My Certificate Came

Crossfit

1. Since IB has started I have had issues getting up early which means that I can’t train in the mornings. I will be working with waking up early so that I can get back to my training because I know I work better after training. The problem with not training for a long time is when you get back to it you are basically a beginner again which is the worst. Thankfully I am getting back to it. I even had a personal best not too long ago which was very upliftings. The box has gotten some new interns whom I have started getting to know and they are great to work with. Over a long time one of these interns and I were teaching the beginner classes which I great for me to start learning how to work with people. It is also great because I train sometimes with the interns and we help each other with motivation and technique. Next week we are hosting a competition and I am very excited to watch and help out wherever necessary.

Doing all the math

I got a call from a lady, who knows someone, who knows someone who told her that I made washable pads. She needed some for her daughter in secondary school. I gave her some, and she was so happy about them that she wanted me to teach her to make her own. Joyce came to my house right before school started and I taught her how to make them. The interesting (and sad) thing was that we started calculating how much the materials for the pad costs. It's really hard to tell, because we get materials from where ever we are. Dad sometimes buys it in America, we buy on market on trips, mom gets some from her friends etc. The snap buttons we buy from Amazon, when dad is in America and sometimes we find fleece blankets in Nairobi to a fair price. We managed to figure out that the pads are some where between 200-250 Kes.... per piece! That is horribly expensive (but they can be used time and time again for years, so in the long run it's a good deal). Joyce realised that she never would be able to sell them for a decent price. I suggested that she can go to Gikomba or Toi market and buy mutumba and that might work and be a lot cheaper. I hope she will get an opportunity to try, so she can make a business out of it!

Emil and Marie at Destiny

PTO Picnic

1. We have already had our first performance in Composers club when we performed the Rhythm at the PTO Welcome Back Picnic. We wrote this song late last year and it is one of my favorites. The issue which we faces was that the song is supposed to have a jazzy confident and wide ranged soloist which is incredibly hard to find. This song was almost made for Annisstar. We ended up having a group of 3 girls do that part and we changed the song a bit because we wanted the girls to feel confident singing it. I was very happy with the song even though I have decided to avoid singing this year. The reason why I am not going to be singing this year is because unlike last year we have more than enough voices while last year we didn’t have enough for the song to sound strong.

Colours

I didn't have any black KAM snap buttons, so I had to use all the other colours I had. It was a "blessing in disguise" because they came out really cool. I think the girls are going to like the design and it made them a little more fun. It might sound strange that I'm putting so much energy into the design, but the girls are actually really interested and are excited and proud of their pads when they like the design. It is also much more fun to make them if they look nice. I once asked a girl if she was embarrassed to hang them up to dry after washing them, and she answered: No, Why? They are really pretty and I'm proud of them. That really made me happy. I guess I have to get my dad to buy me more snap buttons next time he's in America. Even if it's fun with the coloured ones, I will need some black and white.

Designing

I've go a new design on the pads. I found a really cute fleece blanket in one way and thought it would be great for the pads. The blanket was quite expensive, but I think I can get quite a few from it. I also dyed the flannel into a grey shade, that I think looks really nice. I'm hoping that I have some black KAM buttons left, because they would go great with this design! I'm sure the girls are going to love them!

Destiny visit

My brother had a friend from his school over for a week of vacation. She really wanted to see the school in Mathare and I thought it was a good opportunity to reconnect with the students after summer vacation. We packed up some clothes, some washable sanitary towels (always greatly needed) and went to Nakumatt to buy pens, paper, candy and toilet paper. The visit was a great success and Mari really enjoyed hanging with the kids and learning more about what it's like living in the slums. The gift they appreciated most was the pads!

Song writing

1. We have had our first real song writing session in which we are making a song for the Artsco Talent Show. We want to make a song which starts out being all sad and very angsty while it talks about pulling yourself out and doing something about the situation. In the end we plan to have it all happy and proud. To write this song we split up into one group of the instrumentalists who worked on developing a bade music which can be hard without a chorus or verse but Justin is amazing so he still managed wonderfully. The second group were people who wanted to write a rap which we want to incorporate more into our songs. We really want to move into many new styles this year instead of sticking to what we know. The last group were the people were those of us who wanted to write the actual chorus and the verses. The problem with breaking up like this is that we don’t have the time to communicate during these processes which ended up with one guy writing a great rap which doesn’t really work with the chorus and the verses but we are now trying to figure out how to incorporate it into the song.

First Drama meeting

1. We had our first meeting with Ms.Hire on Tuesday which was exciting. I am very nervous because we have so many people back stage this year and as much as we need the help it gets bad when we have too many people. We don’t want people to distract the actors or interact with things which they shouldn’t. Thankfully the only people who are going to be in the wings other than the actors will be the Backstage Managers (I am one of them) and possibly the makeup or costume people during specific scenes. Unlike last years Les Miserable we will have one set and no set changes this year which is a relief. I am excited but also nervous since the other Backstage managers are 9th graders which means that they have not worked with the backstage before. On top of that I am worries that either they will be too “bossy” and commanding or that they won’t get any respect but they seem like very sensible people so I have a good feeling about the play.