March & April 2025, Kenya

It is always a pleasure to visit this part of Kenya.

Returning to Kaimbaga felt like coming home. I stayed in the same place, caught up with friends and quickly settled back into life within the community.

It was also brilliant to see the science laboratory from Project Sayansi fully in use. We always use return trips to check previous projects, ensure they are being maintained and confirm they are creating the impact intended. Seeing students completing practical science lessons showed that the laboratory had become a successful part of everyday school life.

The main purpose of this trip was Project Lisha: building a new kitchen and dining hall at Kaimbaga Secondary School.

For some students, school is the only place where they are guaranteed a meal. It is therefore vital that their food is nutritious and prepared in a clean, hygienic environment.

Hunger also makes it much harder for children to concentrate and benefit from their education.

Project Lisha transformed an empty grassland into a purpose-built kitchen and dining hall serving hundreds of students each day. The kitchen provides a safer space for preparing meals, while the dining hall gives students somewhere comfortable to sit, eat and spend time together.

The building has also become much more than we originally planned. It is now used for school assemblies, community meetings and as a church on Sundays.

That is what makes Project Lisha so valuable. It feeds the students, supports their education and provides a place that brings the whole community together.

Returning to Kaimbaga also reminded me why long-term relationships matter. Each visit allows me to check our previous work, listen to the community and build something that responds to its genuine needs.

This was a relatively shotr trip in comparison to the previous ones, as everything is set up fairly seemlessly in Kenya now. I did squeeze in a trip to Hells Gate National Park for a day with a few friends, which was great fun and again amazing to see the wildlife Kenya has to offer.