ZUMBA: Friday 7th October 2011

My mom takes zumba classes twice a week, and she insisted on taking me to my first class with her, on the 7th of october from 6:00 pm till 7:00 pm, in the My Fair Hotel, in Westland. It’s an exhilarating, effective, easy-to-follow, Latin-inspired, calorie-burning dance fitness-party that’s moving millions of people toward joy and health.
It is the only Latin-inspired dance-fitness program that blends red-hot international music, created by Grammy Award-winning producers, and contagious steps to form a "fitness-party" that is downright addictive.
But although it was really tiring, I loved it and decided to go every time i am free to do so.

I contributed to the "students for environment" 's bake sale!

My sister is a member of the SFE club, so i helped her make two vanilla cakes and brownies. I am not a great cook but deserts are my specialty, especially crepes. I gathered all the ingredients, and mixed them with the help of my sister. We were pleased with the result, and I was glad to see, the second day, that everything we prepared was sold.

JUNIOR VARSITY TENNIS TEAM: August-December 2011

I was chosen to be part of the team after 4 days of tryouts. We are 12 players in total. We have one hour long tennis practice every tuesday and wednesday mornings and every thursday afternoon. We work on our techniques, play games and doubles' matches. We play matches against other schools, such as Rosslyn on some thursdays after school, from 3:30 till 6:00 pm. We have won so long. We only wear our tennis outfits during matches. I am number 16 in the Lions JV team. Unfortunately, the tennis season will be over in December.

MUN: Model United Nations

Model United Nations (also known as "MUN") is an educational simulation that focuses on civics, communications, and multilateral diplomacy. 
During a Model United Nations conference, students take on roles as foreign diplomats and participate in a simulated session of an intergovernmental organization (IGO). Participants research a country, take on a role as a diplomat, investigate international issues, debate, deliberate, consult, and then develop solutions to world issues. During a simulation they must employ a variety of communications and critical thinking skills to defend and advance the policies of their country.


My schedule only allows me to participate in one MUN meeting every two weeks, on mondays week 1 during activity block. Therefore i won't be able to be chosen as one of the delegates in the MUN conference coming up. But even though i am not committed to this club as much as to Interact club, MUN remains important to me because it discusses world wide issues such as discrimination and sexism, which really matter for a feminist like me. Right now we are concentrating on some countries such as China, which our delegates will represent at the conference. Our job is to gather information about their backgrounds, their actual issues, their allies and their enemies. China has some sexist policies towards the female gender, which is why i chose to research this country instead of the other ones.

MURAL PAINTING: September- October 2011

THE CLUB COMMITTEE decided to paint a mural to represent the Interact club and what it does. It is in a way, to promote and advertise the club in the school. The members were asked of who was interested in designing it, so i volunteered. I first thought of what Interact does, and i used my previous experiences with the OVC trip and the Rhunda feeding program to do so. I than resumed and separated the roles of the club in four major catch phrases:
- Step on poverty
- Erase sadness
- Roll over hunger
- Say YES to interact club
 I then drew a colorful image for each, incorprating Kenyan animals to make it look fun and attractive to the eye. And finally i added the Interact club logo, before presenting it to Mrs. Taylor, the teacher responsible of the project. After she, Mrs. Maccay and the committee voted and approved it, the drawing and the painting began. The school gave us a very nice spot for the mural, near the high school office. It took 4 sessions to finish it off. I participated in two of them, during the drawing and the painting process. So i dedicated my time to designing it, and than tuesday 20th september and thursday 29th of september, from 3:30 to 5:00 pm after school. We were all really proud of the result!

