Webpage for Excellent

I managed to design and post the new website for Excellent school. The object of this site is to inform people who have donated money about the progress as well as giving some basic information about the school. I bought the domain name, excellentcarecenterandschool.org (a bit long, but the best one I could get) and payed about 60 euros for that. Then, when I wanted to publish the site, they asked for another 60 euros to host the site! I got quite upset because everywhere I read that this was a totally FREE service..... I managed to charge it to my dad's Amex card (after all it's for a good cause). Now I have the domain for two years and the hosting for one year and feel safe.

I think the homepage came out nice, and being the administrator I can go in and edit it whenever I want to. This is going to be a great help in my work.
I also struggled a bit with how to handle the privacy issues. The images posted on the page are mainly on people I know, and I've asked for their permission, but what about all the kids? I need to have a talk with George and ask for his advice on how to handle this. It makes me feel better that I suspect that the students will be glad to be seen on the page because it's purpose is ultimately to raise money for them.

click this link to check out the page

Grading again soon

In Taekwondo today, I was kicking my mom. Max said that I did really well and that I've improved a lot lately. He also said that we need to practice  poomses. My grading is coming up, this time for blue belt. My mom needs to grade for red, and my sister has only one more belt before she's black. To grade for a black belt is really hard and complicated. First, you have to fight (sparr) with more than one opponent and know all the poomses and techniques. Second, you have to apply to Korea, where all the black belts are issued. From now on you're not a member of your national taekwondo club, but the world taekwondo club. Third, the applications take a long time to be processed and they cost $500. Ebbas black belt is already being processed, so she will probably grade for black within 6 months. Max told me, that when he was in Korea last summer, grading for his second dan black belt, he realised that we are really qualified for higher belts in Kenya. The really good taekwondo students has much lower belts than the ones in Korea. This might be because the cost of grading, but also on the examiners demands on the students.

For my next grading I need to do 3-4 poomses and manage all the kicks and combinations. I think I'm ready for it!

Working on the webpage

Very confusing and a lot of hard work! I don't know how to save the page, so I'll just keep working until I'm done. I know there are possibilities to go in an change it later and I'm guessing it's going to be a lot of changing to be done. It's also expensive, even though Wix says it's going to be for free! Just bought the domain name excellentcarecenterandschool.org for 60 euros. How is that free? I'm still quite happy that I managed to get such a good web address. Hope it's going to be worth the money! I'll just keep on going until I'm happy about the first look of the page!

The next challenge will be to update it now and then. To make the web page visited by interested persons, I think it's important to update and bring news continuously. Things are happening in "waves" - sometimes so much is going on, and sometimes there is nothing new to tell.... I guess I can add new images when the progress is slower, but I'll decide how to handle it when the page is done. I get a bit nervous when I'm not able to save the page. What if it doesn't work out? I'll probably get better and better with this when I'm done with this first page, but right now it is harder than I expected it to be. I'm suspecting I'm going to learn a lot from working on this webpage! I still think the internet is a fantastic tool to market your project, and it is great that it is so available and it will make my work easier once it's up!

School visit

I went to the school yesterday to reconnect with the kids after the summer holidays. I had a nice chat with George discussing the plans ahead. There is one small problem: There is still one man refusing to sell his house in the middle of the school. To be able to do what we want, we desperately need this house. George has talked to the guys brother and the chief of our district, so hopefully they can persuade him to move. Until he does, we can focus on making the two rooms we bought this spring into an area for the teachers. They desperately need it, and we need a place to put the working desks we got from the Swedish society.
I also asked him to give me information about the owner situation of the rooms we bought. Because of that the registration office in Mathare 4B is closed, we're not entirely sure how this works.
We're planning another meeting in our house soon.

Ruby Cup

My mother went to the school with Robert. They had a great time meeting the students and were welcomed as rock stars! They had a long discussion with George and Dixon about the Ruby cup. A devise the girls can use during their period and will be a one time investment. George and Dixon were very positive and wanted my mother and Robert to come and educate the girls and their parents on how to use it. Robert is working with female issues in rural Kenya and also teaches about HIV/Aids and family planning. They are going to schedule a session shortly. I think this is a really good idea and that the girls would benefit greatly from this. My job will be to raise the money to buy the Ruby cups.

Taming of the shrew

Tonight it's time for the taming of the shrew in the Globe theatre. We are also having a Workshop and a tour of the Globe theatre. Some say you've never experienced Shakespeare until you visit the Globe theatre. I did it last year and standing all through the theatre performance was not at all as hard as I thought it would be. It's really quite an experience (but you need good shoes). Looking forward to this day! Not the right play but a funny image:

One man two guvnors

Yesterday I laughed all through the play "one man, two guvnors". It was so well played and very, very funny and also very British. The whole group loved it and I think it is right there at the top of my theatrical experiences, next to war horse (that I'm seeing for the second time this week). I was also deeply impressed by the interaction the actors had with their audience and their physical way of performing this comedy. The London week has really started off great and the days are filled with theatre, workshops, museum visits and shopping. We have lots of activities left and I'm looking forward to it all.

