Coutdown...

Hello,

Welcome to my first ever blog. It's all a bit strange, writing to myself/ anyone else who might or might not read this.

I'm starting in Thika, north of Nairobi, in an orphanage for girls aged 2-18.  It's called the Kenya Children's Centre - which makes it sound rather large, but there are actually only 30 girls.  Until September there were only about 18 girls - so it's a big step up to extend to 30. The orphanage is run by Alice, who is Kenyan, but until recently had been living in England working with children. She and her husband are keen to find sponsorship for all of the new girls - or any less structured support. Check out their website:

www.kenyachildrencentres.com

I'm really excited about meeting the girls. They haven't had any volunteers before so i'm not 100% sure what I'll be doing. It's likely to involve some back office support as well as some fun things that i've been planning for the girls: we'll be stitching dolls, doing some drama bits (I've been preparing this), making decorations and craft work, playing games and doing girlie things.... so my bags are pretty full of activity related bits.

Packing hasn't properly started - although I loosely know what I'm taking - and I've still got a day and a half.... eeeek.