DRIVING LESSONS: Summer 2012

During my summer break, I went to Lebanon, my home country, for two months.The 13th of June 2012, I turned seventeen. Since I live in Kenya, where people drive on the left side of the road, I realized that summer 2012 was my only opportunity to learn how to drive on the right side, before I come back to Lebanon for university. So i asked around and all my Lebanese friends recommended Skaff driving school.( http://skaffdrivingschool.com/)

Skaff Driving School is One of the biggest driving school in Lebanon. They provide every single service related to driving:Teaching you how to drive properly, insuring you cars, doing all the paper work in the legal and official departments. All their cars have 2 driver's cabinets. (2 steering wheels and control pedals).

"Driving you safely for the rest of your life is our main interrest and product."

I got their number from a friend who learned how to drive through the company and I booked an appointment with one of the driving teachers, Nabil. I took twenty lessons in total, each an hour long. We drove all around Lebanon: Jounieh, Beirut, Adma, Feytroun... Skaff has a very efficient system: each student has to drive the previous student to their house, except if you're the first student of the day. Nabil was an amazing teacher, who helped me concentrate on driving even when listening to music or chatting him. 

In the beginning, I was scared an uncertain of my capabilities as a driver but with time i could see the improvement and at the end i felt like a professional driver. Now i'm confident i will pass my driver's license test as soon as i turn 18 in the summer of 2013!

INTERACT CLUB BOOK SALE 2012 ...more pictures

ISK GOLD VARSITY TENNIS TEAM: August 2012 - December 2012

At the beginning of my senior year i signed up for the the tennis team tryouts. They lasted for about two weeks. Everyone, including my coach, had realized the progress i had made over summer. However, i was still surprised when i made the first cut.

In the beginning we were 30 players trying out, and then we were left at 20 people, which were divided into two teams of 10 players. I made the gold varsity tennis team! We have practice four times a week :

• Mondays: 6:50am - 7:50am
• tuesdays: 3:30pm - 4:30pm
• Thursdays: 6:50am - 7:50am
• Fridays:  3:30pm - 4:30pm 

Our coach is coach George, with whom we discussed our goals for the season. My main goal is to perfect my back hand and avoid double faults while serving. I also wish to play more singles matches as i am used to playing doubles with my sister. 

Adding to practice hours, I play tennis for one and a half hour every Saturday with my formal coach, coach Peter. It is a much more intense training as we don't have to share 3 courts between 10 players.

OPERATION SMILE: Saturday 8th of September 2012

"Changing lives one smile at a time"

Operation smile is a worldwide children's medical charity whose network of global volunteers is dedicated to helping improve the health and lives of children and young adults. It was founded in 1982 in Norfolk (USA), and has provided free surgery and related health care to more than 160 000 patients born with cleft lips and other facial deformities all over the world. The organization is present in more than 60 countries, with 12 in Africa.

In each country where they work, their goal is to create self-sustainable programs that provide free surgical care as well as education and training. They ensure every patient treated by Operation Smile benefits from the best equipment, procedures and highly trained medical volunteers, no matter where they live.

In Kenya, approximately one in 500 to 700 children is born with a cleft lip and/or cleft palate. Children suffering from clefts often face numerous challenges to their health and survival. Facial clefts aren't just a cosmetic problem: 1 in 10 children born with a cleft dies before reaching their first birthday.

Those that survive, grow up with significant malnutrition, speech abnormalities and breathing problems, These patients, due to stigma, are normally outcast, who don't go to school and live a life of shame and isolation.

I recently joined the Operation Smile club in ISK. We meet on Mondays once every two weeks to brainstorm and plan fundraising events. Our club donates all its profits to this honorable cause.

On the 8th of September, we had a booth at the PTO picnic held in our school, We were selling 'operation smile" T-shirts (green and blue), cupcakes with smiley faces on them and brownies. We were also distributing brochures about the organization and we were raising awareness with the hope of receiving a lot of donations. Some of my friends and I went around the picnic explaining what our club is about, selling cupcakes an collecting donations.

Thanks to everyone's help and generosity, we raised about 58 000 KSH, which can pay for two surgeries, as each surgery costs about 240 dollars.

