Arriving at the airport for the trip to Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, Ken and Sharon from the UK, pose while Martin takes the photograph. Next stop, check-in and shortly afterwards, Africa.
Volunteers Jake and Vish waiting to check in at Heathrow with just a few suitcases for the journey to Kenya. Each volunteer splits their luggage with half the space for themselves and half the space filled with items for the schools in Nairobi.
Jude, Vish, Emma and Jake arrive in Nairobi, after many hours in the air, a lengthy wait in the immigration queue, and considerable patience at the baggage carousel. Setting foot on African soil is a wonderful moment.
Volunteers arrive at Excel School in Ngando, a slum in Nairobi. Visitors are always warmly welcomed by members of the Kenyan leadership team. People from the left are John, Jude (UK volunteer), Mary, Agnes, Beth, Jake (UK volunteer), Grace, Emma (UK volunteer), Titus and Vish (UK volunteer).
Vish, Jude, Emma, and Jake, volunteers from the UK, arrive at Excel School in Ngando to begin three weeks working with Porridge and Rice schools in the slums. Volunteers make a very real contribution to the work of the charity.
Emma, a paediatric nurse, and Brigitte, a hospitality professional and mother, sit with Teacher Grace, the deputy head of Lizpal School, in the school office, ready for a day helping out.
Jude, a software engineer, and Ken, a tutor and teacher, with Evanson, head of Compassion School, and Titus, head of Excel School, at the gates of Compassion School in Githogoro, a Nairobi slum.
Luan, a classics graduate and volunteer from the UK, taking a break from refurbishing blackboards to enjoy a cup of chai "sweet tea" and a chat with the children of Excel School.
Leonie and Taylor, two A level volunteers from the UK, outside a Porridge and Rice school on their first day in the Nairobi slums, home to some of the poorest people in the world.
Emma, a nurse, and Jude, a software engineer, at Excel School, ready to work as volunteers with Porridge and Rice schools. The Kenyan sun is harsh and all volunteers are expected to either wear a hat or put on sunscreen, hence the impressive hat that Jude is wearing.
Members of the Porridge and Rice leadership team pose for a photograph with volunteers from the UK. Front row from the left - Ned (UK volunteer), Grace, Beth, Elosey, Agneta, Kuljit (UK volunteer), Mary and Leonie (UK volunteer). Back row from the left - Taylor (UK volunteer), Vish (UK volunteer), Luan (UK volunteer), and John. The leadership team proudly wear their Tilnar Cycle Challenge t-shirts, a sport's event that supports the charity.
UK Volunteers Kuljit, Vish and Luan visit the chickens at Compassion School. The chickens are part of the charity's sustainability programme, producing eggs and meat for sale. The chickens also provide an opportunity to teach members of the community how to raise poultry for an income.
Volunteers Jude, Jake, Emma, and Vish, pose with the teachers of Lizpal School, a dedicated team of amazing people working to improve the lives of the children in their community.
George, Grantas, and Vish, Porridge and Rice volunteers from the UK, entertain the pupils at Compassion School in Githogoro in the Nairobi slums.
Simran, a medical student, and Ben, a media student, record the details of dental check-ups done for the children of Excel School, a Porridge and Rice partner school in Ngando.
Sarah (teacher) and Ashlee (nurse), volunteers from the US, pose in the kitchen at Excel School with Mary, deputy head of Excel school, and Christine. The ladies spent two weeks doing wonderful work at Porridge and Rice schools.
Kuljit and Ned, volunteers from the UK, interact with pupils at Excel School in Ngando. The children welcome visitors and are always keen to chat to volunteers.
Amna, university student from the UK, spends time with pupil Joy during one of the breaks at Excel School in Ngando, in the Nairobi slums.
UK Volunteers Rachel, Taylor, Dhruv, and Ned, are greeted by Mary, the deputy head teacher of Excel School. Even though it is winter in Kenya, UK volunteers find the weather hot and so are wearing t-shirts while the locals wear jumpers and jackets.
