'Tis the season!

Seating Team Lead: We Day Waterloo Region!

My oh my, it has been a while since I last posted! The past few months have been crazy ones since my return from trips. Immediately after returning I jumped into We Day mode. This past season I was asked to be a "Seating Team Lead". What that means is myself and another colleague were the point people and in charge of creating plans to seat 15,000-18,000 youth at each We Day! That means ourselves, about 6 other staff members, and 60-100 volunteers effectively sat thousands of people so they could enjoy the day with great seats. Needless to say, it was very time consuming, and at times stressful, job but it was well worth it. We held We Days in Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Winnipeg, Waterloo, and Montreal (only one I did not attend). It was so lovely to be able to see each city and explore different parts of Canada. My highlights from the tour would definitely be: dancing with cowboys in Calgary, walking the streets of Vancouver (one of my favorite cities), and making new friends with people I don't have the pleasure of always interacting with. It was an amazing journey and I was able to gain so many skills that will follow me into more careers.

Once We Day was complete, I had to start wrapping up my life in Toronto, knowing that I would be leaving Free The Children and coming back to Massachusetts in December. However, when I returned, I received an email from the Executive Director of FTC, my director, and the Director of HR, asking to meet with me. When I met with them they informed me of a position opening up in the US that they wanted ME for! The position would be one to build our ground in Minnesota where I would be doing outreach speeches to get schools excited and involved with FTC, meeting with teachers and principals, working on corporate sponsorship at times, and anything else that gets thrown my way. I knew it would be a lot of work and a very challenging role... one in which I would be able to use the skills I already have and also gain new skills to carry over into future careers... So I said YES! Nathaniel and I will be moving to Minneapolis next week to begin the next chapter of our lives together and we couldn't be more excited!

Nathaniel and I

Me, Britt, and Larissa

After telling my team that this move would be taking place, I started researching the role and all I would have to do. My final month in Toronto was jampacked with figuring out this new role, my best friend coming to see the city, holiday parties, and much time with friends and loved ones. We had our 2nd annual Merry Giving, along with holiday parties and a goodbye party for Larissa and I.

This past week has been spending lots of time with family and celebrating the holidays, while packing and getting ready for the next adventure. I miss Toronto a lot but I feel comfort knowing that I am not yet leaving the Free The Children family and will only be a simple phone call away.

Here's to new adventures in new cities! Until next time...

Politics... of China.

August 18, 2012, 8:30 p.m.

                I am traveling through a country that is often referred to as an “emerging superpower” of the world, yet 36% of the population lives on less than $2 a day and 56% (700+ million people) in the country live in the rural communities. Of these 56% of people, roughly 20% of them will leave their community to take on low wage jobs in the city, hoping for a greater success and more money for their families (their children not able to go with them). Within the rural population, only 1% of secondary students will move on to college or university, and there would be approximately 1.5 health care workers per 1,000 people. If you were living in this rural community, you would go to the bathroom in squatters – holes in the ground - where the urine and feces would collect and potentially contaminate the soil or water within your community.

                As a citizen in China, you are automatically part of the hukou system – a system in which your household must register for the government. Once you register your family with the government, that place becomes your home and certain restrictions guide your life. For instance, if I am registered in the Gufupu community (a rural community about two hours outside of Beijing), because my parents and their parents grew up in this community, I would then be restricted to that community when it comes to education, health care, work, etc. I could choose to head into the city to find work, which as you read roughly 20% do, but my children would have to stay in Gufupu and be raised by my parents because they would not be allowed to attend school in Beijing. We could get health care in Beijing, but we would have to pay for it, which many rural community members cannot afford. Also, if I am choosing to work in the city in attempts to support my family, I would be listed as a “migrant worker” and certainly not be  paid as much as city dwellers would be. Finally, there is the one child policy. Every person in China must be registered with the government, otherwise, they have no identity, and if they have no identity they cannot go to school, get health care, etc. Each family is allowed to have one child, to slow the rates of over population, and then it is common for one of the parents (mostly the women) to be sterilized. This poses problems because in China, it is very desirable to have a boy so he may carry on the family name, therefore, it is undesirable to have a girl. Legally, you cannot find out the sex of your baby until it is born because otherwise there may be forced abortions, however, you can sometimes pay off a doctor to find out. Also, there is the chance that the girl may be killed or sold off after she is born if the family either does not want to have a girl or cannot afford it (think dowry when she is older and needs to be married).