PTO PICNIC : INTERACT CLUB BOOK SALE on Saturday the 8th of September from 11:00am to 12:30pm

THE INTERACT CLUB organized a book sale at the PTO Picnic which took place on the the 8th of September in ISK. Each student donated five books from their personal collections, either children's books or literature ones. Since my committee is in charge of advertising the club and its events, i designed a poster and made 25 copies, which me and a fellow interacted posted all around the school campus.

I signed up for a shift of one hour from 11:00 am till 12:00. 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. As one of the board members, i was also in charge of setting up the prices for the books:

• Small books: 100 KSH
• Medium sized books (paper cover): 150 KSH
• Medium sized books (hard cover): 200 KSH
• Big books (paper cover): 250 KSH
• Big books (hard cover): 300 KSH

We separated the books according to their size, their quality and their type of cover (paper or hard) which helped in setting the price (50 KSH difference). Adding to that, the books were also separated   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 of my contribution.

INTERACT CLUB TEAM BUILDING: Saturday September 1rst 2012 from 8:30am to 1pm

After selecting fourteen members for each of the four committees in the Interact club, during a board meeting, the accepted applicants were required to attend a team building event on Saturday the 1rst of September.

The board members came a bit earlier to choose the last member of the board. Amir T. Rashid was voted to be the head of the club committee. The interacters were expected around 9am. As people were walking into the multi purpose room, they were separated into their respective committees: The club committee, the service committee, the finance committee and the international committee. The meeting began with a twenty minutes long introduction on the club, its four committees, its requirements, its purpose, its service trips and its funding events. This was primarily addressed to all new coming members. 

This was followed by team building activities including assembling five squares using different shapes, the survival desert activity and a spoon race using potatoes. The survival desert activity consisted of listing from 1 to 15 and in order of importance, what we though were necessary items to our survival  if we were lost in the desert. 

The room was divided into many teams, which competed against each other. They were genuinely fun and brought everyone closer as working as a team and taking each person’s opinion into consideration, were the only ways to succeed and win. For the two first activities, each winning team won lovely pens. The two board teams didn’t win anything but they argued that they wanted to give the others a chance while everyone else pretended to believe them. 

Afterwards, there was a short snack break during which all members and supervisors were enjoying treats, brownies, cakes and chips brought by the board. We also had short committee meetings to discuss how every member can contribute to the club and the upcoming PTO book sale. Then we had the pinning ceremony, starting by the board members, which then gave an interact pin to each of the other members of the club. We ended the day by taking a group picture of everyone, before everyone headed home. It was a great event! 

MY NEW DUTIES AS HEAD OF CLUB COMMITTEE IN THE INTERACT CLUB

At the end of my junior year, I applied for head of club committee in the Interact club, after having been an active member of the committee for a year. I wrote a small speech and I presented a video about my experience in the Interact club in front of all the members and the old board. After everyone had written the name, of who they thought would be the best at this job, on a small piece of paper, it was announced that i got the position. I was VERY happy about it even though new duties and responsibilities came along with my new title. My committee is in charge of advertising the whole club to my school and the rest of the community. We do that through link articles, ticket and poster designs as well as through making videos. After summer break, the president of the club asked me to prepare a short video to explain what the club is about and to attract new members. The video was played in front of the whole school community during one of the general assemblies. The club received a large number of applications, which i take partial credit for. My mission was accomplished! The board members, including me, had to meet up after school to select and accept 14 applicants into each committee. Below is the video that i made and which got students and teachers talking about the club:

SKI TRIP: From the 9th of March till the 18th of March 2012

For the March break of 2012, starting on friday the 9th of March until the 18th, my parents allowed me to go skiing in Megeve, a ski resort in France, with Louise's family. Louise is one of my good friends at the International School of Kenya.

Arriving in the Megève station, I was extremely exited and nervous to start skiing. Being Lebanese, i've lived in a country where it snows every winter my whole life. However i've only started learning how to ski after the age of 10, which explains why i'm not a perfect skier. Therefore, Louise and I got a private skiing teacher for the few days we were there. His name was Michel Moret, and we skiied with him everyday from 9 AM till 1:30 PM for  5 days in a row (from Monday to Friday). The rest of the day was spent skiing with Louise's parents and their friends.

