Open Air Cinema in Kenya: The First Day in Kilifi
The Field of Dreams team has landed and all volunteers and staff are now assembling in Kilifi. This morning is one of those excited mornings. One you wish you had every day. Its the kind of morning where you wake up in an instant and energetically step out your door to explore at 6am.
The unusual combination of jetlag combined with the novelty of being in a new place. Before I headed to the project office, I went out for a walk along the beach looking onto the Kilifi river joining the Indian Ocean. Gold light burst onto the rippling gently moving river.
The fisherman were standing in their canoes, quietly throwing their nets into the water. Clouds of tiny fish burst from the surface in every direction, as a larger fish had apparently attacked and stirred everything underneath. I met Harshad after breakfast and headed to the MTG office.
We walked along foot paths and tall grass to a large white two story building surrounded by a fence, security, and various huts. I was greeted warmly by the staff and employees. I met Cokie, an amazing Dutch woman, who came to Kenya as a volunteer 5 years ago and decided to stay.
She introduced me to the staff and volunteers. I met Josephine from Nairobi, a volunteer from Safaricom, a national cell phone company. The national cell phone company. She came for a 3 month stretch to help support MTG.
Everyone seems friendly and busy at work running a region-wide soccer program. The director is not in today. But I'm told she's British and lives here locally with her family and three children. Harshad's first wave of volunteers are in the main classroom discussing the hour-by-hour teaching timeline for the next week. They are a talented and devoted crew. All from the BBC.
Each has taken their personal time off to help out. I left them to begin my own timeline for the World Cup screenings. First thing is to sort out the equipment and inspect that all pieces have arrived safely. The day is spent sorting through the Open Air Cinema CineBox system. The next step is basic audio visual training, scheduled for tomorrow.