Going into exams...

Exam period is starting. I'm not going to be so active on this blog anymore, because I'm too busy to study for my exams. I'm, however, not quitting my projects, but I'll take a brake. When I'm Uni I'll find a way to keep up my work in Excellent school. I think there is going to be a lot of opportunities to continue my work wherever I go! I also have the opportunity that my family is staying in Kenya. They will be able to keep track of the progresses in school and I will probably visit a couple of times a year. I feel very fortunate that I'm not saying goodbye to Kenya for good! I know I'll be back every opportunity I have! Thank's for following my blog and I'll keep in touch!!
All the best,
Emil Thor Wilson

Elections coming up

There has been a great worry about election violence as we approach the presidential elections in Kenya. As most of you know, last time was not so successful, but having information meetings and evacuation drills is quite exaggerated according to me. We are leaving Kenya any way, though my mom needs to see a doctor in Johannesburg. The rest of the week we are spending in Rwanda and Swaziland, so I'm looking forward to a nice and relaxed election week. I just hope that there is not going to be any problems coming back. The thing is that when you get warned from so many places (American embassy, swedish embassy and the world bank), you kind of get a bit stressed! Let's wait and see how it all plays out.....

Evaluation forms

Here are the last of my evaluation forms. George promised me to wright comments on the blog, so I'm hoping he will do this soon.

CAS Essay

Throughout my CAS, I have been working with Excellent School in the Mathare slums. I started this year by consolidating my service and creativity projects to both involve Excellent. I made a web page and it was actually a huge challenge! After producing the webpage it is so much easier to refer interested parties to the page to learn more about the school. So many things have happened over the years and I learned to be more structured, to plan, promote and market as well as balancing the account. To apply for money from various organizations and companies was also a new task, and difficult. I developed a strategy of trying to be smart about it, and formulate all the applications in a way that would appeal to the exact company/organization I was applying from. I was disappointed, occasionally, that I did not receive funds, but I grew into knowing that this is what happens mostly, which made me become more appreciative of the funds we already have. My leadership skills has developed a lot, and it is rewarding to know that everyone I involved in the school always ask for my advice. I also had to organize help when the mud slide and flash flood caused a lot of damage. To call and mail everyone I knew and collect blankets and other necessities was a challenge to overcome in a short time. It was also a new experience for me, and I had to put my regular CAS work aside to really focus on this task.The most rewarding thing with this project, is still the opportunity to meet the students. The lower graders who always wanted to hug me and follow me around wherever I went, to discussing with the 8th graders who are a lot like me, but with entirely different problems. To listen to the teachers and headmasters struggles was also a learning experience. My social network project was not very successful. I did get some money, but not nearly as much as I expected because the website was not well known. From this I learned that I have to be extremely active to make a difference.For me, my work with Excellent is a life changing project, and I'm going to continue for as long as possible. My goals has changed over the period as well as my dedication and engagement in the school. My work have been so much better that anticipated and that has fueled my determination to continue my work with Excellent School. Hopefully I can raise international awareness next year while in University. 

I reached my goal early in my action project, but I learned to love Taekwondo, finding it a perfect way to get all my aggressions out and keep fit. I discovered that I'm more comfortable  with a “notn team” sport. MMA is another sport I learned about through Taekwondo. It is terrific for stamina, technique and power. I'm sure I'm going to continue with both MMA and Taekwondo. They are both styles of fighting that really appeal to me and suits me well!

My work with the Swedish society taught me to be more sociable and to always be accessible and agree when they need help. I got to do a lot of creative things, like invitations and project reports. The biggest reward with this job was to learn that as long as you meet new people and tell them about your CAS, new opportunities will open up. I got many ideas for my other CAS projects from interested Swedes and I got a stronger connection with my community. 

The photo books for the babies in the Nest was another successful project. I produced two books of the babies and their home, friends and surroundings in their first year of their lives in Nairobi. The children I chose were adopted, and through my work with the Swedish society, I was able to make contact with the adoptive parents and hand over the books. This project lasted about 6 months but also made me help the Nest with laundry and feeding and playing with the children. I did encounter one big difficulty: The babies I chose to photograph were adopted before I was done with my books. I solved this by photographing all the kids, and finally make books for the ones I had contact with the adoptive parents of.

I believe that the different activities I participated in for CAS really has helped me develop as a person in a positive way. My service in the slums made me realize that there are many fantastic and positive communities in Kenya, quite different from the dangerous images often portrayed in the media. I am grateful for the insight and experiences that the CAS program has enabled me to experience. 

Like a Kenyan

I found this image on facebook. Quite funny, but it says something about the Kenyan tribes. Lots of prejudices. For you who are not living in Kenya: a Mzungu is a white person.

Work with my play

Fot the last week I've been very busy working with my play "Free Entry". I'm very happy with my actors, but there is a lot of work directing, writing my IPP, fixing props, blocking and thinking about set designs. I made a model of the stage, I've painted backdrops for the set, I made a sheep hat and accessories for the "rare bird", a bloody towel and painting of the set design. It is inspirational to see my ideas evolve and I get new ideas as I work. I'm very happy to have a stage manager to help me visualize my ideas and great actors to communicate my vision! I think I'm something of a "control freak" concerning my play, but I'm not sure that is a bad thing. I suspect that this is something every director have to deal with, even If I'm going to be very vulnerable opening night, because I feel I'm exposing my "heart and soul" through this play. I'm also getting more and more inspired as I work and I'm going to post a film on this blog when I finally see the result!
I still have a lot of work to do, but I'm feeling that I'm well under way! The next step is to finalize the action plan, prop list, wardrobe and lighting. I also have to put in the high gear concerning rehearsals. Now it is mainly to have the actors learn their lines, and perfecting the blocking!

My sister played dead for scene 6. I used fake blood and an old towel.

Set design. Five different back drops are illustrating the seven different settings. I made a model to visualize it for the actors and my stage manager. My mom helped me sew and paint the back drops.

The sheep hat - a wardrobe detail for William in one of the dream scenes.

Sponsors for the girls

Soon the secondary school will start. The students in Excellent did really well! Last summer I managed to get two sponsors for secondary school for two girls. I managed to meet them on my last visit and they were really sweet. The alternative to go to school is usually prostitution for young girls and it is very uncommon for families to afford secondary school. I feel really proud to be able to help these two girls with their tuition. The other really great thing is that these girls are going to boarding school and are escaping the slums for a few years. Hopefully they'll get a vision of what they want to do in life and get a new life outside the slums in the future. At least they will have a bigger chance after a secondary education!