Vanessa Grant Trust

My moms friend is working with the Vanessa Grant trust. They have a number of schools in Rongai. They have a vocational school and also one for mildly handicapped children. My mom suggested that I should make them pads and I'm going to start that project during christmas. I would love to travel there and give them the pads myself. I still don't know how many they would need, so I need to have a few meetings and get all the facts together.

Vanessa Grant trust

The importance of pads.

My mom showed me this video clip about the taboo on females menstrual cycle. I found it very interesting and I was very happy about the clip on the reusable pads (Afro pads) in a school in Uganda. This clip makes me even more reassured that this is a good and needed project and gives me even more energy to continue. It feels good to be a small part on a solution to this very big problem!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-MQyta6aLc

Poster finally done!

Composers club disturbances!

We have not been able to practice because of the same issues that we are not able to go to school (the Pope is visiting and the school is closed). Operation Smile dance, we were supposed to perform has also been postponed. We changed the days for our meetings due to the high School play schedule, and now wee meet on Fridays. We have started making a new song for the dance, but not yet managed to finish it. We have missed two practices and some people never shows up, so it is a bit difficult. However, I really enjoy it, and hope we can continue to meet more frequently soon. There is a bit of a stretch before you get going after not meeting for a while, so the weekly meetings are really important.

Destiny report

In June, I got awarded some money from the Swedish Society. I applied for 62 000 Kes, to build desks, buy chairs and a book case. I got the money, but one condition was that I take photos and make a poster for the Christmas Bazaar in late November. I know I have to do it, but it is hard to find the time right now. I started, but I'm having a hard time tom find some inspiration. I also have to wright an economic report, but that will not be too difficult. I'll try to finish the poster this week end (when I have Cross-fit, jogging, Embrace the amazing, homework, relax time, family time and God knows what else...)

destiny

The Head master of Destiny is quite worried that the rains are going to flood the classrooms and has asked me if I could raise money for new desks and chairs and to renovate some of the rooms. He also wants to dig ditches around the classrooms so they not overflow with water when the rains come. A friend in Sweden managed to get some money from the local Rotary club, so I hope I'll get that money as soon as possible. I raised money for desks and chairs last semester from the Swedish society, but apparently the need is larger than I thought. Right now, there is not much I can do, but to wait for the money from Sweden to come.

Improving

I'm still working really hard and go to classes every morning before school and sometimes after school as well. I have a number of new personal records and I am improving a lot. I even did handstands recently and it feels good to constantly improve, both my strenght, flexibility and stamina. Cross fit is also great for my mood. Without it I tend to get a bit rude and feeling bad. My life has really improved with cross fit. I also lost a lot of weight and are turning fat into muscles.

Rehearsal, songs

We Just started to rehearse so far we rehearse on Mondays,Wednesdays and on Thursdays so it is nice that I can still do Composers club and relax on Wednesdays. We are just working on the big chorus/ensemble numbers which do sound great but now we need to starts learning the solos and the individual songs which is the majority of the musical. The school version of the musical sadly doesn't involve all the original songs such as Empty Chairs at Empty Tables which the guy who plays Marius (one of the main characters) strongly dislikes. We will see what we do about these songs since they are also very important for the story line.

New design

My dad brought me lots of really nice camouflage fleece fabric from his trip to America. I dyed some flannel black and started working on the really cool design. My problem now is that I don't have the right coloured snap buttons. I used all the black and brown, and even some orange. I have a lot of buttons i crazy colours, like pink, purple and some red, green, white and blue but the pads look so much nicer with a matching colour button. Dad is going to America soon, so I might have to order some more plain coloured KAM buttons for him. Too bad I have so many others left!

Competition

I participated in my first competition this weekend. We were divided into four teams, and the team that finished the wod first was the winner. In the beginning it was really nerv wracking and I was thinking that I would ruin our chances for the rest of the team. But my team was really inspiring and everyone were cheering each other along. The team spirit was so good and I got a great work out while doing it. We didn't win, but we didn't come in last and I had a good time. I will do this more and I think I will improve every time.
 

