Interact: OVC Party

I devoted this Saturday to the OVC Christmas party hosted at school by Interact for the nearby school for Orphans and Vulnerable Children. From 10am to 12pm, children ranging from toddlers to teenagers came to ISK to receive a full breakfast and to participate in the activities we supervised. Because I signed up for helping paint the mural, I wasn't able to directly interact with the kids, but when I passed by the pool area or the playground I could see the light in their eyes and the smiles that shined bright on their faces.

I spent the majority of my time working on painting the Interact mural with Moira, Cindy, Wulan, Mamadou, and a guest artist who helped supervise and add suggestions. We had previously met a couple weeks before to outline our design on the panel in chalk, and we were worried the Kenyan rains would wash away our progress before we could get around to painting. We followed Cindy's plan that she sketched on a sheet of paper; however, we encountered several challenges because of the scale of our new canvas. The panel's size forced us to reposition several elements and cut out others completely. The sun beat down on us, which was both a blessing and a curse. It was a blessing because that meant it wasn't raining and it was also perfect weather to swim in, but it was a curse because it was hot. Very hot. There was barely any protection from the scorching rays, and I forgot to wear sunscreen. I love painting, so I ignored the heat, and I really enjoyed helping with the mural. I do realize I am a slight perfectionist, so I did spend a lot of time on just one area of the panel, which is not very efficient considering the scale of our project. The time flew by, and before I knew it, it was already one o'clock and time to meet up for the Interact social.

A challenge we had to overcome as a group was that there was a miscommunication in the reservation of the pool area, so we had to share the pool with the community of swimmers who frequent the area over the weekend. This didn't cause a major problem and was easily dealt with; however, we had to move the Interact social to a different area. I admire how swiftly and effectively the club dealt with the situation and adapted to what was available.

Another source of improvement for the next event would be to meet as a whole group in one area and finalize the plan for the day. By the time I arrived at 9:30, Interact members had already split into several groups and communication was fractured, so several people were confused as to what they were supposed to be doing. For example, I heard the mural painting would be rescheduled for another day when I arrived, but when I talked to Moira who had to talk to Tamara, it turns out the mural activity would still be taking place. It is important to keep active links of communication so nobody is misinformed and we are still able to retain a high level of organization.

I also heard from Ms. Bock that the school sent 20 extra kids over the expected amount, so the kitchen staff had to scramble to provide food to make up for the unexpected shortage they had. Even though we'd love to have all the kids attend the party, there are limits to the amount we can cater for and supervise. Next time it would be important to get an accurate estimate of the number of kids attending as well as set strict limits to the number we can receive.

Because of my interaction with these kids from OVC, I am extremely grateful for the opportunities I have at my fingertips. I have a healthy, loving family to support me, food on my table that provides me with a balanced diet, a wardrobe of clothes, my own roof over my head and room to myself, and I have the opportunity to attend a rigorous school with a beautiful campus. Many of these kids lack these opportunities, and it made me realize how fortunate I am when I saw the kids ecstatic over being served breakfast by others at proper tables, as well as seeing the joy in their eyes when they picked out a new pair of clothes to take back with them.

Yoga

This week's yoga session was fairly different from our previous meetings. Today Vinaya focused on creating a more energetic session filled with more active poses. We started off with introducing ourselves and stating our spirit animal, all while beating against our chests to every syllable. I won't lie, I found this very odd at first, but the longer I talked and felt the resonance throughout my chest with every beat, the more soothing it became.

It's amazing to know how much you can learn about someone through the animal they chose to represent their spirit. The responses ranged from soaring birds to spitting llamas and grazing cows. I chose a cat to represent my inner self because I long to just take a relaxing nap in the sun, especially with all the work that has been piling up thanks to all my IB classes. I learned this new fact about myself because I never really gave much thought as to how I would represent my spirit. I feel like I gained a deeper connection with who I really am now that I'm devoting more time to myself. I'll now try to set aside a few minutes each day to discover what's underneath all the layers I built to shield myself and to think about who I am as an individual versus what I want society to see me as.

