“ Starting with just an idea , we actually do save lives , and we see that education is the way forward . My life is completely different now .”
in the school where I would be spending my next three months .
That did not happen . I was sent to a school in the slums of London in Nakuru , Kenya . It had mud floor classrooms , and unsatisfactory quality food was given to the 260 children who lived near – and sometimes ate from – the dumpsite just three dirt tracks from the school .
I had requested a percentage of my payment be relinquished so that at least I could assist by pouring in a cement floor and purchasing proper food , but this was not to be . Needless to say I felt that I was taken advantage of , as are so many volunteers with big hearts and life savings .
I did put in the floors and so many other necessities using my then husband ’ s goldcoloured piece of plastic , with his approval .
My first three month volunteering came to an end , and I felt that I had only just scratched the surface of what really needed to done . I travelled back and forth to Kenya on my own , making friends with various Kenyans to see where the needs were the greatest and what areas I could best improve or assist with . HIV-positive women who were ostracised into their own out-of-town communities , and orphanages where children had been witness to their
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