A group of Volunteers visiting Utange from 28/9 to 4/10/2022

The intensive experience in Utange of the group of volunteers who left from Italy and Switzerland with the aim of enhancing the work of the Association has ended a few days ago.

The week was preceded by an "inspection" visit by the association's president, with the purpose of overseeing maintenance work related to the school's first classroom and the school's toilet septic tank.

The volunteers wasted no time, and already the next day of arrival they were welcomed by the school's 300 children, the teaching staff, and leaders David and Joshua.

The day passed amidst singing, dancing and traditional performances by the children. The event was interrupted only for lunch and drinks offered by the association and two friends Alessio, representative of the association "Il Corpo Nel Mondo" and Fulvio, from the association "Un Chicco per l'Africa," which takes care of the management of the clinic.

The second day was also full. All volunteers brought suitcases filled with clothes, colouring books and notebooks, pens, pencils, and paints that were distributed in attendance, The medicines brought were delivered to the local clinic.

Throughout the day, our volunteer teachers met with local teachers and the headmaster. The primary school is particularly important to us: we want to improve the quality of teaching so that more and more students can go on to secondary school and university. Only education can make a real difference to the lives of the local people. If the first big step in recent years has been to organize classes with an adequate number of pupils, 30 as opposed to 60 in state schools, with local teachers able to meet the educational needs of the children, the next step will be to innovate teaching, integrating traditional methods with the use of technology to access a variety of digital content and expand knowledge and skills. A project that has just started during the week in Utange, with the creation of an Italian-Kenyan working team, and that will continue in the coming months through a continuous remote exchange. The tablets and laptops that some volunteers have put at the disposal of the teachers will allow a constant exchange of information, content, and experiences.

The day continued with a visit to the neighbouring village of Kibokoni and the orphanage. Sonia and Manuela with colleagues from Neos Air bought a refrigerator and filled it with meat and vegetables for the eight guests of the 'House of Children by Pietro Ruspini'. On this occasion, the association had curtains, new bed linen and containers for clothes bought.<br>

Saturday was marked by an assembly of the local Lifog association, which was attended by two representatives of our association, Claudio and Andrea, and where some issues to be resolved were addressed.

Some volunteers visited the old city of Mombasa and the spice market, our teachers on the way back , returned to Utange to converse with the locals.

Sunday passed with some volunteers participating in the Mass held at the Catholic Cathedral in Mombasa, while others attended the traditional Mass in Utange (see video below). The stay ended with a couple of days of well-deserved relaxation and an end-of-event dinner attended by all volunteers.