Next, Vinaya introduced us to laughter yoga. We started off with forced giggling and chuckling, but after a few minutes it turned into full-fledged laughter and we only stopped when our sides were heaving and we were struggling to regain our breath. Through this exercise I learned the true importance of laughter in our lives. Since senior year is so stressful and serious, it's important to release all this tension and there's no better way to do it than through laughter (or ice cream).

Vinaya then moved on to challenging us with more aggressive yoga positions.  When she told us to do a handstand against the wall, I thought to myself that there's no way I'll be able to do something so physically demanding and supple. I surprised myself when, less than two minutes later, I was upside-down on my hands. Granted, I wasn't able to hold this pose very long because of my lack of upper-body strength, but I did do it. Slowly, I'm begin to have more faith in my abilities and a greater willingness to try poses that are outside of my comfort zone. There was one pose, however, I could not do because I was worried I would end up snapping my back. I know my limits, and I reached them when we had to bend over backwards (literally). Perhaps in the future I will build up my tolerance to bending my back without the fear of hurting myself, but during this past session I did not want to risk a back injury.

We ended the session with a peaceful pose lying on our backs and feeling like we're sinking into the ground. There's no greater stress-relief than yoga and I hope to incorporate it into my daily schedule instead of just once a week. I would like to see more exercise-oriented poses to strengthen my core, but I do like the mix of relaxing and stretching that we're currently doing.

Interact: Mural Preparation and Hunger Games Premiere

Moira, Cindy, Cian, and I met up after school last Friday to set up the outline for the Mural painting that was scheduled for that weekend. Cindy sketched the design for the mural and we worked to transfer that onto the panel we selected. It required a lot of teamwork to finish the basic outline within a couple hours, but by then it had started to rain. We were worried the rain would wash away our progress, so we tried using a plastic sheet to cover our panel; however, it was not large enough and it was too difficult to stick in place so we decided to leave it as it was and up to chance. We figured the panel's placement would protect it enough from the weather since it was sheltered in a corner.

When we arrived on Saturday morning for the scheduled mural painting activity with the OVC kids, it was pouring. The weather was miserable and we were forced to reschedule the activity for another day. Unfortunately, there was a lack of communication and quite a few Interact members arrived at school, only to find no one and wait around until eventually turning back home. Looking back on it now, it would have been beneficial to post something on the Facebook group page or send a message out to everyone involved in order to prevent that from happening. You can't predict the future, and it's always good to have a backup plan and a willingness to be flexible, especially with outdoor activities.

For the past couple of weeks, Interact members have been trying to sell tickets to the Hunger Games: Mockingjay movie premiere at Sarit centre. This is really challenging, considering the tickets are 1000Ksh each, which a lot of students find quite expensive even though the money will go to a good cause. Each Interact member was given 6 tickets to try to sell to High School and upper Middle School. At first, we were meant to sell the tickets and have the student fill out a parental consent form as well. Eventually, the board realized this would be almost near impossible to manage and check who signed and returned the forms, so the form only had to be completed by Interact members who will be attending the event. I managed to sell four out of my six tickets, and I'm extremely grateful to my friends who tried to help me sell my tickets.

Unfortunately, I was not be able to attend the event due to lack of transportation, but I heard the movie premiere was a great success and we had a huge turnout. I was worried at first that not a lot of people would attend, based on how ticket sales were going, but a lot of people ended up buying tickets at the last minute until we virtually sold out. If I were to redo this event, I personally would have chosen The Hobbit as the movie to premiere because it would appeal to more adults as well as the High School population, but that's just my opinion. The drawback is that it would have been scheduled for a Friday close (or during) exam week, so it was a good idea to choose a popular movie that would be released well in advance.

This activity made me realize that marketing is hard work, and it requires a lot of organization and a certain amount of charisma in order to sell tickets. Moira designed the posters advertizing the event, and I helped edit them and add any final touches. I feel like I'm becoming an integral part because of the responsibility this club demands, and I'm glad to help in any way I can.

Jazz Band: Concert

Tonight was the High School Fall Concert for ISK's choir, HS band, and Jazz Band. We've spent the past couple of months preparing pieces for this concert, including: Blue Bossa arr. by Mark Taylor, Locked Out of Heaven arr. by Paul Murtha, and What's Your Poblano? by Mike Collins-Dowden.