Rohan and Jay, volunteers from the UK, play games with the pupils of Excel School, a Porridge and Rice partner school in Ngando.
Sharon, a volunteer from the UK, takes minutes at the Kenyan Leadership team meeting at Excel School. Sharon is a fully qualified teacher working in the UK at a community college.
Jake and Roshan, A level volunteers from the UK, pose with Excel teachers Grenah and Andrew, Excel pupils and the late Kenyan Porridge and Rice Representative, John.
Roshan, Lucy, Jake, and Kuljit, all volunteers from the UK, pose with Teacher Mary and Teacher Titus, deputy head and head of Excel School, in the school grounds.
Nikki, Grantas, and Izzy, UK volunteers, pose with Teacher Ruth, headteacher of Heri Junior School, a Porridge and Rice partner school in Mithonge.
Jude (software engineer) and Emma (paediatric nurse), UK volunteers, pose with parents of pupils at Excel School who are helping with preparing meals for pupils at the school.
Bruno, a volunteer from Brazil, stands among pupils at Forrester School in Kwangware, a slum outside Nairobi. Porridge and Rice welcomes people from anywhere in the world to its schools in Nairobi.
Ken, Roshan, Kuljit, Jake and Lucy view the mixture of refuse and sewage at the entrance to Excel School. Sadly, this is a common situation in the slums, inevitably creating a breeding ground for disease.
Ben and Taylor, Porridge and Rice volunteers from the UK, join Teacher Titus, head teacher of Excel School in Ngando in the Nairobi slums, for a photo.
Roshan, Lucy, Jake, and Kuljit, all volunteers from the UK, pose with Mary, deputy head of Excel school, and Titus, head of Excel school and famous for his suits. Both Mary and Titus are dedicated, caring leaders and teachers.
Roshan, Lucy, Jake, and Kuljit, volunteers from England, leave the home of the late Kenyan Porridge and Rice representative, John Obonyo, after a welcome cup of tea with John and his wife. John worked hard for the charity and was without doubt, a key reason for its successful establishment in 2014.
Emma, deputy chair of Porridge and Rice, is accompanied by Grace and Beth, deputy head and head of Lizpal school, as she moves between schools. While the areas where Porridge and Rice schools are safe, volunteers are not allowed to walk around on their own to avoid getting lost or wandering into less safe areas.
Emma, a qualified nurse and UK volunteer, with Titus, head teacher of Excel School take a break from the Kenyan heat in the office of Lizpal school.
Volunteers Jude, Jake, Vish and Emma, arrive early in the morning at Excel School, ready to distribute treats to the pupils, a Porridge and Rice tradition when volunteers first arrive in Kenya.
Vish, Taylor, Ned, Kuljit, Leonie, and Luan, volunteers from the UK, ready to leave Wildebeest Eco Camp, where Porridge and Rice stay while in Nairobi, for a day volunteering at Porridge and Rice schools in the slums.
Luan (looking mildly disinterested probably because it has been a long day in the Kenyan sun) and Emma, a paediatric nurse, chat to Mary, deputy head of Excel School. Both volunteers wear their Tilnar Cycle Challenge t-shirts, a sport's event that has supported the charity since the event was founded.
UK volunteer Lucy poses with Mary, deputy head of Excel School, in front of the newly-constructed kitchen paid for by Porridge and Rice. The kitchen will be used to cook the meals for the Feeding and Nutrition programme which provides all pupils with breakfast and lunch each school day.
Taylor, Vish, Ned, Ramy, and Leonie, UK volunteers, pose in front of the part-complete extension to the Lizpal kitchen that thet have worked on for nearly two weeks. Two weeks after the photograph, the extension was completed and in use. Volunteers are wearing Tilnar Cycle Challenge t-shirts, a sporting event that supports the charity.
