So let us fill you in to what life is like on the Project Riandu building site through the eyes of the Rhino, Kifaru. For a start, there has been quite a significant language barrier between workers which includes Swahili, Kenyan Sign Language (KSL), Kimbere (the local mother tongue), English and of course, Rhinosaurselese. It’s been a challenge to get to grips with the languages, Lawrence “found it difficult understand the sign language and also the UK language at first” but we have all taken to immersing ourselves into these languages just like a Rhino submerging itself into a river full of swamp wildlife, feeding off each other and enjoying each others’ quirks. As Solomon puts it, “we know that we are now able to communicate and work very easily” as if one ecosystem. Life on a building site is a fantastic opportunity to quickly pick up these different languages and to get used to different cultures as words are applied to very visual situations, and because it’s important to understand and communicate different tasks within a build team.
For the first few days, Team Kifaru were in charge of all things bricks.

We chose the name Snipers because we wanted to be an accurate, skilled, high-performing build team. We have John and Maurice from the local parish as Kenyan construction assistants, David and Morris who are students at the school for the Deaf and Chris from the UK as a UK volunteer. Despite having four major languages in our group (English, Kikuyu, Kenyan Sign Language and Swahili) we gel extremely well as group and get so much done. Here is an insight into our first two weeks at ACK St Mary Magdalene’s School for the Deaf during the summer construction period... Maybe this will illustrate what it's like to be working on site here.

There are 39 volunteers helping with construction on site, a third from the UK, a third are youths from the local parish and a third are students and staff from the school.  On the first day of construction we were split into 7 mixed teams with members from each respective group. Our team was allocated the task of uprooting a mango tree to make sure that the roots didn’t eventually destabilise the new dorm being built nearby. This was hefty work and involved digging around the tree for the roots, chopping the roots with pangas and jembes (English: maschettis and hoes) and see-sawing the tree out of the deep hole gradually shouting our name in glory with every heave “Snipers! ...1, 2, 3... Snipers!”


Chris emerged to be the team manager and John the team time-keeper. The team manager ensures that everyone knows what they’re doing and why and the time-keeper is responsible for the whole build site taking tea break and lunch on time so that work continues on time.

We were seen to be a strong team by the site manager and were next asked to construct a tool store, one of the more skilled jobs on site.
We launched into this project head first and made the pillaring and first wall in no time, despite the fact that none of us had made a tool shed before. But when the site manager came to check our work, the measurements of the wall were not right. As accurate snipers we were temporarily disappointed but our team spirit pushed us through and we fixed the problem with some simple adjustments. As we worked better and better as a cohesive team our speed of work picked up and we were able to make the store in three days.

And now we welcome to the stage....an insight from the one and only Timekeeper Trev! He is Kenyan volunteer who had gone to a high school nearby. He was brave enough to take on this role of great responsibility on site. May his dreaded bell forever ring in our ears.

This is his story... 

“And finally, we need a timekeeper to keep us in order and to go to the kitchen and make sure we get our food on time.” Said Njogu our site manager. Food, my good old friend. The next thing I knew my hand was up volunteering for the slot. In case you are wondering…I WON.”

All the power was in my hands, I needed a symbol, a sign of my authority. SO early the next morning I got myself a hexagon and a rod! My beautiful baby. To me it is the most beautiful sound my ears have ever heard, To the rest of the team, let’s just say they have no taste. On my first morning as a timekeeper, I had two shoes and a rock thrown at me: Zac, Ali and Ann respectively but not respectfully.

Every ting of my beautiful bell is met by sighs and groans and a million and one complaints. Which is the exact opposite of what I expected. I thought I’d have more food than everyone else and the kitchen would be my kingdom and that every ring of the bell would be met by smiles and high fives and people would call me 'magnificent master' or ‘Terrific Time-keeper Trev’ instead of ‘Bellringer’.

The work on site is continuing to completely finish the new teaching block, the school fence and the gatehouse...not much more to do!

Now let us hear from Team Conqueror Elephants who want to share with us their stories...

"For me I was just requested by our Reverend to be involved in this project. I have learnt a lot how to make trusses and also cutting with the power saw. I have enjoyed learning how to use it. I have got experience of how to mix concrete. I have gained experience working with the bricks It will help me in the future, I can do things like build a small house for chickens. It is so valuable to have gained the know-how. 
I want to commend the team here for identifying the need of a school for the deaf. People who cannot hear are often neglected in their homes so it is important that they have gained an opportunity to learn and have a safe community to be in. I pray that God blesses and expands the school." Bonface, Kenyan Volunteer

There have been so many experiences - waterfights, moving mounds of earth together in the dark for the Archbishop's visit, visiting the children's home and climbing mountains. However, the thing I will take away with me most are the friendships that I have formed with the deaf students and Kenyan volunteers. There is so much joy and laughter in our little community that it is going to be very hard to leave." Katrina Elmes, UK Volunteer


"I absolutely love KSL. From the start of the trip, there were a few days where we had deaf teammates but no KSL interpreter so using my small KSL knowledge and a lot of finger spelling I interpreted for them. This boosted my learning a lot and also had an odd consequences. having been signing a while I always found going back to English quite weird and so I became a lot quieter than I normally am. The thing I really love about KSL is how expressive it is" Peter, UK Volunteer

I hope you enjoyed their insights. Watch this space as we continue to bring you stories of how the volunteer build trip went this summer! We will shortly be hearing from Trevor, the site's brave timekeeper who volunteered to be responsible for getting everyone out of bed!