                These trips always amaze me because they force me to look at hard issues from two stances. On the one stance, I look at it as a human, a global citizen, an activist. How can people kill their baby based upon the sex? How can a government tell you that you can only have one child? How can a government hide a massacre, a part of history? How is it that the rest of the world isn’t exposed to this side of China? Why is it that we refer to it as a superpower when so many of their own citizens are struggling to survive and maintain a proper identity? These experiences force you to consider the other side as well though. How is an overpopulated country expected to maintain order if they don’t have records of its citizens? How is an overpopulated country expected to keep its cities clean and safe without restricting people from constantly migrating in? If there’s anything I have learned on this trip so far, it is that nothing is black and white. There are many gray areas to the Chinese government whether we like to admit it or not.

Tang Jia Qiang, the boy who stole my heart

                Today we visited a Kung Fu orphanage that we will be volunteering at all week. It wasn’t until later tonight that I realized... if these kids are orphans, they don’t have birth certificates, therefore having no identity with the Chinese government. If they need health care, Kung Fu Daddy (he heads the orphanage) pays for it out of donations. They have teachers at the orphanage to educate them but the children have no future in further education because they have no identity and no way to take high school exams for college admission. That means Tang Jia Qiang (or John as he allowed me to give him an English name), the sweetest, most obedient, and soft spoken 5-year-old I have ever met, with the softest touch as he held my hand, will never have a fair shot at his own basic human rights. Unless he makes it big with Kung Fu or gets a good break through Kung Fu Daddy and can leave China, he doesn’t have much of a future here. He’ll grow up in an orphanage, with a family of teachers, coaches, and 80 other orphans, loved more than anything... but as soon as he turns 18 and has to move on (whether he chooses to teach there or move on), he will still have no identity. Unless something changes in the policies of the Chinese government...

Let's talk China...

Hey friends! Long time no chat. I was kindly reminded that I never put up my posts from my adventures in China (though I'm surprised that kind reminder didn't come from Ilesa!). The trip was great, and I did blog a bit throughout it and saved them because, shocker, you cannot access blogging websites in China! So here's the first entry I wrote:

August 9, 2012; 7:30 a.m.

                Welcome to China! I’m sitting in the Zhangjiakou Hotel where I sleep in a comfortable bed and have my own bathroom, only to be shared with one other person. I have access to the internet through a wall jack, though I cannot access Facebook, Twitter, Blogger, or anything related to “Tiananmen Square 1989”. We will have a traditional Chinese breakfast this morning, visit the community to do some volunteer work, then have a traditional Chinese dinner at a beautiful restaurant. Needless to say, this trip is much different than your average Me to We trip.

Tienanmen Square

                We arrived in Beijing a week ago and began on some amazing adventures. Our first full day in the city we visited Tiananmen Square. That was certainly a highlight of the trip for me because of the historical aspect that goes along with it. Tiananmen Square was the location of the 1989 pro-democracy movement in China, where the government came in with military tanks and killed hundreds of civilians... at least, that’s what we know as fact in the Western world. In China, that event never happened. It has been erased from the history books and if you speak of the event in the square, you are arrested and who knows what the government will do when you are detained. I walked around the square, seeing that Google image in my mind – the one with the tanks – and tried to imagine what it would be like to live in a place where history was erased. What would happen if twenty years from now, the American government erased the Occupy movement from history? Or if they erased the Kent State Massacre from history, claiming that the Ohio National Guard never killed four unarmed college students? Would people in the US stand up against the government? Would we still educate our kids about these topics? What if our safety was at hand? Well, now that the NDAA 2012 passed, our military could arrest us if they heard us talking about events that the government erased...