Wod wod wod

During:

After:

High School Play

This year, ISK is doing "Les Miserables", a very complicated musical. I feel a bit afraid, because from what I heard there is a lot of set changes, lots of cast and it is a musical! I'm not so sure we are going to pull it off. I still want to do back stage work and volunteered as an assistant back stage manager. I don't want the whole burden of being a manager, so I'm hoping someone will step up and do that. The Director wanted me to be the back stage manager, but found someone that I think will do very well.
We started off not having any pieces for the set and not even scripts for everyone. This is going to be a challenge.....

Composing

We have now changed our meetings to Friday afternoons so the club doesn't interfere with the play. On our last meeting we were on a roll. We managed to compose almost a whole song in one meeting. It was great and everyone collaborated. I got a few lines on my own into it and I feel proud over that. We are now going to perform it on the winter ball at the end of the month. We are still figuring out the parts and solos and such, but I feel confident that we'll fix that. We wanted to make a slow song, because there are not so many slow songs to dance to.

Pads for the candidates

I need to make 170 pads and 17 bags for the candidates. Because I've been very busy, I'll try to find time to sew a few here and there. I've got about 30 done so far. I think I'll have to ask my mom to help me. It is quite time consuming and because we try to improve them all the time, the sewing takes even longer. We added more flannel in the core, and also some really thin plastic tom improve them and that is really hard to sew. The plastic slides, so I really have to focus to sew it on right. We are almost running out of the nice plastic KAM buttons that my dad got for me in America, so I'm hoping he will go back there and get me some new ones.

GIN talk

We had a GIN talk about gender equality last week. It was covering the basics and didn't really apply to all the students at ISK. He came from a very Indian traditional culture, where women don't eat in the same room as men and they are very restricted in all the things they do. I think the students from ISK is very far from that stage. Even if we all are different, it seems that our families has adopted a much more "modern" way in our views of gender equality. I know that there still is a long way to go in terms of achieving total gender equality, but I think we have come so much further than the lecturers culture. The one valuable point he made about life in Kenya, was that women still can't go out alone in terms of safety. I think that is really sad, the risk of being robbed and raped in Kenya is still very high. This is really unfair, that generally men have more freedom and can do more things than females.

Kicked out of HeARTs

Apparently, I had a fem too many things on my CASL, so I was kicked out of HeARTS. I really wanted to do this program, but I have to wait until next year.

Performing

We did out first performance in composers club during the welcome back picnic in ISK. We wrote a song called dedication, but the sound system was really bad and didn't do it justice. No one could really hear us and all the microphones were malfunctioning. We performed outside, and the place was quite noisy, so we really could have used some help. I really hope we can get the opportunity to do it again.
Another problem we are facing is that so many people has been casted to the High school play, so we have to change the timing for our meetings. We will try to figure it out, but the play is going to take a lot of time. I'm doing assistant back-stage manager so I will be very busy too.

First performance

We did the first performance in Composers club during the welcome back picnic in ISK. We wrote a song called "Dedication", but the sound system was really bad and didn't do it justice. No one could really hear us and the microphones were malfunctioning. We performed outside, and the place was quite noisy, so we really could have used some help and support. I really hope we get the opportunity to do it again.
Another problem we are facing is that so many people has been casted to the High School play, so we have to change the time for our meetings. We will try to figure it out, but the play is going to take a lot of time. I'll be the assistant back-stage manager, so I'll be very busy too.

Wod's

I'm doing cross fit almost every day. It is extremely tough, but I think I've got most of the techniques down. It is very easy to get hurt while doing crossfit, so sometimes we have classes where we only practise the techniques. We also have our own language. There is so many words and abbreviations that you need to learn like: AMRAP as many repetitions as possible. Many exercises are named after important military people, I think (crossfit came from the military), like Fran 21, 15, 9 - the sets you make in a exercise. WOD is the workout of the day. I got a really nice shout out in the last newsletter from  Cross Fit Kwetu.

