Athletic Council-Dodgeball

For athletic Council we have changed our whole agenda and we decided to have a mini olympics and there would be teams of 5 who would pay 2500 for each team and all the money would go to the Mercy School. So we decided to host our first event which was dodgeball after school at 5 on wednesday after the CAS activities. We had a large turn out. About 7 teams showed up ready to play and earn points towards their ranking. Because at the end often Olympics each member of the team would get a free ticket t coast all expenses paid. Which is the best prize that has ever been offered in ISk. I was very excited to see so many people participating and having fun while at the same time helping us raise money for the Mercy School. My job was to take pictures. All the teams were very intense and ready to play, it was really fun to see all the competitive spirit everyone exerted! But i felt bad for the freshmen team because they went against all the teachers and they all got knocked out in about 2 minutes. It was really funny to see but at the same time very sad. It was a very fun day and after this event i was excited to create more events.

Rosslyn Tournament 15th/ Sep/12

 On the 15th of september we had a mini tournament at Rosslyn at 8:30 and we played teams such as West Nairobi, Rosslyn, RVA, Hillcrest, and Brookside. It was a very tiring, hot yet fun because we got some more experience of what other teams were like. The most frustrating part was the fact that all the games were 15 minutes each and if you didn't play well from the beginning and made your shots you would potentially lose because the time is so limited. With almost every game the score reached about 25 to maybe 10. I think we did a good job. In the semi finals we played against Hillcrest and it was a pretty tough game because we weren't scoring any points and i think since we just had lunch before and we were tiered and for the majority of our games we played outside and it affected the way we were playing. But on the other hand we ended up doing well even though i think we could have down better. In the finals we played against RVA inside and in the end we ended up winning and we showed all the other teams that we could still do really well even though we had several obstacles in our way. In the end we got medals and i won the best player of the day, i was very shocked, excited and honored that i was presented this award. We spent 8 hours at rossyln and it was worth it because we gave all the teams a run for their money.

RVA - 13/ Sep/ 12

     On the 13th of September we had our second game of the season which was a friendly against RVA. However  it was still very nerve racking because RVA has always been our number 1 rival and last year we had a terrible game against them and we wanted to show them that we could bring it. As soon as we went inside the gym i got really nervous all of a sudden and the memory of our terrible game came flooding back and i kind of felt sick to my stomach but as we started to put on our shoes and warmed up i started to get excited again .  Then Mr. Quinet gave us a pep talk which really helped and i was definitely ready to give it a hundred percent. As soon as the game started it was zero, zero for a while and i think they scored the first point but then we got it back and we caught up. we were leading by 8 point by the first quarter. Then by the second quarter it was a tie and they caught up quite fast and we just weren't scoring any points. It was so frustrating. But by the third quarter we had to step it up because the score was really close and fortunately we did step it up and we scored a lot of points. I felt so  proud of our team because we stepped it up when it really counted and we showed them that we were there to play and we wouldn't give up that easily just because we lost last year.

1st Basketbal game of the season vs Rosslyn 11/Sep

     On the 11th of September we had our first basketball game of the season. It was very nerve racking yet very exciting. Rosslyn has always been one of our rivals as well as RVA and since we had some new team members and it was our first  game i really wanted us to do well. As the game started we were all pumped and ready to go. In the beginning we scored the first shot but after that it was a slow start because for the first quarter the score was only 08-02 and we just weren't scoring. Then by the 2nd quarter we started to step it up and we started scoring. It was a pretty tough game because we weren't in the best shape  we usually are in by the middle of the season, so half way though most of us were exhausted, however this game helped us gain some experience and understand what we needed to work on  and it also reminded me of how much i missed and loved basketball. By the end of the game the score was 36 to 12 and we showed them what we had and what we would hopefully accomplish through out the season.

Shangilia Trip

        This was our first trip to Shangilia and it was very exciting because we hadn't seen them in a long time. As soon as we walked into the gate all the kids were very excited.  We started by introducing ourselves all over again and some of them remembered our names while others were still trying to learn them. It was very funny because when they tried to pronounced our  names it was very cute.  We decided to only play games because it was our first meeting. It was really fun to reconnect with the kids. We played with jump ropes and the girls were really excited and i recognized that the kids had new toys probably from other people. I played frisbee with Newton and Peter and it was really fun because we were all trying to show off our skills and they were pretty good. I think that this was a very fun Shangilia trip because it was fun to reunite and i was excited to go to the next trip and teach them new things.

