Guten Morgen!

 

 

 

MALAIKA

Once again Tofauti on the move brings you insights of some of our exceptional interns from across the globe. This time we had one forever smiling intern all the way from Germany named Ma Reike, as it goes without saying, an Angel she truly was..Sehr erfreut Sie kennen zu lernen! She braced us with the infamous German Efficiency for about two months and truly kept all of us on our toes depending on how you'd wanna look at it :)! All in all her charm was passed onto the children she taught and everyone she came across. Given another month she would have easily vied for a county representative post for South C. Anyway, enough with the chit chat and lets now dive into her amazing Kenyan experience..







What were your expectations of the Tofauti Internship Experience? Have you met them?

Actually, I didn´t have many expectations about my internship. Of course, I wanted to get to know the Kenyan culture and way of life, also meet new people from all over the world, especially from Kenya J and having a good time there. Personally, I don`t like to have a lot of expectations. I prefer to come to a country and let things go. Hakuna Matata!:)

What did you get from the Tofauti Internship Experience? What value did we add to your life?

I experienced so many different things. The first thing what I learned in Kenya was that everything can happen and there is always a solution. Therefore, Hakuna Matata and don´t worry… My work in Faith-school was also an unforgettable time there. I had so much fun with them and it was nice to see happy and smiling kids even when they don´t have much. To play football with them or to watch a movie apart from the teaching was always a great joy for me. My highlights with them were our “pancake-day”, our “sports-competition-day” and our “musician-project”. When even the kids don't have proper teachers they always try to give their best. Apart from my project I travelled a lot during the weekends and I was impressed about the gorgeous landscape of Kenya. The diversity is amazing. To travel with the other interns was always a funny adventure. To see wild animals really close to myself was also very impressive. Especially, to see elephants, buffalos and hippos ;)… -> no more comments on that :D . Or Jump from the waterfalls of 14Falls.I also met some many nice people and had such a great time with them that all made me to have the best nine weeks I have ever had in my life.


Especially thanx to Ryan ;) and all the others..


What other ways could we have engaged you in the field?

All interns were engaged in their projects. But we never had any pressure and we could also decide what we wanted to do. We also had the opportunity to go to other projects and see how they work and got to know other institution. We also had a lot of freedom to decide what we wanted to do or not.

What was the food like in the house?

Kenya food is awesome.Especially in our house. Mathew is such a great cook. Asante saana to Mathew. Mandazi in the morning or Chapatie with peas, fish, meat,….. what else do you want? The house was also a great place to stay during my internship. Mathew as our “dad” took always care about us. It did´t matter which mood we had and we could ever talk to him. I felt always a warm welcome to come home to Akiba Bellevue with the blue gate :D

What can we do to make Tofauti internship experience better?

Actually everything was great. Tofauti does a great job in Kenya and there is nothing to change. I had a great time with Tofauti. Therefore nothing to add.







Have your say...

hmm.. where shall i start?

Standing on the top of Mount Kenya was an experience what I´ve thought that I could never do that Mind over body-or.. if you want to do it- you can. I made some many experiences and sometimes the way was hard, but I learned from every step. Even sometimes it was a step backwards. I had such a nice time here in Kenya and there were a lot of people who made it what it became.To sit in a full-crowded Matatu, to hear loud Reggae-Music and to stand in the traffic jam was such a great adventure and even I did it nearly every day I enjoyed it so much


The kids in Faith-school showed me how to be happy every day and they made me happy. Playing football with a basketball on a field... Learning Suaheli-Songs (the Skamares-Song) from them or just how to dance… There are so many unforgettable moments I will never ever forget in my life and it made me another person.


There is nothing else to say than: Asante saana and Hakuna brrr…tscha…!!!

FAITH SCHOOL MICRO-FINANCE PROJECT

FAITH SCHOOL MICRO-FINANCE PROJECT

 

Thanx to Aline's input Tofauti on the move have decided to launch this entrepreneurship project as an alternative for sustaining the school and the kids themselves. This was further conceptualized by Christine Nyambura last Saturday and why not..So we will open a website for the school and bank account not forgeting a facebook page to help enhance this initiative.

 

Overview

Faith Homes Learning institution is a home come school for disadvantaged destitute street children and orphans.

Problem statement

The plight of poverty, unemployment and the general neglect of the government towards these kids has led to the ever rising population of illiterate citizens in the society. This can basically be attributed by their in-access to proper education and lack of empowerment, hence eventually being a societal hindrance.

Project Scope and Objectives

Besides offering supplementary voluntary basic teaching the institution has on-top of that also ventured more purposely and effectively in launching an entrepreneurship program where the kids are trained in making hand made artifacts and ornaments for later sale and thus financial sustainability.

Engagements by volunteers and interns.

Basically the volunteers will be in-charge of supervising this project. They will thus also teach and in the process learn various skills too i.e.

