I didn't get much sleep last night and I was dreading my 7 o'clock alarm even more so when I saw the clock turn 4am and I still couldn't get to sleep (guess I was just too excited). Three snoozes later, I pealed myself off the mattrice and tried to wake myself up and get into energetic mode. If I'm honest, I didn't have much faith in the organisation of today as we had left a few vital factors up to the coaches and we hadn't received any confirmation texts of timings etc.
Nevertheless, Torbjoern went down to the football pitch at half 8 and myself and Malin followed behind at 9. Torbjoern said at half 8 there were just two players and they were both around 8 or 9 years old. I hate to think they were there so early because they slept on the street near there, I didn't ask but I'm pretty sure both boys have families and homes and are just extremely reliable.
Thankfully after a few minutes, coaches and players trickled in and by half 9 we had 3 coaches and around 20 players. Not everyone by a long shot but enough to be happy with. Torbjoern kindly put me on the spot to invent a team chant to infuse some camaraderie and life into the group and after a few war cries of "who are we?" "TWOMOC!!!" we set off for the market. (Not my best work but I need at least half an hour to create a decent song!)
As we arrived in the market it was clear to see that we had some serious work on our hands. The majority of the rubbish was small plastic bags and rotten food and it was absolutely everywhere, there was no way the boys could start cleaning without decent tools. Amazingly the coaches had come good and the boys were equipped with gloves, spades, forks, brooms and wheelbarrows. Torbjoern has a bad back so he helped with collecting the money and I designated myself as the photographer.
A rubbish truck and a tractor-trailor had been organised to pick up the rubbish and it didn't take long for all the boys to get stuck in. To say I was impressed with the work rate is an understatement. I was sweating buckets and all I was doing was taking pictures, the boys and coaches put in some seriously hard graft. It didn't take long for the lads to clear the first half of the market and the difference was amazing. It was great to experience our first fundraising event and really get to know the people of the market.
Previously I had walked through the market and did not enjoy myself at all as I thought some of the comments towards T-man were inappropriate. Today I still had a few incidents which I happily put straight but for the most part, spirits were high and it was all about how amazing the boys were.
The second half of the market was matted with leaves so badly that the road could not even be seen. The amount of rotten food and leaves from banana plants, sugar canes and corn husks was ridiculous and the whole section took all of the players a good hour and a half to clear. Torbjoern said he felt guilty as he couldn't do anything due to his bad back, how do you think I felt? I was not only not doing anything but I was walking around exploiting the guys! I did enjoy it though and I'm pretty sure I took a few belters that Nat Geo would be proud to put on their front cover.
I was well aware of the amazing job that TWOMOC had done but even more aware that it was all well good doing a great cleaning job but all the effort needed to be utilised by collecting as much money as possible for the team. You could say that trying to get money from the workers of a kenyan market would be like selling ice to an Eskimo and that's what I thought at first. However, after everything was cleaned myself and Torbjoern went around to each stall armed with a bucket and a persuasive personality - Torbjoern also used a selling tactic of 10 shillings for a photo with Jesus.
We obviously wanted to target the customers as well but being a Sunday, the market was very quiet. After a few quick explanations of TWOMOC and a few good laughs later, I was very surprised by the generosity of the local workers. A few dances and one marriage proposal helped me to hit about a 75% success rate which I would never of guessed beforehand.
We finished the clean up by really praising the boys, they had done an amazing job and they had installed a whole new belief in TWOMOC and what they are capable of doing with a helpful push from Team Norway. It was amazing to here that the boys really enjoyed it and they even thanked us for organising it. Where in the world would you get 17/18 year olds thanking you for making them clean up rubbish in 30 degree heat?!
It's fair to say the three of us were buzzing from the whole experience and we actually felt accepted into the community a little bit. Today was a great stepping stone for TWOMOC and Team Norway to work to more fundraisers. We counted that we had raised a further 3000KSH to add to the 1100 from my workshop. This is by no means going to pay for the whole season but its a start, and it can now be a target to beat for the next monthly market clean up day.
The three of us had a bit of a celebration which escalated somewhat into the night. It was great to talk positively about our experiences for once and Team Norway are gradually surrounding themselves with good people and organisations that they are enjoying and want to work for. They thanked me for this and said if it wasn't for me then none of it would've happened. I was really happy about this, I never for one second thought I could make an impact like this by stopping at an organisation for a day or two but my accident has enabled me to actually help in making a difference.
Today was a really great day from start to finish. A definite highlight of Kenya so far and a day I will remember always.
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