Clothes for the school

When friends left Nairobi before the summer, we got a lot of things to donate for the school in Mathare. Bags of clothes, shoes, toys and books. We also packed all the clothes we outgrown and packed everything into the car to take it to the school. The kids were really happy to get so many things and it feels great that" one mans trash is another ones treasure". The kids were really excited over the gifts!

HeArts

This club play games and have fun every Wednesday after school with kids from both Little Prince and Gertrudes Garden. Little Prince is a local school and Gertrudes Garden is a hospital for children. We give them chances to be creative and express their creativity, especially because many of them are in more difficult situations.

Yoga

I have never really enjoyed yoga since I never really did it properly with a good instructor. Since now exercising is part of my daily routine it is good to properly stretch my body and to give it a chance to relax. Yoga is every Friday after school which is also a good end to the week.
Yoga is a totally new challenge for me. Being a "Martial Artist" I'm used to stretching a lot, but Yoga is even more painful. I know there is a lot of meditation and breathing involved, but right now I'm focusing on just doing the stretches correctly. I need to be very comfortable with the people I do yoga with, because you do a lot of embarrassing or weird poses and activities. I hope I can learn and benefit from this action and I hope I see a difference in my other activities, like jogging, cross-fit and martial arts.

Composers club

An in school club where we gather as a musical group and meet every Thursday. We write songs, sing and play instruments. We are going to be performing on multiple events throughout the year, such as the PTO pick nick and the candlelit dinner. As a group we need to have a minimum of seven original songs by the end of the semester.
We have already had the chance to meet for two weeks. Many new members joined and some old members left. We have been focusing on writing and last meeting we started to organise ourselves into harmonies. We are far from finished, but the result right now is really good and we want a really good quality song. I really enjoy this club because there is something for everyone and nobody is left out. You form a bond with the other members, because even though you wrote part of it, its everyones song and we are always open to listen to new ideas.

GIN

GIN is Global Issues Network. We tackle issues around the world of global importance. We try our best to raise awareness and do fundraising, plant trees and try to improve our community. Most of the issues that we raise awareness on are focused around the environment and issues that affect Kenya. We have only had one meeting and that was more of a presentation, but I'm looking forward to this club. It is also good tat it is in school and 7 o'clock in the morning.

Jogging

I recently made jogging a part of my weekly health care routine. I just got a treadmill that I use regularly as well as running weekly in Karura forest with my Tae Kwondo coach. Currently I can run 9 km/hour for 20 minutes, but I want to imrove so I can run for 30 minutes.

Cross-fit

I just started Cross Fit to improve my strength and stamina. It is very demanding but I enjoy it. The classes are in Gigiri and there is a group of people encouraging each other. Being a Martial Arts student, this is new to me but so far a good experience. It is also difficult, because it's challenging no matter how strong you are you can modify to make it more difficult and heavier.

Crossfit is extremely tough. I've been doing it for three weeks now, and often I have a big problem even walking after I'm done. I feel that it is improving my stamina and some classes are more fun than others because it is very versatile. Many of the exercises you have to learn before you can perform them with weights. That is very important and a lot of fun. If you don't perform the exercises correctly, you might hurt yourself. The people I'm doing it with is really nice and it is like a "cross-fit community". I prefer to do heavy lifting over a lot of repetitions, and leg wod's are horrible but you need them. I try to do three classes a week and I want to compete one day.

Busy summer

This summer has been very busy. I spent 8 weeks in a wellness camp in Austin Texas. I also learned to surf in Corpus Christi, before I went to Sweden to visit with friends and family. The summer passed fast, and I it was all focused on action. I did have time to visit the Photographic museum in Stockholm. They had an exhibition by Nick Brant, a photographer based in Kenya that takes amazing photos of wildlife.