Tom Hawes, founder of the Tilnar Cycle Challenge, meets the pupils and teachers of Porridge and Rice schools during a business trip to Kenya.
University Student Volunteers - Agneta (Denmark), Thomas, (Netherlands), Lionel (Netherlands), Nena (Netherlands), and Laurens (Netherlands) - are accompanied by charity trustees Vish and Emma to Lizpal School to meet the children and teachers of a wonderful school in Ngando, an area in the Nairobi slums.
Matt, Jay, Jai, Rohan, Teacher Jackton, John, Taylor, and Ben pose for a group photo after nearly four weeks with Porridge and Rice in the Nairobi slums in Kenya.
UK volunteers, Vish, Emma, Ken and Jake, walk between Porridge and Rice schools Excel and Lizpal in Ngando with deputy head teacher, Mary. Good walking shoes are essential when in Nairobi with the charity.
Jake, Emma, Jude, and Ken, volunteers from the UK, walk with Mary, deputy head teacher of Excel School, along the the main road in Ngando taking their water bottles with them. It is important to drink water throughout the day given the temperatures in Kenya.
UK volunteers Vish, Jake, Emma, Jude, and Ken walk with the late John Obonyo on the main road through Ngando, from Excel school to Lizpal school, a journey of about 15 minutes. The sun is hot, and this is enough time to burn so hats or sun screen are essential.
Dutch and UK volunteers walk through Kawangware to visit Forrester School, and then later to Mithonge to visit Heri school. Walking is the main way that volunteers get around in the Nairobi slums.
Volunteers from the Netherlands and the UK use one of the main thoroughfares of the Nairobi slums, the Nairobi railway track. Trains run twice a day, early morning and late evening, so the track remains clear for most of the day, providing a convenient path for the people of the slums.
Jake, Kuljit, Lucy, and Ken, volunteers from the UK, on their way to Excel School in Ngando after a short ride from Wildebeest Eco Camp, home while in Nairobi.
Volunteers walk along Ngong Road towards the shopping mall known as The Junction. Ngong Road is one of the major roads into the city centre of Nairobi. It is single lane, and traffic is usually heavy and slow, so walking can often be faster.
Tom, Ned, Kuljit, Vish, and Ken, all UK volunteers, arrive at Excel school in Ngando, the first school to partner with the charity Porridge and Rice.
Ayana, a volunteer from Japan, is met at Nairobi airport by Beth, head teacher of Lizpal school. All volunteers are met by someone at the airport unless travelling with nominated representatives of Porridge and Rice.
UK volunteers use the Nairobi railway track to move between schools. In the early morning and late evening, the railway track is alive with people making their way to and from work.
UK volunteers walk through Ngando, a major Nairobi slum, with items for distribution at Porridge and Rice schools. Volunteers take items bought or donated for pupils and schools in their luggage to Kenya.
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UK volunteers Ken, Kuljit and Ned, walk on one of the main roads in the Githogoro slums, home to Compassion School after spending a day volunteering at the school.
At the end of the day, Mokoyeti Road West which leads back to Wildebeest Eco Camp, can seem long after a busy day of work at Porridge and Rice schools. UK volunteers Ned, Luan, Kuljit, Taylor and Leonie trundle back to the camp.
Volunteers Emma, Ramy, Kuljit, Luan, Vish, Taylor, and Ned, on the dusty main road through Ngando, moving between schools, with the late John Obonyo. Volunteers wear Tilnar Cycle Challenge t-shirts, a sporting event that supports charities, including Porridge and Rice.
A raptuous greeting at Lizpal school, in Ngando, greets volunteers Jude, Vish, Ken and Emma, from the UK. The greetings from the staff and children are always warm and enthusiastic.
Jude and Vish, from the UK, inspect the drain running alongside Excel School. All waste from plastic bags to faecal matter are emptied into these drains and then spread around the slums when they flood in the rainy season, a major cause of disease and poor health for local residents.