All seemingly became clear upon the discovery of a black case…this supposedly was the ‘treasure’ we had been digging for. The UK team were soon to learn that this was the home of the Termite Queen. As if the find was not enough, they were soon taught that this was a precious delicacy they simply must try. After a while of debating who should be the lucky ones, two of the UK volunteers and the Kenyan volunteer leader took the plunge.

We are yet to see if the promised health benefits were actualised: ‘free lungs’, loss of weight, general raising of body temperature. Perhaps a third of a termite queen simply is not enough. The lasting benefit we can be sure of is the power bestowed on this team by their new found team name.” Bethany Moran, UK Volunteer

“One of the struggles of the team Termite Queen is that we haven’t always been working on the same building at the same time. At one point we had one member working on trusses, another two/ three working on the classroom and another working on the gatehouse. So because of this, when we do work on the same part of the buildsite, we make sure to enjoy it. For instance, while working on the classroom this week, we have been throwing and catching the bricks to speed up the process of brick laying. Because of this, we have managed together to build an interior wall in the space of only a few days. Previously it may have taken longer. 

We have even been using time saving tactics to remove the dead bricks from the classroom, instead of filling a wheelbarrow and wheeling it under the scaffolding and all around the building, we decided to throw them through the window space to a waiting wheelbarrow. All the while, being safe of course!” Ali Dunn, UK Volunteer

“In conclusion, we have ensured that we make our weaknesses to be our strength and maintain our strength. We have also employed any necessary tactics to fight off challenges in any circumstance. It is our hope and prayer that the most high God will bless the work of our hands with the new skills we have acquired during the project. We are also ready and determined to support this Riandu Project to ensure that our deaf in the community are are favoured in our country. We want to stop the ignorance about deafness and so they will be able to benefit the entire country. Then they will be able to be independent. This is the change we want to see.” Ken, Kenyan Volunteer

The Project Riandu build site is alive with activity. Under the instruction of the school’s Board of Managers, St Mary Magdalene School for the deaf is growing by the day. In this blog, we bring you the latest stories from one of the build teams. On site we have a fantastic mixture of workers: students from the deaf school, Kenyan student volunteers, UK student volunteers and ever-patient skilled labourers to guide us in the build. They are all working together with the same mission: to expand this school to be able to provide deaf teenagers from across eastern Kenya with the empowering benefits education brings. Day by day this involves digging, brick-laying, sawing, cement mixing, wheelbarrow racing and landscaping. The work is hard and the sun is hot. As a quick reminder, there is 1 x kitchen, 1 x dormitory block and 1 x teaching block currently completed. Right now, we are building 1 x teaching block, 1 x dormitory block, 1 x gatehouse and the perimeter fence. We aim to make this school large enough for 200 students, as the demand requires.

The teams we have are Wazito (strong), Conqueror Elephant, Simba (Lion), Farasi (horse) and Termite Queen. You will notice, with time, that each team is sporting a different colour of tie dye t-shirt. Let’s hear how the first week on the build-site was for Team Wazito…

“Working alongside each other is a big mix of fun, hard work, and a lot of learning. We have all learnt a lot of skills on the job during landscaping, metalwork, mixing mortar, building walls and making supports for concrete. We have also had to be a little creative in our methods, it is amazing what can be done with a few off-cuts of wood and second hand nails (don’t worry, it’s all safe!!).

Communicating has been a challenge that has been fun. Passing instructions through Kenyan Sign Language (KSL), Swahili and English has been an amazing experience, and one that we have embraced with an open mind. Learning to fingerspell (the alphabet in KSL) at the beginning was very valuable. As well as language, we have been teaching each other about our cultures and getting to know each other. Yesterday we had some interesting discussions about relationships in the UK compared to Kenya!

We have had one “extremely dangerous” encounter with local wild life! As we were digging and moving rubble during the day, a massive, terrifying cobra jumped out at us. Luckily, quick as a flash, Zachary (a fearless Kenyan volunteer) defended the camp from a sure to be snake infestation by attacking its head with a spade. The menacing 8 inch (thin as a pencil) beast stood no chance. The dead corpse was then kindly delivered to Ali Mac’s unsuspecting hand. Let’s hope that mummy cobra doesn’t find out.

