Successful Completion of the Court Of Dreams project

Since the inception of the Court Of Dreams project in the year 2016 a lot has been covered especially in the areas of WASH, Health and Education in the different schools that Court Of Dreams was introduced to, with sports juicing up all the life skills sessions that were carried out.

The project targeted young children between the age of 4 and 10 years that is children from Nursery to class 3 who are mostly neglected when it comes to going to school, issues related to WASH and are prone to diseases which are caused due to the nature of games and environment that they play in. It has been an amazing time working with the little ones getting to learn from them as they also learn from us during the life skills and sports sessions which they actively engaged in.

The support has been great from the different schools that we have worked with, which most of them are from Kibera and a few from Lang'ata. The directors, teachers, parents and pupils played an active role in the successful carrying out of the Court Of Dreams project to its completion. From the different sessions carried out at schools to training's that parents and teachers were coming in to participate at Sadili Oval Sports Academy ,to ensure that the lessons taught do not become extinct.

As they say everything that has a beginning has an end, it has been awesome working with everyone who supported the Court Of Dreams. Our greatest appreciation goes to the Comic relief and United Purpose for funding our project from the start to the end ,Dr Elizabeth Odera who ensured that the project ran smoothly, all our partners for the continuous support ,all well wishers and friends of Sadili for their generous donations and support, the schools that we have worked with that is all the teachers and pupils without them the implementation of the project wouldn’t have been successful and the Sadili Oval Staff members for working relentlessly to ensure that the Court Of Dreams project objectives are achieved

Teachers Training

Despite the gloomy weather caused by the rains the previous night, the teachers still showed up on the 19th of October for their planned 3 hour training session at Sadili Oval Sports Academy. Teachers from some of the schools that we have worked with in the Court of Dreams project from year 1 to year 3 came for the training .The schools that were present include:Nazarene,Becky school,St Catherine,St Stephen,Jitahidi,Nazarene and Kimmta.

The event started with warm up activities, which were participated in by both the teachers and the facilitators. The warm up involved a singing game that also played the role of introduction of the participants. This was, “Fire in the Jungle, run! Run! Run!” whereby the participants would run round in a circle, and would stop momentarily while a participant said his/her name, and sang the words repeatedly, and after stopping the next person would do the same. This was repeated until all the participants had introduced themselves. 

The main session later started which was facilitated by Joy Akim who is the project manager and Brighton Amuni the Monitoring and Evaluation officer.The teachers were taken through Play based learning which was the main topic of the day which comprised of Importance of play based learning,participants and their responsibilities,where play based learning can take place,structure of a gaming session and development of a game.

Participant centered method was mostly used during the training where by the teachers got to effectively participate.They were divided into groups and given a chance to come up with different games around numeracy and literacy which they later presented and demonstrated how best they would deliver the lessons to children.Later lunch was served, all the teachers enjoyed and later

left with knowledge on how best to implement play based learning in school even with the new curriculum.

The August Holiday Camp

A session on how to hold the racket

The holiday camp was carried out from the 20th  of August to the 31st at the Kibera tennis court.Most of our participants being children under the age of 10 years.Being the holiday season the turn up was great as most of the children were not going to school thus attending the August holiday camp.
Life skills sessions and sports sessions were the main activities being carried out during the holiday camp.Under life skills,the emphasis was on WASH activities and some of the sessions carried out in the two weeks camp included ;Hand washing(Steps of hand washing,When to wash hands and the importance of washing hands),Keeping the environment clean,Brushing teeth and Cholera.
In sports tennis was the main game being played and most of the players being new faces the coach had to start with the basics of tennis that is;How to hold the racket,How to swing backhand and forehand,How to hit and roll the ball.She was however impressed as most of the children were fast learners and were picking up the skills really fast,with the help of the older squad kids she was able to run her sessions with the large number of young ones who showed up.

Learning how to roll

Immediately the children saw coach Adongo carrying porridge and heading down to Kibera tennis court they  would immediately swarm up the place ready for the sessions with their cups and plates for porridge and sweet potatoes or 'KDF' which was being served after every session. ''I am really grateful for the holiday camp as it has really helped my children as she refers to them,some have even come and confessed how they used to use the same basin to wash their utensils and again shower with it but now they have a separate basin for doing dishes and showering which is a good thing .For my old players,their tennis skills have greatly improved and for the new players they have gained some skills and with consistency in training they will be as good as the others.Am also happy about the food that was being offered at the end of the session as it tremendously contributed to the huge turnout of children thus being able to teach life skills and tennis to many children",said Coach Adongo during a short interview with her.