Forbidden City

                After Tiananmen Square we visited the Forbidden City. This Forbidden City was hundreds of old, beautiful buildings all walled in, with only two ways out – a North entrance and South entrance. It was the imperial palace from the Ming Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty. For almost 500 years, it was the home of emperors and their households, along with people that would work for them (i.e. tailors), and was the ceremonial and political center of the Chinese government. As Mischa, Xin (our in-country facilitator), and I were walking through (it takes at least 45 minutes to walk from one end to the other), Xin was telling us about the city. She explained that for the emperor’s safety, he was not allowed to leave the city, and only certain people were allowed to come in. Then she explained that when the emperor was out in public in the city, people had to close their windows because no one was allowed to see him. If they opened their windows to sneak a peak, they would be killed. This, of course, led Mischa and I to question if there ever was an emperor. Xin said, “well of course, the government knew him” and Mischa and I started laughing with her. It is an interesting idea to ponder, if only the government was allowed to see this emperor, did he even exist?

Fun fact: The Forbidden City was declared a World Heritage Site in 1987, and is listed by UNESCO as the largest collection of preserved ancient wooden structures in the world!

Great Wall of China

                While we were in Beijing, we also got the amazing chance to climb the Great Wall of China... that's right - I climbed it. I may have taken the "easier" side, but it was still a challenge and one that I'm so happy I did. Yesterday we had our first day visiting the community of Wujiazhuang, which has the first school ever built in China by Free The Children. We spent a couple hours playing with the kids (one mohawked boy kept trying to beat me up!), then we weeded the grassy area so the kids would be able to play. We’ll be spending the next two days at this community, teaching English to the kids and fixing up the grass where they play, then we will head to the next community, Gufupu, where we will be for about a week. After that, we head to the Shaolin Temple where we spend time with monks, learn about Chan Buddhism and martial arts, and play with the kids at the orphanage – this is the part of the trip I am most excited about!

                So far, the trip is going great! We have some amazing kids on the trip, everyone is getting along, and we’ve had no sickness or injuries (knock on wood). I am really looking forward to how the rest of the trip goes... but am nervous to be back in Toronto, because then I need to buckle down and start applying to grad schools, eek! Until next time...

PS – After my trip to India, I signed up for “Notes from the Universe” on tut.com. It sounds cheesy, but it sends you a note every weekday and some days, it seems to be just what you need to hear. I just opened one from a couple days ago that I had received and it reads:

                “Have you ever considered, Bria, that having aced time and space again and again and again, with more "gold medals" than you know who, you're here this time simply for the love of the game? Just to smell the dirt? To lend a hand? Give comfort? And maybe for old times' sake, to manifest a dream job like it was a morning cup of coffee, even though you're way past having to prove anything?

Remember?

I do,
    The Universe”

Every trip I facilitate, I am so concerned about making sure I do a good job, making sure I please Toronto, making sure I don’t mess it up... that I often forget to relax and have fun myself. However, on this trip, Mischa’s really helped me to do that. I’ve started to enjoy moments on my own, instead of always watching everyone else, making sure they are having a good time. I think this is the Universe telling me, “hey! It’s your fourth trip, they trust you... relax!”. So that’s what I’m going to do!

Indian Adventures! - July 22, 2012

July 22, 2012

So I haven’t been very good at keeping up with my blog entries – I tend to forget to write them when I don’t have access to the internet (sorry, Ilesa). Tomorrow we will be leaving for Udaipur to head back to Toronto. It’s been a whirlwind of three weeks, half of our participants getting sick halfway through, lots of sensory overload with various community activities, and lots of really great leadership skills building. The last two days we have been doing action planning, speech writing, and re-integration stuff, and the participants have handled it so well! I was so proud of them as they presented their three minute speeches that they were all adamant they couldn’t do! A few highlights from the trip have been: Rankapur Temple – the second largest Jain temple in the world! Jainism was a fascinating religion to learn about because they do not praise gods, they praise priests that once lived. Their idea is that they have no proof that gods existed, but they have proof that priests did, so they praise them and the way they lived their lives. The temple had four points – North, South, East, West - and you meditated in a certain direction depending on what you were meditating for (example: meditate to the north for health and wealth). Finally, when we were leaving, there was an amazing carved picture above the stairs that represented part of the moon. We were instructed to stand underneath it, look up, close our eyes with our palms at our chest, make a wish, open our eyes, touch our heart then the ground, and walk out. Apparently the wishes always come true. I’ll let you know if mine does!