Pads for the candidates

After making reusable sanitary pads for the students for over a year, I realised that the candidates who are doing the National Exams in December are going to need them even more when they go to boarding school. I understand that only a few of them will go to secondary school, but even the ones that will start working are going to need a kit with washable pads. I know that they borrow from each other and even their caregivers use them, so It would be nice to give all of them a kit of 10 pads each. They are going to need a total of 170 pads, and I will start making them now, so I can give them to the girls when they graduate. I'm also planning to make a small drawstring bag that they can keep them in. I don't think I'll have time to make them all myself, so I asked my mother to help me out. She has already bought the material, so now we better start the cutting and sewing!

Planning for Destiny School

Working with Destiny is something I constantly do. Right now, we have lots of clothes and toys that people who left Kenya gave to us to give to the school. I'm planning to meet the headmaster soon to discuss the near future for the school. A friend in Sweden has started a collaboration with the local Rotary club. I sent them lots of images and information and they agreed to help us fund a few projects. The biggest problem in the school is now that they are not able to pay the teachers. This is really a big problem and teachers are leaving the school. They depend on volunteers and that makes the students days very unpredictable. We have said that we are only supporting long term investments, because if we leave, the school would be dependent on us. Now we are discussing if we should change that approach and sponsor some teachers salaries. This is a big problem, and very conflicting because if there are no teachers, there will be no school. We still haven't decided what to do but I'm considering starting a fund raiser for teachers salaries. If someone agrees, we can say that the money doesn't come from us, but from another party, and it is only short term.

Recognition for my CAS work

I'm so proud and happy that ISK recognised the hard work I'm doing! Today I got this diploma. It tells me that hard work really pays off. I'm also thinking that for me, CAS is really not that hard. I enjoy my projects and feel good when I can help people. I have to admit that we have a really good setup. The school I work with in the slums has been a part of my whole family life for a long time and the need is endless. To learn that it is a big problem to have your period inspired me to make pads and to do all of my training is a joy. It makes me happy to be able to help and to learn that all you do makes a big difference. It boosts my confidence and make me to feel good about myself, and the hard work is absolutely not a chore. It makes me feel that even I can make a difference and it is totally worth it!

Finding PUL

I'm so excited! My mom managed to find a place were you can buy PUL. That is a plastic fabric that I came across while researching how to make washable pads and diapers. From what I learned, when talking to the girls in Mathare that uses my pads, some of them bleed through the pads. I guess if their flow is heavy enough, it is hard to find pads that will work for a whole day (and most of them only have two pads each). I've tried to google on what would be a good solution to this problem and PUL sounds like the material that you need. I'm also thinking it'll be good for the diapers. I have no experience on how much a baby pees, but it feels safer to have some plastic in the diapers.
I started to make both diapers and pads with a plastic cover and hopes it will work better for the users. The only thing that annoyed me is that I made so many without! The price for the PUL is also very reasonable. About 280 Kes per meter!
Now I have quite a lot of material. Destiny need new pads, because about 20 new girls are enrolled (the pads being one of the reasons). I will make all of them with a PUL layer! I'm also happy that I have the new KAM buttons that I ordered - I got way to many, about 700 so now I'll keep sewing until I'm out!

Results so far

These are the diapers I made - and let me tell you, it's not easy.... Proud of my accomplishments so far!

Acceptance letter

I'm really excited that I got money for desks, chairs, blackboard and cupboard to Destiny school! I got the acceptance letter and I can't wait until we get the money so they can start building and buying!

Starting a new project

So, I started making diapers wit the same material I used for the pads. I've googled a lot and found many good patterns and lots of information about diapers. I am a little concerned that they will not keep the baby dry, and I have no chance of checking it. I got some plastic terrycloth and micro fleece from my moms friend and I am making the soaker pads in that material. One side is going to be regular fleece, and the other one will be flanell. I really hope it will work! My coach is having a baby in June, so I will make the first to them. Washable diapers is good both economically and for the environment. From what I've learned, they are very expensive to buy but saves a lot of money because you will need so many during the the time the baby will use them. I will make three different sizes: newborn, small and medium and as many as I have material for.

