Diary of improvements in Kenya: we are starting to see results!

“I get up at 7 in the morning, have breakfast porridge, tea and a toast….sometimes also a sweet potato. The children at 8 o'clock do the assembly where they sing a little and one of the teachers reads a passage from the Bible. Around 8:30 a.m. the two workers I have hired, Simón and Cosmos, arrive. We get to work: We prepare the clay, mix it with the straw, and apply the mixture to the wooden structure. like this all day. At mid-morning we have a little break where we take another porridge and we continue until 1 pm. Back to work at 2:00 p.m. until 5:30 p.m. At the end we clean the rooms of the mud that we have stained”.

For these works, Diego has had local help. First hired a carpenter and his helper to reinforce the wooden structure and start filling it with mud. When it was possible to start with the filling, he hired four people to help him, but with two the experience was not entirely good: they did not like the work and they did not follow Diego's instructions either. In the end, he was left with simon and cosmos.

In Kenya, workers are paid by the day, there are no contracts. Teachers, like the carpenter, are paid 1,000 Kes (about 9 euros) and assistants 500 Kes (approx. 4.5 euros).

Diego with Simon and Cosmos

little helpers
While the works are being carried out in the children's room, they sleep there with a little more humidity. From the first day they told Diego that it was warmer They have also acted as helpers! The afternoons that they have had free have helped them to collect soil and mix it with the mud. His nickname: “matope kids”.

The “matope kids”

Now we have to wait for this layer to dry to give the last one, and the children's room will be ready!

In future posts we will tell you how we are improving the rest of the center and we will show you how this room has turned out. Do not miss it!
Post by Diego and the team Tumaini