Finally - I'ts all Good

The most important to report is the fact that I now have my passport back - we had a few hairy moments but everything worked out in the end thanks to good friends and a lot of support from people in high places.

So how has the last week been? Well Jerry arrived on Saturday 26th June. It was great to see a familiar face. He came loaded with uniforms for the children and pencils galore as well as sharpeners, erasers, notebooks, colored pencils and a variety of pens for the teachers. He also brought two footballs for the kids - one for each school - however to my knowledge they never left the Kindergarten! The kids were ecstatic and football was the name of the game for the rest of the day.
It's been nonstop ever since. That first Saturday we had a wedding to attend - my second, Jerry's first. We had a great time and Jerry had his first taste of the traditional wedding fare - Pilau.
Sunday morning was church with Matrine, one of the Kindergarten teachers. We attended the English service which starts at 8am until 11am. The world cup took over the rest of the day and we went to a local bar/restaurant and watched the game in the evening.
Monday was taken up with a visit to the school where we delivered the uniforms and the footballs, etc. Jerry visited all of the classrooms to meet the kids. The children love to receive visitors - they also love to sing and dance - and he was entertained in each classroom. We stayed to eat lunch with the teachers - beans and rice. Jerry was fascinated to watch Mama Lucy and Mama Inwange cooking the traditional Kenyan way - a wood fire with the pot sitting on three stones.
Monday night was (for me) a bit stressful as I had court at 9am the following day. However at around 8pm we had a call from Nairobi. The call was from the assistant to the Under Secretary who advised he had made contact with Emigration and hopefully this would influence the outcome of my case. We both found this very reassuring.

Tuesday morning we arrived in court at 8.30am where we were told the Proscecutor was waiting to speak with my lawyer. We had a few hairy moments as my lawyer, true to form, arrived in court just after 9am - my case was due to commence at 9am!! I quickly updated him on the phonecall from the previous evening and he had a hasty conversation with the Prosceutor to find out Emigration's position. Anyway sufficient to say that two of the charges were dropped and I pleaded quilty to working without a permit. The lawyer spoke elequently in respect to the benefits of volunteers within Jolaurabi School and highlighted that there was a general lack of understanding around the need for a workpermit when the support provided was unpaid. He also asked for the sentence to be lenient under the circumstances.
The sentence given was a fine of 30k Kenyan Shilling or 6-months in Jail - no competation!! Jerry has been telling folk that he shouted for the jail sentence to save us some money lol however in reality he went with the lawyer and paid the fine so we could get my passport back and move on. During this time I once again waited in the cells however this time the lawyer had arranged I could wait on the stairs rather than go into the underground tunnel. It was a great feeling to finally get my passport back although it did take us a further three hours to get our hands on it!! We spent that time going back and forward between the court and emigration trying to find out where it was. Finally a call to James Knight the British Counsol helped us locate it within the court building. It was a great feeling to see that little red book.
Finally I want to say I was very lucky and fortunate in the contacts I made and the support I received from friends at home as well as in Mombasa during this quite frightening time. I received help as a result of the contacts I made through Glenn who also helped me from the first day in court and the Kenyan government were also very supportive once they knew the whole story. It was also great to see Jerry who came out early in order to support me through my third and final court appearance. Thanks everyone for your emails, texts and facebook updates. It made a real difference and helped to keep me going.
Wednesday we visited Mombasa and did the touristy thing of visiting Fort Jesus and the Old Town. We also rode a Matatu back to Shanzu on our own!! Wednesday night we had supper with Prisca (the deputy principle of the Primary School) and her husband Paul. The power went off during the evening so we sat in candlelight for a couple of hours until it came back on - could have been very romantic for us but just the normal inconvenience for the Kenyans.
So what else have we been up to? Thursday-Friday of last week we went on safari to Tsavo East National Park. We also stayed overnight at Voi Safari lodge. This was the most amazing experience where we saw animals living in their natural habitat (unlike a game reserve which is more manufactured). We saw loads of animals, for me the best experience was seeing giraffe and lions. Some I didn't recognise, of course that could not be said for Jerry Attenburgh who tried (unsuccessfully lol) to outdo the guide with his knowledge. It was fun and a great experience.
We are spending Jerry's last two days at Whitesands - the other side of Kenya. He leaves for Scotland tonight and I go back to the village for the rest of my stay - until 27th July. I'll miss the company however there are visitors arriving at the school throughout July so I won't be on my own for long.
Finally - I have an appointment with the head of emigration on Friday of this week to discuss the way forward for volunteers coming to Jolaurabi School. I'm not sure if I will achieve anything however he has offered his help and I am hopeful that we can at least identify the process we should follow to prevent what happened to me happening to anyone else in the future. Sponsors want to visit the school to meet the children they support and those that teach are also keen to provide their skills free for the time they are there - usually just a couple of weeks. It's important that the risk of falling foul of the authorities (as I did) is removed.
Some friends have said to me "once you get your passport back get out of there" - Kenya is a wonderful place and the ordinary people and kids at the school are a joy and a privilige to know and live with - leaving has never been an option to me - what happened is over and I am looking forward to my last few weeks here.