PIGEON PARK SCOUT CAMP & BP’S GRAVE
We decided that we wanted to bring all the boys from both safe houses together all at the same time. As the Kisii boys had already been made into Scouts and invested, and the Meru boys were going to be made into Scouts on this trip, we decided that the best idea would be to run a scout camp for everyone. The camp took place at Pigeon Park. Both Meru and Kisii boys meet us there. The camp was a surprise to most of the boys, they knew they were going somewhere but didn’t know what or where. The smiles on their faces when they turned up could have lit up a room. The basic outline of the camp was to have a massive sports day. There were around 100 Kenyans and mzungus. We decided to split everyone into 5 teams; this was a mixture of the UK participants and both safe houses. We felt that doing this would bring everyone together and show them what big families are about. Each team had a different coloured bandana. The colours were yellow, green, purple, blue and orange. This meant that everyone had something to go away with. It is nothing to most but it means the world to them and will also bring back good memories for them every time they look at it.
– Joe
To start the day we decided that we needed to do some sort of icebreaker. We all got into a massive circle and said our names and what our favourite colour was. We then played several English sports day events. This included the sack race, relay race and three- legged race. Originally we had put in the egg and spoon race, but we soon realised that would not be a good idea as these kids have very little, so even something as small as an egg would have been precious to them; instead, in the scouting way we changed it to rock and spoon race. In the afternoon we had time to mingle and play a massive game of football. We also spoke about going to see the founder of scouting, Lord Baden Powell’s grave in the morning.
– Amy
It was great to give the boys a chance to have an adventure on the camp and give them a break from the sometimes mundane every day work and chores which they normally have to do. The camp let them relax and have fun, by taking part in a series of new activities, something which every young child deserves an opportunity to do, yet sadly they rarely get the chance to do this outside of the camp. I was particularly struck one night when we had some spare curry and thought to offer the remains to the boys; in my head I was thinking “are they really going to want our leftovers?”, yet when I asked them they happily and unanimously shouted “Yes please!”. They did want it, and it showed me just how many things we take for granted which mean so much to them.
– Oisin
At the camp there was a time when Jimmy – our driver and one of Harambee’s Kenyan Trustees – turned the music in the minibus onto full volume. It caused the Kenyan boys and mzungus to start gathering together and dancing. The atmosphere was amazing. Even the boys who were unable to speak much English were able to communicate the joy we had caused by making such a big change to their lives through them dancing. It was such a happy time to share with each other. The amount of emotion which was shared by everybody when we were leaving camp was unbelievable. The amount of tears which were shed was remarkable, showing what a lasting impression we would both leave upon each other. They had been able to shape our lives and the way we see the world. We had helped to show them that people are there to support them to reach the goals they want to achieve in life. So even the little things we gave them were appreciated highly.
– Lucyann
It was quite an emotional morning the next day, seeing all the boys in their scout uniforms. I feel that we sometimes take our uniform for granted here in the UK. It was amazing to see them looking so proud in their own uniform and looking very smart. Once we were ready and a million pictures had been taken we set off to Nyeri, the place were BP was laid to rest. Upon arriving, the boys practiced marching. It took some time as some of them had never joined in with this before, so they had to be shown what to do. It was amazing to watch, and our own Nick Smith joined in, but sorry Nick, you just couldn’t quite match up to the boys. It was fantastic to watch how the older boys helped the younger boys; they may not be blood related but they definitely are brothers. We all arrived around the gravestone, looking and feeling fantastic. Our role for the morning was to invest the Meru boys into the world of Scouting and to show them that it is a worldwide organisation. It was amazing to see how happy they were. You could see them thinking, perhaps for the first time, that they were now part of a very big organisation and that we Mzungus were their brothers and sisters. We then took the opportunity to invest three of our own Network members. It was an incredible experience to be part such a marvellous event, and the feelings of togetherness and brotherhood are ones that will never leave us. Once again we were subjected to the camera and a million more pictures were taken.
– Shane
We all left the grave site and took the boys to see BP’s former cottage, which he called Paxtu. The cottage, which has been incorporated into the grounds of Outspan Hotel, now serves as a scouting museum. Here we all left messages in the visitor book while sitting in BPs chair. Not only did we leave nothing but our thanks, a beautiful saying by our founder, but we also left our expedition scarf and badge at the museum for them to display. Many scouts from around the world had done this over the years. A few of us also took the opportunity to engrave our names onto the very large bamboo growing in the garden. This again is something done by thousands of scouts from many different countries. As you can tell we had a fantastic time. And I now have one up on my dad – who is the local Scout County Commissioner – as I have been to see BP’s grave and cottage, and he hasn’t. But I’m hoping a family holiday may be on the cards to go back. This small, fun-filled part of the whole trip was just simply amazing. Words cannot explain what we did but, as they say, a photo is worth a thousand words. And here are some photos for you.
– Amber