Full Moon Party

July 5, 2015 | poppyturner95

Hey everyone!

There isn’t really much to say about the last week as it has been mostly the same as the week before!
I did a ‘donation drop’ in the village on Friday morning, we took bags made up of all the things I brought with me (baby clothes, books, colours etc) along with clothes and shoes that other people have donated.

The local project co-ordinator identified the families in the village that are most in need of donations for their children and so we personally went to visit them in their homes to deliver the donation bags. It was amazing to see how happy the mum/dad in the families were and how greatful they were to just have someone else’s unwanted clothes!

On our way walking through the village, we were asking the kids where certain families lived and we ended up with about 20 kids following us around the village, every time I turned around we had more kids running behind us!

On Friday after dinner, I went to Upendo which is about half an hour away from jambiani so that I could get a little boat over the ‘The Rock’ bar, one of the places you must visit before you die apparently! It was beautiful, not quite the same as a pint of lager and black in the cav though…

Kendwa Rocks– Full Moon Party

Yesterday I travelled about 2 hours away to Kendwa for the Full Moon Party. We stayed at the hotel in Banda’s made from coconuts and some wood stuff! I went with 3 of the other volunteers to mark my last weekend in Africa and one of their birthdays… I wasn’t sure what to expect but it was an amazing night, I obviously got inappropriately drunk (I know, this will come as a massive shock to you all) but it was the first time that I could actually let my hair down and act like a proper tourist for one night! not sure how I felt about being around so many muzungu’s though (white people) ☺️

I went for a midnight swim under the full moon and stars and danced until I couldn’t dance anymore and made friends with a group of Irish people. I’m not used to the whole staying up all night and getting drunk thing now, so have been feeling a bit fragile today!

It’s so wierd to think that I’ll be leaving jambiani on Thursday to go to the airport and come home. I’ve missed everyone so much but I’d also prefer to stay in Africa, no offence!

See you all very soon x

Building a school

June 28, 2015 | poppyturner95

This week I spent my mornings helping build the new African Impact School, it turns out I’m quite good with a shovel and a wheelbarrow! I have been putting the floor in for the school and it is just made out of huge coral rocks and then a layer of soil, we are literally just stamping on the soil to flatten it out to make a flat surface!

I’ve also been teaching the Kanga Ladies this week in the mornings between building the school. On Monday morning I got thrown back into reality pretty quickly after my beautiful weekend away, building the school in a torrential downpour (without a brolly)!!

In the afternoons it has been exam week for the adult class. On Monday they did a grammar exam, Tuesday was a reading exam, Wednesday was a writing exam and Thursday was a speaking exam so a lot of hard work! After we had marked all of the exam papers, it turned out that every single one of my adult class had passed their exams with flying colours… I have been like a proud mother all weekend!

On Thursday night it was ‘come dine with me Zanzibar’ so we split into pairs and each pair was allocated the starter, main, desert or drinks. I got the desert and made chocolate brownie with vanilla ice cream and a mango compote, it was very nice if I do say so myself..

On Friday night it was the African Impact charity quiz night at a local hotel called Coral Rock, somehow I got roped into doing the entertainment.. so I choreographed a dance on the beach the night before and busted a few shapes (minus the sprinkler)! Didn’t manage to get any pictures of my performance which is a shame 😦 we raised 400,000 shillings which is about £150 so it was definitely worth it!

Yesterday I went to stone town, again, and finished buying everything I wanted and then I have spent the rest of the weekend relaxing at Spice Island Hotel. I also went to the local rasta bar last night for a few drinks and listened to the rasta’s playing drums!

It is ‘Film Night’ tonight for the volunteers so after dinner we are going to chill out with African popcorn and watch a good film before bed. I can’t believe next week is my last full week here! Time really does fly when your having fun.

Stone Town and Prison Island tours

June 21, 2015 | poppyturner95

Last Saturday I went to Stone Town again, this time to do and see all the touristy places. We got a taxi to Stone Town so that we didn’t have to go through the 2 hour Dala Dala experience again! we jumped straight on a little boat over to Prison Island which took about half an hour.

At prison island I spent some time with the giant tortoises, they were HUGE! One of them was 160 years old, it was wierd being so close to them and being able to touch them.. Not like being in a zoo in England!

Prison Island was intended for being used as a prison, obviously.. But then as more people started using the port of Zanzibar to bring goods and tourism, they also brought a lot of disease so it was decided that anyone with diseases would be put on the island and left there.. Nice! there wasn’t much of the original building left as it’s now been turned into a big hotel…

The Stone Town tour was really interesting, the guide pointed things out and told us about things that I wouldn’t have thought were anything special! The slave Market was my favourite place to visit, being in the actual slave chambers was quite emotional really… Imagining so many people in such a small space, with no day light or toilets and cooped up in chains, it was really sad 😦

We stayed in Stone Town for the night market which was so nice! The Fordhani Gardens opens at night to loads of market traders selling local cooked foods.. I had a ‘Zanzibar pizza’ which was kind of like a calzone and some seafood kebabs.. Mmm! Eating dinner on the harbour with this view was perfect ..

Halfway through

June 21, 2015June 21, 2015 | poppyturner95

I can’t believe I am halfway through my trip already, time is flying!

