We just finished up our
three-week Sauder Africa Initiative class last week. For those of you who don’t know about it, this
was a course to help youth and adults in Kibera and Mathare learn about
entrepreneurship and also how to write basic business plans. There were three classes – one in Mathare and
two in Kibera. Each class had a team of
UBC students and local Kenyans. I was lucky
enough to be one of the teachers at Kibera.
Friday was a day to celebrate the completion of the program for the
students. The day was filled with
emotion from both the teachers and the students. In just a short time, I felt such a strong
connection to the Kibera students. After
three weeks, I gained a serious respect for the way they live their lives. The students were so warm and welcoming to
our team. There is also a strong sense
of community. Many of the youth in both
Kibera and Mathare are involved in community-building activities. It is really common for people to help their
family, friends and neighbors, if they can.
You could also see this in class because so many students were always
willing to help out a student in need.
This is something that I wish were more prevalent in North America.
The day started
with introductions and welcome speeches from Martina and Nancy. Then each student from all three classes went
in the front of the group to present their personal mission statements. During practice the day before, most of the students
were really nervous. On Friday, despite
nerves, all of the students did a fabulous job!
Some of them spoke in Swahili so I could not understand it, but I can
say that they spoke with confidence. It
made me really proud because they made such amazing progress in such a short
time.
It was also touching to hear
everyone’s personal mission statements because most of the students shared very
troubling aspects from their upbringing.
However they seemed to all have a strong confidence in their ability to be
successful for the future.
The rest of the day was filled
with motivational speeches, lots of pictures, food and celebrations. It was bittersweet because we were
celebrating the successful achievement of our students, but we were also saying
goodbye to our new friends in Nairobi.
I hope the students have a tiny
bit more knowledge and a few more tools and resources they need in order to get
onto the road to success. Frankly in
three weeks, it is difficult to make a dramatic change, but all change starts
with a small step. That is all I can
hope for is that we helped them make a small step…
Much love to the students and the
teachers and everyone else who made the past three weeks possible. I hope to see you all again next year!
Asha
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