Friday - 21st July - Claudie

 Today we split into our habari groups for the morning , to start with my group and one other to build a community stove (jiko) which involved transporting materials then mixing the cement. We then dug a small foundation added the cement and layered up the bricks. This will allow the house hold we made it for to use much less wood as it is more heat efficient allowing them a more reliable and effective cooking set up. 

After that we went back for lunch before heading off to the local school called Future Hope where we all played and danced with the children which was an amazing experience and clearly was a treat for them as well as us. 

A quick turn around with a dip in the pool back at Pope and then we went and played football against the locals , everybody got involved and it was so much fun. It was one-nil to the community but we had a penalty shoot out nonetheless. And - Popes (that’s us) won!

Oceans Alive says:

Building jiko’s (stoves) is an important way Leapers are making a difference. Each jiko is much more efficient than a traditional stove which reduces the need for firewood by over 50%. The jikos were identified by an expert as one small thing we could do to really help our environment. By reducing the need for wood, we reduce the trees chopped down for firewood and the time spent each day looking for wood. The jiko’s emit less smoke also and are easy to maintain. One of our previous Leapers, seeing the impact of the stoves, decided to sponsor 5 extra jiko’s for the village. As well as the usual number we make per trip, we are hoping to add an extra two to this trip as part of this kind donation. 

Future Hope School is a local privately funded school for children affected by HIV. The school also takes in destitute children and gives them a home, food and a good education. Our Leapers love spending time with the children who climb them like trees and play endless games with them.

Community football is just one of those magical things which is just pure joy to be part of. The Pope team, made up of a revolving line up, took on the extremely fit local football players for a fast and furious barefoot match beneath the palm trees on the outskirts of the village. Everyone loved it and at full time the community had a one-nil win. However, a penalty shootout was agreed and our Head of Coral Cameron saved a penalty to give Pope a win!