RUNDA FEEDING PROGRAM: Sunday 25th september 2011

THE INTERACT CLUB organized a trip to Runda, where the members of the club helped a feeding association, to which we donate money from our fundraising's. It was held on the 25th of september from 10:00 am till 12:00 pm. We all met up at the Java House near the UN, from where we all went to the Runda village in cars. Outside the gate, there was an army of hungry children who greeted us and inside, there were boxes an boxes filled with food : bread, milk, candy, etc... This food was bought with the donated food. Our job was to open the boxes and organize and arrange this huge amount of food in different areas of the place. Some of us, including me, prepared plates containing a bit of everything in them, to give to the elder people living around the place. We also gave a mix of bread and milk to three hungry looking dogs. Then, each of us was assigned a different kind of food to control, and was told how much to give the children waiting to come in. I was assigned the milk distribution with two other girls.
Afterwards,The responsibles let in the children, who were given little bags to put in the food they were about to receive. Shortly, groups of ten to fifteen children, came towards us and we started giving out the food. Each child got one small packet of milk and each child carrying a baby, got two small packet of milk or one big one. This went on for hours and the huge amount of food was decreasing and decreasing. But the thing is, the line of children never seemed to end. My friends and I were very affected when a shortage of milk occurred and some children did't get any. It was sad to see that some of the milk packets got wasted because of holes in them. But the most sad of all was knowing that these small bags the children were carrying represented the only sources of food for them and their family, for the whole week. This of course ended up with tears, especially when the children left, some with less food than others, and we all started praying for them. The only thing which comforted me was to remember the smile of some of these kids when they were thanking us.

OVC TRIP : saturday 17th september 2011

THE INTERACT CLUB organizes an OVC trip once a month. This trip to an orphanage near ISK, is an opportunity for the members of the club to interact with less fortunate children. We visit them, bringing some food and comfort. We try to make them forget their condition and we play with them, read to them and draw with them. I went on my first OVC trip on the 17th of September, from 10:00 am till 12:00 pm. At the beginning i was shocked of what i saw but i decided to make the best of it. First we all sat, ISK students and the disadvantaged children, in one big circle. In turn, every child presented a show for the rest of us : some recited poems, some sang and other danced. When our turn came to present what we had prepared for them, we put on the Macarena song and we all the members of the club began dancing. As soon as the song was over, each one of us took in charge a group of children and showed them the moves to the well-known dance. At the end we were all dancing and laughing together.

We then started playing different games: playing football, dancing games, the 'one, two, three! hello' game, drawing and painting. The thing is we really had fun, all of us! A girl even thought me the belly dance.

I also created a special link with two kids : Elizabeth and Abathi. I can't wait to visit them agin, watch them laugh and play together. Because at the end of the day, children only need love food and a friend to be happy. As for me, it was a memorable experience !

PTO Picnic : Saturday 10th Septembre 2011

THE INTERACT CLUB organized a book sale at the PTO Picnic which took place on the the 10th of September in ISK. Each student donated five books from their personal collections, either children's books or literature ones. I signed up for a shift of one hour from 10:00 am till 11:00 am. So i was part of the group, which was in charge of organizing the tables and deciding of the disposition of the books to optimize the sales. We separated the books according to their quality, which helped in the price putting (from 50 Ksh to 250 Ksh), and than according to the age group they were meant to be sold to. This process required team work and leadership skills and fast decision making. At the end of the day i was informed that the book sale did great, so i was really proud to contribute.

THE PROM COMMITTEE also took advantage of that day to raise money for prom, through selling drinks and organizing games. I had signed up for a shift from 1:00 till 2:00 too organize the balloon shaving game. Each player had to pay 50 Ksh, which is a reasonable price. It was really fun and i enjoyed it. The children who were competing all got candy even if they could't shave the balloon properly in 30 seconds.

INTERACT CLUB : Club Commitee

I have joined the interact club in the beginning of august 2011. Interact is a service club for young people.  Interact gives young people an opportunity to participate in fun, meaningful service projects. Interact clubs perform at least two projects a year, with one serving the community and the other furthering international understanding. Along the way, interactors develop their leadership skills and initiative while meeting new friends.

Through their service activities, Interactors learn the importance of:
• developing leadership skills and personal integrity
• demonstrating helpfulness and respect for others
• understanding the value of individual responsibility and hard work
• advancing international understanding and goodwill
The Interact club meets at lunch time every tuesday on week 2.

There are four different committees in the Interact club, each with a specific role. I am in the club commitee which takes care of designing posters and tickets for all the events, promoting and advertising the Interact club in the school  through weekly articles linked with pictures we take during our events and also it takes care of the PR of the club through a mural painting to represent what we do. Adding to these responsibilities, the members of the committee are required to attend the fundraisings and the service trips such as the OVC trip, the Runda feeding program and the PTO. The Club committee meets every tuesday of week 2 in activity block. This means that the Interact club gives opportunities for action, service and creativity.