Friends

Our employers arrived yesterday evening and go through training with us today. Reverend Bonifis Obondi is the director of Administration, Finance and Marketing at TICH where Ian and I will work. The Reverend will supervise both me and Ian. He's kind, as are all the other employers, who are from Kenya and surrounding countries.

We go to dinner at The Cellar; a large group of nearly 50 people made up of volunteers, employers and VSO staff. After dinner, Pushparaj invites us all to stand around a fire built next to our dining tent. We're handed a glass bowl filled with folded pieces of paper and told to pass the bowl as Pushparaj plays "drums" on a metal plate cover with a spoon. When the music stops, whoever holds the bowl selects a piece of paper and does as it instructs. For an hour, in a circle around the fire, under a tree with the bright moon peeking through, we all laugh and clap and sing traditional songs (sadly, this even includes "YMCA") and dance tribal dances. Phillipinos, Ugandans, Americans, Canadians, Dutch, Kenyans and English are all connected through playfulness.

As Dawn is expertly pantomining the erection of a tent, and we all watching admiringly as she unzips the imaginary tent, climbs inside and curls up to sleep, I'm reminded why I chose VSO; exposure to many cultures through fellow volunteers, wrapped in genuine good will.