• Community Day – this is always one of my favorite days of the trip – it’s the day where you get to live the life of a community member for a few hours. In the case of Udawad, India, we went to the woman’s home and started by feeding her goats and cow. Once that was finished, we all grabbed a clay pot and “donut” (cloth ring to help with balancing the pot), put them on our head and walked towards the water source. We arrived at a hand pump which serves clean water to the community for 30 minutes a day. When that is not running, they must walk over rough terrain until they reach a man-made well about 100 feet deep, filled with dirty water. Because this well is so large, often people and animals fall into it and die, both resulting in tragedy and poisoning the water source. There was a large structure that the cows would be tied up to, they walk in a circle, and it rotates the pales that go into the water to bring up water for the family. The water walk was difficult because it was a lot of weight on top of your head, creating a lot of strain on your shoulders and pain in your arms. Once we returned, we learned we would be helping to plaster the woman’s home. The group was excited for this work until they learned that in this community, people use a mixture of cow dung and mud to create plaster. They were hesitant, but not for long... pretty soon the participants were picking up cow dung, mixing it, and plastering the walls! After the group finished, we were all invited into her home. We walked into a room, about the size of my bedroom in Toronto (or the size of THA, Ilesa, but not including Phil or Joe’s office), and that was her home. This one room was the bedroom for four, kitchen, living room, everything. In the corner was a small stove with no chimney, so as we made chipatis, the smoke filled the room. This experience was a highlight of many of the participants’ trip.

• Camel rides! The camel rides were a lot of fun, though I always feel so mean riding animals. I brought Tod, my sock monkey, so that someday I can show my nephew, Brandon, that auntie’s sock monkey traveled the world :) (Melissa’s request) 
•  Goal setting – Kailea ran a fantastic goal setting module one day that I requested to be part of instead of helping to facilitate. She helped us all write down all of our goals for life, put them into categories (travel, education, finances, relationships, etc), then put them all into a timeline (next 6 months, next 2 years, next 5 years, etc). I found it to be so helpful! I always have things I want to do, goals to accomplish, but I’ve never actually written it down and come up with a plan to fulfill them. Within my next 6 months, I plan to take the GRE’s, apply for grad school, apply to Teach for America, and do a much better job at saving my money (though that may come once I’m moved back home, making more money lol).

• Build site – On all Me to We trips, the participants take part in volunteering at a Free The Children project. In Udawad, our projects consisted of laying bricks to finish the wall on the stairs, digging kitchen gardens for the kids to be able to grow their own food, and re-doing the floors of a nursery and health center. It was really inspiring to see the participants work so hard on the build site. 
• The kids :) Always a highlight! The kids of the community would hang out at the build site while we worked, which always gave Kailea and I a headache because it wasn’t exactly safe! They would run through the site, us chasing them away, with pick axes and shovels lying around. It was so hard to be mad at them though because they were so cute! I was especially fond of Kamilie, she was such a little rascal! 

Tonight we will be getting henna done and enjoying cultural performances during a nice dinner. Tomorrow we’ll be heading out for the airport, back into the city of Udaipur... It will be a morning on busy streets, sharing them with cows, goats, rickshaws, pedestrians, cars, buses, and vans. I read in Peter’s culture guide that in India there are two rules to the road: 1) fill as much space as you can, and 2) the bigger vehicle gets the right of way... both are so true! I’ll miss the smells of India along with the hospitality of the people. I will carry their relaxation in my heart and remember Kamilie for her sassiness! (I will add more photos once I get them from Kailea)

Indian Adventures! - July 11, 2012

July 11, 2012 6:19 p.m. (8:50 a.m. MA/Toronto time)

Hi friends! I’m currently sitting on my bed at the “Silent Valley Hotel” in Rajasthan, India. We are situated about two hours outside of the city of Udaipur and the only way I can get cell reception is to hang out a window in the tower-like restaurant, or climb a big hill behind the hotel until I see those bars pop up! It’s absolutely lovely here. The only issue we have come across with the location is that we do not have a lot of facilitation room. We have the grass outside and the restaurant area. It has been raining the last two days so outside is off limits, and the restaurant is just the right size. Overall, it is amazing though!

