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.

Basketball trip to Paris &Brussels

            On the 29^th of November the basketball team went to Paris to play the American school of Paris.  On the first day of arrival we went sight seeing and shopping. Going to Paris was the first time I had ever been to Europe and it was such an amazing place.  Then in the afternoon we went to the school which looked really nice but in my opinion it wasn’t as nice as schools in Africa because they don’t really have a nice outdoor grassy area, but other than that it looked like a really nice school. In the evening around 5 we played the Paris team and we were defeated because for some reason we weren't really prepared and it made us all upset but we knew we could do so much better at the tournament in Brussels.  Around 7 when the game ended we went home with our host families and I stayed with Evelyn with the same girl I hosted when they came to Kenya.

On the second day  we went sightseeing and Paris is such a beautiful place and I loved every minute of it! We went shopping and we ate McDonalds and it has been about 6 years since I had eaten it and it was amazing! We went to see all sorts of monuments and we went into the museum where the Mona Lisa was but to my surprise it was smaller painting then I had ever imagined and it was hard to take a picture of it because it was far away and there were also so many people also trying to take a picture. We also went around small suburbs and went shopping for souvenirs and mementos of Paris. Every single moment I spent in Paris I was elated and amazed and where I was and how grateful I was for this experience

    On the third day we went on the bus with the ASP players and we drove to Brussels where we were going to play the tournament against the team of Brussels , the Paris team and two their schools. Once we got to Brussels it seemed to be colder then Paris and the school was also really nice. Their gym was really nice with speakers on the wall and real bleachers and it was much better than our gym and even the American school of Paris gym. When we arrived we got changed and we played against two teams and we beat them and we were really happy and surprised because when we lost against the Paris team and we watch them play we were very nervous but we ended up doing a good job. When the games finished and around 7:30 we went home with the St. Johns school in Brussels families and Evelyn and I were so surprised at how big their house was and it was really beautiful.

            On the third of December the tournament continued and we played 4 teams again and we beat them al including the Paris team. Even though we only beat them by about 2 points it was such an amazing and very intense game.  I was so proud of our team because we did let our nervous get the best of us and we gave them a tough fight and this state of thinking caused us to give all the teams a tough fight in order to beat us and in the end we ended up beating them all, and we did a great job.  We finished the games and around 1 in the afternoon we got back on the bus and drove back to Paris exhausted but proud of what we were able to do.

             Before we knew it our trip was over and  I was proud of our team because we gave the teams a tough fight and we played our beast whilst having fun. This trip was one of the most amazing trips I had ever had!! On this trip our team became closer then ever even though all the members of our team never came the people who did come made our trip memorable. We were able to play really tough but well deserved basketball games with the European teams and best of all we were in EUROPE in Paris and Brussels sightseeing and shopping! One of the best things about this whole trip was how amazing our coach was being able to stand us for all the 6 days and being able to help us reach our highest potential:)