Brushing teeth being demonstrated by one of the children

Time for Porridge

REPORT  FOR THE VALIDATION MEETING HELD AT SADILI OVAL SPORTS ACADEMY ON THE 15^TH OF AUGUST.

Vitalis Akora leading the meeting

Introduction

Stakeholders that we have worked with from year 1 to year 3 were sent for invitations to attend the validation meeting which was held at Sadili Oval Sports Academy from 10:00am to 1:00pm on the 15^th of August 2019.The meeting was led by Vitalis Akora who did most of the talking as Beryl Akinyi assisted in taking notes. The meeting had 23 participants inclusive of Sadili oval staff members and the two evaluators.

Executive Summary

The main agenda for holding the meeting was to get feedback from the stakeholders on how the project has been so far. Some of the issues discussed include:

·         Involvement of the girl child in tennis

·         How to improve the girl child’s participation in tennis

·         Challenges faced during hand washing in schools

·         Likelihood of  continuity of the program after Sadili’s withdrawal

·         Possibility of the teachers training in September

·         Attendance and dropout of children

·         How Sadili can help reduce drop out

·         Support received from the Children’s department

·         How the project has impacted on child safeguarding

·         Areas that Sadili need to improve on

Body

The activity started with all members introducing themselves, where they come from and how they are related to Sadili Oval sports Academy. Later the evaluator started the discussion by asking the member’s questions and they would respond with different opinions. Some of the issues discussed include:

Ø  Involvement of girls in tennis

      A question on why the is a low turnout of girls during the tennis sessions was posed and the parents and teachers were able to contribute on the issue the main reason coming up being;

a)      Girls are usually left with responsibilities of taking care of their young ones and doing house chores thus them coming for the training becomes impossible

b)      Tennis is usually considered a boys game there by parents do not allow their girls to get involved in it

c)      Sadili is usually far there by parents wouldn’t allow their children to walk all the way alone stating that there might be risk involved on the way i.e.  boys chasing them, crossing the road

The members suggested that to ensure maximum participation of the girls, the parents and teachers need to be sensitized on the importance of tennis to both boys and girls.

Parents and teachers during the meeting

Ø  Challenges faced during Hand Washing

      The teachers took an active part in this question citing several issues that have occurred in their respective schools which include;

a)      Lack of time to practice Hand Washing as the WASH committee members might be willing to teach others during their break time but you find that the teachers usually take up that free time to cover up their lessons thus no time for them to practice

b)      Younger ones get influenced when they do not see the older ones practicing hand washing as they always learn from their older ones thereby they also stop practicing hand washing

c)      The management that is the directors of the schools are not involved thus making running the activity a challenge as they do not provide the hand washing materials which the teachers don’t have.

The teachers suggested that repetition should be encouraged and also monitoring as the children tend to forget. Also school directors should be involved to enable them support the activity to the latter.

Parents and teachers during the meeting

Ø  Likelihood of continuity of the project after Sadili’s withdrawal

Some of the teachers said that the probability of the continuity of the project in their schools would be half .Giving the reason that if the staff we trained on hand washing and safeguarding issues leave they will leave with the knowledge thus the new ones will not continue with what they have no idea on thus extinction of the project.

Most of the teachers promised to continue with the project even after Sadili leaves.

Ø  Possibility of teachers training in September

Most of the teachers disagreed to this suggestion reasons being;

a)      Third term is a short term as  most of the teachers will be busy trying to cover the syllabus thus the training cannot be fixed in the busy schedule

b)      There will be grade 3 preparations that most of the teachers are going to be involved in.

However a few of the teachers suggested that it might be possible with proper planning, communication and co-ordination with the required parties.

Ø  Attendance and Drop out of children

Both parents and teachers agreed that attendance is an issue amongst the schools and a question was posed on how Sadili can help reduce dropout and increase attendance and the suggestions included;

a)      By encouraging the children who have been constantly attending classes by awarding them

b)      Sensitizing parents on the importance school to a child’s future

c)      By creating an interactive activity that the child can do and not forget easily

Ø  Support received from the department of child service

Some of the schools reported that they have been working with several child welfare services closely in issues regarding their children some of those organizations mentioned include; Carolina for Kibera(CFK) and Edmond Rice Camp

Other schools stated that the children department has been distant with them citing that being overwhelmed with many issues might be one of the reasons why

Ø  How the project has impacted on child safeguarding

Most of the parents and teachers who came in for the safeguarding training and meetings attested that the training has had a great impact in them and their respective schools listing the following;

a)      Corporal punishment that they were giving to the children stopped and they are using positive reinforcement

b)      Teachers accepted that not all learners are good in class there by focusing on what they are good in

c)      Teachers are going deep to check on the root causes of a certain behavior in a child

d)     Teachers and parents are having a good relationship with the pupils there by enabling them to open up to them in case they have a problem.

