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