Journalism Club: First Meeting

On the 27th of September was my first journalism meeting.
In this meeting we discussed ideas for our newspaper, people were also assigned the positions of writers, photographers, designers, etc. I will be a writer, and be given a new story (or come up with a story) to write about each month. The journalism teacher/supervisor said that she will be helping us writers edit and put together our pieces, which is a relief!

We agreed that our paper will be printed out, as generally students don't like having to go to a website to read. Some ideas for our articles were:

- The Commons
- What happens at ISK after school ends?
- Best dressed student
- Best dressed teacher
- Top 5 Songs
- Article on a student
- Sports
- The Play- Arabian Nights
- The ARTSCO Talent Show
etc.

I thought that maybe I could do an article on the guards and their relationships with their dogs, as they do spend the entire day together and so therefore must have some kind of connection.
And for the column on a student I thought that perhaps we should choose a quiet, not very well known person instead of someone the entire school is already familiar with.

I am really excited to explore my creativity through writing with this, and perhaps even connect more with my fellow students in the process.

Runda Feeding

Today I did the Runda feeding program in interact club. This went on from 10:30 - 12:30.
We all met up at Java house and then used three or four cars to take us to the site. We started out by unpacking various foods and stacking them up so that we would be ready to hand them out when the time came.

We pile up the bread!

We piled up plates with a little bit of each food and went and gave them out to some elderly men in a small bungalow nearby. As we handed them the food they smiled and thanked us over and over. It felt great to be helping, even if we were only doing a little.

Plates of food for the elderly men

The food consisted of mandazis, mangoes, sweets, bread, muffins, milk, bananas, juices, and much more. I was amazed at how much food we had!
It was really sweet to see some men preparing bread and milk for the dogs, and feeding the cows.

After we had finished we were assigned to hand out different foods - a friend and myself were in charge of the milk. There was soon a huge line of children waiting to collect their food, I was dumbstruck at just how many there were! They each collected plastic bags (some that the bread had previously been packaged in) and then went around to get a little of each item. Some children carried babies on their backs.

The line of children waiting for food

We gave one packet of milk to each child, and they flashed us grateful smiles.
After a while it began to get very crowded, and I frantically dropped milk in as many bags as I could! But there were so many people that after a while our three huge crates of milk ran out, and I was dismayed to see mothers carrying their babies not get any.

I help hand out milk

At the end we stood in a circle and reflected on our work, saying prayers and listening to the people talk about their organisation.

I really enjoyed this activity. It made me realise just how little they have, and how fortunate we are. I loved touching these children's lives, seeing their bright eyes and wide smiles was amazing. I feel like I learnt a lot more about the level of poverty in Kenya, and was inspired by the sense of community during the feeding.

Two little kids in line

I think that this is what interact club is all about, connecting with people that seem to be in a world so far away and different from your own, and making a difference (for them, and for yourself).
I can't wait until my next interact community service event!

Making a difference

Second Guitar Class

Today in my guitar class I learnt the first half of Pink Panther!
The first part of the song is made up of four power chords, repeated three times over with a brief gap between each one. I then learnt various notes on the top strings to add to the song.
I also learnt the right hand finger positions when playing guitar, the importance of rhythm, etc.

It was difficult to press down hard enough to produce a clear sound (an annoying buzzing sound occurs if you don't exert enough force). Five minutes into the lesson my fingers already had large dents in them from the strings! However they didn't hurt, and I look forward to them hardening over time.

The Pink Panther

I practiced the part of the song over and over, inspired by Job's flawless examples. I improved greatly over the course of our lesson, and by the end could successfully play half of Pink Panther.
Job said that it was the first song that he had learnt to play, and that when he had learnt it he had been far younger than me!

I am very happy with my progress today, and it feels good to be able to play a song (even if it does need a few improvements!)!

I am very excited to complete this song next friday!

First Guitar Class!

Today was my first guitar class of the year, and I really enjoyed it. This will be my skill for presidents award, and therefore I will be continuing it for twelve months. I will have a lesson every Friday after swim team, and be assigned homework during the week (this will consist mainly of practice).

My teacher is Job Nyangaya, who taught me guitar when I was in elementary! Unfortunately, I have forgotten practically everything, so we're starting off at a beginners level.
 Job arrived at my house shortly after I got back from swim team, and we sat down (with a nice cup of tea) and set our goals for this year (what we will have learned by December 2012).

My goals are:
1. Notes on the first and second strings
2. Notes on the third and fourth strings
3. Notes on the fifth and sixth strings
4. Basic chords
5. Minor seventh suspended chords
6. Pentatonic scales

- By the 21st of September - 5th of October I should have learned the notes on all of the strings.
- By the 5th - 19th of October I should know the basic chords.
- By the 26th of October - 2nd of November I should know the minor 7th suspended chords.
- From the 9th - 23rd of November I should know the pentatonic scales.

