This morning was the morning of the Standard Chartered Nairobi Marathon where I ran 10km. 

The run started at 8 in the morning. The weather was PERFECT for running, not sunny, but not rainy, just a nice temperature. There was a really good atmosphere at the run. Everyone were happy and excited and it was a great experience to be able to run through Nairobi town with thousands of others who were just as enthusiastic as me! i was also vey happy to be running with my friend Viktoria. i found that during the run, we were able to encourage each other and this is what helped us finish under one our.

i found the run to be very challenging, especially mentally.Of course the weather for this run was ideal, while in  but my running shape has definitely improved so much since Shompole. There was not a time during the run where I felt like I had to stop and walk, which was really significant for me. I was also able to increase my tempo for the last part of the run. I think I maybe paced myself a bit too slow because at the end I still had energy to sprint, which was a big surprise to me. Next time I will increase my pace for sure, and make sure I give it my all through out the entire run. I think this time I was a bit surprised at my actual abilities. 

WNS games

WNS - WON

this game  showed us as a team how much more we would need to focus in practice and how much more practice we needed if we were to come close to defeating them the next time we see them

Tournament at Rosslyn.

Tournament at Rosslyn.

In this tournament, we got to play all the teams we were seeing later and I think that put all teams on an equal playing field because we all got to see what the other teams can do, but this also put us at a disadvantage because the other teams got to see what we could do. In first half of the tournament went well and we won all the game in our pool.

by our third games, we stared playing badly and i think that this affected the team mentality, because in the next few games we played really bad.

After lunch we played Rosslyn outside and the team had a malfunction and we started playing badly and at one point the game was tied. I felt as if I was playing a little sluggishly and it was annoying me. We all knew that we could play like this in the finals, otherwise the only other undefeated team would kill us. They almost killed us and we were doing mnay things wrong, in offence and in defense. In the end we won against the RVA (A) team .

Athletic Council - ISK Track and Field Gala

yesterday was the track and field gala, to raise money for the new track. Athletic Council has spent a lot of time and energy preparing this and making it fun and different from the regular gala. So at this gala we decided to have "Sporty" Games and have people be in teams and have those teams compete for an end prize. So me and Evelyn spent the whole day making our "HOOPS" poster, and we made it pretty creatively. we cut out our poster in the shape of a basketball and then decorated it like a basketball because the objective of our game was to score as many "HOOPS" as one could make. we then headed to the UN Rec center to step up, where the Athletic Council spend an hour decorating the place, more creativity. we were there from 5:30pm to 9:30pm. I was in the Games room, supervising the ball toss and helping by the basketball station. it was a fun night :)

Athletic Council - Friday Meeting

ISK OLYMPICS

So today, we had no school, but the Athletic council decided to have a very important meeting, one, discussing the ISK OLYMPICS that was going to take place, we were in school form 13:00 to 15:00 deciding many important things. Since I am co-secretary of the club with Rhea, we had to be present. We decided many important things and got through a lot. We decided what our fist event was going to be, it was going to be a DODGEBALL  competition and our second event was going to be a quiz night on, you guessed it, the OLYMPICS!!!!

We also decided the rules, for example the teams can include anybody, from faculty to parents and that participation in events in optional. We also decided the point system and what other events we should include.

Some of the other events we want to do include:

·      Basketball competition

·      Track and field day

·      Poker night

·      Card night

·      More quiz nights

·      Volleyball completion and many more

We decided that if it was going to happen, it was going to happen in teams of 5.

And now the most important decision, what should the winning team receive. We decided that it should be BIG and it is . . . . . . . . . .

It is a TRIP TO COAST FOR 5

ISK vs Rosslyn Academy

this is our FIRST OFFICIAL GAME. i am really excited because it has been almost 5 months since i played basketball, and also because we have new people on our team. This will be a little bit challenging because they do not know all the plays that the rest of the team knows, but it has been nice reviewing the plays over the last few weeks. i am very confident in our team this year and i think we can handle anything :) .

THE GAME

i think that we played well and that considering that this is our first game as a team in the new year, we played well. i think that this was a good game to show us where we need to improve, because although we won, we made many mistakes

Athletic Council - PTO picnic

So today was the PTO picnic and like every year I decided to help out with a stall, I decided to help with the athletic council stall, because the mercy children’s center desperately needed money. At our stall, we were going to have a ball toss, were competitors stand a certain distance away and try to get the ball into a marked  hole. SOUNDS easy right J !!. But is harder than it looks. I arrived at 12 to help set up and we spend ten minutes moving tables around till we got the perfect shooting place. Then we let the kids come and how we attracted so many, ask yourself what do little children like the most?