Since we have been here we have visited a tailor shop to get saris made (I didn’t get one made, but many participants did), started working on our build site, visited the community of Lai to see the full Adopt a Village in affect in India, rode camels (!), visited an art school to learn about how the students make their paint from minerals they find (all natural!), and done multiple leadership activities to start honing in on the skills the participants hold as well as pull out the skills they don’t know exist! The group is getting along really well and we haven’t had any major issues come up so far (knock on wood). It has been raining the last two days (damn monsoon season) so we have had to cancel four build site sessions, which isn’t ideal but unfortunately how it is during monsoon season. The kids were pretty bummed out but we took their mind off of it with games, leadership modules, and a movie.

Many of my hesitations I had for India have gone away. The airport went smoothly, the kids are fantastic, no one has gotten sick so far, the food is great, and my relationships with Kailea and Mona are fantastic! Tomorrow we will have our community day where we go on a water walk with a local woman, learn about her chores she does every day, etc... We are hoping it doesn’t rain because then we would have to cancel it, so fingers crossed there’s no rain in the morning. If it rains, we will go into Udaipur to do some city activities of some sort, we’ll see. That’s a lot of what I’ve been up to... Just taking the time to work on my facilitation skills, getting to know the kids, and having a great time getting to know Kailea better. I’ll have more to go into detail about next time, so until then... Tata!

Indian Adventures! - July 4, 2012

July 4, 2012 – 12:35 p.m. Brussels time (6:35 a.m. MA/Toronto time) I’m back on a flight with 20+ youth, except this time to a different continent than before! I’m currently on a flight from Brussels to Delhi after already flying from Toronto to Brussels. So far we have been traveling for 16 hours and truth be told, I’ve gotten maybe 30 minutes of sleep. I’m not the type of person that can sleep on a plane and I never thought that would work against me until now. By the time we arrive in Udaipur (three filghts, two layovers – one of seven hours, later) it will be morning and we’ll be starting a full day of travel to the community, leadership modules, etc. Normally when I travel to Kenya, we arrive in Nairobi at night so I get to go right to sleep... but not this time! I’m hoping I can get some sleep on this flight because I can already start to feel my body rebel a bit against me. So far the group seems amazing! They are all really excited to be here, some have gone on Me to We experiences in the past, and for others this is their first dose. It’s exciting from a facilitator standpoint to hear stories of how kids hear about us and decide to spend three weeks of their summer volunteering. While we are in India we will be working on a Free The Children school, participating in community events (like morning yoga, samosa making, a water walk, visiting temples), and doing leadership modules to enhance the skills these young people already have. I am really excited for this trip, but nervous at the same time... both, because I have not yet been to India. Although I’m nervous because it is the fear of the unknown and not knowing what to expect, I’m excited because it’s another amazing opportunity I’ve been blessed with, I will see more of FTC’s projects but in another country, and I’ll get to see Britt finally! This trip will definitely pose some challenges that I can already see, but I think it will also bring out some stellar moments of leadership, self realization, and friendship amongst the participants. Only five and a half hours until we reach Delhi, then a seven hour layover, then a flight to Udaipur... here we go!

Kwa heri Kenya!

This post comes a bit late, but still with a heavy pull on my heart as I left the country I love so much this week. I returned from Kenya on Thursday and it has been a whirwind of a month! Yesterday we had our annual Youth Summit and I got the chance to facilitate workshops with some amazing kids from the Toronto area... these youth never cease to amaze me!

Anyways, back to Kenya... so after our trip in Osenetoi ended, six of us facilitators went on vacation to Mombasa, Kenya. If you don't know, Mombasa is on the coast of Kenya, all beaches, and the number one tourist destination in the country. As soon as I stepped off the plane, I knew it was going to be a tough few days for me - it was SO hot and humid... and for anyone that knows me, I don't do well in that sort of heat! We started off the trip at a backpacker's hostel in Nyali Beach, just north of Mombasa. It was a beautiful hostel, had lovely staff members, two adorable dogs, and a gate - which made me very happy given then rate of crime in Mombasa. We dropped our bags and headed down to the beach bar where we would spend our next two nights. The place was GORGEOUS. It was a bar along the beach with couches under an awning, but then there were couches on the beach as well with tables. Towards the end of the night, we wanted to go see the water because we still hadn't seen the Indian Ocean... as we walked down to the water (the tide was really far out) a guard with a gun stops us and tells us we can't go in the water because of the pirate issue. Apparently pirates have been known to kidnap tourists on the coast for ransom money from the Kenyan government. Oh boy, that just proved this would be an interesting week.

