orientation week = success

Hello!

After a wonderful first week filled with so many exciting experiences, I can't think of just one thing to write about!

One of the memories that will stand out most to me from this week is the Kenya- Canada culture night that we had as part of orientation. The Kenyans and Canadians each prepared a presentation of their respective cultures. The Canadians went first and presented on Canadian geography, slang, food, celebrities, holidays, and most importantly, maple syrup. The presentation concluded with pancakes topped with real maple syrup from Canada and a joint performance of the Canadian national anthem. Reuben (a returning YESS trainer) was quick to remember the special "vocal percussion" section of the anthem that we taught him last year and belted it out at the top of his lungs.

The Kenyans prepared a spectacular presentation that went into the early morning hours! :) We learned about sports, school, geography, history, food, music, dress, artwork, politics, and the Kenyan national anthem just to name SOME of the topics! The two presentations were very informative, comical, and really allowed us to learn a lot about each other and brought us together as a team.

The other events that have rounded out our orientation week have been wonderful. We've visited 4 of the 6 schools we will be training so far and have had great reception at all of them. The students seemed really excited to have YESS come to their schools for the first time and are eager for us to return. Practice teaching has been fantastic this week; all of the peer educators are wonderful teachers and will be extremely effective in the classroom and will without a doubt connect with their students.

We start at our first school on Monday; Lake Solai Secondary School and we cannot wait to begin.

Nicole