the last asante sana.

the last asante sana.
(written at the end of project)

in between compiling and formatting the final project reports, i began writing my thank you cards to each member of the QHO/YESS team. while these are personal thank yous, i felt it was appropriate to make these thank yous my final blog post, as each one of these individuals has contributed significantly to project over these past eight weeks. none of my experiences would be or mean anything without them, so in no particular order...

asante sana.

leah and nicole.
aka lizzle and nizzle.

you girls have been amazing project directors. i feel so grateful to have been chosen by you for the project and to have had the opportunity to work with both of you. the amount of time and energy you have spent planning and organizing the project is apparent in our many successes and continual expansion of the project. i admire your ability to remain calm, cool and collected through whatever was thrown at you this year. i’ve learned a lot from you, and you have definitely left big shoes for courtney and me to fill next year. thank you for directing the project the way you have this year, as both confident and passionate leaders, as well as great friends. asante sana.

courtney.
aka courtini.

i feel so fortunate and excited that we are able to experience this all again next year, together. next year is going to need a lot of planning and organization, and i am excited to begin working with you. we seem to always be on the same page with whatever issues arise, and our complimentary personality types will allow us to handle any situation we are faced with. next year there will be many meetings, and the challenges we face will be dealt with over digestives. thank you for everything we have shared so far and thank you in advance for all that is to come next year. remember, we will be like baby shampoo next year. no tears. asante sana.

sentait.
formerly known as senait.

i think i can speak on behalf of all the girls when i firstly apologize and secondly thank you for the numerous braids you did for us. i also think i can speak on behalf of the entire project when i thank you slash apologize again for all the name tags we made you write for us. although to repay you, we’re going to nominate your writing as a microsoft 2010 font. as well, sorry that i couldn’t refrain from using one of your hundreds of nicknames. regardless of what people choose to call you, no one would ever guess tat you are the youngest person on project, as your maturity far exceeds your age. i’ve learned so much from you both in the classroom and at home. you’re never afraid to voice your opinion and i admire you for that. since our initial thank you appreciation dinner, you have continued to impress and amaze me, and further reinforce why i chose you as the person to give my mars bar. thank you still and again. asante sana.

deirdre.
aka dr.dre.

the doctor. students addressing you as dr.dre in the anonymous questions may have been one of my favourite memories of teaching. oh anonymous questions. one hundred and fifty eight pages of anonymous questions typed by the dynamic training trio, with help from others of course. working as part of the training department with you allowed me to witness many of your priceless reactions, and i am grateful for that. your ability to multi-task at the cyber and the variety of strange topics that you chose to research will never cease to impress and amaze me. and your chai loving personality will continue to pain me. teaching with you for the second half of project was fantastic and our ability to bounce ideas off of each other only enhanced our teaching. thank you for adding an energetic and hilarious factors to all aspects of my overall project experience. asante sana.

bryan.
aka photo dad.

your version of nyama nyama nyama will permanently be ingrained in my mind and i thank you for that. i also love that if i ever do forget, we have it caught on video, multiple times. on a more serious note, your dedication to project was expressed in all things you did, ranging from psyc games to departmental work to building a slip and slide or any other task you were given. the monitoring and evaluation would not have been the same without your colour coded spreadsheets and your ability to crack the ‘MnE whip’. your focus and organization make you a huge asset to the project and i can only hope that next year we have peer educators as dedicated and willing to work as you. thank you for everything you put into this project. asante sana.

dave.
aka bedoh.

self proclaimed chef. oddly enough that name failed to catch on in Kenya, as it didn’t catch on in Canada. coincidence? i think no. so instead i will refer to you bedou, with my spelling version. your openness and willingness to participate in and help anyone and everyone did not go unnoticed on project. thank you for pulling yourself away from the numerous tasks of logistics, and always being the first person to offer to help with typing questions. through working with you on various outreach activities, i witnessed your ability to remain flexible and optimistic with whatever situation was thrown at you. your patience and ability to laugh at any situation helped me remain patient and positive, and i thank you for that. asante sana.

reuben.
aka master of the lions.

