Getting ready for school

The day of reporting to school was approaching very fast and I was getting very stressed as I did not have any funds for the shopping (before going to boarding school there are many items that need to be bought, i.e. blankets, buckets, shoes, tracksuits, etc... and of course books). And now it was not just Juliet who was supposed to start school but also Eveline (I think it would be absolutely terrible to just take one of them and leave the other one out...). The sponsors we originally had for Juliet have not been in touch for a very long time and the funds that were left from what they sent few months ago were only enough to buy 2 sets of uniforms... So I am so grateful to Stephen and Janet for their continuous support of my efforts here - a week or so ago they transferred some money to help out with running expenses and I decided to use it on the most urgent matters, which of course was the school expenses for the girls.  On top of that I also received more money from Pam which was heaven sent as it meant I had enough money to at least get all the items the girls needed to take with them.

THANK YOU SO MUCH GUYS

your help has been invaluable to me & my girls

On Monday morning we got up really early as we knew it would be a very busy day. The girls were supposed to wash their clothes on Sunday (I don't really like doing this sort of work on Sundays but this time it was necessary) however, there was no water here that day (where we are staying there is a big problem with water supply - again today there's been no water) so before setting out to town there was some housework that needed to be done first.

We first went to get the photos done for Eveline (we needed 2 for the school admission form - I did Juliet's when we were in town on Saturday). I had an important meeting at 12pm about my new project so we had to rush but we still managed to get the school shoes, the sport shoes, blankets and majority of the other items from the list before running for the meeting. We were very lucky as I was able to leave all of the shopping with Jane at her office so we didn't have to carry the huge bags across town with us, especially that after my meeting we had to go to yet another area to get the medical check for the girls (another requirement for the school - mainly to have a confirmation that girls coming to school are not pregnant). As normally this is done for a fee, we went to our friend's small clinic (a charitable organisation run by a retired Kenyan nurse) as she offered to do it for free. By the time we were finished there, it was already after 3pm. We had less than 2 hrs to complete the shopping and collect the bags from the office before it closed. We really had to rush as there were still some items we needed to get, like books, tracksuits, bedsheets, metal box (to keep all of the items in - every boarding school student must have one to keep their belongings in it). At that point I was sure we would get the tracksuits in one of the shops we went to in the morning but when we went there again they no longer had the size for Juliet (she is very petite). That really put the spanner in the wheel for us as it was 4pm and we had very little time to find all that was still missing. We were almost running trying to find the tracksuits but we were not lucky - they were either far too big or of very bad quality... We walked (actually - run) for miles across town but we did not find it. All that time I also kept thinking that we must get to the bookshop by 5pm otherwise we would really be stuck. We just made it there but they did not have one of the books... It was almost 5.30 when we finally got to Jane's office to pick up our shopping - by that time I was so exhausted from all the running I wasn't sure if I could continue. The girls were just as tired... But we still needed the tracksuits for Juliet, the English text book, some t-shirts and other small items... And we also needed to collect Eveline's photos... We had no choice but to start moving again. We all had to carry a huge bag each filled with stuff - it was all very heavy and we had to carry it on our backs. I felt like I was the Father Christmas ;) The girls were laughing that I was really becoming a Kenyan carrying my shopping this way and people on the streets were really staring at me as it is not very common for a white person to carry such amount of stuff and walk with it - I'm sure they were wondering why we were not taking a taxi... ;)

We walked for a bit but the bags were really heavy - I decided to stop at a chip shop, got some food for my girls, left them to look after the bags and went to collect the photos as I did not want to carry all the bags there and back again as it was not on the way to get the bus home. On the way I noticed that the book shop I was hoping to get the missing text book from was already shut - it was 6pm... That also meant that if we didn't get the bus very soon, we would not get back home before dark...

When I collected the girls, I decided to head for the bus stage. We really needed to get back home soon. Luckily, there was another book shop on the way and I got what we needed from there. Before reaching the bus we also found the rest of the missing items, including the tracksuit which was a real relief for me. As I was really stressing over the missing stuff, I even forgot to get some food for me... It was 6.30pm and I did not eat all day... I just had about 1l of water - which also wasn't enough and my head was hurting as a result. I was happy though that we got what we needed - the mission was almost accomplished, we just needed to get a metal box for Eveline (I already promised Juliet to give her the one I was using in Ruai).

We were all shattered but happy as we sat on the bus waiting for it to fill up. However, all of a sudden everyone started to get off and I noticed that there was another bus next to ours offering a cheaper fare which is why everyone was switching... We had to do the same as it would take ages for our one to fill up since the ticket was more expensive. We jumped off and run to the other bus (you have to be fast so you can get to it before it fills up). Juliet is very skillful in "wiggling" her way through the crowd and very soon she was already on the bus. However, Eveline and I did not manage to get on and the bus started to move - I got very worried that it was full and it was about to drive off with Juliet on board with no money so I was shouting to the conductor that my daughter was there with no money for the ticket, hoping that either he would let us on or at least let Juliet get off... People were looking at us funny as obviously they were wondering how my daughter could possibly be on the bus as there was no other white person there! ;) Then the bus stopped and more people were getting on - at that point I was determined to get on and again I had to push some people off, telling them to allow my daughter (this time it was Eveline) to get on. Again - even more funny looks but I didn't care - at least we were all on the bus and I really wanted to get home as soon as possible as we still needed to pack, cover the books etc...

Unfortunately we did not reach home until almost 9pm because there was a huge traffic jam on the way out of town... In one way I was happy I could just sit for a while doing nothing and get some rest but on the other I knew that we still had so much to do and we did not get Eveline's box... And I still haven't eaten or drunk anything... Also, the manager from the orphanage where we are staying was waiting for us with few boys at the bus stage for ages... I felt terrible because of that - I really don't like to make people wait, especially if they are trying to help me - there is no way we could have walked back home alone (and it was really great to share some of the bags so carrying them home was much easier :)

While I was sitting on the bus I was laughing to myself about the looks we were getting while carrying the huge bags as well as the way we got on the bus and people wondering who my daughters were :)

Juliet and Eveline were really happy with the shopping trip though - I did try to economise but at the same time I wanted to get good quality items to ensure that they last them for long time, especially shoes (they were quite expensive for Kenyan standards - they cost £10 each for real leather - and the girls really like them - the shoes are from Bata - the main footwear manufacturer in Kenya with a very good reputation).
The same thing with the blankets - I didn't buy the cheapest as the girls will be washing them often and I want them to last and keep my girls warm (at night it gets pretty cold in some parts of Nairobi and where the school is it will be even colder).

My girls - very tired but happy with their shopping

We stayed up until almost 2am preparing everything. And the alarm was set for 6am following morning - the day of going to school...