After 3 hours sleep the night before, frantic packing and a strong coffee, I was ready for the journey to Nairobi and then on to the charity, Nyumbani. Leaving a wet, cold England early in the morning, flight case and tripod in tow, I departed ready for an experience I already knew would be life changing and priceless (both personally and professionally) to have this opportunity to make a documentary of such a special place to help fundraise. An entire day slipped past in an airbourne blur. As my first day at the Nyumbani Children’s Home dawned bright and early, I was woken up by the sound of the children of Nyumbani, HIV positive and AIDS orphans given a place to live by the charity, playing before mass.
In the subsequent Mass the atmosphere of hope and enthusiasm was
palpable with the children singing tribal-inspired tunes as they danced the
blurry eyes of a Sunday morning away.
They smiled with a happiness you rarely see among those in full physical
health in the UK, let alone the severely ill. As the day progressed, the other volunteers and I toured the
Home. It was almost possible to
forget that these children were even ill as they raced around on their scooters
and laughed in the dappled afternoon sunlight of the playground. This thought that I had discovered some
Kenyan utopia hovered in my mind as an infectious happiness spread over
everyone until you saw the grim reminder of reality as we entered the grave
yard; it stood testament to the destructive power of the AIDS pandemic and lasting
courage of the children living at Nyumbani at the moment because they did not
shy away from or fear this presence of the possible future and that these
children need help. This first day
was an inspiration and I got some beautiful footage of how these orphans
quality of life has improved so much due to the continuing efforts of all the
staff, volunteers and sponsors at Nyumbani. Today was a ‘relaxing’ day and the
real work of filming the art festival begins tomorrow.
- Will Stone