Day #2: We woke up in the morning and headed to "Old Town Mombasa" to see Fort Jesus. We walked out to the street expecting to get a cab, when a "tuk tuk" (google image this lol) pulls up. These are only supposed to hold three people, but the driver decided he could fit all six of us... four in the back seat, one in the trunk area, and me up front with the driver. It was quite the adventure and once we got to Fort Jesus, he ripped us off for the price. Regardless, Fort Jesus was beautiful(I'm still waiting to get people's pictures) in spite of the hot weather. We ventured around Old Town Mombasa for a while, getting lost in some alley ways, until finally getting a cab that brought us to a seafood restaurant that came highly recommended... Yes, I tried seafood - and a lot of it - and liked it! After a delicious meal, we went back to the hostel and got ready for dinner. When we went back to the beach bar there was live music playing, so naturally I was dancing. Soon after, a few guys came over and were dancing with our group and we went down to the bar area with them... turns out we spent the night partying with the British Navy, who was in Mombasa to help guard the ports from pirates!

Day #3: This is the day that we had a 40k bike ride planned. During the orientation, the owner of the company said if at any point we don't want to continue the 40k, to let our guides know and we could take the short cut... We all figured, "nah, we'll be fine!". We started our "along the coast", level 1 difficulty, bike ride down the road until we turned off onto a dirt road. Pretty soon, the bulk of our ride was through sand - we were all falling over, getting stuck, and sweating like you've never seen someone sweat in your life! We continue on and this "along the coast" tour takes us through small village, weaving around people's homes and under their laundry lines. To say that I was mortified, is an understatement. It became clear that this was a tour (not along the coast as advertised) for the type of tourist that wants to see "how Africans live"... not for people that work in development. We were all extremely embarrassed as people yelled "mzungu" ("white person") at us, and rightfully so, and couldn't wait to get out of there. Finally, Andrea said she couldn't do it and wanted the shortcut and the rest of the girls agreed. The boys went on to do the 40k and our short cut had us totaling out at 30k!! It was CRAZY!

Once we got back from the bike ride, we were scheduled to go down to Diani Beach (south of Mombasa) for a night to stay in a treehouse hostel. We decided last minute to call and see if they had space for two extra nights so we wouldn't have to cab all the way back up to Nyali Beach. Sure enough they did and we headed down. When we got checked in, we were brought to our treehouse. It was a windy path through the woods until we reached a treehouse up on stilts. Inside was three beds, and that was it. We were extremely excited about this adventure! We headed over to "Forty Thieves" to check out the beach bar before heading to dinner. That night, we had dinner in Ali Barbour's Cave Restaurant... a beautiful restaurant inside a cave! Now, to say that this was the best meal I have ever eaten, is a huge understatement. We ate like kings that night, ordering appetizers, meals, desserts, and sharing all with each other. I tried crab, seafood pate, and red snapper. This restaurant was exquisite and delicious! No wonder it's a huge tourist attraction.

Day #4: I'm laying in bed in the treehouse and hear what sounds like a bird walking across plastic. I look up to see what this noise is and there is a monkey trying to get into my baby wipes!!! Galen had gotten up to go to the bathroom and didn't latch the door shut and a monkey was in our treehouse like 5 feet away! I woke up Larissa as quietly and quickly as possibly to ask what the heck we should do. The monkey jumps down, starts trying to unzip Taylor's backpack, and Larissa and I are yelling at it and clapping trying to get it to leave. Finally it runs out, we slam the door, and laugh our heads off for what feels like forever. That morning while we are eating breakfast, Larissa is telling the story about this evil monkey. As she's talking, monkey's brother hears her, jumps down from a tree and onto my chair (there's a really funny picture of this moment), jumps onto the breakfast table, smacks Larissa's coffee to spill all over her, and runs away! After that, we spent most of the day on the beach...

Days 5 & 6: These days were spent lying on the beach or lying on the couches under shade (that would be me). We didn't go into town again, we just decided to hang out and relax. We ate lots of delicious food, had great Kenyan beer, and enjoyed each other's company. On the last day, we were driving back to the airport and we get pulled over. Our driver (who we met the first night and had been in touch with him for rides all trip) gets out of the car to talk to the police officer. He comes back and tells us he needs 500 schillings but won't say why. When he returns, he needs 300 more. Finally, we are able to go and ask him what was going on... turns out his insurance sticker was going to expire that day and the police said to pay them 500 schillings or go to court and pay 2000 schillings. We got a long lesson about the corruptness of Kenyan police and Kenyan government... it was scary.