Application approved!

Today I learned that my application for money from the Swedish Society is approved! 60 000 Kes for desks and chairs to Destiny school! I think I worked quite hard for it and I'm very happy that they approved. When a friend of ours was there for a visit, Dixon felt ashamed for not having enough desks and chairs for the students. Now that problem will be fixed!

New idea

I'm going to try to make washable baby diapers! I think it is a good idea and would save money and waste for new mothers. I'm not sure of how to do it and if it is even a problem, so I need to start researching it. My taekwondo coaches wife is having a baby soon, so maybe she could use the diapers for testing them. Right now I'm a bit busy, but I'm going to start the research as soon as I'll find som extra time.

No training, only hard work

Working backstage at "one man..." is really hard work. Yesterday I worked until 7.15. My body is covered by bruises and scrapes - but I still enjoy it. Homework is being done in school on breaks and in the auditorium, when I don't need to carry things and shift sets. Training is not in focus this week, but I guess I'll get some through the hard work. Taekwondo on thursday will not be done, because that is when the show opens. We will continue on Friday and Saturday and I hope everything goes well.

Donations for the Garissa victims

Middle school is having an activity to donate food and money for the students who were wounded in the al shabab attack in Garissa last week. I'm going to buy rice, flour, sugar, oil and tea and some other foodstuff to donate. They also need clothes so hopefully I can go through my closet and find some things for them.

Backstage at "One man two guvnors"

Tomorrow we start with the rehearsals for the High School show "One man two guvnors". I'm going to work backstage and did not even go to the tryouts for the cast. I'm happy that I got a chance to work back stage, because I really like it.
My brother saw the show when he went on his Theatre trip to London in grade 12, and really enjoyed it. He said that was the funniest they went to. They also had a work shop with the actor who fell all the time and they learned a lot from him. I'm looking forward to working back stage and watch the rehearsals. Tomorrow will be the first day and we will keep going until 7 o'clock.

Money to Destiny

I got a message from Dixon, who asked me for 45 000 kes to buy more desks and chairs. I also gave him some money for book shelves. It is interesting that the Department of Education, promised him some books for the school because the students performed som well on the exams. Because he didn't have book shelves, they were reluctant to give him the books. Im glad we could help him and pay for the bookshelves so they would get the books.

Training with a fractured arm

After my snowboarding experience in Samoens it is a bit challenging to get the training done! I have tried to just do kicks and punches in MMA. No jabs! I'm afraid of what my arm will look like when the cast is gone. I also do a lot of bicycling in the gym and hopefully that will help me. Next week I'm going to Colombo in Sri Lanka for a week, so then there will be no training. After that we will go to the doctor and ask them if I'm ready to remove the cast. I really think I am!

The fringe

I really enjoyed the Fringe festival. I got to see almost every play and I'm so impressed by the work the IB students did. I remember when my brother did his play in the Fringe and the whole family was involved. It is really hard work, but they pulled it off so well!

Adding buttons to the pads

We finally got all the buttons we ordered. We ordered to a friend in England who came to visit as well as to a hotel in Washington, DC where my dad was staying. It was great to get them.... but applying buttons to 400 pads took a while! Now we just have to add the Okapi logo tags to the bags and then we are done!

Middle school play "Annie"

The middle school play, Annie was really good. I was so impress with both the acting and singing! The middle schoolers really put on a good show and I doubt that High school is even going to try to set up a musical. 

