In the beginning I had to learn a lot. About Better Me, the NGO, about its huge (local) network and all the partnerships. Thus about all the opportunities and projects to be part of and to contribute. If not busy with any of those projects in town (Kisumu) or nearby, we were busy in Korando village with all the children. About the projects you can read in separated posts. Three things worth to know about Korando and Better Me:

• The Korando Educational Centre is not an official / public school by the governmental as it fully relies on donations. Nonetheless it is very similar to a school where official teachers are employed. Better Me supports 70+ children from nearby or a bit away – by providing a place in a class and – if needed – a bed in a dorm room. However, at this time there were 17 children staying there permanently, under supervision of “Mama Dolfine”, who has founded this place. She also runs another home for children not far from here (known as “The Farm”). Mama Dolfine is being supported by local people. Some of them grew up under her supervision once as a child and have found their place of residence nearby eventually.
• Mama Dolfine is also being supported by “Better Me”. “Better Me”, a NGO founded in Germany, whose Kenyan branch was my host. Better Me is a great team of amazing people who are running several campaigns, initiatives and projects where volunteers are welcomed to support (and to bring in own ideas). Thanks to a lot of support from Germany and all over the world the volunteers got a nice and cozy home, called the “Dome Home”. This became very attractive to volunteers worldwide since a large number of volunteers have showed up there. And I am more than happy to be part of this now.
• Any activity done either with the children here or with any cooperating school or institution needs to be reported. Those reports can be found here.

Children can require a lot of attention. This was my first and most intense experience hanging around with (so many) children for a longer time. Also, some neighbourhood children came along. We used to play soccer or some (card) games (they LOVE the card game “Uno”). At times they were allowed to play some games on our phones or on my computer. Some children love to draw or read. Or we do walking tours. During the time of the school break (November to January) some children have asked for an extra English class to catch up with the rest of the class. They got some sweet rewards for a good performance in the class and might have got used to it. However, for sure it has helped to have these extra hours. Some boys have asked to join me on a morning run as they quickly learned I am pretty much into running. I was surprised and was already thinking of building a running group, along with other volunteers from Taiwan and Austria.

However, later someone has told me that the kids pretty much loved the running activities and the English class. Which makes me so happy. 🥰

What else can I say? For sure I have found a second family here. I have even extended my stay by another 2 weeks. In total it were 10 weeks. That literally says it all and it was not foreseeable at the beginning.

Kenyans, as far as I became acquainted with them, are very friendly people. Such a warm-hearted welcome at all times. Such a friendliness and curiosity. And such a great and honest hospitality that I haven’t experienced before. Yes, I’m doing well. At the same time, it is one of the poorer countries that I have visited. There’s a huge gap between a small group of prosperous people and a majority having struggles with their daily life. That’s one of the reasons why I came here. The gap is even bigger and more obvious than we know it from European countries. And I wanted to help. So I did.

With regards to activities outside of Korando, for example other (partner) schools, there was a kind of “default” activity. Two to three times a week we went to the children’s remand home in Kisumu. This is a (shelter) place for vulnerable children, some of them may have conflicted with the law and/or grew up under unstable circumstances or need protection. Some children have been offensive due to lack of food or had to support the family in several unworthy ways. We helped them to find trust and a better future. Any attention or activity provided from outside will be greatly appreciated since they don’t have much visitors.

Also, we do a kind of “mobile library”. That means to visit children in the Slum of Nyalenda (Kisumu) and to read from children books for those children. And to entertain them. It is amazing how easy that can be done. Their contagious excitement is incredibly high. Which is sort of a payback. In a way.

You may learn more about both, Remand Home and Mobile Library in dedicated articles.