I have mentioned throughout this blog our accommodation here at Maili Saba Camp, and just how wonderful it is. But I could not come away from this place without giving it a proper mention.
The accommodation is luxury, and not just by fieldwork standards. We have been staying in a safari tent-come stone hut; the bathroom is stone built and attached to this is a safari tent. Our tent is on the very edge of the caldera and we have a large veranda at the front which we have very much enjoyed. It is a very peaceful place to sit and work, or just sit and enjoy the view. There are a number of these tents spaced up the hill. At the top is the restaurant and bar which has a central fire with sofa’s around it. There is also a nice wee swimming pool, though we’ve only had the opportunity to use it twice in our three weeks here.
Our lovely tented accomodation, complete with a balcony on the very edge of the caldera
The camp has a very peaceful atmosphere, and to most is a welcome weekend escape. We are most fortunate to have been able to call it home for the past three weeks. Two things make this place, and that is the staff, and the food….
Florence, Cecilia and Terri - three of our friends working here.
The staff – all the staff here are so friendly and welcoming and it has been a pleasure to get to know them. It has been a treat to come home from the field each day to a bunch of familiar, friendly faces. Each and every one of them do their job perfectly, having worked in hospitality and catering I know how hard the job can be, yet the staff here don’t even make it seem as though they are working. It is them who create the wonderful atmosphere here. In the time we have been here I have made friends. I will keep in touch with these guys and miss them dearly when it comes to leaving in a few days time.
I always look forward to the daily platter of fresh fruit, served up with a delicious smoothie
The food – we have been treated to consistently great food. I genuinely believe if this place were in the UK it would have Michelin Stars. The food is fresh as can be, and delicious. Each day they serve us 3 wonderful meals. It is much more than I would usually eat, and it took some getting used to; eating 3 course meals both at breakfast and dinner, and lunch isn’t small.
What makes the food all the more wonderful in my case is the fact that I am a vegetarian with a wheat intolerance – or as my friends and I term it, I’m a 'veggie glutard'. As you can imagine this doesn’t exactly make me the easiest to cater for, not usually. But the chef’s here have gone above and beyond, experimenting to create alternatives for me and not once have I been disappointed. Despite being limited as to what I can eat, I have been treated to the same variety and wonderful food as everyone else staying here. My favourite meal here is breakfast. As you enter the restaurant they greet you with a coffee, which is always much needed! Breakfast itself consists of a fruit smoothie/fruit juice (passionfruit juice is definitely a fave of mine) with fresh fruit platter consisting of orange, pineapple, watermelon, passionfruit and banana. Followed by a cooked breakfast of your choice – mine is usually poached egg, beans (not your typical baked beans) and a semolina waffle (one of my favourite wheat-free alternatives!)
My typical breakfast out here
I also really enjoy it when the chef’s treat us to a traditional meal. I love experiencing the culture as much as possible, and eating the same food, cooked in the same way the Kenyans have it has really added to the cultural experience.
I think what makes this place really special however, is its roots, the Ujima foundation. The Ujima foundation helps young people with dependant family (be this siblings, elders, or children –though often a mixture of all three) receive training and then get work in hospitality. Allowing these young people to support themselves and those who depend upon them.The foundation has a training college in Nakuru (the nearest city to here), and another in Kisumu (a city by Lake Victoria in Nyanza province). Both the colleges have a lodge/camp associated to them, enabling their students to get real work experience while studying.
Following their studies the students receive a placement at one of the two camps, or one of a few hotels working with the foundation.
Ujima also supports the students with childcare while studying or at work when this is required – most of the staff, and students are away from home for days at a time while working. Maili Saba camp has trainees from the college in Nakuru working here. Also many of the senior staff here have come through the Ujima programme.
Lilian - she is never without a smile usually, she just doesn't like having her picture taken
One of them is Lilian, and this is Lilians story: Lilian grew up in a violent home, with an abusive father. Her mother was a very strong person however, and is Lilian’s inspiration. A successful business women, she always told Lilian and her sister to stand on their own two feet and be dependent on no-one, and that God will always be there for them. Her mother stayed with her abusive husband as she believed it was better for her two girls to grow up in a home with both parents. Lilian believes that her father’s violence towards her mother contributed to her mother’s early death.When Lilian was 16 her father passed away. A year later when Lilian was in her final year of school Lilians mother passed. Her mothers passing greatly affected Lilian and she didn’t achieve the final grades she was on track for.Without the grades she needed Lilian didn’t know what she should do, she was also struggling with her sister who was just entering adolescence and being very stubborn. To provide for both of them, Lilian worked at the market and moved to a smaller home. One day while working at the market a friend of Lilian’s -who knew Lilian had wanted to get into catering, but didn’t have the grades or money to go into further education- told her about the Ujima foundation and set Lilian up with an interview.On being offered a place on the course Lilian excelled and impressed the founders, as well as the director here at Maili Saba at the time. In 2006 Lilian had completed her course and the placement at a local hotel, and was given a job here at Maili Saba.The Ujima foundation helped Lilian to find her feet, and she has been able to support herself and her sister, putting her sister through school. Her sister is now in her final year of school and training to be a beautician. Lilian also volunteers at an orphanage, she beautifully put it that ‘I want to give back to the community, and my energy costs nothing, so I work also at the orphanage.’ Many of the staff who’ve come through Ujima have similar stories to share. Ujima is working to expand at the moment and a few of their projects to work towards this are:
-The building of a café at the college in Kisumu.
- Applying to become an accredited and recognised qualification.
- Creating a library - they must have a library to apply to be nationally recognised qualification.
Although much of the revenue from the lodges run by the foundation goes back into the foundation, it is not enough for Ujima to develop as they hope. As such it also relies on grants and donations. When studying about Development and Aid I learnt that the only way you can really help the people of poorer countries such as Kenya is to help them support themselves. Hand-outs just result in a dependency on aid. Ujima does just that and it is fantastic to be staying here at Maili Saba, and meet the fantastic people the foundation has helped. It is a great cause and I urge you to read more about it here: http://www.ujimafoundation.org/
If anyone reading this would like to help the foundation, I mentioned they are currently looking to build a library but they need books, so if you have any old recipe books, or ‘how to’ books in service and catering. In fact any books that might be of use to the library being built then please get in touch as we are going to make a collection and send out as much as we can. You can get in contact through the contact page of this blog.