Runda Feeding 22nd/ April/12

   This Runda feeding started later than usual because the people who work at Runda have chnaged their usual startying time so we waited at Java until about 11:15. When we go there we did the usual; sorting out food and then giving out the trays to the elderly. But for the first time it was really disorganized and chaotic at the end.  Usually after the people got the food they woudl exit through the other end of the cabana and sometimes they would try to get in again so that they could try and get some more food. But  it never really got out of control because there was always one guard at the end of the cabana preventing teh kids from reentering. But for teh first time it was really out of control.
    It started of normally with us giving out the food to all the people who came by. for the first time there seemed to be more older people such as teenagers and people in their 20’s which is very unusual because usually I give the food to little children.

            Then all of a sudden when there was a little more food left to hand out one of the managers came and took the food away, which was very  unusual and then they told us to move away from the edges because there were A LOT of people reaching over, asking for some extra food and more items. The guards would constantly go up to the edge of the cabana and literally whip them and hit against the wall really hard to prevent them from entering. This was such a vulgar and chaotic scene which shocked me. It was very unusual and I was really disappointed with the way the day ended but I guess it was inevitable and it was bound to happen eventually but it was such a big shock and I hope it doesn’t happen again and that next time it will be more organized and controlled.

Shangalia 21st/ March/12

     On this trip to Shangalia we got the same kids who played Pictionary with us last time and we went back into the class room. At first we played Pictionary for about an hour and the kids were still pretty excited and happy about playing against each other. Then after a while they were getting a bit out of control so we decided to change the game. We decided to play hang man and each team had a hangman and whichever team guessed the wrong word their man would slowly be hung. Then the kids decided to do their own hang man and we all had to try and guess and we no longer had teams.

            Then we decided to think of some more games that were a bit more educational so we asked all the kids to go to the back of the class room. Then we asked each kid to spell  a word and each time they got it right they would  take one step forward and whoever  got to the front of the class room first because they had the least words spelt wrong would win. This was a really fun and educational game for the kids and I could tell that the kids were eager to play. Even the kids who had a hard time spelling they still looked eager to play and learn how to spell new words. I realized this was a good game to play for our  next trip to Shangalia it was something the kids were interested in and the kids having difficulty spelling could learn while having fun.

Runda Feeding 25th/ March /12

       We all met at Java as usual and we went to do the Runda Feeding program around 10:40.  We began separating the items and cutting bread and putting them into separate crates. This time there wasn’t that many sweets and cookies but there was a lot of bread, bananas, milk etc. Then we went to go give the trays of food to the old men and women and before we knew the kids were already pouring into the cabana where we were going to give out the food. The hardest part of this Runda feeding program is being unable to give more food to all these people who look so desperate for food and it is even worse when they ask for more food and you can’t give them more because if you  give more food to one person then there will be less for someone else.

            The majority of the time the kids and the people who come by the cabana to get food do not smile or look happy which makes me sad and I feel like I’m really not helping change or help this kids lives. But once in a while there is a child who looks in distress and I expect them to go by with no  smile or a  thank you  but they sunrise me with the most excitement in their eyes and a very sweet thank you which makes me smile and happy about the little I can do for them . During this time in Runda for the first time they brought out some cloths and all the kids that went by got a pair of cloths. This made me really happy because unlike food, cloths can last a really long time and you could see that this new item added to their bag which usually contains food made them really excited and the kids who went by with almost no emotion went out with a glint of happiness because of the new clothing they received. 

OVC Easter Egg Hunt

            On the 24^th of March Interact decided to have another little party for the kids from OVC and this time it was for Easter.  On Saturday we went into Mrs. Henderson’s class room where the donated cloths and books were and we sorted them out according to size and gender then around 10 the leaders of the groups went to go pick up the kids and where in charge of taking them to the various stations after about 40 minutes at each station. I was in charge of a specific station which was the Easter Egg Hunt. At that station I was partnered with Benazer and Wasim who brought the candy and the chips and we had to hide all of these treats around the jungle gym and the kids had to go hunting for them. After about 40 minutes the kids would go to another station such as gym to play games , the food court to eat , and the pool to swim.
            The first group of kids that came along were children about 8 years old or younger and some of them were really scared of climbing the jungle gym but after a while they got use to it and went looking for candy.( but they weren’t as excited to look for the candy as I expected them to be, but I guess the older kids would be). At one point we had an incident where one of the kids was with her mother but after a few minutes she had to leave to go to a different station and when this this little girl noticed she was gone she started to cry. After a while she stopped crying and got up to the slide and she didn’t want to either slide down the slide or get off the slide from the top which caused a little traffic jam at the top of the slide because other kids  were waiting to go down the slide. But this little girl started crying when we tried to coax her down.  So I had to go up to the slide and try to get her off myself because the whole thing was getting a bit annoying so I got behind her on the slide and I pushed her down the slide with me. At first on the way down she started whining but when she got down and off the slide she stopped whining and more or less forgot about the whole thing. Before we knew it they had to move onto the next station.

