who seems to be our liaison. We then played the first team again and had a much closer game even though we eventually lost.

During the initial budget meeting we asked for traditional Kenyan food. However, this has proven to include too much millet, a gelatinous brown substance which tastes of little but is very filling. Unfortunately we have been provided with enough for 3 times as many people, leaving us forcing it down to prevent causing offense.

During the daily leader review people seemed to think that I did O.k., although I had an easy day.

After this we started to plan our entertainment for the farewell ceremony on Tuesday, but we didn’t get very far, and soon after went to bed.”