The songs I will learn are:
- Pink Panther
- Etude
- Malaguena
- Banana Pancakes
- More than words

Today I worked on basic six string tunes and reading music, which was really fun. I need to work on my rhythm, as I'm finding it hard to count out the beats at times. Next time I will continue to work on these aspects, and practice using all five fingers instead of just my thumb.

I'm really excited for this coming year of guitar, and I hope that I accomplish my goals and become a more musical person! I feel that this was the one thing missing in my CAS experience, as I have never really played an instrument before.
I can't wait for my next class!

Shangilia Second Trip

Yesterday, on the 19th of September, was our second trip to Shangilia.

When we arrived we split almost immediately into our groups. I went into a small classroom with only a few desks and a blackboard with the other three people in my group. Unfortunately Emma Vovk had not been able to come, and she had been the one responsible for bringing the supplies for our activity! So we collected some blank paper and pictures for coloring and handed them out to the children.

It was interesting to see the kinds of things that they drew, and the colors that they chose for certain items. I noticed that a lot of them liked to draw people, flowers, and cars. Some children logically colored in their pictures, choosing green for the grass and so forth, but others chose their horses mane to be blue, and the sky yellow! All of these children have such unique personalities, and deserve the chance to express themselves further.

This went on for about an hour and a half, and then we cleaned up the pencil shavings littering the floor of the classroom and went outside to play a few games (football, frisbee, etc.). The kids were amazing at football and Lucie, Nidhi and myself watched in awe as they worked together as a team to score goals. We were no match!

After this was done the director/manager of Shangilia talked to us about the kind of activities we could do next time (we were thinking nail painting and face painting?), and then we departed back to our bus.

I really enjoyed this trip as it allowed me to see how artistic and skilled these children are, and enjoy their varying personalities. I am looking forward to the Shangilia performance at ISK, and I hope that they are too.

Family Challenge 2012

This weekend my mom, two brothers, a friend of the family's, and I did the family challenge (my dad was in England for work)! The family challenge is an event that raises money for Kamili Trust, which helps people with mental disorders. This year it was announced that 3 million shillings had been raised with our help! We donated around 30,000 shillings to this cause, and the event happened from September eight to ninth. This money will be used to help train nurses, build clinics, and much more.

Poster for the Family Challenge 2012

The family challenge consists of a number of fun activities in which the teams all compete in. Some examples of challenges are: planting a tree, transporting water from one bucket to another without using your hands (you had to hold ropes), figuring out math problems as a team, etc.

This year our team name was Lionhearts (again). We arrived in Sanctuary Farm in time for lunch on Saturday, and then collected up our lists of instructions, put up our huge tent, and got to work! Our first challenge was tree-planting, which we all thought we did reasonably well at. Five more challenges followed this one, each taking about 15 minutes, with 15 minutes time to reach the next activity.
We camped in Sanctuary Farm overnight. There were many other families that we knew competing, for example some friends from ninth grade. During the night there was a jazz band playing (which was amazing!) and a big barbeque.

The next morning we had breakfast at around 6:30-7:00, there was a briefing and then the challenges began once more. We started off with the painting challenge, in which I was blindfolded and had to paint a sunset with my team's instructions! We ended the day with the water challenge, which consisted of crossing a swamp using planks!

We had an hour to take down our tents after this, and we managed to pack everything into the land-rover before lunch began. There was then an awards ceremony, which recognised the people who had contributed most to the event and who had helped organise it, the challenge winners, best family team, the people who raised the most money, and the overall winning team. We won a challenge and got a medal and a funky white t-shirt!
After we ate we drove back home, satisfied with what we had achieved.

I really wanted to make a difference when doing this, and I was glad that I achieved this while still having fun and enjoying myself in the process. This challenge taught me a lot about the Kamili trust, and about teamwork and responsibility. It showed me that to succeed in life you have to have support, both from yourself and from others. This fundraising activity will help me with this skill in life, and allow me to spread the word about this foundation and what people with mental disabilities are going through.

I can't wait to participate in the family challenge again next year!!

(The link to the Kamili website: http://www.kamilimentalhealth.org/index.html )

Shangilia- First Trip

Today we had our first trip to Shangilia. We all jumped on the bus immediately after school ended, and ate our lunches during the drive there. We drove through a big town, which though busy was very poor. Me and Lucie couldn't help but remember what the manager had said last time about the things the children are willing to do to provide for themselves in this community. We finally reached the entrance to Shangilia, which was brightly painted with drums and other instruments.