            The next groups that came along were all bigger kids and they were really excited to look for the candy which was really fun to see them get some Easter gifts along with some cloths and books from the previous stations.  But at times it was a little chaotic because we always had to put the candy around the jungle gym before the next group came but at times the next group would already show p before we could hide the candy and they would end up seeing where we placed the candy and they would find it really quickly. And at time the kids would go crazy fighting for the candy but other than that it was a really fun day and I could tell how happy they were to have come and do all these activities. By 1:00 the kids had gone through all the stations and it was time for them to go home and we walked them back to  the OVC. Even though this time I never got to see the kids go to all the stations I was able to set up a station and watch them have fun playing on the playground and looking for treats.

Shangalia 7th/ March/12

       This time when we went to Shangalia we wanted to do something different other than storytelling so we went into one of the class rooms and we split the kids up into two different groups and we decided to play Pictionary. Each group got to choose their team name and they were either on my side or Rheas side. Then Rhea and I would take turns drawing pictures on the board and each team took turns trying to guess what the picture was. If they got it right then they would get a point. It was a really fun and interactive game. After a while we  chose one kids  from each team to come up and draw a picture but first they had to discuss with the team what they were drawing. Then the other team had to try and guess what they were drawing. This allowed the kids to practice their drawing and their team building skills. This was something new the kids got to play and they seemed to enjoy every minute of it, and it was really fun playing it with them.

Shangalia 22nd/Feb/12

    Since this was the third visit to Shangalia and I didn’t want to do storytelling anymore because the kids were also tiered of the same  activities so we decided to play charades where we would whisper into their ears what we wanted them to act out and then the rest of the kids in the ‘audience’ would try and guess what they were doing. At first they were really shy so we had to go first to teach them how to play and then they started getting into it and volunteering.  The silly things we made them act out made them happy and it was nice to see them having fun. After a while of playing this game some of the boys left to play football and we wanted to do something else with the kids who were just sitting and watching so we decided to teach them how to do the Macarena. It was the most adorable thing to see them trying to do the same actions as we did. Even though we looked very silly and ridiculous it was nice to see them laughing with us. Then we taught them some hand games which they seemed to like even though they took along time to understand. This was the first time in Shangalia where I felt that we taught them some new .fun and interesting games which they could play with each other if we weren’t there. At the end of the day I was REALLY happy to share some of my childhood games with them.

The Mara trip (30th/Jan-3rd/Feb)

During the Mara trip I learned so much about myself,  my community and my peers. On the first day when we arrived I was actually surprised that the camp  looked so beautiful and nice especially since on the way to the camp we passed terrain which  was barren dry and looked a bit dull and dusty, but beautiful in its own way.  On the way to the camps we stopped at the school and we were mobbed by little kids and it felt so great being loved so much by the kids and I felt like a celebrity because I could feel that they were really excited to see us. Every student from ISK has at least 3 kids who would come up to them  with their joy filled eyes reaching out and searching for your fingers to hang on to. I was so glad that we got to help these kids by building a foundation for their school. I was very excited to learn that there were showers and really nice tents with nice beds. Even though I wouldn’t have minded sleeping in a sleeping bag or having no showers, I was still very great full for all the facilities provided for us.  In the evening we played interactive games with the facilitators  and during these games I got to learn more about the people on our trip even facilitators. The games were really fun because we had never played such creative games before and since they were so new to us  they were more exciting to play. At first most people were really shy to play the games such as Hayuken, Bungalow and the name game but after a while we all got into it.  For dinner we got a taste of the marvelous chefs  fantastic food which was the best I had every tasted  on all the intercultural trips I’ve ever been on.

            On the second day we went back to the school to start putting in the foundation for the school. We were out in the sun for about three hours doing our various tasks. It felt really good to be doing something for this community. After the tiring day in the sun we went back to camp and we were given free time to do as we pleased. Talash. Marie and I decided to go play touch rugby with three of the facilitators (Kate, Joe, and James and Mr. Deroch). The game was very intense but really fun because I had never really played touch rugby before . I was on a team with Talash, Marie and James but after a few minutes Marie left us while Mr. Deroch joined in our sweaty and  intense game. In my opinion we should have had more players to help us because Po and Joe may have been only two players but they were way better than us, but I felt that we tried our best and were pretty good considering their size and strength.  The night time was when we always got serious and started talking about issues which people of our generation should be engaged in and concerned about. Throughout the time in the Mara we have had heated discussions about issues and I was really glad we had those discussions because I got to know other opinions on certain issues .

