Back home in the UK I was fortunate to sponsored by Soar Valley Rotary Club for my trip to Kenya. As part of the sponsorship I was required to make contact with the Rotary Club in Nakuru to exchange a pendant and find out what projects they are working on.
I attended the first meeting, although I shouldn’t have as I was later told it was a closed meeting the discuss their AGM. Despite this I was welcomed with open arms by President Kahendah Vitalis and his fellow Rotarians. During the meeting I gave a short introduction to what I was doing and why I had come to visit the Club. I was fortunate to be placed next to the former District Governor for East Africa. Ken Joslyn moved to Kenya from his native Chelmsford in 1950, starting his own farming business as he came from an agricultural background, after joining Rotary he went on to become the District Governor for 12 countries in Africa. After the meeting I was asked if I would like to speak at the following meeting about Balloon Kenya.
On the Thursday I was invited to lunch with two Rotarians, Lorna and Michael at the local business school, Tracom College to discuss my project with local entrepreneurs. I am going to talk to their students before I leave about what Balloon Kenya is trying to do in their community.
On Tuesday I took Balloon Kenya’s Co-Founder Josh Bicknell to the meeting with me, where we were both warmly welcomed by the members. Bromley Rotary Club were also guests, as they were visiting project that they had sponsored in Nakuru, so all the speakers flew the British flag. Josh followed Peter, the President of Bromley Rotary and spoke about how he had visited Nakuru following the post-electral violence in 2007/2008 and how Balloon Kenya was born from the entrepreneurial spirit he had witnessed here. I followed with a ten minute presentation about my background, why I had chosen Balloon Kenya, my Kenyan adventure so far and concluded with my plans for the future. My presentation was well received and the compliments afterwards were a confidence boost.
Today whilst passing through the park I spotted the Rotary sign being packed away, so I went to investigate. I found President Vitalis amongst crowds of school children. He was stood at the heart of the Rotary’s School Furniture Project which has provided over forty schools with thirty desks and chair. I was also lucky enough to be invited into the official photograph and it was great to see the Rotary’s work in action.
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