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.

Fall has arrived!

Greetings friends! This post is long overdue with updates from an amazing start of the fall season. So much has been going on here in Toronto, I just haven't been able to keep up. We have We Days left and right, visits from friends, and weekend getaways!

Since my travels to Kenya, my life has gone back to normal (somewhat) with daily speeches and lots of We Day prep. On September 27, we hosted We Day Toronto in the Air Canada Centre. The arena was filled with 18,000 youth all cheering and chanting to save the world. I was excited to be a crowd pumper for Toronto We Day and had a blast teaching the We Day dance to a group of volunteers with friend, Kevin. Toronto's We Day hosted speakers such as Danny Glover, Mary Robinson, and Patch Adams, as well as performers such as City and Colour, Joe Jonas, and Shawn Desman. My highlight for Toronto We Day happened on accident... I ran into the bowl just as Nelly Furtado was beginning to speak and stopped because I remembered hearing she had a special announcement to make. I stood on the stairs as Nelly announced that she is donating $1 million to Free The Children to build another all girls secondary school in Kenya! It instantly brought tears to my eyes, then more tears as Susan - a student at Kisaruni (our all girl's secondary school in Kenya) - came out to surprise Nelly... it was the most beautiful moment I have witnessed in my five We Days. My other highlight from Toronto's We Day would have to be the special visitors we had... Like always, a group of AMAZING BSU students traveled to Toronto volunteer with us at We Day as crowd pumpers! I was expecting to see so many of my friends... but what I wasn't expecting was to see Kim MacInnis, another one of my BSU professors! She came with her daughter to surprise me, and it was the best surprise ever. I had a blast at the We Day after party hanging out with Kim and Jonathan all night, feeling like I never left BSU.

Just two weeks later, we were off to Vancouver for our second We Day of the season! Vancouver was similar to Toronto in the sense that there were 18,000 screaming youth... however, they were shamelessly louder and more excited! For Vancouver's We Day, I was on the Booths team, selling Me to We merchandise instead of Crowd Pumping... it was a big difference for me considering the four We Days I attended before Vancouver, I was always Crowd Pumping or at least in the bowl... so it was different. However, my volunteers were amazing and Jonathan came by my booth quite a few times to chat and catch up. My We Day moment for Vancouver also happened on accident... I popped my head into the bowl to see what part of the show we were on, when I saw Mia Farrow on stage. I decided to stay and listen because everyone says she's an amazing speaker... Suddenly she brings out the ripple effect analogy and follows it with, "let's stand against hunger! let's stand against injustice!", etc... and 18,000 youth stand with her in solidarity. It was amazing. We Day Vancouver consisted of speakers such as Mia Farrow, President Mikhail Gorbachev, and Shaq (well, kind of...), and had performers like Hedley (rocked it as always), Shawn Desman, and Down With Webster.

The weekend after We Day a lot of us stayed in Vancouver. When I say "I fell in love with the West Coast"... it's the understatement of the century. My friend, Kevin, who is from Vancouver, constantly would tell me I'd love it... and I'd always argue "I'm an East Coast girl", but man oh man, was it beautiful. I drove up to Whistler with Kevin, Derrick, Britt, Amber, and Dee for the night. We rode the highway that is known as the "Sea to Sky highway" because of it's views. We stopped every chance we could to take scenic pictures, friendly pictures, and absolutely ridiculous pictures. We spent the night in Whistler Village and just relaxed together. The following day we came back to Vancouver and split up to do our separate things. Kevin, Dee, and I went to the Granville Island brewery. After that we went to Kev's old university - UBC - and saw the views from there. We had to bring Kev's car back to his parents house before meeting everyone for dinner. His backyard view was of mountains... no big deal right? Finally we meet everyone for dinner and go out to a super nice club for the night before heading back to Toronto the following day. Everything about Vancouver was incredible - it was such a beautiful place... I can't wait to go back someday.

So... that has been life up to now. Currently, Nathaniel is visiting for the weekend, celebrating our one year anniversary :) I am back in the daily grind of speeches until We Day Waterloo next month then home for two weeks at Christmas time!

To see more of what my life has been like, check out our We Day website!

Cheers!

Where I'm at now...

Right now I am attempting to process my trip and everything it entailed: highs and lows. I am trying to wrap my head around the drought and famine I witnessed firsthand. I am trying to ground myself here in Toronto and write a new speech while scratching my head on what to do to help east Africans.