i have learnt so much from you over the past two months. throughout project you have been able to make me try new things, laugh and even cry. by teaching with you, despite our minimal practice teaching, i learned so much. not only were you my partner in the classroom, but you were also my sudoku and dishes partner. together, we have made jokes that no one will ever understand or laugh about, like leer osinthia. you have added an immeasurable amount to my experience in kenya and you have greatly shaped my life. i will miss you so much and will be counting down the days until you greet me at the airport next year. thank you for everything. someone once told me that it is a blessing and a privilege to have friends all across the world in other countries. that person was you, and i do feel both blessed and privileged to have met you and become such good friends. from the bottom of my heart asante sana.

tony.
aka mr.zamboni.

i have shared more laughs with you than anyone else on this project. whether it be something that is actually funny or you just saying ‘swats’, you never failed to make me smile. we’ve also had many hilarious encounters in the classroom, you helping demonstrate the female reproductive system being one of my favourites. your singing in the matatu made the drives even more enjoyable, especially your rendition of “say what” to the hotel song. your graduation speech touch my heart and i’ve already counted you a survivor. i can’t wait to work more with you over the next year as part of the dream team, (“say what”). asante sana.

ibra.
aka shenibra.

from the moment i met you and started practice teaching with you, i knew there was a special quality you had as a teacher. even when we look back to my first blog post and description of you, i said you had a presence in the classroom that demanded attention. over the past two months, i’ve learned that this quality carries from the classroom to home and wherever else project takes us. everyone on the team was able to look to you for both guidance and advice, whether it be a project or personal problem. regardless of the situation, you always managed to be on the same level of both the canadians and the kenyans, and were able to bring everyone else to that same level. i trust you and respect you as a team leader and just want to thank you as my experiences wouldn’t have been the same without you. asante sana.

rono.
aka crany.

the student turned trainer. i think that everyone is in agreement that you have grown and developed the most on project. from practice teaching to outreach week, your teaching and leadership skills have continued to improve. your ability to energize a crowd is unmatched by anyone on our team and i thank you for that. i will never forget che che cholai, nor any of your other songs and raps, even though i only understood some of the swahili. seeing you in action with your sparks group was truly inspiring, and i admire the dedication you have to spreading awareness about the topic of HIV/AIDS through all mediums for all ages. i hope you can continue that for the rest of your life. asante sana.

mercy.
aka ma-c.

i cannot even tell you how excited i am for you to come to Canada. it makes this thank you card slash goodbye note so much easier to write. i’m going to have to look for a rooster ring tone so i can be reminded of you. your volunteer experience was such an asset to our project. and your dedication to this project became apparent with the respect and admiration the students showed you. thank you for giving everything you had to this project over the past year. as weird as this is to say, see you soon. asante sana.

vanice.
aka vanilla ice.

unfortunately you weren’t on project for as long as we would have liked. but fortunately, your family and yourself are doing much better now. for the time you were here you brought a smile to everyone’s faces. asante sana.

and last but not least...

ng’ok.
aka mr.gazelle.

this project would not be the same without you and i feel a thank you does not do all the work and effort you put into this project any justice. i’ve learned so much from you this year and am so excited to expand and improve the project with you next year. asante sana.


the sheer success of project in terms of the numbers that people have already mentioned, numbers of schools trained at and number of students and community members tested, as well as the positive feedback from each of the schools, and more importantly the students, is a direct reflection of the hard work and commitment that each of the people i have just acknowledged and thanked above.

i want to congratulate all of you, as this project is literally placed in the hands of the peer educators and directors. we work and act as a group of youth for youth, a group of youth to trying to be the change we want to see in the world. as margaret meed has said ‘never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world. indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.’ i believe that we have done our own version of just that.

finally, our project would not be possible without the emotional and financial support from our friends, families and donors. so i would like to take the time to thank each and every person who has contributed in any way. and thank you to you, the readers, for following the blog. this is my last blog post as a peer educator for this year’s kenya project. kwaheri until next year, when i will be back as a co-director.

thank you.
asante sana.