Off to London

Tomorrow I'm leaving Nairobi for London. We have a full week of going to performances, workshops and shopping ahead! I'm really looking forward to it - last years trip was great. There is going to be no time for thinking of my CAS, because we really have a full schedule. The shows we're going to see are: One man two guvnors, We will rock you, The Busy Body, Taming of the shrew (in the Globe theatre) and war horse (I saw that one last year but will enjoy it again!).

I'm aslo looking forward to good fast food, shopping and just enjoying London (one of my favorite places).

The girls made the paper in Bollnäs

Again, very impressed by the girls working for Excellent school in Sweden. They are also selling products made by Kenyan women with HIV/Aids and the money they earn goes to Excellent. They got the contact through The Swedish society and my mom. The guy running these project is a really cool guy and Swedish too. I think it's really clever to get revenues from the sales both to the women groups and to Excellent. These girls are truly "future leaders"!

New helper

My sister has been quite curious about my work in the school. She asked our CAS supervisor if she could do her cas this year by helping me with my project. She's been in the school with me a couple of times and really enjoys it. Now, I just need to figure out how I can use her in the most effective way! I'm thinking that she can help me design and sell christmas cards this year. I'm also planning to design a calendar that I can sell with images from the school and maybe she can be helpful with that. I'm sure, however, that I will make her visit the school with me. Maybe she can read to the smaller kids or tutor some of them. It will take some planning, but I'm sure I can make use of her time! It is great to see that my work in the school can inspire others. When you are passionate about something, people tend to follow your lead and get curious and ready to help. This is also a fact that I found to be true in Sweden last summer. So many people wanted to help when they heard about the project. It is up to me to keep them interested and help them help the school in any way they can. I'm planning to set aside time to sit down and think of different ways and opportunities at least once a week.

Ebba on a school visit last year

Got the money!

It is interesting that yesterday, I was a bit anxious getting the money from "Funded by me". Today I received a mail, telling me to fill out a form with the bank account number and lots of other stuff. They did charge me with some fees, but altogether I got 21,898 Kes. I think I'll start another project closer to christmas! An this time I will be a bit smarter about it! I realised that I need to be a lot more active on social media. My mom recently singed up for twitter and instagram, so I'm hoping she'll help me spread the message to all her contacts. This seems to be a lesson that comes back to me time and time again. Be more active, never let go, be a pain in the xxx. Sometimes it takes a lot of hard work and there will be times when I'm not in good shape. This has a lot to do with my schoolwork too. Sometimes I feel I could do this as a full time job, but I still have school to attend to so that is just not possible! When I get inspired I get so much done, but sometimes it is hard to be inspired and come up with new ideas and strategies! I still think I'm doing well and I need to give myself a break once in a while and learn from my mistakes!

  

Closing the project

My Funded by me project is now closed. I managed to get about 23 000 Kes. I guess that is OK, but I know that I have to do it differently the next trime I try. I really need to market my project harder. So, I guess I have to view this as an learning experience, even though I managed to earn some money. The problem now is that I really don't know how I will get the money! The administrators for funded by me will are supposed to contact me, but I'm feeling a little anxious about this. I'll just have to wait a few days I guess....

More sponsors for secondary school

Over the summer, I have not only been trying to find sponsors for the school, but also sponsors who can pay secondary education for the 8:th graders who will have their exams in December.
It is quite interesting: when I realize I'm not getting through to the person I'm talking to, I usually switch and talk about the money the kids need for secondary school.
Yesterday, this strategy payed off! Friends who we had dinner with in Sweden, decided to sponsor TWO girls from Excellent school. This is fantastic news and I'm so happy that they want to do this.
To sponsor girls might sound sexist, but the fact is that girls have an increasingly hard life in the Mathare slums.
They are often abused and used in many different ways. They are often forced into prostitution or marriage at a very young age. To allow them a secondary education doesn't only give them a chance to become successful in life, but also take them away from the slums to rural Kenya. The cost of this is about 45.000 kes for the first year (because of all the supplies they have to buy, like mattresses and uniforms) and about 30.000 kes for the following years. For this money the girls get classes, room and board and according to me, this is a very small sum to pay to give the girls a chance to lead a good and productive life. It is really bigger than the girls, it is also important for Kenya to get educated youths for the future of the country!

Teachers on strike in Kenya

The teachers went on a strike yesterday in Kenya. They want a pay raise, which I absolutely can understand. I'm not sure that they will get anywhere, but I can certainly hope. I need to send an e-mail to George to see if they also are on a strike. I think that this is really bad timing for the 8:th graders, who are doing their National exams in November. Click this link to read more. Strike
Teachers strike

MMA

I really like Taekwondo, but MMA is also a great way to train. MMA stands for Mixed Martial Arts and you use kicks from Taekwondo, throws from Judo, boxing and wrestling techniques.
We sparr with our trainer, Tom and usually we go 3 minutes each. After 3 minutes I'm really tired and out of breath, so it is also a good cardio workout. My kicks are really good (because of my Taekwondo training) but my punches needs some work. There are a lot more punches than I knew, and we do them in sequences so you need to focus really hard to get the right ones.
MMA is really a though sport and there are no rules. In professional games the contenders fight in a cage and look for submission in their opponents. Strangling and breaking arms and legs are allowed, but the opponent can give up by tapping a hand. I would never do a proper fight, but it is great training!