As Dutch volunteers Thomas, Lionel , Nena, and Laurens discover, serving chai (piping hot, milky, very sweet tea) the Kenyan way, is how visitors to Porridge and Rice schools are greeted. Chai is frequently accompanied by mandazi (African doughnuts) or fresh, local fruit.
Porridge and Rice trustee Brigitte celebrate her birthday whilst in Nairobi. The Kenyan leadership team organised a cake and showed her how to celebrate her birthday Kenyan style by feeding cake to each attendee.
Three volunteers from the Netherlands (Lionel, Thomas, and Nena) take a well-deserved break from the heat of the day at Lizpal School in Ngando, a slum in Nairobi.
Luan, Vish and Taylor, volunteers from the UK, sit down to a tasty lunch provided by the cooks of Lizpal School, after a morning of painting classrooms.
Luan, a classics graduate from the UK, talks to pupils at a Porridge and Rice school in Ngando. The children love to chat to visitors about their homes and lives, and ask visitors about where they come from.
Kuljit, a founder member and volunteer of the charity, interacts with pupils at Excel School. The children love to shake hands, greeting guests with big smiles and "How are you?", one of the phrases they learn very early on at school.
The pupils at Porridge and Rice schools never let visitors pass without a "How are you?" or "Karibu", Kiswahili for welcome. All ages will talk happily to volunteers like Kuljit, from the UK.
Children rise to the challenge much to Jake's surprise, a volunteer from the UK, when he challenges them to lift him off the ground on visiting a Porridge and Rice school.
Volunteer Laurens from the Netherlands teaches the pupils to play tag to their delight. Not all the rules are strictly followed, in fact, many games quickly become happy chaos with children smiling and laughing.
Taylor, a volunteer from the UK, lifts a bemused pupil at Excel School in Ngando and finds himself quickly surrounded by a crowd of children wanting to be lifted. As many a volunteer has found out, if you do something fun for one child, you will quickly have a crowd demanding the same treatment.
Freddie, volunteer from the UK, poses with the Class 8 children to whom he taught Maths. Freddie spent two weeks teaching Maths at Porridge and Rice schools before heading for university to train as a primary school teacher.
Porridge and Rice pupils wave at the camera with their new friends from the Netherlands, Laurens and Lionel, students at Delft University in the Netherlands. The charity welcomes visitors and volunteers all year round from around the world.
Dhruv, an A level volunteer from the UK, shows a group of pupils at Excel School in Ngando how to use a camera to take a group selfie, an activity that the pupils find very amusing.
Freddie, a volunteer from the UK, poses with pupils from a class to which he taught Maths during his work experience for university. Porridge and Rice welcomes volunteers like Freddie, to its partner schools to do work experience.
Jake, a volunteer from the UK, enjoys interacting during breaktime with the children of Excel School. Having lifted one in the air, others flock to him for their turn.
Break time at Porridge and Rice schools provides an opportunity for volunteers like Jake and Jude from the UK, to talk to the children.
Jake, a volunteer from the UK, makes friends with pupils at Excel School during their lunch break. The children at Porridge and Rice schools take every opportunity to talk to volunteers.
Ned, a volunteer from the UK, with pupils from a Porridge and Rice school, test his patience and strength as they ask to be lifted and swung around, one after the other.
Kuljit and Emma, both volunteers from the UK, get to know excited pupils during break time at Excel School in Ngando, before the pupils leave for a sports lesson on a nearby field.
The late John Obonyo shows volunteers from Denmark and the Netherlands around Excel school in Ngando, a Nairobi slum, with Teacher Titus, head of the school, in his smart suit.
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Vish (UK), Laurens (Netherlands), and Thomas (Netherlands) join a football match started by local children in an open space in the Ngando slums. Kenyans are a friendly people, treating visitors with warmth.
