Accepted to be a part of DukeEngage Kenya-WISER program. Beyond stoked.
We met as a group for the first time to introduce ourselves and to learn more about the program. Indian food was included.
Wait, what do you mean the teachers might leave us to teach on our own?
At first it seems like staying two extra days at school is a drag, the information they teach was actually really helpful. Barnga!
I'm really excited to throw myself into a new culture and step out of my comfort zone! Wait, that sounds awful.
Finally on my way to Nairobi!
2 days later and with 16 hours worth of flight time in my pocket, I have never been so happy to touch the ground.
A great place for some blue devil's to visit. **Disclaimer: The puns/jokes will only get worse from here.
Can you guess what we did today?
But will the girls like me? So nervous.
They're even more incredible than I could have imagined.
After attending the classes the WISER girls take today, the very clear answer to this question was NO.
Every tuesdays, two duke students had to cook a meal for the rest of the dukies. Today's meal: Chicken and rice!
Today was my first day teaching at Senye Primary School.
Today was the first day I actually got to interact and teach the students.
My first look at the position the students are at academically.
Today I had lunch with my lovely student Winnie!
Celebrating the 4th of July! The Duke students prepared hotdogs for the occasion.
A few of us duke students and some WISER girls decided to climb up the water tower to take some really artsy photos. From here you can see all of Muhuru Bay and some of Tanzania
The Wiser girls get some free time in their busy schedules to play games and relax. I decided to teach them how to make friendship bracelets.
We decided to see what it is like to be a Kenyan fishermen. We immediately regretted our decision when the motor stopped working, leaving us stranded in the middle of Lake Victoria, baking in the sun.
I didn't sign up for this!
The Houses of Wisdom are pinned against each other in an academic competition. It was really intense, or maybe I was just a tad bit too competitive. House Gorgeous came out as 1st, obviously.
"How are you?" "I'm Gorgeous!"
This time, Sharone invited me to her home where I met her beautiful mother. After eating breakfast, we went to the lake and walked around Muhuru, just enjoying the day and dancing to Rather Be by Clean Bandit.
By now, I have already thought about my ways of keeping in contact with my students and WISER girls. I cannot imagine my life without them at this point.
After spending 4 weeks teaching at Senye and visiting my students' homes, I had to say goodbye for now. The letters they wrote to me were heartbreaking and uplifting at the same time.
Today marked the day I began my 2 weeks of teaching at the private school Muhuru Jr. This place was all sunshine and lollipops!
I miss my students at Senye. I really like my students here at Muhuru Jr.
Because I missed my students at Senye so much, I invited some of them to eat Mandazis (donut type things) and Soda. Sharone and Renny came. It was great to see their faces.
A "Piki-Piki" was a small motorcycle that we would ride with a Piki driver to get from place to place.
Every now and then I had my students teach me concepts, rather than just I teaching them. They loved this reversal
Today was our last chance to take photos with the WISER girls so that we could print some for them to keep. My inner diva came out.
Today we finally began recording for our music video project with the WISER girls! We tried to make a video that would show the ambition these girls have as well as their fun personalities.
Not anything like the hunger games, but just a friendly competition between each of the primary schools working with WISER Bridge to win some school supplies.
As my time in Muhuru was winding down, I tried to spend as much time with my students as possible.
My last time to spend with Sharone and I brought some friends with me! Her family was unbelievably kind to me.
To make our friendship official, Elvince took Leah and I on his piki to explore parts of Muhuru we haven't seen before. One of our stops was the WISER tree you see in the logo.
One of the Duke students too the incredible initiative to start a 5K that the girls could run called "Run Like a Girl" I participated as the runner to hold up the middle section of runners.
Each tuesday, Duke students would cook a meal for the group and gather to reflect on our feelings. But it was not until this day, that I was truly hit was my emotions.
To school for cool? I decided to invite the students to just talk, dance, sing, or just hang out. Here I got to say my goodbyes.
The morning I dreaded so much. After spending our last night with the WISER girls and after crying enough tears to fill up a WISER kiosk, we had to say goodbye.
On the car ride to Masaai Mara, I sat silently and didn't bother to talk to anyone because I just wanted to think of ways in which I can return. Kenya feels like a second home to me now.
We still hadn't seen the big five animals on a safari, so it was time to give it another go! Elephants? Check. Lions? Check. Water Buffalo? Check. Leopard? Check. Rhino? Check.
Talk about culture shock.
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