 The most obvious answer is CANDY, so we had a lot of candy at our stall. 

The objective is simple, if you get no balls in, you win a piece of candy, 1 ball in, you win 2 pieces of candy, 2 balls in, there was a better prize and 3 balls in, you get to choose from the BEST prize table. We had many children visit our stall throughout the day and many of them tried and kept coming back. There was this one girl that I especially admired, because she NEVR GAVE UP. Even though she missed the first couple of times, I think she returned to our stall at least 30 times. This is the kind of spirit that I admire, she was very determined to get 1 ball in.

At the end of the day, we were able to raise 25000 shillings which was all donated to the Mercy Children Center, who really need all the money they can get.

Artsco - meeting

today in artsco, we decided what we wanted to do for the talent show and which committees we wanted to in in for the new school year. i decided i wanted to in the ushering committee and the advertising committee. this means that i will have to help in ushering the plays and the talent show and also to advertise the club and the talent show to various schools around Nairobi.

Athletic Council - meeting

Yesterday, I had athletic council and this meeting was very important i found. it was important because we decided to help a children home which is really struggling to stay a float. This is important because if this children's home gets shut down, a lot of children will return to the street. Last year in basketball, we had a free throwathon, where we were able to raise a lot of money for these children. Last year, also together with the American school of Paris, we donated over 200 pairs of shoes to the children center for their children.

I find this cause really important, because I have lived in Kenya my whole life and I see a lot of poverty all around me and these children are the future of Kenya and have a lot of potential and ability to contribute late in life. Without such centers most of these children would be living on the streets with nothing to look forward to.

Now we just and to find ways to get money for this center. So we brainstormed for a while and decided to have an

  ISK OLYMPICS.

Read about athletic council more to find out what exciting Things are going to happen in the ISK OLYMPICS 

Hope House #4

it is the summer HOLIDAYS, nut i still find it important to do some CAS and help out at my favorite baby home.
Today i went to hope house and i helped out withe the babies and i found out some very exciting news, that Baby Virginia was going to get ADOPTED soon. this made me very happy and sad at the same time, because even though she was geting adopted, a lot of the boys were still here from the last time i came to visit. i think that this is because in the traditional kenyan society, girls are found to be more easy to take care of because the marry in the end and leave home, but with boys the stay home forever and the parents have to pay Dowry for his wife. also girls are seen as more easy to handle than boys and this is seen as advantageous.

anyways, back to the cute little babies. Today i helped out in the smallest room, were baby james still was (the baby from April). i spent the whole day in here, just playing with the babies and feeding them and changing diapers.

Operation smile concert 2012.

Operation smile concert 2012.

The operation smile concert was a concert put on by the club, operation smile and by the composer club. I have been part of the club, operation smile since February and I find it a very inspirational club because it really does help people and the results are visible.

For the concert, I had to start preparing a head of time by making 30 cupcakes all with smiles one them. This took all afternoon and I was angry when it started raining because it was going to be difficult to get the cupcakes to the car. When I arrived at the event, I help set up the food stand and then went to lend a hand ushering. At the intermission, I helped sell the food.

I thought for the part of the composers club, it was a really well done concert and I was proud of how much money as a club we are able to raise. For one Childs surgery, it cost 250 dollars and we were able to raise 145,000 ksh from ticket sales and food and drink sales. This is enough to impact and change SEVEN children’s life’s and I t makes me proud to be associated with a club that changes people lives. Our original goal was to only raise enough for one child’s surgery, but now we have enough for six more.

I feel that this club really does change the world, as children with deformalities, especially ones that can be seen are usually outcasts and treated badly. In most traditional Kenyan societies, these children are even seen as a taboo and are not loved by their parents and are often left to die or are not allowed to leave the house, even not allowed to go to school. These children with a simple surgery will be able to live a normal life and finally have many things to smile about. This gave my a reason to smile because i know i am fortunate enough to come from a privileged family that can afford to pay for a surgery if i should need one or if  i needed one, but most of the world especially developing countries live in poverty and i find that sad.

Hope house #3

On the Monday of the Easter weekend, I went to hope house again. Today I spent 4 hours making new cotton balls out of normal cotton for the babies. After that I got to help clean James is umbilical cord which hasn’t yet fallen out.