The trip, overall, was incredible. I had the chance to sit down with a Maasai warrior, on many occasions, and ask any questions I desired... and receive honest, proud answers in return. I walked into the trip petrified to facilitate with Sally, because frankly, she's a legend at FTC, and now I can say I wouldn't have had it any other way. I got the opportunity to facilitate any module I wanted to, or sit back and take notes as she facilitated ones I was too scared to. And in the end, I was able to learn and gain skills I may not have had I facilitated with someone else. But most importantly, I had the chance to see twenty-nine youth transform over the course of three weeks. I couldn't be more proud of the young people I traveled with, or more excited about their action plans and seeing how they will change the world.

However, at some point, we all need to come back to reality. While in Kenya, my reality was drought, famine, inequality... Here in Toronto, my reality is speech writing, We Day prep, and settling in to my new home. That being said, although our realities here in North America are very different than the realities in East Africa, it doesn't mean we can't work it into our realities. The most important thing we can each do, is educate us. If you take anything from these past few entries, I want it to be this article... Please take ten minutes and read last week's Global Voices in regards to the crisis in East Africa. Our brothers and sisters around the world are suffering, and we need to know the truth.

Now it's off to work on my own action plan... Kwa heri!

Kenya: Week Two and Three

Jambo! Habari ya hasabuhi? (Hello! How is your morning?)
Mzuri sana, nawawa? (Very Good, and you?)

Week two in the beautiful Maasai Mara of Kenya. During this week we had the usual adventures of the build site, chances to play with the kids, and visits to our Me to We Duka ("store") as well as other Me to We projects and experiences.

My biggest highlight from the second week in Kenya was definitely the Duka day. We got up early and traveled to our leadership center which houses our Duka. While there, we were able to purchase Me to We Artisan items. I got various gifts for my family as well as a couple things for myself. I got myself a "warrior package" which includes a shuka (to always remember Peter), a warrior bracelet that has the Maasai symbol (to always remember the Maasai), and a rungu because of its significance with leadership. The Duka had beautiful items like Maasai wedding necklaces and jewelry, as well as items like congos and Me to Bee honey. After we finished our adventure in the Duka we headed out to visit our tree nursery and get weapons training by Peter. We each got the chance to learn how to throw a conga which was pretty exciting! Finally, we ended the day at a tour of the Baraka Health Clinic and with a talk from Robin. It felt so good to see Robin again and hear her story all over. She truly is an inspiration to me and I feel so privileged to be able to call her a friend because she is just a very strong, motivated, and determined woman.

The week also consisted of various days for our participants to play with the kids after school. It was refreshing to watch them let loose and play different childhood games. It is incredible how easily kids can teach you games with such a language barrier... goes to show a little something we can learn from kids.

The last part of this week that I'll touch on was our "Community Day". The night before community day, we handed out family profiles to groups of participants. These profiles told them their family name, size, who the members were (ex. 1 mama, 1 baba, 4 kids, grandparent, etc), their assets (ex. goats, cows, maize), and their expenses for the week (ex. kids need their head shaved, medicine for sick family member, fixing a roof, school book, etc). We then read them out the average prices of these expenses and had them subtract theirs from the "average" $500 schillings ($5 US) a Kenyan family will have to spend a week. Their task was to bring that much money to the market the next day. The next day, we woke up the boys at dawn (about 6 a.m.) as the mamas for the day and they had to go fetch water. Once they returned, we had them doing everyone's laundry, cleaning the tents, doing the dishes... all the tasks a mama would do in the morning. While they were doing that, we woke up the girls and they were the "boys" for the day. They spent their morning being served breakfast and having "school" and Swahili lessons with Peter. The breakfast was a traditional Kenyan breakfast - Ugi, which is like a cream of wheat porridge. We then headed out to Mulot Market where the participants took the limited money they had (some had $80 schillings, some had $300 schillings - aka 80 US cents and $3 US) and bought the food they needed for the week for their family. When we returned to Osenetoi, we had a traditional Kenyan dinner of Ugali (ground up maize mixed with water to make a solid consistency) and cabbage.

One challenge I found with community day was dinner... Before we ate, Sally addressed the group and reminded us of the drought and famine happening in eastern Africa. She said, "you may not all like this meal and that's okay, but we are asking that you take a little bit to try then come up for more if you like it... we want to make sure we are doing our part by not wasting food". Everyone agreed... as we are eating our dinner, we see one of our participants walk up and throw out an entire plate of cabbage. I started to tear up and Sally was visibly angry as well. I stood up and addressed our frustration and disappointment to the group (without singling out the participant). We reminded them of the current situation and that this drought and famine were affecting people on the other side of the fence from us. It was just really hard for me that some of the youth didn't seem to care/understand (not sure which one since we addressed it so much) about the local issues affecting the community. It was definitely a struggle for me all trip.

Finally, part of community day was a visit to Kisaruni, Free The Children's first all girl high school in Kenya! The facilities were beautiful and it was so wonderful to hear the teachers talk about the students' commitment to their education. The girls would come for a full day with limited breaks and study ten subjects! As soon as you walk into the main building, you see pictures of all the girls that have won FTC scholarships to attend Kisaruni - it was incredible.