There were several challenges leading up to this performance. For example, because the meetings are before school on Wednesdays and Fridays, several people are unable to make most meetings, which severely limits what we are able to accomplish during our practices. Unfortunately, this can't be helped because of people's busy schedules, so a lot of our communication occurs on the Facebook group page and the pieces must be practiced individually at home. Finding the time to practice was also a struggle. My heavy work load prevents me from devoting a lot of time to practicing the clarinet, but I try to devote at least 20 minutes to practice every few days. Also, because Jazz Band is only able to meet twice a week, there's a limited time available to cover fairly advanced pieces, and Mr. Ligon decided to cut out a piece because we weren't ready to perform it. I found Blue Bossa a particularly difficult piece as well because of its funky rhythms and rapid shifts in octaves, and I feel that we could have done a more refined job if we had a few more practices. All in all, though, I believe our performance went fairly well. It went by quickly because we only performed three pieces, but I enjoyed being on stage and sharing my passion for music with the other band members.

I find Jazz Band particularly challenging to me because I am normally not comfortable performing in front of people, especially when it comes to improvisation or challenging pieces. I know during the past practices I have kept to myself and shied away from any opportunities of improvisation or solos, so I hope to build up the self-confidence to grab those opportunities one day. 

Now that the Fall Concert is over, we will be performing Christmas-themed pieces at Village Market on December 12th. This leaves us with only a couple weeks to prepare them, but I'm looking forward to the early-morning meetings before the mayhem of semester exams begin.

Photography

So far in photography we spend most of our meetings looking at and critiquing other club members' photographs. This is nice because we get a lot of feedback as well as advice on what could be improved or altered. We are also preparing a portfolio this year of our work, so we can focus on specific techniques to provide an overlying theme to our pictures.

I like photography because it gives me an opportunity to express a little piece of myself in every photograph I showcase. I also enjoy playing around with camera settings to create different artistic effects in my photos. Photography is my new creative release, and one day I may use what I've been learning throughout my time in this club to share a message with a global audience.

Shanti and Erik are doing a great job at leading this club; they come up with new ideas or activities for each meeting as well as new areas of focus. One improvement could be to set a specific task to accomplish for a following meeting because at the moment it is very general. My role in this club is as a general secretary/organization helper. I take the attendance and help out with anything by providing another pair of hands and an opinion. I'm glad I'm able to have an active role in the organization of this club because I feel like my contributions help and make a difference.

Right now we're working on showcasing our achievements at the art exhibition taking place in a couple weeks. Each member is sending in a photograph they were particular impressed with taking as well as their camera settings. Our photographs will be displayed on a panel to anyone who passes by, so we will be able to share what we are capable of. I feel that each photograph has a message, and it's important to be able to reach an audience.

NHS (re)induction

Today I was inducted into the National Honor Society in ISK. I feel proud and grateful to be a part of this demanding organization, and I'm looking forward to participating in it.

NHS's goal this year is to raise enough money to provide a scholarship for a Masai girl to be able to be sent to school. I'm really happy to be able to help because a lot of Masai girls are forced into early marriages and are denied the chance to pursue a full education. I'm thrilled to know that we are working with a local Masai group of women who save these girls, and our collaboration can really make a difference in the local community.

My goal this year is to really give back to the community in any way I can, either through volunteering my time or skills, because I want to make a difference... no matter how small it might be. I also want to be able to assert myself and contribute ideas because I usually tend to blend in with the wallpaper. This will be a particularly grueling challenge because I am shy and avoid any form of public spotlights.

NHS is also my incentive to working harder throughout the year. There are a lot of values to uphold, especially those relating to character, leadership, service, and scholarship - the four pillars of NHS.

KSPCA

I signed a volunteer contract this afternoon to help out at the Kenya Society for the Protection & Care of Animals (KSPCA). ISK does offer KSPCA as a service-learning activity in school, but the club is full, so I volunteer outside of school hours.

I love animals and want to do my part to help those that have been abandoned or abused as well as volunteer my time to slightly lighten the load to full-time employees. By volunteering, I'll help with everyday chores such as cleaning cages and feeding the animals. So far, I've only taken a look around and familiarized myself with the area but I hope that in the
coming weeks I'll be able to start helping out.