 I find it appalling that a person would just throw away a baby like that and not even give a second glance. I feel like such people should be considered murderers because that is exactly what they are doing, murdering the babies. Babies are innocent and don’t even know wrong from right and it really hurts me to see them being treated as disposable items.  For example, my small brother that we adopted from hope house, was found in a plastic bag by the side of the highway when he was less than 3 weeks old. It would have been a shame if such a sweet baby had died because it got run over by a car or died of hypothermia. This is one of the reason I like helping out at hope house, because I believe in what they are doing and I fell a close connection o them as they saved my wonderful little brother.

hope house #2

On the Saturday of the Easter weekend I returned to hope house and was happy to go back. Today there were less volunteers and the babies were very quiet. It was fun playing with them and I taught the volunteers a new game that I play with my own baby brother at home. It is a traditional Dutch game for little children and they seem to love it. it is called BOKIE. I got to feed Virginia again and I enjoyed that.

Hope house # 1

During the Easter weekend, I went to hope house to do community service. I choose hope house as my main place to do community service because I like babies and I have helped out there before. When I arrived my first task was to help wash the babies and dress them for afternoon. I immediately fell in love with David, this small little whiny boy. There was also Virginia, a quiet little girl who seemed very happy. After washing and dressing 6 babies, why took them the eating place and I got to help feed Virginia and David. It was a nice experience and she was not fussy like my brother at home. After lunch. We put the bigger children to sleep and then I had to go take care of the little ones. There was Amos, who was the chubbiest baby I have ever seen, but he also had the widest smile. The smallest baby at the house it less than 13 days and I find that really sad. I played with Amos and James until it was 5 and then I went home.

Ushering for the Macbeth Play

I enjoyed ushering for the Macbeth play because it let me see the more creative side of my school and I got to meet new people. It was also helpful because it allowed me to help me grade too, to raise money for prom. Though this activity I learned that everybody has a strong side, for example mine is sport and the actors is acting.

ISSEA XXV Kenya

International Schools, South and East Africa Tournament

ISSEA is and International Schools South and East Africa tournament that takes place twice a year. Once for volleyball and football and the second time for basketball. The ISSEA teams consist of team of ten people from seven schools in Africa. The seven countries to participate this year where Kenya, Zimbabwe, Zambia, South Africa, Uganda, Tanzania and Ethiopia.

link to the picture page 

Photos and scores

I think this was my favorite ISSEA. It was in Kenya so we didn’t need to travel ,but it was still fun and competitive. In the beginning I was nervous because we were at home so there was a lot of pressure on us to win and also because ISK girls have been champions for the last 4 years, everybody was out to beat us, but I had confidence in my team and in myself. Last year there were also very many good teams. I knew that we had been practicing hard all year for this. Our first match was against ISU and since it was the first match of the competition we were all bit nervous because we knew that this would set the pace for the rest of the tournament. At the beginning, we started really strong and we continued strong. Throughout the tournament we played strong and never gave up. On the second day, Thursday, we were particularly nervous because we were playing, ICS and they are a team the we have had tough competition with over the years and the team we played in the finals last year. 

Today we where a player short, because Rasha had gotten hit in the stomach with a hockey ball and was recovering. I was very nervous and so was the rest of my team, because this was our toughest competition last year. In the beginning I think we let nerves get to us and we weren’t playing as composed as we could have been playing, but we improved through the rest of the game and the rest of the day went pretty well for us as a team. When the day of the semi-finals came, I had just one of those moments, like I had in the final RVA game where everything went well for me and I just knew everything that was going on. I think this was my best came. After the finals, it was a NERVE WRECKING wait for the finals, we finished the semifinals at 11 and we had to wait till 4:30pm for the finals. At 4 we had a group get together where our captains gave a very inspiration speech and got us psyched for the game. It was a very good final, even though we had lapses in certain areas, we were always able to get the ball back and have good passes to the basket.

