I have to say that my project in Excellent school in the Mathare slum has been exceeding my expectations! I’ve been lucky, getting more people involved and really developed my leadership skills through this project.
So far I’ve made one big fundraiser and established contact with three groups that are interested in helping (local swedes, IB student in Sweden, High school students). We have bought many new rooms, bought chairs for the teachers and desks, sponsored costs for the national exams and sponsored two 14-year old girls secondary school fees. The sky is the limit for the contributions I’m expecting next year! The plan is to raise enough money to buy all the residential rooms (and there is only one left) in the area and fence it in, so the student can have a "campus" and feel safte within the school grounds.
I’ve also applied for funds from three organizations and was accepted by one, raising about 100 000 kes. With the help of five other Swedes in Nairobi and people back home, I managed to be part of raising about 550 000 Kes. I developed my creative skills, by designing and writing updates for all the donors, designing diplomas and christmas cards. I also got football uniforms and shoes from Sweden (donated from a Swedish film-shoot) and the transport was donated by KLM. Through connections in the Swedish community I also managed to get a major Swedish business paper to write and publish an article about the school. This brought us new donors and credibility to the project, as well as information to the Swedish people. When disaster struck and the area was affected by a flash-flood, I managed to raise about 15 000 Kes by a post on Face book. I also brought clothes, blankets and shoes to the Headmaster to give to the students that were affected. In late May, I made a great new connection that might lead to something VERY good. However, before I reveal anything more I need to investigate it further, but I do have high hopes on this one. I'll keep the blog updated and will hopefully have more good news in August.
I had the opportunity to visit the school many times as well as having other meetings with the Headmaster, planning and discussing the projects.
I have really learned a lot, both planning, the set-up of long term goals, as well as see the projects through and reporting the results and reacting to unfortunate situations. The aspects of meeting the children, getting an insight in their lifes and problems has built my awareness of the huge needs that somehow needs to be met. I also learned through the others helping out and they gave me new ideas (one example is selling boxes of chocolate very expensively in Sweden). I’ve also learned to never be detached from the project. There are so many opportunities and I always tell people I meet about the school. This opens up new contacts and new ideas!
It’s also been very positive to talk to the older students in school and realize their problems in raising money for secondary school. I know I’ve been helping many kids through this project and I’m suspecting that when the children see that things are improving in the school, they will perform better and better and motivate them even more. This is actually proven by the fantastic results they had on the National Exams (at least I hope I had something to do with that!). Discussions with Reverent George has also given me insight in the educational situation i Kenya, as well as what it is like to run a school in the slums, the difficulties with authorities and problems with the community.
The only thing I would have wished for more doing this project would be to spend even more time in the school. It is hard and the IB schedule is time consuming and demanding. The only opportunities have been Wednesday afternoons and Saturdays and with all my school projects and homework, there’s not enough hours in a day! As a matter of fact, one other thing I learned is that the kids in school are so positive and have such a great attitude that they actually give me more energy and inspiration! I've also had a few disappointments, not being accepted for funds from two organizations. There have also been people who tell me they want to be involved and give money, but nothing comes of it. I guess I just have to be persistent (and I have not always been that, again due to my workload in school). The fire and the mudslide was hard to take and the flash-flood on top of that made me really sad. Lots of kids with no homes and clothes, and sometimes I just wanted to raise money for them (and I did, when so many of them were affected by the floods). I had to remind myself that I'm trying to change the school for 700 students and this is a bigger achievement than helping 10, (even if I had to "side step" that ambition once). There is only so much money, and it is important to use them effectively and I still believe this to be true. But sometimes it is discouraging that so much is needed in the slums and no matter how hard you work it is never enough.
To get new people involved and organize a mutual project has also taught me a lot. It is the first time I can se myself as a leader and working together is creative an inspiring. I have also developed my creative skills, both writing and designing nice reports, christmas cards, application and presentations about the school. I think that both these experiences are going to help me a lot in the future, both in school and for my future employments.
This project is so close to my heart so I’m going to continue and try even harder to achieve my goals. To buy all the rooms in the area, fix them up and fence the school in is going to give the students a safer and a calmer area to study in. I think all 700 of them will benefit greatly from this!
This experience has taught me that even if I’m tired and stressed out by other things, I get inspiration and energy from doing things that are good for others. I also feel that many people are willing to help, if you just inspire them a bit and that there are many fantastic people who commit their life to helping others, even if they are not rich. They contribute with hard work and big hearts and a positive feeling that every student is “Excellent”, even in the slums.
My proposal form for the Excellent project.
I'm not posting my evaluation form because I'm going to continue this project in my Senior year.
No comments:
Post a Comment