Michel taught me many new techniques, which improved my skiing skills a lot. For example he taught me how to use my sticks, which helped my overall skiing position and with my balance. We practiced many hours on the same slope until we perfectly executed everything he had asked from us. Louise's parents and their friends started complimenting us on our improvements and our growing confidence, which motivated me even more to learn. These lessons really helped and i could clearly see a change from the first to the fifth day. 

I also fell a countless number of time but I learned that when you fall, you must get back up and do it again, in order to learn from your mistakes, instead of letting them discourage you from your goals. Although this was a tiring experience, which required a lot of physical effort, it was all worth it at the end. I'm very thankful for Michel and I can't wait to show off my new skiing techniques the next winter in Lebanon! Adding to that i discovered how much I loved skiing. It's an extremely fun sport and it made my march break even more amazing. Megeve was a great destination to escape from the stress and pressure that IB students are under.

OVC EASTER PARTY: 24th of March 2012

           On Saturday the 24^th of March, the Interact club organized an Easter party for the OVC children. The interact members spent two hours in the presence of AIDS orphans and vulnerable children. They wear donated clothes, eat donated food and play with donated toys. After arriving at ISK at 9:30am, the Interact group walked to a nearby place, which serves as a school for these Kenyan children. We led them to our school, where we had two hours of playing and interacting planned especially for them. Some of us had stayed at school, preparing and organizing all the toys, the books and the clothes, which we were going to give away. Upon their arrival, they entered the classroom full of donated gifts, and in small groups they all chose their favorite items. The elder children were overjoyed when they were given lots of books and the youngest ones had already started playing with their new toys.

          After that, the children were divided into different groups, while the Interact members were assigned various stations and roles. One after the other, each group spent some time in the different stations, which were the multi court, the playground, the pool and the eating area. We also had a few surprises for our new friends. Some of us hid candy and chocolate bars in the playground, and the kids seemed to have a blast looking for them and of course eating all of it. As for the multi court, we had booked lots of basketballs and other toys for the children to play with. That woke up the children inside of us, as we happily joined all of the games.

         The Easter party went a bit over time, which was a good sign. We took them back to their school and said goodbye at around 1pm. People were hugging, shaking hands and constantly saying "Asante Sana!" and "Kwaheri!”. The main purpose of this Easter party was to create a space where these vulnerable children feel safe, important and dignified. It was also a great way to make them feel loved and to share the joyous aspect of the festive season.    

    

         The kids we met that day are tough and resilient, without parents to guide them through their childhood. However, they are kind hearted and great friends. They seemed so thankful, which made all our efforts worth it. This proves that one simply needs moments shared with others to create happy and hopefully long lasting memories.

FRINGE FESTIVAL: "Breaking News" (January-February 2012)

Through the dedication of IB Theater Arts teacher, Vicky Hargreaves, and some high school students including me, we  offered up a delightful cultural treat to the ISK community.  The Fringe Festival showcased the work of our IB Theater Arts students in six short works that were performed around the campus.  These works were innovative and thought-provoking, exposing the wandering audience members to a wide range of theater styles and ideas to chew on.

I was in Gabriella Gross' play as one of the main actresses. She was an amazing director and the whole crew had lots of fun throughout the process. We started rehearsals in January 2012 and continued practicing until the two performance dates (Thursday 21 and Friday 22 of February 2012). We performed 4 times each day (8 times in total).

It was a very enjoyable experience, which i was proud to be part of. In our play "Breaking News", the audience can only see our shadows through a large white bed sheet. One actress was part of the audience as she played the role of the host. She was changing the Tv programs ( the white sheet was the Tv) as we often changed characters. I went from being a table to a journalist to an elderly woman to Kate Middleton to the statue of liberty and finally to being the victim of a car crash. We ended the play by the announcement of breaking news: the war had started ( we riped the sheet and pretended to attack our audience as we were armed) and finally we were dead. The message behind all of this is that what we see on Tv and often choose to ignore is actually a reality lived by others. So we should all feel concerned when hearing shocking news.

This also gave me some drama experience to use what I learned in the drama course I took the first semester of my junior year. 