This week was the last week for the primary schools before they broke up for summer holidays, so we did something a little different. Each day we spent an hour with one of the four primary schools that we teach at; kikidini, mwendewima, imbrahim and Sarajatil doing ‘beach Olympics’. We set up an obstacle course using most of the things I have bought from the donation money to take with me!

The kids absolutely loved it and it was so nice to see how seriously they took it and how competitive they got within their teams.

We also took each of the schools to ‘the land’ for an hour so that they could get involved in the new community learning centre that African impact are building. As volunteers, we spend some time each week doing some work on the land and the foundations of the school and it was nice to get all the kids picking up the little peices of coral rocks and throwing them into the foundations to create a good floor that doesn’t cost anything!

cutest kid in the world collecting rocks

I also made my first eco brick this week, fishing through rubbish isn’t usually my cuppa tea but it’s a really clever idea. Each Eco brick is made out of a plastic bottle that is filled with rubbish found on the beach. A wall made purely from Eco bricks will be used to build the school too.

I am writing this blog post whilst laid on the beach at Matemwe retreat, the nicest hotel I’ve ever stayed in! It’s about 2 hours away from where I am staying (can’t remember if I’m in the north or the east) and it is the perfect place to have spent relaxing as a little halfway treat! The problem is I don’t want to leave and go back to cold showers every day again, boo 😦

I’ve had such a good weekend, I went snorkelling for the first time ever on Saturday at Mnemba Atoll (a little island about 10 minutes away on a boat) I was so scared seeing as though I don’t like putting my face under water! But I absolutely loved it, saw lots of dory’s from finding nemo! 🐠

It’s exam week next week for the adult classes, so I’ll be playing the role of one of those scary looking invigilators at exams with the Jesus sandals who presumes everyone is cheating!

My week so far!

June 12, 2015 | poppyturner95

Saturday: I went to stone town on the dala dala (bus) to do some shopping and go to a nice hotel for a beautiful breakfast I HAD MY FIRST CUPPA TEA IN LIKE SOOO LONG AND IT WAS AMAZING.

Monday: my first experience of being a patient in an African hospital! I just had sun stroke and they confirmed I didn’t have malaria which is always good 😊 the ‘doctor’ was sat with a cigar and was keeping a tally chart of all the illnesses he had seen.. It didn’t fill me with much confidence!
Tuesday and Wednesday: I spent the day teaching. First at Sarajatil Nursery where I taught the kids basic colours and then at kikidini primary where I tought shapes. Then I taught the adult class who are revising for their exams next week. On Wednesday night we had local meal again.. It’s my favourite time of the week, sitting under the stars in a circle having dinner.. Beautiful!

Thursday: it was craft day at the nursery’s and primary schools so we coloured in owls and then decorated our own little people! The kids had so much fun, it’s amazing what some crayons and felt tips can do 🙂

Today: today I did a tour of the village to learn more about the local people. I saw the ‘graveyard’, the coral rock plantations and the forest full of fruit trees used for food for the whole village!

Then I went to visit a local woman in her home who showed me all the cool things you can do with a coconut (make rope, cream, milk and rice) The coconut didn’t taste much like a bounty 😦 and then I went to see the village herbal doctor and learnt about what they use for different illnesses.

Tomorrow I am going back to stone town to see the slave market, the cathedral and prison island and will be eating at the night market for tea.. Can’t wait!

Will update some time next week 🙂 happy weekend x

Octopus

June 3, 2015 | poppyturner95

hello everyone,

My most exciting news is that I had octopus for tea yesterday! For anyone who knows me well enough will understand this is a big deal!

Tonight we all went to a local woman’s house for tea, we all pay her so that she gets an extra income. The food was probably the best I’ve had in a very long time!! Tradition here is to sit in a circle on the floor eating with our hands… messy!

I have taught the nursery kids and the adult class so far, even though I was excited to teach the little kids, I think I may prefer teaching the adults. I teach the 3rd group so they are 1 step away from graduating, they are really good at English and you can tell how much they appreciate my help.

I have to bike ride everywhere on the island, I should have brought a helmet and a cushion for my bum, it hurts!

I will keep you all updated with more pictures.. Here’s today’s food!

I’m here!

June 1, 2015 | poppyturner95

Hey everyone,

I have safely arrived in jambiani, Zanzibar! Here are a few pics from my journey so far! I’m spending the rest of my day chilling and recovering from my flights by laying in the sunshine… Not to make you all jealous ha!

I’ll be able to tell you all about my first day teaching tomorrow! I’ll be at the primary school in the morning and teaching adults in the afternoon 🙂

xxx

The story so far…

March 5, 2015 | poppyturner95

I went to Kenya in June 2014 to volunteer for the first time with African Impact. It was the best experience of my life and totally different to anything I have done before. It was a scary first experience of travelling on my own but it was so worth it!

Since I came back from Kenya, I have become an Ambassador the for Organisation and have planned to Volunteer again but for longer and in a different country!

Everyone that I met in Kenya (especially the kids) will always have a special place in my heart, they are a true inspiration and made me realise that there is more to life than I Phone’s and pretty dresses!

Here’s some pictures of my trip 🙂