Snowboarding

I had a great time during spring break skiing and snowboarding in France. I'm quite a good skier, but this was my first time on a snowboard. I did really well and my instructor told me I was the best beginner he ever taught. After two days, I did the red slopes and felt great. Unfortunately, I fractured my wrist on the last day - so I went home with a cast. It was quite exciting going down the slope in a sled, being met by an ambulance and go to the hospital. I was not in so much pain, so it wasn't too bad.

Inventing a bed protector

I came up with the idea to make a blanket to cover the bed during the days on period. I took a piece of fleece and two layers of flannel and made this little blanket to sleep on. I know that many girls have that problem with staining the sheets, so this might be a good solution!

Applying for funds

Every year, I apply for funds from the Swedish Society to give to Destiny. This year  I'll be applying for money to go to desks, chairs, blackboards and a bookshelf. This will go to the new rooms we bought. Last year we didn't get any money and I'm hoping for better luck this year. I really don't know why, because I worked hard for the Swedish society. I'm hoping they'll think I need a payoff for all my hard work this year. If I'm not getting anything this year, I will stop working for them att all the events. It will just not be worth it!

Washable pad film

When my moms cousin was here, we shot this film. It's an update on how the pad project is coming along. Even though there is some problems with the information on how to care for your pads, it is still a very positive update. I'm sure that the pads help the girls a lot and the alternative for them would be to put towels or pieces of cloth in their underwear, so it is still good. To teach them how to clean them properly is very important though. Some of them boil them, and that coagulates the blood. The way to do it is to first soak them in cold water and then wash them as they would their normal clothes. If they want to boil them, that might be OK as long as we use the metal snap buttons, but I'm not so sure the plastic ones would agree with that. I just have to plan on making some kind of informational leaflet to tell them how to do it, and just hope they will follow the instructions.

I'm quite impressed by Banish in Maries film. She has no problem at all to hang her pads to dry for the whole community to see. Take a look at the film on the link below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1P04dyF4lU

Operations smile/Amazing race

Today I went to school to sell snacks. All the money we make is going to the Operations smile fundraiser. The Amazing race was a race around the school. I wasn't there for the actual race but I was there for the preparations. Throughout the school there were either games or people warming up for games. There was one football game on the lower field. Two basketball games on the basketball courts. And there seemed there was going to be a football tournament on the upper field. Lots of teams came and registered and almost all of the teams were wearing matching clothes. As we were selling food and preparing for the race to start we were playing music and a lot of people started dancing and we were just hanging out and having fun.

Lots of bags

I've been putting on snap buttons on pads and sewing bags today. There is about 40 small pads and 20 big left to sew, but I ran out of material. My mom is buying more on Monday, so I started with the bags. I've made 55 so far, but now I cut up about 50 more. I need to buy strings as well and but about 300 more buttons on the pads, but I can't do that until I get the 700 I ordered to England and to USA. I'll get those in the middle of next week. It is a bit irritating to run out of the material when I'm really getting into it!.

Factory

Here is an image on how our study looks right now. I'm glad my mom is helping out because it is really hard work to sew so many pads. The thing that takes time is cutting them. Sewing is quite quick. I'm also waiting to get the buttons, so right now these big piles of pads are not even done. I'm going to spend a week end to fix the buttons, but I still need to sew about 150 more pads. Hard work!

High kicks

Taekwondo is all about kicking. I think I perform the high kicks really well now! I'm going to work on getting them even higher. To kick Max in the head is my ultimate goal. Today we also had sparring. It is great to learn to spot your opponents openings and weak spots and just take advantage of them to get a good kick in. This is really all about this when you are competing - to find the openings and taking advantage of them.

Ziggy goes to school

I started Puppy training with Ziggy. Every Friday, he is socialising with other puppies and learning how to heel, stop, come, fetch and drop.
He is a little bit too old for this puppy class, he just turned 6 months, but he is such a submissive and nice dog, so h can easily interact with the other puppies. He is usually the one the trainer picks for performing an example.
I have to wear a fanny pack with lots of treats, because he gets a lot everything he does something good. Good behaviour should be rewarded says the trainer and before his brain knows how to interpret my signs he needs a lot of encouragement. He is doing very well and I'm proud of him. I guess this class is more for me and teaching me how to train him.