We left Kenya on Wednesday and returned in Toronto on Thursday. It was a very interesting, and amazing, three weeks that I feel blessed to have had the opportunity for. Nathaniel arrives today for a visit this week and we'll be heading to Windsor, Ontario tomorrow (borders Detroit) for four days of a speaking tour. I'm really excited for this because these schools have never had am FTC speaker before and are really pumped I'm coming. I think it will be a good week :)

Until next time...
-Nekishon

Ninaitwa Nekishon. (My name is Nekishon)

*Disclaimer* Pictures will be coming once I return to Toronto!

Jambo! I returned to Nairobi on March 19 after a fantastic trip to the community of Osenetoi. My co-facilitator, Galen, and I brought a group of 23 students and educators from Renfrew Collegiate Institute to help build a third classroom in this community. Going into the trip I was a bit nervous because I had never facilitated a group trip before, nor have I ever had adults on a trip with me. I was worried that having a group of students from the same school would bring in drama from home and pre-established group dynamics that would be out of our control. When we met the group, all that weight was off our shoulders. The students were absolutely fantastic, highly engaged in all our activities, and so excited to build a school for the children of Osenetoi while getting a better understanding of the community itself.

The trip was your typical Me to We trip in Kenya – school building, a water walk with some local mamas (we had Mama Purity and Mama Rose again!), beading with Mama Lea and Mama Gladis, safari, playing with the kids, and leadership modules. Many of the kids’ highlight at the beginning of the trip was the groundbreaking at the community of Sikirrar, where Free The Children will be building its second all girls’ secondary high school thanks to the support of Nelly Furtado (who was at this groundbreaking!). It was amazing to be in this setting with Mamas and Babas from both Maasai and Kipsigi tribes. The Maasai and Kipsigi have a longstanding clash of cultures due to historical issues with their lands and who owns what... so to see Maasai and Kipsigi girls going to school together at Kisaruni (our first all girls’ secondary school) has been a transformation in itself. However, to be at the groundbreaking of Oleleshwa (the next all girls’ secondary school), and to hear Robin speak to both tribes saying, “we need your commitment that you will not marry off your daughters, you will allow them to get an education, and they will go to school together”, and to hear all the Mamas and Babas cheer... was the most beautiful sight I have seen since my time with Free The Children began. We honestly watched history in the making as these parents vowed to send their daughters to high school.

As the trip continued, the students broke ground at Osenetoi to dig the foundation of a third classroom. The group was amazing on the buildsite, they always looked out for each others’ safety and worked hard to finish. A few times after building we got a chance to play with the kids and I was more than ecstatic to see Elizabeth again, my friend from last summer. I made some new friends as well this time – John, another Elizabeth, and Vivian. The children of Osenetoi bring so much joy to your heart because they are so appreciative of the education they have and so excited to form friendships with you the second you arrive.

As we neared the end of the trip, Safari day came and the group was thrilled. I got the chance to ride in the trail vehicle, rather than the lorry, with two of the boys on the trip. In the trail vehicle, we were able to chat and get to know each other, and we were able to be much closer to the animals than the lorry! We saw zebras (lots of them!), giraffes, buffalo, gazelles, hippos, and... A LION! In fact, our driver of the trail vehicle brought us about 50 feet from the lion, it was amazing. After safari we all got some sleep and the next day was the community goodbye and our goodbye with the staff. It was a day full of gratitude, love, and celebration as we finished digging the foundation of the classroom and said goodbye to our new friends.

I must say one of my highlights of the trip was receiving my very own Maasai name. During our Swahili lessons, David (our Maasai warrior and guide) gave everyone Maasai names but waited until later to tell Galen and I what our names were... When he told me my Maasai name was Nekishon (pronounced Nay-kee-shon), I asked what it meant... “one with blessings and good luck”. I felt proud and honored that he felt I deserved a name so special.