When we stepped through the door we were greeted by a cascade of bright hopeful faces. They immediately began to go up to members of the group and introduce themselves. Many of the kids remembered some of the other students from last years trip. There was also a game of hockey going on while this occured, and some of the boys joined in! The children were all very friendly, and I was grabbed by a shy, but nice little girl who showed me around the buildings. She proudly presented me with her bed, her classroom and the other bits and pieces of the orphanage. She told me a lot about what it's like to live in Shangilia and how much she loves to do acrobatics and get an education. Afterwards we talked about each others interests, for example our favourite animals and what we want to be when we grow up (she wants to become a hairdresser for the actors in Hollywood!).

 Lucie, Nidhi, some children and I grouped up together and played clapping games, which I wasn't very good at! At one point two girls did it extremely quickly, with their eyes closed! We then told some stories (rapunzel!) and did some drawing with them, which they all loved. Other group members played football and hockey with the kids, swung them around, and participated in a number of other activities with them. This continued for about an hour until we were redirected to our teaching groups (math, art, music, storytelling, etc).

Lucie and I play clapping games with two girls

I was taken to a small classroom with a few desks and a blackboard. I was in the art group, and we decided to play pictionary with the kids. At first we told them what to draw, but it soon became apparent that they just wanted to do their own thing! The children loved being able to draw on the blackboard, and from the overcrowding in our classroom you could tell that art was a popular subject in Shangilia. The kids moved around from each group to another, and though some left halfway through there was always a consistent amount of kids in the classroom.

Nidhi teaches the kids math

After about half an hour we all said goodbye to the kids and departed back to the bus.

I really enjoyed this first trip, as it gave me an idea of what these kids go through in their everyday lives. It also allowed me to bond with the kids and make some friends. I am happy to be helping improve their education and live more fulfilling lives. I think that this trip will also help me improve my leadership, as teaching these kids is a real opportunity to excel in this area.
I can't wait for our next trip!

Sponsored Swim 2012

This weekend I did a sponsored swim (an hour and a half long) to raise money for DogsTrust, which is an organisation in the U.K. that saves abandoned and abused dogs and finds them new homes, etc. I did this event with my friend Lucie on Sunday morning.

DogsTrust Logo

Over the past week I got people to sponsor me (per lap or total amounts), and now we just have to collect the money! I swam 140 laps today, and I will receive around 51,550 ksh. Together with Lucie's money we have about 66,500 shillings! 

It was really awesome swimming laps for a good cause, each length I did brought me new determination. It was a really sunny day, and having Lucie there made it more casual and fun. By the end of the time my muscles were aching, but I had a smile on my face. I had done it!

Me and Lucie jump into the pool after a long swim

Me diving into the pool

I'm really excited to donate this money to DogsTrust. I think that we have a real chance of making a difference for these innocent animals, and I feel great knowing that I've achieved this.

This experience taught me a lot about the fact that I can make a difference for these dogs, and that I don't have to have anything too expensive or fancy to do it with. All I need are some goggles and a swimsuit and I can make change. 

I can change the world, and I will.
One step at a time. 

Interact Club Team Building Day

Today from 9:00-12:30 was the Interact club team building event. We arrived and were immediately sorted into one of the four committees (service, club, international and finance), I was put into the service committee. My committee was the biggest out of all, as we are the people who will actually carry out the service events. For today we were divided into two small groups for the activities.

Firstly the teachers, board members and other guests were introduced, and they told us about what we were going to do. We were then handed out various shapes and had to arrange them to make four squares, our team was the second to finish! The winners were awarded pens!
After this exercise we were given a sheet of paper in which we  had to rank fifteen survival devices from most important to least important. First off we had to do it separately, and then come together as a team and do it together. After this was finished the answers were read out, and we had to do a few calculations to see who the winners of the game were.

There was a brief break after this, and then we all ventured outside to have a potato-and-spoon race. The first four teams went and then we had a go. The two winners from both rounds had a final race to determine the overall winner. Our team didn't even make it to the second round.....
Afterwards there was a snack break, in which we all ate brownies and other cakes and biscuits.
We then went back into the MPR and had small meetings to cover our goals in our committee's. The badges were then handed out, and Mrs. Henderson warned us all of the consequences of losing them, and the honour that it was to have one. The event ended with a big group photo of Interact 2012-2013!!

I am really excited to start off this year in Interact, this event helped me bond with my team more and fired up my enthusiasm to attend the many different activities that go on during the year. I can't wait to start making a difference in the community, and to learn more about the poverty in Nairobi.