Week Three:

The end of the trip was packed with more leadership skills, lots of action planning, and safari day!

The safari was a long, but beautiful, day. We woke up at 5 a.m. so we could be awake with the animals, had a small breakfast, and were in the lorry ready to go. I can honestly say, if I don't sit in a lorry for a long time, I'll be very happy :) man is that thing bumpy! Anyways, we traveled for a few hours until we reached the game reserve and were greeted by lots of zebras and gazelles! Throughout the course of the day, we saw zebras, gazelles, buffaloes, water buffaloes, giraffes, monkeys, and various birds. Unfortunately, the lions and elephants must have been asleep that day because they were MIA. For me, I was happy with the zebras... Anyone that knows me knows that as a kid I wanted to be a zookeeper so I could play with zebras all day. It was beautiful and exhilarating to see these animals in their natural habitat.

We ended the trip with a few days of action planning. We introduced the idea of "Passion + Issue = Change" to encourage them to think of ways they could do what they love and raise awareness/money for various causes. At the end of the week, the group had incredible plans! Some included sports tournaments to raise money for sports equipment to be sent to communities in Kenya, water walks to raise money for clean water, and giving presentations at their schools to raise awareness of global issues. The passions ranged from skateboarding to soccer to public speaking; the issues ranged from clean water to sex trafficking to animal rights... Action planning is my favorite part of any academy/trip/workshop because it is the tangible part that gives youth the confidence to know they can actually do something about these issues. It reminds me why I do my job day in and day out.

Kenya: Week One

Jambo!

As you know, on July 21 I headed to the Toronto City airport to meet the first group of youth for our Me to We trip to Kenya. We then travelled to Montreal to meet another group before heading to Nairobi! From the second I arrived at the airport, all I could think was "Wow, two years ago I was trying to fundraise to go on a Me to We trip to Kenya... now I am facilitating one", it was exciting!

The first couple of days consisted on lots of traveling. We stayed at a place just outside of Nairobi for the night, and were on the road early to head to Osenetoi. On the way, we stopped at a giraffe sanctuary to learn about the beautiful animals. While there, you are allowed to feed the giraffes... which resulted in everyone (including myself) kissing a giraffe! I was speaking with some of the people that worked there and when I mentioned that I worked for Free The Children their eyes lit up. They engaged me in conversation to tell me how incredible the work we do at FTC is and how much they appreciate it. It was so great to hear that.

After the sanctuary we continued on to Osenetoi and stopped at the Great Rift Valley for some lunch. It was a breath-taking view and while we were eating, another Me to We facilitator (and a FAM for Change facilitator) stopped by with his group! I was surprised to see Steve but then Sally (my co-facilitator) said it is very common to run into the other groups while in-country.

Once we got to our campsite, we went over camp etiquette and told the group a bit about the drought and famine that are happening in Kenya. We agreed to a clean plate policy so we could do our part in not wasting food while we were there - the kids agreed to it which was really inspiring to see. We spent each morning of that week at the buildsite working on two classrooms for the youth of Osenetoi. The group was really excited to be building and got so much accomplished!

The highlight of the week for many people was when we went on a water walk with Mama Purity and Mama Rose. We walked with them until we reached a borehole which was filled with water that looked more like chocolate milk. It hit me when Mama Purity and Mama Rose walked down the side, knelt down, and started filling jerry cans... that these families drink, cook, and bathe with this water. I watched as the Mamas filled jerry can after jerry can then took a long rope and wrapped it around each can. Finally, the called over youth one by one, and slowly put the strap around the youth's forehead. Suddenly 20 litres of Osenetoi's water problem was on each person's back. While walking, Mama Purity informed Sally and I that during the worst times of the drought, they sometimes have to walk for four days with their cattle to find water. This broke my heart because clean water is something that every person should have access to.

Another highlight of the week for many participants and myself was beading with Mama Leah. This was special to me because Mama Leah is Robin's Mama and I've wanted to meet her ever since reading "My Maasai Life" last year. We all sat in small groups and Mama Leah taught us how to bead through the leather backing. We made circular patterns, but the Mamas make all sorts of things from bracelets and necklaces to belts and clutches. The work is incredibly beautiful... Mama Leah told us a bit about the women's group she is a part of with Me to We. She explained how they make however many necklaces and other Artisan pieces that they have time for, then Me to We will pay them for it. They also participate in merry-go-rounds where the women each pay a certain amount of "dues" and the Mamas rotate as to who gets the money at the end of the month for their family. It was incredible to see how these community members work together to take care of each other.

If you ask me... Americans could learn a lot from the Maasai community.