Lunch!

Ø  Areas that Sadili need to improve on

The parents and teachers were asked to state some of the areas that they would like to see changes in regards to Sadili and how the project was run and the following were some of the suggestions;

a)      Sadili should increase contact time with the children as the sessions were so short and when they were just enjoying the session had to be cut short due to time

b)      Introducing other co-curricular activities as not all the children love tennis

c)      Introduce competitions where by schools meet up and compete and the winners are awarded

d)     Safety of the kids should be looked at when they are coming to Sadili for tennis a van should be bought to pick them up and drop them in Sadili hence ensuring no risks in terms of accidents while crossing the road and also personal safety

e)      Several patrons should be trained at schools as there are many transfers thus no continuity of the program.

f)       Sadili should work more closely with the owners of the schools are they are the yes Sayers in all the activities that should be carried out in schools

g)      School meetings should be attended by Sadili Staff members where they can share more about the activities carried out and their importance

h)      Participants in the training's that happen at Sadili should be given certificates to show that they have participated as a motivation

i)        Children coming to Sadili for training be provided for branded Sadili uniforms

j)        The program should also involve the upper primary kids and all staff members including the subordinate staff ,as they are the ones most of the young kids look up to

k)      Sadili should at least supply tanks which will be permanent to schools that they have worked with to promote WASH

l)        Sadili should create awareness of the activities that they are going to carry out before starting them.

Later the meeting ended with a vote of thanks from Joy Akim who later gave all participants a bucket and a bar of soap as a token of appreciation for taking their time to come and also to continue promoting WASH

Participants with their buckets

Acknowledgement

Special thanks to Sadili Oval sports Academy for the approval and support given in this activity, Vitalis Akora and Beryl Akinyi for taking their time to listen to our stakeholders views, all the stakeholders for taking their time to attend and lastly all the Sadili Oval Sports academy staff members for their support from planning to the conclusion of the activity.

Conclusion

The day ran smoothly with all the activities carried out as planned. The participants were active in their participation leaving no stone upturned. The participants had lunch and left at their own pleasure.

Report compiled by: Flora Khisa

                                                                                                 

MARKING THE UNDOKAI FESTIVAL

Bean bag toss

The Joy of the children could be seen as they came in one by one reminiscing about how the previous Undokai festivals have been and how this one is even going to be better most of the children who had not come in during the previous Undokai activities were being fed with sneak peeks of some of the activities that are usually carried out during this

specific day.

The children surpassed our target number as 139 showed up exceeding the 100 that we had anticipated which was amazing as it goes the more the merrier. Children were divided into two teams team red and team white and they had to compete against each other in whatever competition that would come up, each team was given a headband of their color to show which team they represented.

Centipede race

The day kicked off by a tree planting activity where by children were given different trees which they planted to promote environmental conservation as Undokai is all about sports and environmental conservation, 62 trees were planted each child planting the trees with love tender and care. Later the sports activity started, there were a series of activities which the children were to participate in including :Bean bag toss, Run away bean bag toss, Sack race, Rope skipping, Three legged race, Centipede race,Relay,Big ball relay, Tug of war,100 meters race and finally clean up race. The competition was tough as no team wanted to be on the losing end, each team picking some of the best people to represent them and those remaining cheering their representatives and encouraging them when they seemed to lose hope before finishing, however at the end there was a tie as both teams gave their best in all the activities they were chosen to engage in making it a win win for both.

Coach Katsuya Otsu with the squad

Later the children had lunch and left happy carrying stories to tell those who missed. The squad group who usually come in for tennis training sessions remained behind and had a nice time playing tennis with our guest Katsuya Otsu from Tokai University who has always been coming to Sadili Oval sports Academy and spending time with our children playing and promoting WASH and Environmental conservation.

Three legged race

Big ball relay

Tug of war

Runway bean bag toss

I planted this

Tug of war

Finishing the relay with style

The food was yummy

It was a tie!