I think my favorite moment of ISSEA, is the new move I learned. We were sitting outside on the second day, after our ICS game and watching the ISK boys play and I saw joseph and kiri do this thing were the person was taking the ball down really fast and they had passed everybody, but then kiri and joseph would run up behind them and just when the person went up for the lay – up they would volleyball spike the ball against the backboard. I decided that before the tournament was over that I would learn to do this move and I think the first time I did it was when we were playing Lusaka and the ball handler had passed everybody and I got this jolt of energy and I ran super fast to catch up with her and just when she took the ball up, I came up behind her a smacked it against the backboard. I then did it many other times. I also think that in this tournament I got to work on my offensive game a lot and that I really improved a lot, and I can’t wait for next year J

Ushering for the fringe festival 2012

for the fringe fest, my art club artsco had a opportunity to participate in a drama event and i signed up. i got to usher for the play called PIPE DREAMS by Davita. it was an interesting and as a  i  had to help people find their way around campus to the play they wanted to attended. the fringe fest is a collection of plays done by the final IB year 2 drama students . this opportunity showed by creativity and time management as being the usher of Davita play, i had to show people were to sit and i also had to be aware of the time so that i could start Davitas play on time, so that the event goes smoothly.

ISK vs Rusinga

ISK vs Rusinga

This is our first game in second semester and it is to help prepare for ISSEA. Even though we won, we were playing a team that was not as good as us, it was still difficult and many things that we were getting right last season, we were having many lapses in our first game. This made me realize how much more we need to do and how I need to take practices more seriously.

Intercultural Masai Mara Trip

The Mara Trip

I really enjoyed this trip as I got to experience very many new things such as building. It was fun even though there were very many challenges such as getting there, we got lost. So one the first day we got to school and boarded the bus that was going to take us to the Mara. It was a very long bus ride as we had to go all the way to the Maasai Mara. We took around 8 hours to get there, but when we finally got to the Bomet county line, the facilitators where there waiting for us with cool safari buses.

 It took another hour to get the campsite. The best part of the first day was meeting the children who were all so happy to see us and spread positive energy and made me feel less tired. I liked meeting the children because they were all so happy and positive and they had very many questions for me and i found it funny.

me and the some of the girls

The other best part of the first day were the games we did to get to know each other better, for example I found that name game very helpful because I didn’t know some of the people on my trips names.

Another activity that we did that I really enjoyed was the zone activity, where there were three zones in which when a question was asked, you had to stand in the zone that you were most comfortable with. There was the challenge zone, the panic zone and the comfort zone. This helped me learn new things about myself that I had not really thought of before. It also helped me see that I am not the only one with “weird” fears, such as I thought I was the only one who had a really big fear of the stage, “stage fright” in essence, but that many other people would also panic if put on the spot.

 Over the next few days we did fun and challenging activities such as the water walk, in which I got to learn more about the Maasai people and what challenges the face on a daily basis, like they has to walk over 5 kilometers to fetch water. I learned that this is a difficult activity as we had to participate in helping the “mamas” to carry water from the river to their homesteads.

the Water Walk

Also another activity that I enjoyed was going to the market because we got to participate with daily life again and got to interact with the local people and see what it is like to live with a tiny budget. This made me appreciate my life more because I have access to many things and I have never thought about the cost before, like the everyday food that I eat.

I also liked visiting the hospital and the school because I made me see the good things that me-to-we and free the children are doing for the community. They are stopping many preventable deaths from happening and they are also helping mothers in labor.

us on the building site of the school

I also liked the CAS, the building of the classroom and laying the foundations was fun. It also helped me learn many new skills, like cement mixing and how much cement to how much sand is needed. Other skills that I also learned were brick laying and how to prepare the foundation. Building the class room also required a lot of team work and was fun, for example when we had to move the bricks from were the were to the building site, it was around 200m and we formed a human brick chain where we passed the bricks to each other until they reached the building site.

On this trip we also got to learn a lot about ourselves and the environment and the world and I learned that a lot of my perceptions of the world were wrong. One night we mapped out the world and we placed certain items to represent number of people and the wealth and the amount of food consumed by the continents of the world. We did this teams and then we discorvered that what we thought we knew about the world was wrong, for example we put the Asia consumes a lot of food, but it turned out that America consumed the most food in the world. This was also helpful because afterwards we broke into groups and wrote a whole bunch of problems that they future will hold for us and we each had to pick one and discuss how we think we could change it and fix it.

us with the facilitators

I found this a good trip and the facilitators there were very positive and encouraging and it think this trip made me a better person because it made me more positive and made me appreciate myself more. It also helped me see the many problems the world has and the future challenges that I am going to face. I hope that I can in the future be a part of such good organizations hat are actually making a difference in the world today.

 here are the links to

free the children

me to we