OVC TRIP : saturday 21th January 2012

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 second OVC trip on the 29th of January, from 10:00 am till 12:00 pm.  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 up, some of us sang a famous song by Adele. As soon as the song was over, the children were divided into different groups. Some played football, others were drawing and the rest were playing dodgeball. I first helped some children with finding paper and color pencils, then i joined the dodgeball game. After a while I proposed to the others that we play the game: 1,2,3 RUN! It was very easy to explain and we all enjoyed it! I really had fun during these two hours and I didn't want to leave. But all good things must come to an end.

TENNIS: January 2012 - May 2012

Tennis is a sport usually played between two players (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. 
The first semester ( August 2011 - December 2011), I was one of the JV tennis team players.
Since the tennis season was over, my sister and I decided to continue playing and improve our skills through playing twice a week with coach Peter. Coach Peter is the varsity tennis team's coach in ISK. We have lessons each Wednesday ( 3pm - 4pm) and each Saturday ( 1pm - 2pm ). I have noticed a huge improvement since the beginning of these lessons and i also learned the proper technique to serve the ball. Adding to that my cardio has improved because coach Peter makes us run for the ball. 

EAMUN: from the 13th of February to the 17th of February 2012

EAMUN ( east african model united nation) is a simulated session of the General Assembly, Security Council, Ecology and Environment, Economic, Health, Human Rights, Political and Technology committees in which students represent the delegates from member countries. The year 2011/12 is the 30th EAMUN conference.Student involvement continues to include students from the Nairobi area, from other areas around Kenya and from other countries.

Tremendous support for the EAMUN program is offered by the people at the UN headquarters in Gigiri, Kenya, to give the young people involved the best experience they can get from an MUN conference.

Model United Nations began around the world as early as 1923, with simulated sessions of what was then called the League of Nations. These sessions are now held in numerous countries at all levels, ranging from high schools to universities and adult MUN sessions.

I was chosen with 19 other students from my school to attend this EAMUN conference. I represented China. I was in charge of Special Summits, which is the committee that debates general issues such as the use of nuclear weapons and the consequences of free trade. It was an amazing learning and creative experience. Sometimes the debates would be heated but i made sure that i was expressing myself in a diplomatic language, which didn't offend anyone. Thankfully, all the debates we discussed were interesting, and some of the arguments presented by my fellow delegates even impacted my opinions about these issues. I also interacted with delegates from other schools and created new friendships. 

Monday, February 13th

12.00 2.00	Arrive, Pick up/Distribute name badges/resolution packets
2.00 3.00	General meeting
3.00 5.00	Lobbying
	Schedule of Meetings
3.45 4.00	Head Securitary meeting
4.00 4.15	Ambassador meeting
4.15 4.30	ICJ meeting (for all Ambassadors involved in ICJ cases)
4.15 4.45	Advisors meeting
4.30 4.45	Securitary meeting
5.00	Lobbying session ends, everyone is free to leave

Tuesday, February 14th

08.00 8.45	Arrive at UNON take seats
09.00 9.30	Opening ceremony
9.30 10.20	Policy statements presented
10.20 10.30	Break
10.30 12.00	Committees open
12.00 1.00	Lunch
1.00 2.30	Debates continue
2.30	Committees close for the day

WednesdayFebruary 15th

08.00 8.45	Arrive at UNON take seats
09.00 9.15	Announcements
9.15 10.20	Debates continue
10.20 10.30	Break
10.30 12.00	Debates continue
12.00 1.00	Lunch
1.00 2.30	Debates continue
2.30	Committees close

Thursday, February 16th

08.00 8.45	Arrive at UNON take seats
09.00 9.15	Announcements
9.15 10.20	General Assemblies, ICJ, GAC open
10.20 10.30	Break
10.30 12.00	Debates continue
12.00 1.00	Lunch
1.00 2.30	Debates continue
2.30	General Assemblies close for the day

Friday, February 17th

08.00 8.45	Arrive at UNON take seats
09.00 9.15	Announcements
9.15 10.20	Debates continue
10.20 10.30	Break
10.30 12.00	Debates continue
12.00 1.00	Lunch
1.00 2.00	Debates continue
2.00 2.30	Closing ceremony
2.30	MUN closes