We have been getting very familiar with the various scorpions, furry caterpillars, frogs, spiders and lions (joke) that appear in every nook and cranny.

We all agree that one of the best feelings is at the end of a long day of hard graft, when you can step back and survey the day’s work. The progress we are making is fantastic. Each day the school feels increasingly real and ready to have impact. It is especially fantastic that the work is being done by such a large team of amazing people dedicated to the cause.

Our biggest thank you goes to the school’s Board of Managers. They are working so very hard to manage the build-site works and to accommodate all the volunteers here on site. It is no easy feat to cater for 40 people in a rural village in Kenya. We are grateful for all the emergency trips for milk, fuel and maize that they are constantly doing for our benefit. We are so excited to be supporting their project and grateful to be invited into such an incredible vision. They are raring to go and cannot wait to get the school up and running. With the excited students working alongside us, this more than enough motivation to keep digging, keep sawing and keep smiling.”

Great job Team Wazito! Please watch this space for more perspectives from the ground and more experiences from across the teams. Keep on your toes about when these updates will appear, limited internet means they could be very sporadic!

To all the friends and family back in the UK, your loved ones here are doing very well and cannot wait to tell you all the stories they are collecting. Expect to greet more muscly versions of your volunteers upon their return at the airport (maybe with concrete still plastered in their hair).

Please keep giving! We are seeing so clearly how far all the donations are going. A real school is being built here with real students! Any small donations really can have a large impact for many years to come. There is a lot of work to do! https://mydonate.bt.com/events/projectriandu

Another exciting week for Project Riandu. Last Saturday was the first opportunity that most of the volunteers going out in August for the build got to meet and get to know each other. The day started off early with some games and team building activities that got us all involved and in thinking mode for the day ahead. We then had several useful talks from some of the core team which gave more insight and information into the practicalities of the trip. There was a lot to learn from each other, one of our volunteers who works in construction was even able to give a highly interactive lesson on how to use power tools. All in all it was a fun and informative day for the whole team. One of the more impressive features of the day was our head of fundraising volunteer Amy Glover who was having a silence weekend to raise money for the project and had to deliver a 'talk' without using words. 

Fundraising activities are still carrying on, today Ali Macnaughton who is head of volunteering experience, ran a marathon in 3 hours 47 minutes making her the 3rd girl to complete the marathon, which is an incredible effort. We've still got a long way to go, please keep donating and spreading the word, we will keep updating you on Facebook and Twitter about events coming up so if theres one around you please come by and support us. 

Asante 

The graphics team have been working exceptionally hard redesigning the image of Project Riandu, from the logo, to our fundraising materials to this shiny new website (great work Claire Jeffries). We're excited to finally be able to share it all with you and as always, feedback is welcome. We hope you love it all as much as we do.

Fast approaching is our much anticipated training day which involves, as the name suggests, a day packed with useful training for all the volunteers attending the trip. This will largely involve useful information for the volunteers such as an overview of the project and more specific details about the actual trip, but it will also be an opportunity for everyone going to meet before we embark on our journey in just over two months. It will also be a chance for questions, comments or concerns to be raised in a  more personal setting so it will be a useful day for the whole team. 

A short interview with the project leader Peter Macnaughton has been filmed by the media team, giving some information and handy tips for the volunteers and about the project. This is a useful resource to share around with friends and family of the volunteers to give them more of an idea of what the project purpose and what it entails. 

Please continue to donate, keep updated on Facebook and Twitter and look out for events coming near you. 

The UK team of volunteers being made up of students, has meant these past few weeks have been hectic in terms of exams and essay deadlines, congratulations are in order to the third years in our team who have completed their degree, but that hasn't stopped the ball rolling. Fundraising events and opportunities are popping up and have helped raise both awareness and money to go towards the materials for the school. From bake sales to a scented poetry night, to walking around with buckets at a festival, there has been quite an array of events. To keep updated on events that you may be able to get involved in, keep checking on the Facebook and Twitter pages where we will continue to give you more frequent updates on whats been going on. 

For a detailed phased-breakdown of the building process you can now visit the design page on the website and get a picture of what the end result of the school will roughly look like. A lot of work has gone into it by the architectural and design team so we would love your support, feedback or comments. 
Now also available on the website is the Kenyan side of the team involved in Project Riandu, you can check out who's making things happen on that side and their various roles. 

As always, a massive thank you to all those continually involved in the progress of the Project and for spreading the word to those around you! We value your support as it brings us closer to making this project a reality and serving the community of Riandu!

Here are a few snaps from the past weekend of our happy cyclists courtesy of Mhairi Dunn. All aged over 40, they cycled 45 miles to raise funds for the Project.