Operations smile problems

We are trying to plan events in school for operation smile. Usually we do an open mike event, but there is just too much going on in school so there is a big problem to get approval from the teachers. We were also thinking of a fun day on the weekend and a dance but right now the prom tickets are being sold, so there is a problem finding a good time. It is quite frustrating that it is so hard to do a good event for raising money to operation smile. I think we just have to keep trying and not give up!

Poomse training

We have decided to train poomses every other taekwondo class. It is going to be so much easier to grade if we don't forget the poomses. Both for my black belt and my 2:nd dan black belt, I had to re learn all the patterns. Thinking about all the korean I have to learn as well, and all the other things, it would be great not to repeat the patterns for my 3:rd dan. I must admit, that I've already forgotten the first poomses, and are good at the 2:nd dan ones, so we have started with 1-3. I also know there are going to be a few more for the 3:rd dan. I'm not allowed to grade until next year (there has to be two years in between 2:nd and 3:rd) so I'll have some time to practice.

Buying buttons from all over the world.

This snap button business is hard work. I ordered to Kenya - didn't work. I ordered to France, only half of them came (and not the pliers I need to attach them). I ordered to England and realised I ordered to few. Finally America, 700 buttons for about 50 dollars. I will get them in a few weeks and then I can attach them to the pads I have made. I think these plastic ones are better than the metal, who sometimes fall off. Now my godmother will bring some and my father will bring the big order!

Destiny planning and reflection

The biggest challenge in Destiny School is the lack of class rooms. We have bought about five rooms so far but are still dependent on the church. There are now 460 students in the school, and about 250 of them are paying students. To have so many students that can't pay is a struggle. Dixon is now only taking in new paying students, and he raised the fee to 400 kes a month to be able to pay all the rent and the teachers salaries but is still not able to make all the payments.
One idea is to buy a bigger plot of land close by and to move the school there. There is a plot that cost 1,8 million Kes, and that is of cause a very high amount to raise. The problem is that there are no possibility to expand on the grounds where the school is located now.
Another problem is that we don't have much money coming in through our channels. My mothers friend is having a presentation for Rotary in Sweden today, so maybe we can get some money from them. I'm also exploring some other opportunities, but it is hard to write about them in my blog at this time. We aslo have the pads that we are selling to the company who is going to give them to girls in Somalia, but that will not bring so much money.
I think it is quite hard to raise money in February, because usually people has been very generous during christmas.

Destiny pad follow up

My mothers cousin is here and we made a trip to the school to film some more for a follow up on the pad project. We reconnected with the girls and one of the girls we interviewed last time told us she scored really high on the national exam. She said it was partly because of the pads and that they made her able to never miss school. The girls also gave us feed back on washing the pads and drying them. We found out that they are not always doing it correctly, and that they sometimes don't really know how to use them. More information is needed! I have to think of how to make the girls understand how to wear and wash them. Other than that the feed back was great (and many girls did everything right) and Marie is going back to Paris to try to get funding for the project.

Banish is hanging pads

Not climbing Mount Kenya

When in Zambia, I fell down some stairs during a rehearsal. It was a bit painful, but not really bad. I visited ISL's nurse and she applied deep heat. When I got home from the trip, my mom realised that my ankle was quite swollen. After taking a long walk, and realising that I was in pain, we went to the doctor. He said that I could not clim Mt Kenya with a sprained ankle. We went to school to get my backpack and give them the note from the doctor. Now I have to make an essay on indigenous people to make up for my absence from the trip.
I'm going to write about the same people, who lives up north in Sweden, Finland, Norway and Russia.
I feel really disappointed to not go on the trip, but I understand that it is going to be very had for me to make it to the top in my condition. It would be even more depressing if I went and had to turn around after the first day. I am, however, glad that I get to write an essay about the sames. I know too little about these people who actually live in my home country. We are always saying that the sames are Swedens masaai people (they make similar jewellery) and now I get the chance to explore if there is some truth to that saying.

