Děkuji Petr z Česká republika <Thank you to Petr from Czech Republic> for this article:
Petr & Jackson; liaison and community member
At the end of my stay in Nkiito in 2010, I promised that I would come back. Last year I made friend with Jackson. We were in contact almost every 2 weeks and I tried to find some money before I come back to help the community more. This time I wanted to see Nkiito in green, therefore I chose to go there in November. I promised I came back and took some stuff for the school (more than half my big bag), gifts for Jackson and money for the community. My plan was to go there alone but I was happy that I came with one girl from Scotland. It is easier to go with two people. It was like yesterday when I saw Jackson again. Not like one and half year. It was amazing to see and hug him again.
We arrived to Nkiito in the evening and there were nice memories of this place, but the village was quite empty because of the water. There was only half the people than last year. Only the people which take care of the children going to the school stay there. Rest of the village lived in seasonal village about 6 km from Nkiito where there are no proper houses, only the simple ones and some of the people sleep outside. Nkiito looked so empty but there were a lot of poeple which I wanted to see including almost all children from the school. I was wondering how the children will look like. If they will be so taller 🙂 But I was surprised that they looked the same. Only the small Pinina which we saw last year only in Nakapone’s hut was now so older. Last year she was baby and now she helps Nakapone all the time. Last year she was so shy and cried a lot and now she was full of energy. It was great that everyone recognized me and was happy that I am back.
It was not time only for the fun and enjoy the place but for the work as well 🙂 At the start there was only Lorraine who can teach and therefore I help with the teaching as well. After one week there came three more volunteers. After that I could do more stuff for the school and enjoy the stay and time with Jackson. I got some nice colours from my friend and I decided to make painting on the wall in colour. I am not so good at it but hoped that the result will be nice 🙂 – Ed: Outstanding results, Petr !!!!
I used some of the paintings from last year and just coloured it. But a lot of them I had to do again. It was quite long work but it was amazing that the children liked it and told me “sidinalink“. After the back wall I coloured the numbers and letters around the class as well. After that I made some more paintings as well. The last thing I put the map of the world and Europe on the wall. It is great that the children and people can see where I and other people are living and how far away it is.
The second thing was organize the stuff for school, there is almost all what the school needs for 3 years. They need only new workbooks and chalks and one more important thing; a permanent teacher. It is so difficult if there is every half year new teacher. He dont know the children properly and can not work with them long-term. Problem is in the payment for the teacher. Because of the problem with the water in last 4 years there is not a lot of cattle in the villages. And the cattle is money. The people have not enough money for meals and it is more important than payment for the school. It is not a lot of money for us and therefore it is my new goal to find this money; around 70 USD per month.
From the money which I gave to the community they decided to build toilets for the school. I was so happy for this decision because I could help with it and can see the result. First Jackson found a guy who will build it. Some of the work is so specific and need someone who know how to do it.
At the market we bought the stuff for the toilets and the construction could start. With the warriors we prepared the hole and the guy could start to prepare the base from concrete. We need a lot of big stones, small stones and sand. We needed to find all of it around the school and bring by wheelbarrow. The work was quite hard and together with the hot weather so exhausting. It is so different if you have to do it only with hands. It was like to be in the past but I enjoyed the work and to help with. Every day we could ses the progress and the toilets looked better and better. After five days the toilets were built and we were happy. Jackson decided to build the blackboard from the rest of concrete.
From the first time when I went to Nkiito it was possible to see that there is problem with the water. The nature around Nkiito was not so green how I expected and was almost like in dry season. It was not raining so often but the rain was so hard when it did. After each rain we could see the difference in green around Nkiito. First the grass grew and after some week the trees went green as well. It was nice to see the diference between and after 3 week the people from seasonal village came back. Everyone was so happy and Nkiito looked so busy after. The people can go back because the grass was so big for cattle and there was some small lakes with the water around. It was nice to have the fresh milk for the tea as well. Because there were 5 volunteers in Nkiito I had to sleep in the hut. It was a very nice experience and I enjoyed it. It is true that I had to use sleeping bag and the net against the mosquitoes as well. In the evening it was quite smoky and hot in the hut. But at the night it was quite silent inside, more than in the metal hut for the volunteers. Some of the nights I slept very well. The maasai people wake up so early and it was not easy to sleep in the morning.
In conclusion I would like to say that the second time in Nkiito was so better than first time and I enjoyed it so much. It was amazing to see Jackson, the children and people in the village as well. We made a lot of work and had a lot of fun. I will be happy if there will be more people like this year to go and help in Nkiito. It is amazing place and people and it is a lifetime experience. But I have to say that it is not for everyone. Living there is quite difficult for us. There is no shower, no electricity and you will feel lonely sometimes.
The place is quite dirty at the start for us as well. You have to be independent as well. If you will be interestied in information just let me know and I will be happy to answer you the question. Believe me that there is nothing better than the smile of the children in the village….