For more information check out: http://www.kspca-kenya.org/

Wole Soyinka at Storymoja

Today I had the amazing opportunity to hear Wole Soyinka speak at the annual Storymoja festival held this year at the National Museum of Nairobi. Wole Soyinka is a Nigerian playwright and social activist. Soyinka's speech revolved around a theme of trees and was dedicated to Wangari Maathai, a Kenyan female activist.

"Great people, like trees, can be felled..."

Soyinka's speech eventually led into the senselessness behind terrorism and how radical interpretations of both religion and history give rise to terrorist groups. He presented a vivid picture that I wish to retell:

Imagine a woman stranded in a tree, clinging to safety in its branches, trying to escape from a great flood of water below. As it happens, she gives birth in the tree. Luckily, a rescue helicopter saw the helpless woman and brought her to safety. Now, imagine the helicopter never came, but in its stead, a troop from Boko Haram happened across the half-naked woman in the tree.

Wole Soyinka had no doubt in his mind the troop would condemn the woman of treason - of disgracing the sight of both man and God. The scene of the woman in the tree, a symbol of survival to most, is now turned into an execution when faced by Boko Haram.

The following video is a recording I took of this section of his speech:

Yoga

Yoga is one of my activities counting for Action. We meet every Friday after school in the last MultiPurpose room in the HS office.

I joined yoga to strengthen my core and find a way to relax at the end of every stressful week. Though I attended my first meeting a couple of weeks later because I needed a little nudge, I hope to now attend every meeting possible. The first meet sold the club to me; normally I don't have the patience to do yoga in my own time, but the structured session really made the time fly, and I left the room feeling good about myself for accomplishing some physical exercise and relaxation techniques.

I hope that yoga will teach me how to let go of the stressful things weighing down on my shoulders because life is only going to get even more stressful when college begins and we have to balance studies with work experience. I look forward our weekly sessions when schoolwork piles up throughout the week and I can find an hour to completely relax.

Welcome Back Picnic

The PTO organized a welcome back picnic today in which every club got an opportunity to fund raise by setting up booths. I helped out this year with Interact, NHS, and Artsco by helping run the booths as well as taking photos for photography.

Interact organized a used book sale in which all our members brought in old books that were just gathering dust on their shelves. Every book was sold at 50 KSh and we had a surprising turnout. The funds will go towards supporting future interact operations.


National Honor Society set up both a cotton candy/shaved ice stall and a table full of Maasai crafts created by Maasai women trying to raise money to send young girls to school and save them from early marriages. The shaved ice was an instant favorite and hordes of kids came running for the cotton candy. A large percentage of our funds, however, went to the vendors themselves since we hired them for the day. A potential improvement next time is to perhaps try cutting out the middle man to therefore limit some losses. 

The picnic was a great opportunity to raise funds as well as bring the school community together for an afternoon.

Jazz Band

^ Practicing my photography

I joined Jazz Band, directed by Mr. Ligon, to be able to continue playing my clarinet in an ensemble. We meet every Wednesday and Friday before school.

In order to sound fairly decent, every member has to listen to each other to balance out the overall sound and cohesion of the piece. Jazz band also focuses on improvisation which requires skill and a degree of confidence in your abilities as a musician. We'll be performing eventually in public, and I hope to get over my performance anxiety.

Book Club

I consider myself an avid reader... a book worm, if you will. So, naturally, the idea of book club appealed to my compulsive need to pick up a book and ravenously devour it. Last year, I became more involved in book club towards the second semester and this year I'm helping the chair with organizing meetings and posting updates on the Facebook page. This position holds quite a bit of responsibility and demands a lot of organization on my part. A week before our first meeting, I met with Ms. Zents and we set up a basic, foundation schedule as well as the order of the chosen books we'll be reading this semester.


Book Club allows me to expand on my opinions of literature as well as share them with an audience. These meetings occur once every three to four weeks to allow enough time for everyone to read the chosen book. I hope to overcome my fear of speaking in public and sharing my opinion on subjects because I am quite reserved and will only reluctantly speak up when badgered and pressured into divulging an opinion. As a club, we hope to persuade more students to join, not only because we serve delicious food during our meetings, but because books are worth reading.