Tennis was awesome

Empower My Life Training Camp Comes to Productive Conclusion

Empower My Life training camp was held at Sadili Oval over a ten day period (16^th to 26^th August 2017). The camp, the second one since April 2017, was organized by Sadili Oval Sports Academy in partnership with Swiss Academy for Development (SAD). A total of 196 children, whose ages ranged from 4 to 15, participated in the camp. Most of the kids came from two of Nairobi’s informal settlements: Kijiji and Kibera, which are only a few kilometers apart. 

Each day of the camp, the kids met at Sadili at 9:00 am and had one-hour warm-up sessions with guidance from Sadili coaches. The warm-up sessions were swiftly followed by new games, each coming with lessons. The kids were divided into 4 groups, according to their ages, and each group had at least two coaches playing with them and facilitating discussions. Judging from their enthusiasm, it was quite evident that the kids enjoyed learning the games. After each game, the kids sat down with their coaches to discuss what lessons they could draw from them. Some of the topics covered during discussions included HIV prevention/ transmission, gender equality, sexual violence, hygiene and civil courage (bystander intervention), as well as important life skills such as teamwork, hard work and confidence among others. During each day of the camp, meals including tea break, lunch and afternoon snacks were provided to the kids.

The camp concluded on Saturday, 26^th August with a basketball tournament and other fun games including potato race, sack race, tug-of-war, 3-legged race, centipede, relay race, bean bag toss, capture the flag and Guard yourself.

 "It has been a great experience, and I enjoyed learning the new games we were taught every day," remarked Steve Austine, a std.7 pupil at Kibera Primary School. "I have learnt so much about gender stereotype and sexual violence, and I can't wait to share the experience when I go back to school."

We are grateful to the parents who entrusted us with their kids during this enjoyable and highly informative camp, and we are especially happy that the children had fun and at the same time learnt a lot of vital lessons.

Empower My Life is a sport and play-based, innovative and holistic 16-months prevention program aimed at contributing to the fight against sexual violence in Kenyan schools. It promotes the right for education and health for girls and boys from underprivileged families in Nairobi.

For more pictures of the camp, please Like and Follow Sadili Oval Sports Academy page on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sadiliovalsports/

Internship at Sadili Yields Great Professional Experience: Intern Success Story 4

Meet Jemimma Manga. A young, energetic student who has a passion for sports. She recently completed her internship and had a lot of positive things to share. Read her story:

"My name is Manga Jemimmah Mawondo, an Akili Dada Gap year student who is passionate about sport. I recently completed my internship at Sadili Oval Sports Academy, an organization I joined having learnt that it uses sport and education to empower and improve learning. The idea of working at Sadili resonated with my dream of having a magnificent sports club in Maasai land in order to utilize their talents and use sport as an influential medium to stop the bad cultures they have. My aim is making them discover their full potential for them to end up being great and at par with the world standards in everything. I also love working with children and so I felt this was the best place for me.

Being an Akili Dada gap year student, I got trainings on work readiness, computer studies and photography - skills that were very useful to me as they made my work easier at the internship place in Sadili. During my internship, I participated in Court of Dreams (WASH) and Girl Power Clubs Africa programs. Girl Power Clubs Africa is a mentorship program meant for girls at Kibera in five partnering schools. I got to discuss with the girls many issues that they have to deal with as they grow up, including early pregnancies and abortion; menstrual hygiene; early marriage; body image; leadership among other topics. This program was fulfilling for me because I felt I gave myself up to bring out strong, self aware, high esteemed, great and empowered young ladies who indeed reflect a  better image of me while I was at their level.

Visiting schools under the Court of Dreams program such as Mary Rice which is a school meant for kids with special needs changed my perspective of life. The smiles in the kids’ faces, their warm welcome and their ‘thank yous’ at the end of every session made me realize that love makes life beautiful. One thing I loved about the school was the way the people around the kids treated them with love and dignity. They also constantly reminded them that they are great and encouraged them to face their fears. This made the kids realize that despite their conditions they have great capabilities in them.

I must agree that being at Sadili was a life changing journey and a learning platform for me. My role as a social educator and a coach helped me to gain skills such as patience, persistence, good communication skills, class management and all these made me stronger than ever before. Thank you Sadili for giving me this opportunity to maximize my strengths and share my knowledge which served to bring a change in the society."

Congratulations to Jemimmah for a job well done. We wish her all the best.