Drama trip to Zambia

Even though I was partially sick in Zambia it was a lot of fun! ISK had the smallest group there, but there were lots of students from the other International schools from all over Africa. I got to know a lot of new friends and they were a lot like us. We participated in many workshops, like acrobatics, musical theatre and also make up.
For the final performance we were mixed into different ensembles and later performed.
I learned a lot from the musical performance work shop, because that was a new experience for me.

Going to Zambia for an ISSEA trip in Drama

Of course I got sick the days before the trip to Zambia. My mom went to the mandatory school meeting and got some useful information and now we received the final info on e-mail.  It sounds really interesting and fun, but I will not have the time to blog in a few days. I'm hoping that I will feel better tomorrow so I'll have the strength to fully enjoy my trip. Many students from many International schools in Africa will be there and I'm looking forward to participating in all the classes!
When I ge back, I'll only have a few days to prepare for the trip to Mount Kenya. My dad has to pack my bag and bring it to school on Thursday. I hope everything will be OK!

More pads?

Mr Curry who is in charge of the pad, panties and bras drive was asking for me. I went passed his classroom, but he had class so he couldn't speak to me. I heard from the other students that he really liked my pads and might want to buy some. I gave him my e-mail address and my phone number and I hope he will get in touch with me!

Mount Longonot climb

We did a test climb up mount Longonot. It was quite steep and very hot. I still felt that I did OK. We were to bring the backpacks we're bringing to Mount Kenya, so we could try the out. I was told that I had the weight to far up on my shoulders, but felt OK. I'm told different things by different people. My taekwondo trainer, who climbs mount Kenya every year, says I should keep the weight high, so I think I will trust him! I did OK on the way up and ran back down. Mount Kenya will be harder, with walks all day, but not as steep. I'm looking forward to try it!

Making bags to the pads

We are making some bags to keep the pads in to the girls in Somalia. We are going to make about 200 - and that feels like a lot. My mom was cutting and I was sewing and putting in the drawstrings and we have finished about 50. The problem now is to get snap buttons. They are quite expensive in Kenya so we are going to have our next guest bring many of them from London. We can buy coloured plastic ones on the internet and send it to her so she can bring them. She will come in February, so now we can produce the pads and the bags and then we'll put in the buttons when we get them. It feels like our study is a small sewing factory, but I really enjoy the work so we'll just keep going until we have enough. I also asked my mom to buy fabric dye, so we can make a few different designs. It is always more fun to change colors and make different looks. I love the idea that they are going to be sent to Somalia. I'm not sure how they will get them there. Are they planning to take them to Sweden and send from there? That sounds a bit crazy when Somalia is fairly close to Kenya. That will however not be our problem, even though we will do everything we can to help.

Picking trash in Karura

Every morning during the holidays we are walking Ziggy in Karura Forest. I'm always surprised to find lots of trash on the ground in this beautiful place. There are signs to not litter everywhere, but people seems to not care about that. I decided to bring a plastic bag to pick up all the trash I saw on my walk. It felt good to do three good things, walk the dog, get some exercise and clean up a bit. Karura is a fantastic place with lots of animals and interesting vegetation and it is really a privilege to have access to it every day and it is pretty controlled when it comes to walking dogs. Some dogs have in the past attacked both other animals and people so no they are very strict. Some dog owners has even been banned. I usually keep Ziggy on a leach, but it would be great if I could have the opportunity to puppy train him a bit, so it would be great if they could lift the ban in a few areas of the forest. In the bigger part there is a part where you're allowed to keep the off leach so we go there in the afternoons. I hope all the dog owners starts controlling their dogs and respect the rules so no one gets hurt and the good dogs can be off leach a little bit more.