Artsco

Artsco is held every Tuesday Week 1 during lunch in the Commons group study room. I decided to join Artsco because I have a passion for art, and because I haven't taken any High School art courses, I wanted to find a way to include art in my school life. Artsco will allow me to work on my art skills with the guidance of an art teacher (Mr. Nichols) and other students passionate about art. This club is also interested in working with the community so we will be able to share our interest in art with not only ISK but other organizations in Nairobi. The Artsco president, Natasha, is a good friend of mine, and I find it really easy to work with her and share her passion for art. I can sense her motivation, and I felt it permeate the room the very first meeting. I admire her determination and I'm looking forward to participating in this club.

Though I ran for a secretary position, I was running against a good friend of mine and lost the election by a close vote. Even though I wasn't elected for a leadership position, this doesn't tarnish my dedication to the club and I'm happy for my friend who's the new secretary of Artsco.


I hope this activity will allow me to develop some confidence in my abilities as an artist and as an individual. I frequently see myself as another face in the crowd and I hope to break out of this mold I set for myself. A lot of teamwork is involved in Artsco: in setting and designing activities and mural paintings, and in making sure they run smoothly and are completed in time. This will boost my awareness in my role in a team setting and how I can contribute to the club to head towards a common goal. Finally, as an art club, I'm free to explore creative outlets and new mediums.

Zumba!

Last year I tried a couple of sessions of Zumba, so this year I've decided to continue and hopefully be more committed to attending Zumba every Monday afterschool in the dance studio. Normally, I'd be über conscientious about my nonexistent dancing skills, but I feel that Zumba will give me the chance to start breaking the tough shell I like to hide inside, especially when it comes to social interactions.

I hope Zumba will allow me to build my self-confidence, while at the same time having fun and getting a workout. Usually, it's really hard to get me interested in physical exercise or dancing, so I was surprised to find a combination of the two would be so entertaining and fulfilling at the same time. A few of my friends have also joined, so that also gave me a small push into joining Zumba so I wouldn't be isolated and as apprehensive about joining a club full of strangers. Because Zumba continuously pushes me outside of my comfort zone, I find myself more open to trying new things without the fear of embarrassing myself or worrying about being judged.

Embrace the Amazing

This year I joined Embrace the Amazing, a service activity devoted to interacting with autistic children. Our first meeting was simply an icebreaker to get to know the people in our group, which I found extremely helpful because I do not know a lot of the people in this club. This offered me an opportunity to break out of my shy bubble and get to know people. Our first activity was a modified version of bingo where we had to find people who fit the description written in a box. Our second activity was to find a way to have all people in our small group stand on a single sheet of newspaper. I am particularly proud of coming up with an idea that allowed our group to progress the furthest.

Through this activity, I realized that social interaction is not as scary as I had previously thought; however, I still need a plan of attack when it comes to finding ways to start a conversation with someone. These ice-breaking activities also brought us closer together as a group, and we can now move forward to tackle future endeavors. In this club, I would like to be able to contribute new ideas to activities we can organize for these kids. I have learned through other clubs and activities that I am happiest when I am able to make other people smile. I hope to be able to spread happiness to these kids.

Embrace the Amazing will help autistic kids by creating activities that they will be able to enjoy. By spending time with them and devoting a day to these kids, we let them know that they matter.  Even though life may be a little bit more difficult to tackle as an autistic child, we'll be creating a safe environment where they can be themselves and have fun.

Photography

This year in photography we're taking a more hands-on approach. Not only will we focus on proper picture taking, but also post-processing enhancements. Photography is also in charge of providing photos for Yearbook so we've divided responsibilities in taking photos for school events, service activities, and other clubs. I am in charge of overseeing who will be able to participate in taking photos for service activities as well as organizing club members in taking photos for school events.

This year I hope to refine my picture-taking skills so I can express myself through the pictures I take as well as convey a message rather than just pointing at something interesting and clicking. This activity is one of my only outlets in being able to express myself creatively. I also have the chance to be able to take a proactive leadership role in this club by helping to organize opportunities to take pictures at school events. Photography will allow our members to be as creative as we want while being able to showcase it around school.

