We are in Africa, repeat after me, we are in Africa

We arrived in Kenya in the early hours of Thursday morning.  After all the months of planning we were finally here.  We couldn't quite believe it, but as we turned the corner into Gilgil we spotted in a zebra - we are in Africa!

We will be staying in Gilgil volunteering with the Sanata trust.  Sanata runs a home called the Restart centre which aims to rescue homeless children from the streets of Kenya, provide them with a home, education, care and counselling and equip them to work and flourish in their community.  The charity invests in and runs several projects designed to provide employment and funds for the children and the wider community.  You can find out more about their great work here.


On our first day we headed to the Restart centre for orientation.  We were greeted by a special welcoming ceremony in which the children performed poems and dances, including breakdancing!

In the afternoon we visited the new Restart Centre which is being built.  We were very impressed by the new building.  It is bigger, will have better facilities and enable Restart to care for more children.  

Sanata has an area to grow food and a herb garden on the site with more than 700 African herbs, many with medicinal properties.  The plants are harvested, dried and processed, and then made into therapeutic teas or capsules.  We wandered round the beautiful garden and heard about some of the plants.  Megan and Zelma discovered that Aloe Vera is very bitter and needs several polos and water to wash away the taste!