The group enjoyed a team building session before the flight out to Nairobi, getting to know a little bit more about the business, ActionAid and each other.

 They were congratulated on reaching the start of the project, with ActionAid announcing an impressive £70,000 that had been raised for their cause.  

 Once arriving in Nairobi the team faced a long journey to the remote community they would change forever……

 Camping just north of the Massia Mara National Park, the team would wake every morning at 6:30am to the sounds of local wildlife and the call of “Malarone, sunscreen and fill your water bottles!” 

The team would walked 15 minutes to the Oloolnganayio Primary School in Olenkuluo where they would work their ‘steel toe cap boots off’, to complete a second classroom build at the primary school.

Working along side the local Massia men and women the team pulled together to lay the foundations, floors and walls of this classroom.

Over 7 days, the team experienced the local culture and spirit of the Massia community, being welcomed into their villages and homes, meeting their children and elders to be serenaded with dance, song and colourful jewellery.

 “This trip was a once in a lifetime opportunity, singing ‘flower of Scotland’ under the stars with the Maasai will be a memory that will stay with me forever.  Also when they had the celebration for us on the last day and told us that we’d answered a prayer I vowed I was going to do more charity work and I definitely will.  - Best thing I have ever done. “ – Laura Mackay, Bibby Offshore Limited Aberdeen.

“This experience has changed my life forever.......... I couldn’t have wished to serve a more deserving community and I feel driven to do more for them -  this opportunity has formed a link with both the volunteer team and the Massai community that I will endeavour never to break.” – Claire Prince, System Training, Carlisle.

“The trip went beyond what I ever imagined. It was an incredible opportunity to visit a beautiful country and to meet some amazing people. Although it was both physically and emotionally demanding, it gave me a sense of great satisfaction to know that I was making such an enormous difference to the community. The trip has definitely changed my perspective on life, and has opened my eyes to a different culture. I will never forget this experience, and I feel humbled and honoured that I was a part of it.”  - Charlotte Hough, Bibby Consulting and Support

“This was the most amazing experience of my life and one that I will never forget, truly blessed to have been a part of it. If the school will educate even just one child then all mixing machenga, laying bricks and bending metal was well worth it!” – Vicky Abbott, Bibby Financial Services, Slough

Not only did the team leave their names within the foundations of the build but also a lasting legacy that will benefit generations to come.

After the team left the site, another group of volunteers followed and took the walls up to roof level, helping also with the beams.

                                                                  Before                                                                                 After

The school is now on schedule and signing up local the children from around 400 families in the area, starting the new academic year in January 2012.

Bibby Line Group and the GSB team will be following the school’s progress and will keep the team updated of the difference they have made.

For an experience like the Kenya teams, the GSB programme will announce a new Bibby volunteer project for 2012 in the next few weeks……