Volunteers like Lionel, Laurens, and Nena - all from the Netherlands - are welcomed by local children into their football game. The children of the slums are friendly and respond well to people who wish to interact with them.
Volunteers, Emma and Jude from the UK, stop at a local shop in Ngando, home to Excel and Lizpal Schools, to buy padlocks. Shops like this one, can be found throughout the slums selling a wide range of everyday items.
Emma, a paediatric nurse, and Jude, an IT professional, arrive at Forrester School in Kawangware where they are met by the children and teachers of the school, including Otieno, the deputy head.
Bruno, a volunteer from Brazil, witnesses the arrival of a container of second hand furniture and goods at Forrester School in Kawangware. Fonthill Foundation filled and paid for the delivery of the container.
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Kuljit, volunteer and trustee, shows that it is not all hard work for volunteers at one of the five Porridge and Rice partner schools in the Nairobi slums.
Carolina, a photographer from the US, and her husband Vincent volunteered at Lizpal School in Ngando, a area of the Nairobu slums. From left in the picture are Grace (deputy head of Lizpal school), Christine, Vincent, Caroline and Beth (head of Lizpal school).
Ruth, the head teacher at Heri Junior School in Mithonge, greets Jude, a volunteer and trustee of Porridge and Rice, at the Matatu stop. Visitors are warmly welcomed at all Porridge and Rice schools.
Jude and Emma, volunteers from the UK, take stock of the needs of Heri Junior in Mithonge considering everything from desks to staircases. Charity members review the needs of all partner schools several times a year.
Kuljit and Emma, volunteers from the UK, discuss the plan for the measurement of the youngest children, much to the amusement of the older children looking on. Young pupils have their height and weight measured approximately every six months, to ensure that they are developing healthily, a metric used to evaluate the Feeding and Nutrition programme.
Leonie, Kuljit, Vish, and Luan, all volunteers from the UK, gather to record a memory with the late John Obonyo, after looking around the chicken house on the shamba in Githogoro, home to Compassion school.
The wonderful leadership team at Heri Junior, head teacher Ruth (left) and deputy head teacher Haggai (right), in Mithonge pose with Jude, Ken and Emma, trustees of Porridge and Rice from the UK. The orange t-shirts commemorate the Tilnar Cycle Challenge for it support of the charity.
Neil Atkin of Rubbish Science and his son, volunteers from the UK, visit Porridge and Rice schools in Nairobi to teach them ways to construct interesting scientific experiments using everyday items and rubbish, that will enrich lessons and make them more effective.
Ramy, a volunteer from the UK, and John show the children their muscle whilst digging trenches to plant sweet potato at Lizpal School with Kenyans' favourite digging tool, a jembe (hoe) at Lizpal school in the Ngando.
Sharon, a teacher from Greater London, learns the moves from the children at Lizpal School in Ngando, an area of the Nairobi slums, as they perform a traditional song and dance to welcome visitors. Visitors are welcome at all Porridge and Rice schools.
Ramy and Kuljit, UK volunteers, chat to the children at Excel School in Ngando, an area of the Nairobi slums while the parents clean classrooms in the background. Classrooms are disinfected regularly to halt the spread of pathogens in an environment where they abound.
Ramy and Vish, UK volunteers, blend in nicely with the newly painted Lizpal School while wearing their Tilnar T-Shirts, a sporting event that supports Porridge and Rice.
UK volunteers Taylor, Emma and Vish look inconspicuous at a Porridge and Rice school while sporting their Tilnar T-Shirts to promote the Tilnar Cycle Challenge, a sporting event that supports Porridge and Rice.
Teacher Andrew supervises mid-lesson games while Jude, Porridge and Rice trustee, looks on from the safety of the shade of the classrooms at Excel School in Ngando.
En route to Nairobi, the team stop in Istanbul and survey their spotless shoes. Travel to Kenya, usually involves a stopover in places like Istanbul or Addis Ababa, to keep costs down.
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