Sadili is an organization aimed at empowering disadvantaged youth in Kenya through sports. They work mostly with communities in Kibera, Africa's largest urban slum, a ten minute walk from the sports compound. Through paying members and customers from around Nairobi who use the sports facilities, Sadili draws funding for their free youth programs.
So far it sounds like I'll be involved with pretty different stuff than what I've done over the last eight months. Sadili runs an initiative called Girl Power Clubs. There are dozens of Girl Power Clubs around Kenya, four of which are located in Kibera. These weekly clubs provide a platform for life skills coaching and leadership training, and will be the focus of my month of volunteering.
Every afternoon, I will go to one of the seven schools Girl Power partners with in Nairobi. I will assist the club with the life skills lessons, but I will also be working on photo and video documentation of our project, as well as telling the girls' stories through photography and writing. I will be social media captaining all of Sadili - from the sports center to the Girl Power initiatives to the youth sports programs. I will be working on publicity, awareness, and support for our projects. And lastly, I'll be training other staff to continue what I've started once I've gone.
It all sounds good and well and pretty solid. However, I'm fully aware that everything may change or go nothing as planned. I've been volunteering in Africa long enough to know that that's okay. We'll see what happens.
Tuesday we went to Kibera to see the location of the schools where we will be working. I have to admit, I really enjoyed myself. I've seen poverty before, so the slum didn't present the shock that some people might anticipate. My favorite part of Kibera, despite the immense poverty everywhere, was all of the life and energy. There was business and commerce and conversation and play. I didn't find it to be a community depressed by poverty, and that's why I so enjoyed being there.
As a side note, we've been warned to always wear closed-toed shoes in the slum to prevent contraction of diseases and infections. I like to think that Germophobe Eliza has come a long way since discovering no soap at school in Honduras. Even my immune system has grown this year - I have yet to get sick at all in 2015. But I am definitely wondering (a bit anxiously) what I might become exposed to while working in Kibera. I'll just keep taking my probiotics, crossing my fingers, and carrying hand sanitizer. Regardless of germs, I think it will be extremely interesting working with the girls each day.
In terms of other updating, I now live at Sadili. The compound is huge, and proportionally, very empty of people. To my disappointment, there are no cardio machines, and one lap on the track is 0.1 miles. Oh well, I'll get great at strength training. I live with one other person in an entire building. I have my own room with two beds, a mini-fridge, and a bathroom (my shower does not work, as water literally just doesn't come out of it.) And since there is a big attic crawl space vent completely open in my wall and I just keep waiting for someone or something to appear, I've taken to locking my laptop inside the unplugged mini-fridge. It was a good solution until Tuesday, when I bought yoghurt. Then I had to decide whether to prioritize yoghurt or laptop, and in the end, I used the fridge for neither.
As a side note, we've been warned to always wear closed-toed shoes in the slum to prevent contraction of diseases and infections. I like to think that Germophobe Eliza has come a long way since discovering no soap at school in Honduras. Even my immune system has grown this year - I have yet to get sick at all in 2015. But I am definitely wondering (a bit anxiously) what I might become exposed to while working in Kibera. I'll just keep taking my probiotics, crossing my fingers, and carrying hand sanitizer. Regardless of germs, I think it will be extremely interesting working with the girls each day.
In terms of other updating, I now live at Sadili. The compound is huge, and proportionally, very empty of people. To my disappointment, there are no cardio machines, and one lap on the track is 0.1 miles. Oh well, I'll get great at strength training. I live with one other person in an entire building. I have my own room with two beds, a mini-fridge, and a bathroom (my shower does not work, as water literally just doesn't come out of it.) And since there is a big attic crawl space vent completely open in my wall and I just keep waiting for someone or something to appear, I've taken to locking my laptop inside the unplugged mini-fridge. It was a good solution until Tuesday, when I bought yoghurt. Then I had to decide whether to prioritize yoghurt or laptop, and in the end, I used the fridge for neither.
Everyone at Sadili - all staff, all six of the new interns (they arrived a week before I did,) and the other guy in my building - is so incredibly nice. Upon arrival here, I suddenly became very outgoing, which has made everyone even more friendly. I am the only non-Kenyan person that I've seen either in Sadili or in the neighborhood. This means lots of stares, though no more than I've become accustomed to.
This week has been one of prep for the interns and the Girl Power team. All public schools resume for Term Two on Monday, and next week we'll begin working with the Girl Power Clubs. I have the feeling that I have no idea what's really coming.
This week has been one of prep for the interns and the Girl Power team. All public schools resume for Term Two on Monday, and next week we'll begin working with the Girl Power Clubs. I have the feeling that I have no idea what's really coming.
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