Senior Year

Now begins a new chapter in my life: senior year. This year I want to be more active in my school community by volunteering and joining new clubs, as well as continuing those I participated in last year. At the activity fair, I signed up for photography, zumba, yoga, artsco, book club, jazz band, Interact, and Embrace the Amazing. Photography, zumba, and book club are all clubs I'm continuing from last year. I'm not sure whether to continue with the Greenhouse Project because I know I only became active within the last few months of 11th grade. Maybe I'll become involved in sales when the tomatoes in the greenhouse are ripe for sale. This year I've also been re-inducted into the National Honor Society because I was originally involved in NHS in my old school but was not sure how it transferred between schools. I look forward to a very interesting year:)

Photography

This semester in photography we came up with a system to post our photos on the Facebook group so we can critique each others style and spending out activity block in school as a workshop. This time is a chance to learn more about the camera's settings and options. We spend time actively experimenting with the camera, trying to gain a greater range of expression in our shots. As this club draws to an end, I'm glad I participated in it. I got a chance to express myself in my photos and learn more about how to manipulate the camera so as to not rely too heavily on post-processing. I will continue to be involved in photography next year. I was kind of sad that we weren't able to go on a photography trip this past year because it would really have been a great experience to actively shoot and get hands-on experience. Hopefully next year will be more productive, but this past year has been quite a good experience.

Book Club

This semester I'm more committed to Book Club with Ms. Zents. We organize a meeting once every 3-4 weeks. We reach a group consensus on which book to read and discuss and over our Facebook group we decide on the group coordinator and who will provide snacks and edible goodies. We have read 4 books so far: The Book Thief, On the Road, Dry, and Naked. When reviewing books and sharing our opinions, we have guiding questions asked by the designated facilitator, but conversation usually flows pretty smoothly when we connect with a book and its plot. This group helps me socialized and be comfortable with sharing my opinions. Normally, I'm quite withdrawn and prefer listening rather than talking, but book club helps me overcome that hurdle easily because I'm an avid reader. I hope to continue to be involved in this club next year.

Greenhouse Project

I joined Greenhouse Project this semester to get involved in an in-school service activity. I enjoy gardening and I want to be able to take part in a major school project and say I had a part in it. I wasn't that involved through the first part of the semester because of external issues. Halfway through the semester though, I've begun to spend my Thursdays afterschool at the greenhouse selling home-grown vegetables such as tomatoes and chili. Yesterday I helped dig and prepare dirt mounts where we hope to grow herbs before the end of the year. We layered fertile soil, manure, and compost. This activity helps me interact with people to achieve a common goal. I hope to continue this activity next year.

Hockey

I signed up for hockey tryouts and meets. Though I didn't make the team, I attended several meets to support my friends and improve my skills. I've never played field hockey before, but it sounded like a fun sport to be part of. I hoped to be able to gain some athletic skills as well as become a team-player. I enjoy independent activities and don't do so well in a team environment so playing sports forces me to confront my difficulties and learn from them. This activity taught me that even though I didn't make the team, I still had fun and enjoyed my time supporting my girls hockey team. I'm usually unable to participate in sports because of the commitment involved. My health also limits me, but I hope to be able to participate in more afterschool sports next year.

Zumba

I joined zumba with a friend to just try it out for a few weeks. Zumba combines aerobics and dance, so it's a real workout. It's quite difficult to follow the instructor's movements at first, but once you get into the rhythm it becomes a whole lot easier. Through this activity, I learn how to react quickly in order to follow the instructor, and I gained a lot of self-confidence dancing in front of people. I hope to gain even more confidence and be able to step out of my comfort zone. My friends help me a lot and keep me motivated to attend most meetings. I love this activity because I'm not much of an athlete so it allows me to be able to exercise as well as improve my dancing. In an abstract way, zumba is like life. There are some times when you have to react quickly to join the flow and enjoy it. I learned that I can enjoy activities that I was apprehensive about joining at first. I'm now a bit more open-minded towards clubs and activities.