            Throughout the rest of the days we did various activities such as visit a clinic which the Me to We foundation helped build and start and it was well equipped with the medical supplies that a normal clinic in the city would probably have.  It was great to hear from the hospital that they had never lost a life which was something exciting to hear about. They had only been running for about a year and it was built because it was more convenient for the citizens who lived many kilometers away to have a nearby hospital.  Then we went over to an all-girls boarding school which was really nicely built with many buildings overlooking the town below. It was a beautiful campus and it was up to high quality standards which made me feel  really happy and a bit jealous that they lived in such a nice place.  I was happy because these girls were also getting a great education despite how far away their school was but they were well equipped with supplies and a chance to have a great education. Then we went to the school to finish putting up the foundation so in total we had two visits to the school. On one of the days after building we had an option of going to back to the camp early and making beaded jewelry with two Masai women which was a great experience and I learned how hard it actually is to make all the beaded jewelry found in the Masai market especially.

             Throughout this experience I learned to be able to speak up and say my opinions which I was very shy to do in the beginning even though I may have not talked as MUCH as other people I was still proud of myself for being brave and comfortable enough to speak up. But the only reason I was able to speak up was because of the facilitators, they made it very comfortable to speak up because they were so caring, funny and nice to all of us and no one’s opinion was frowned upon. Throughout the day we would play cards with each other and that is how we got to know all the facilitators and other students. This Mara trip was the BEST intercultural trip I’ve ever had because while having fun we were also helping the community by building the foundation to the schools, learning about the Masai women’s daily tasks and we also talked about our world today and current issues. By far this was the BEST trip I’ve ever had and I was glad  I got to spend it with my roommates in room 4 and with the facilitators which made the time spent at MARA  worth while J

Shangalia 8th/Feb/12

            We got together with our kids and all the kids from ISK as usual went to our separate stations that we wanted to teach and we began our ‘lessons’. In the beginning it was sort of a slow day and we didn’t know what to do with the kids so one of the ISK students sat on a chair and our kids from storytelling went to  listen to the story and for a while we let them  listen to her read but after a while they got a little bored, so we decided to get into a circle and each person would say a word and then the next person would also say a word and we would attempt to make a functioning sentence. After doing this for a while we decided to add a ball into the circle and we would come up with a theme such as fruits and when the ball was passed to someone they had to say a different fruit.It was really fun to play these storytelling games with the kids and I am glad that I am part of Shangalia because it’s great to think of creative ways to make these kids happy

Shangalia 25th/Jan/12

            This was the first Shangalia trip of the year and I was happy to see all the familiar faces and joyful kids who were eager to learn and play games.  This year the director of Shangalia introduced football and all the kids including the boys from our school were excited to hear this. But first we had to teach them new things either math, reading, storytelling, art or music. I decided to do storytelling this time with Rhea because last time reading didn’t work out as well as I hoped so I wanted to try out storytelling. First we got into a circle and sat on the stage and we asked the kids to go one by one into the circle and tell us a story. But this didn’t work out as well as we hoped because some kids started speaking in Kiswahili or they spoke really soft and it was hard to understand them. So then we decided to play games instead because that’s what they wanted to do.

            So we got off the stage and we played the game “what’s the time Mr. wolf’ and it didn’t work out so well because the kids didn’t really understand what to do and they were too shy to say ‘what’s the time mr. wolf’ so we played a game where rhea would stand at the wall and if her had was faced the other way they tried to run up to her without her looking. This game was a success and they really enjoyed it. After a while of playing the same game we decide to play hide and seek  and they were pretty good at this game considering  the fact they live here and they know that best places to hide which made it hard for us to find them. Before we knew it time went by really fast and it was about 3:30 which meant  it was time to play football and the majority of the kids went to play while the others sat down and watched. This was a really good introduction to the first trip to Shangalia of this new year of 2012  because it was really fun and I could see the joy in the kids eyes when they were playing the games or even learning. But I could tell that playing football was the best part of the whole day.  It was really funny to see the boys from ISK playing football with the kids because they were all so tall while the ball and the goals were really small and at some point one of the boys from our school sat in the goal and their whole body could block out any shots going into the goals. It was really funny to see.