Christmas holidays are over, and we have all returned to work and the kids have gone back to school. That was a long holiday which meant a lot of action every day at Wale. I spent 10 days with my friend here in Nairobi and at the coast in Diani. We visited the Nairobi national park, took a walk in Kibera, went to Toi market and of course did a chill Sunday flea market visit to K1 in Westlands. My friend liked Nairobi even though she did not have time to see more. On the 24th we travelled to Diani and started our relaxing one-week holiday at the beach, enjoying the sun, sea, beach, cocktails and good food. Diani was truly beautiful and I now I see why they call it the most beautiful beach in Africa.
We came back to Nairobi on the 1st of January and my friend flew back to Denmark the same evening. Because my plans to go to Rwanda were cancelled, I had five days just for myself to relax and charge my batteries. Unfortunately, some personal problems arose during that week and I got a tough reminder of how difficult it is to live so far away from your family and friends in times of sorrow. Luckily, the technology is there to help us reach out to our loved ones through Skype, WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger.
Before we closed Wale and started our Christmas holidays, I finished the colouring book project with the kids. I am incredibly happy to announce that we sold five of the eight books we finished! The fact that we actually sold the books made by the kids is a major motivating factor for them. They are now even more motivated and excited to practice and develop their skills in arts. In addition to the colouring book project, I also had a three-day painting project with all the kids. We painted two of the walls at the staircase inside the centre. I am very happy with the result and the wall looks really nice in my opinion! I love how it brings more colour to the walls of the centre. The Christmas party we had on Friday the 21st of December was great! There was a lot of people, we cooked, watched movies, danced and did other activities. The food was nice and we had a lot of fun together.
Now we are well rested and have returned back to work. At Wale the programme is normal again and in the afternoons the centre is filled with kids in school uniforms doing their homework. I am working with the yearly evaluation report and this week we had a meeting on the feedback the youth gave on the programmes and we discussed how they can be improved this year.
My time here is running out and the moment of leaving Kenya is getting closer. Right now, I feel like it is nice to go back home and see all my friends and my family, but it also feels weird. I have gotten so used to the life in here.
WALE WALE KENYA 