Glad I went for it!

First of all, I think you should know what happened to my flights just to see how happy I am that I did not throw in the towel right then and there. Due to my lack of preparation and experience and my flight booking agency’s negligence, I was denied my first layover flight to Chicago from Vancouver. I was already packed up, said my goodbyes, and excited to see what’s in store for me in Nairobi when the man at the check-in booth asked for my US visa. Dumbfounded, I simply asked him why and what for. Turns out, you needed to have a visa even though you didn’t step foot outside their airport.

At this point, I was already so exhausted and angry at the unforeseen turn of events. I tried to talk to anyone at the airport who could help me; I also called my booking agency and (angrily) asked them to fix this issue but to no avail – I went home defeated.

After hours and hours (no, I’m not exaggerating) of googling things, I managed to find a way to go to Kenya. The only problem was that it required me to put out more funds than I wanted to. I was in a tough spot: should I stay in Canada because I can’t commit to it financially? Or should I go because I was so ready for it already? In the end, with the help of people that are dear to me, I bought the new ticket and crossed my fingers, hoping that the experience would be worth it.

Fast forward to the first teaching day! I was a little apprehensive going into the classroom and meeting our participants. What if they don’t like me? What if they’re not friendly? What if they don’t respond to our program in a positive way? What if I don’t do a good job of explaining things?

I came in my first day of class (technically the second day for the rest of the team) expecting a bunch of shy and reserved people who needed to be in a life or death situation before they even uttered a word during class. To my surprise, it was completely the opposite! The participants were so engaged and active during class discussions, they joked around with each other and even included us wazungu, and some were even open enough to tell me their life stories.Even if I came from a third world country as well, I can’t even fathom how much most of them have been through at a very young age. Just knowing that they still chose to be part of our SE 101 family despite those hardships they are facing makes me very proud and grateful for their effort and sacrifice.

Not long after, I managed to warm up towards our participants. They’ve been so friendly and welcoming that I can’t help but feel wanted and appreciated. I’ve become fond of most of the students. A few of them have personally Facebook messaged me and some of them have texted me; they simply thanked me and our team for doing what we putting so much time and effort into the program.

Most of the students we have were around our age group (18 – 23 years old) with a few exceptions such as Cyrus who is in either his late twenties or early thirties. I’d say about 80% of the class were males: you have oldie Cyrus, Will.i.am look-alike Eric, “Thank you for the opportunity” Evans, keener Antony, David with the sexy hair, Onesmus and his hand gestures, overly enthusiastic Francis, respectable Danny, fitness guy Wilson, John the buff guy, quiet Faruk, serious Giddy, big shot Lameck, and Joseph who was hardly ever around.

Then for the female population in our class, you have bubbly “Jessy” Jacinta, ex-rugby player Judy, soft-spoken Jacky, “Thursday” Rachel, shy Hellen, and Wangeci who was very intelligent but was hardly ever around like Joseph.

Teaching and promoting social entrepreneurship in Kenya has always been the number one priority; however, the best part about this whole experience was getting to know the people. I’ve always been an avid listener and disliked talking about myself so hearing all about their life stories, Samuel and Daniel’s charity work, the Ghetto Foundation’s history, and simply just hanging out and talking with Luke and Mercy (the Strathmore students) and our very lovable drivers (Joe, Fred, Val, and Dennis) has just been amazing so far.