Holiday from hell

THE decision to go to East Africa came out of the blue after the Wilkeys opened up their home to Kenyan children brought to England by a charity on a singing tour.

They became such good friends that Kenya was picked for a family holiday, and the Wilkeys offered their help to the charity, Samson Chivatsi African Children’s Appeal.

Esther (43) taught English, the children helped, and Adam rolled up his sleeves and laboured for the builders.

A month later, Esther delivered a bolt from the blue when she suggested the family go back to Kenya to help the charity.

It meant they had to sell part of their garden to a builder to finance the trip, take four of their six children out of school, give up their jobs, and investigate the dangers posed by an unstable political situation.

“We flew out and spoke to people who said things had calmed down and it was safe, so we got the children into a school and decided to go for a minimum of a year,” said Adam.

They spent the first week sleeping wherever they could find space in the charity’s orphanage — and being bitten by mosquitos.

Before long, the couple unearthed a world of underhand dealing for school places — unbeknown to the charity — and run by unscrupulous people who used the threat of being thrown out of school to buy villagers’ silence.

“It had been going on for years — the villagers talked to us because they thought we could help them,” said Adam.

“We challenged those responsible who saw the potential loss of their income. The chain of events was horrendous.” The couple were hauled before immigration officials who said their papers were incorrect, although they were the ones who had issued them.

They were arrested and interrogated, accused of bribery, trafficking and making children work for no money.

Children and adults in the orphanage were threatened by machette-wielding raiders who forced everyone to leave. Adam had to pay out of his own pocket for police to attend — by taxi.

“We were bombarded with allegations, all of which we refuted, but the place was corrupt to the core. We had some real battles,” said Adam.

“It was quite exciting and I knew we were doing right helping the villagers and trying to stop them being abused.

“They were extremely poor and repressed, they had nothing and didn’t know what to do. I ended up having meetings with government ministers, the head of police and solicitors. We were even asked for a bribe, but I said no, we were fighting corruption in the school and we weren’t going to be corrupt ourselves.”

Consideration to leave was prompted when the couple were told in court they would be thrown in jail or deported if they continued to work for the charity.

But the final straw came with their son’s arrest and the three days he spent sharing a cell with 20 criminals.

“We got a solicitor who said there was no way to get him out other than to pay,” said Adam.

“It cost us several thousand pounds, which was what we had left to live on. But I wasn’t willing to put the children at risk,” said Adam.

Their fight for justice, however, was not without some success.

“The villagers needed a figure-head, and by the time we left they had formed a new committee made up of parents who helped to run the school. They all put in 200 shillings, which is about £1.70, to hire a solicitor,” said Adam.

The family left Kenya two months ago.

Despite everything, amazingly, Adam had this to say: “We are all richer for the experience.

“It drew us closer together, and we met some lovely people. It was warm and relaxed, we lived 100 yards from the sea, monkeys pinched fruit from the garden, and we had a fabulous diet of fresh fish, fruit and vegetables.

“The children learned how to cook not out of a packet or with a microwave,” he laughed.