As we left Osenetoi, I felt a feeling of gratitude myself, for being blessed to return to such an amazing community. However, I have to admit that leaving the students at the airport was the hardest part... Sending nineteen youth on a plane to Canada after they have been your life for the past nine days is bittersweet. It is sad to watch them leave, to not wake up to them the next morning, to not have those laughs and “ah-ha” moments as they discover something new about themselves... But to see them grow, to see them learn, to see them witness another part of the world with a new perpective, and to see them fall in love with such an amazing country... it makes you proud, and it is extremely humbling.

As this journey comes to a close, I look forward to a new one in a few days. On Friday I am off to Mombasa with a few friends to see historical sites, vacation on the coast, and explore another area of the country I love so much. Until then...

Mapenzi (love),
Nekishon

Karibu Kenya!

Jambo! Karibu Kenya! (Hello! Welcome to Kenya!)

I am finally here, finally back in Kenya where I fell in love with this country last summer. After two long plane rides, a layover in Amsterdam (didn't get to explore the city unfortunately), and hearing people's stories of travel on the plane, I am in Nairobi. We (Gabby, another facilitator, and myself) arrived in Nairobi around 9 p.m. last night. After going through customs, waiting for bags (thought we lost one but we didn't), and waiting for the other group to collect all their students, we made it to our accommodations around 11:30 p.m.

Whenever groups come in for Me to We trips, they stay at either Kolping (where I stayed last summer) for the first night, or at our Rosslyn. Rosslyn is an area within Nairobi and we have property in one gated off community of Rosslyn. After Gabs and I had some dinner we came over to the staff house where we were greeted by Galen, Katie, and Jay! This house is so beautiful, I can't even begin to describe it... I will definitely take pictures for those of you back home that ask for them (*cough* Ilesa *cough), and I'll load them when I come back in April.

For now, I'm sitting on the porch of our staff house which overlooks other amazingly beautiful homes in Rossyln, taking in the familiar smells of Kenya. As soon as the others wake up we will be going to get breakfast at a great breakfast spot in Nairobi then Galen and I have a whole day and a half to catch up before our group comes in.

I am so grateful to have the opportunity to come back to this amazing country, to facilitate with a great friend and talented facilitator, and to meet youth that continually live and breathe the phrase "Be The Change".

Until we meet again, rafikis...

Just a quick update...

Hey friends! Long time no chat (so sorry about that). Things in Toronto have been on the slow end since my last post. Soon after We Day season we broke for holidays where I spent two fantastic weeks at home with my family and friends. From touring the Sam Adams brewery, to visit my favorite former bosses, to New Years Eve celebrations with the best sisters in the world, to... FINDING OUT I'LL BE AN AUNTIE!! The holiday break was wonderful and far too short.

While home for break, I found out that I will be traveling back to Kenya in March to lead a trip. I am extremely excited about this for a few reasons:
1) I'll be facilitating with a dear friend of mine, Galen, whom I don't see nearly enough. From the moment I moved to Toronto, Galen and I were destined to be friends. After our first conversation I learned he was from New Hampshire and went to Wheaton College! We were basically neighbors but never met :)

2) I'll be going back to Osenetoi, the community I was at in the summer time. I'm very excited to see the same kids and teachers that were there last year. Also, since the two classrooms we were working on are finished (I'll attach a photo below), I'm excited to see what the project will be.

3) I'll be traveling to Mombasa for a week after with two friends, Larissa and Taylor. We'll be spending six days on the coast at a beautiful hostel, spending one night in a treehouse hostel (yes they exist) on the beach, go snorkeling, eat lots of Kenyan food, and have a little R&R.

My only nervousness about leading this trip is that it is a group trip, which can be good or bad. In the summer time most trips are open trips, so you have 20+ youth that most likely have never met. This is good because it helps to create a team unity and cohesion as well as a defined "safe space". When the group comes already knowing each other, you risk there already being problems between certain youth or an already established group dynamic... that's not to say that the opposite could happen and they're already a fantastic team. So the trip should be interesting, definitely amazing, and I'm excited to see what it holds.

I will be sure to update with plenty of pictures and stories from both the trip and my traveling afterwards. I'm very excited to go back to Kenya and see all the beautiful faces I've missed so much. Until next time...

Two Osenetoi classrooms completed... Read more about the community here.