•  Entrepreneurship skills
• Saving and investment
•  sales and marketing skills
•  pitching proposals 
•   writing, communication and presentation skills

Project Deliverables

Clearly as you can see the purpose is to achieve self sustainability in these children by providing another channel where the children can enhance themselves further by this handicraft skill. The idea is to create a channel of these products and a ready demand for them to enhance their sale. Some of the  benefits actuated in this program are:-

1.      Self development and community development

2.      School sustainability

3.      Funding means for their education

4.      Build socially responsible citizens

"TERVETULOA SUOMEEN"

 "TERVETULOA SUOMEEN"

Finland, the home of Nokia and one of the world's most peaceful, competitive and livable countries, humbled Tofauti by sending us one of their very best in the name of Kat Ainamo.  Finland was a relative latecomer to industrialization, remaining a largely agrarian country until the 1950s. Thereafter, economic development was rapid and it’s now one of the world's wealthiest nations with per-capita income of $49,349; and with a population of around 5.4 million people, pretty much the population of Nairobi alone!! Hope that slight info has made a difference in your paradigm already. Adding to the paradigm shift, Finland was one of the first countries to embrace a woman president (and for two terms) and due to its adept technological superiority and advancements they also have implemented e-voting and tallying system in their electoral process!?

Katariina Ainamo as we preferred to call her Kat due to our obvious heavy tongue pronunciation issues, was an immediate inspiration to the won’t stop can’t stop movement, first by her genuine affection and care for the destitute disadvantaged kids. Her philosophy being “Together Forever” she has vowed to always carry the Tofauti spirit with her and if not come to visit occasionally and possibly even  do her masters at Strathmore University. Now how’s that for inspiration!! Here’s a brief peak at her experience with the Tofauti on the move la familia.

 Expectations and how they were met:

My expectations were not big since I have learned not to expect too much to avoid disappointment. I did expect what I’m sure everyone does which is meeting new people, learning about the Kenyan culture and enjoying the warm weather of Kenya (in July…). I definitely didn’t expect to have the best 2 and a half months of my life meeting the most amazing people, eating the awesome Swahili food, traveling to different gorgeous places and working with the coolest kids ever. But all the above happened and I could not be happier that I ended up in Kenya and especially with Tofauti.

Work wise I had the amazing opportunity to work with the cutest, nicest, smartest and best- humored kids I’ve ever met at Vijito Primary where I fell in love with more boys that I never thought possible. Those kids I will always remember and hope to be part of their life also in the future.

What did u get from the Tofauti Internship experience? What value did we add to your life?

I got an endless list of new and different experiences starting with working with Scream kids, getting friends that will surely last for the lifetime and trips that I will never forget.

Value-wise I feel like I now have a stronger connection to the continent that my heart belongs to and, like most of us interns surely feel after working with these children, an appreciation to life and what we have and the willingness to help the ones that are not as fortunate. Shall I ever complain about my radiator not heating my room enough or my pillow not being soft enough (okay, definitely not my usual complaints but u get the point), anyone is welcome to come and give me a proper slap on the face.

But yes, what I got from Tofauti is more than I can even put into words. I got something that changed me as a person, changed my perspectives towards life and made me see things in a complete new way.

What other ways could we have engaged you in the field?

The thing that I loved about Tofauti (and especially about Ryan of course) was that I felt free to go and do what ever I felt like doing in the field, this meaning that if I wanted to visit another project, there was no problem and if I wanted to go and wonder in the slums, also,hakunamatata. So, I have zero complaints about this part.

How was the food in the house?

One word, no two: Mathew and love. Loved both and always felt the food was made with love by Mathew (very poetic, I know). Mathew made the house to be what it was and also always prepared me my special food if there was meat for dinner. Missing that chapatti and mandazi…

What can we do to make the Tofauti Internship experience better?

Seriously nothing comes to my mind. Just keep doing what you’re doing, worked out great for me.

Have your say:

Oh boy, where to start..

Like I said above I had the MOST amazing experience in Kenya. What made it what it was, was Tofauti. I got to work in a place that I truly loved with kids that literally changed my life and made me understand that even small kids can be extremely cool. I met friends that actually became my family including Kenyans, Bots and my little dada from Brazil. Because of the perfect location of the house and friendly neighborhood, I met the nicest guys aka O-boys and with all these mentioned above we had the most fun, most craziest and definitely the most epic adventures ever, both inside Nairobi and outside. One person that made me feel like home probably the most was Mathew. He was there laughing, listening to my complaints, making me laugh when I was pissed about something and in a time of loss comforting me. So a massive asante sana to Mathew, he had a huge part of my experience. Also I could have not hoped for a better boss, or like I’ve put it “boss”. Ryan was the most encouraging and supporting boss that a girl can hope for and made me feel like I actually made a difference, which is a credit that I have a hard time giving to myself.  On top of that he was a great friend hence the “” on boss. So thank you for everything and don’t get too used for me being gone ‘cause I’ll be back!