Written by Canadian SportWORKS Officer, Luna Sinclair
Luna and Jenna at Cheza Healthy’s visit to the Canada-Mathare Education Trust’s April Life Skills School Break Program
Luna’s international experiential learning experience is funded by the Queen Elizabeth Scholars (QES) Program. This collaborative initiative is made possible through the leadership of the Rideau Hall Foundation, in collaboration with Community Foundations of Canada, Universities Canada, and Canadian universities. Through its promotion of international student exchange and civic engagement, the QES program is helping to grow young Canadians into global citizens while promoting Canada as a destination for the world’s top talent and attracting top talent and international research leaders to Canada.
Wow. It really is true that time moves so fast, I feel like suddenly I’ve blinked and I’ve been back home for almost two months. I’ve had so much time to reflect on my experience in Nairobi and I don’t even know where to start. I’ve been drafting this post in my head for a while now and I just keep thinking of more to say.
I always come back to the immense gratitude I feel for my time in Kenya, and for my coworkers and everyone I met along the way. As the weather in Calgary has begun to turn to summer, I feel so nostalgic for my time in Nairobi. I’ve been biking to work a lot, but when I drive I roll the windows down and listen to Spotify’s ‘Hot Hits Kenya’ Playlist and it makes me think of warm afternoons in the office while my coworkers played ‘4 Kampé’ or ‘Nairobi’.
I am happy to be home, by the end of my placement I was getting homesick and feeling excited about coming back to my family and friends of course, but I also knew I wanted to make the most of all my time away. It was weird to come back and feel like everything is the same, almost like it didn’t even happen. I know four months is just a blink of time in the grand scheme of things but I made so many friends, I loved the work we were doing, and I had my own little day-to-day routine. I think that is why it has taken me so long to find the words. If I could come home to my Calgary life each night but be back at the office Monday morning, part of me would like that, you know? Not to say there were not challenging times, but I’m happy to be remembering the best parts. I put a little collection of pictures together of my last few weeks in Nairobi below.
The NOC-K team threw Jenna and I such a lovely going away dinner and we had the chance to say our goodbyes
Kate, Wangechi, Nelly, and Purity
Jenna and I with our supervisor Tony (and Caro)
Goodbyes at the office with Lydia, Phiona, Nelly, Babra, Purity, and Caro
Group photo at our final Cheza Healthy event hosted with the Canada-Mathare Education Trust for their April Life Skills School Break Program
SportWORKS Selfie! Jenna and I in our apartment
Kate taking me on my first matatu ride, it was only a little scary
I made Jenna take a picture of one of my many Uber Boda rides, shoutout to the driver for saying yes
A few more goodbyes
Looking forward, I’m not sure what’s next. I had the chance to meet with Rowan before her and Leanna left for Kenya and I just feel so excited for them both. I’ve been watching both of their journeys through Instagram and I know they’re going to have a great time. It’s so cool to see them trying our favourite restaurants, travelling with work, and checking out all that Kenya has to offer. I really hope the Cheza Healthy project continues its momentum and can continue to reach students and keep promoting physical activity to prevent non-communicable diseases. I really do think our events had a positive impact on the schools and communities we visited. I hope there are kids who will remember having fun playing or dancing with their friends, or meeting a Kenyan athlete and feeling like that could be them one day too. They won’t remember every statistic we shared or each Olympic Value, but I hope they remember having a good time moving their bodies and then wanting to again.
Cheza Healthy at the April Life Skills School Break Program
I really would recommend this experience to anyone because the world is big and I think any opportunity to see it and learn about it should be embraced. As I approach my last year at Mount Royal University and start to think about what’s next, I am grateful for my time as a Canadian SportWORKS Officer because I truly think it has equipped me with new passions and a want to try new things.
For everything I want to give a big thank you to everyone who encouraged me and supported me throughout this placement. Thank you to my professor, Julie Booke, for suggesting I apply. Thank you to Gabe, Jess, and David for sharing experiences from your time in Kenya. Thank you to my family for being there for me each step of the way (special shoutout to my Grandma who knew there was no way I could possibly say no to this opportunity and told everyone about it before I had even applied). Thank you to Jenna for going through such a special adventure with me. Thank you to everyone at Mount Royal University and at Commonwealth Sport Canada who make experiences like this possible: Gisele Marcoux, Jessica Mossiere, Lauren Kelba, and of course Ryan Pelley. Thank you to the most wonderful team at the National Olympic Committee of Kenya: Staphey Wairimu, Tony Karuru, Lydia Kamau, Juliet Amondi, Enock Rutere, Caroline Kariuki, Juliet Wangechi, Purity Kang’ethe, Susan Adhiambo, Jairus Mola, Ian Mukuvi, Alphonce Mwachia, Nelly Ntinyari, Babra Kimuli, Maya Omar, Joseph Kibiyi, Simon Chebon, Phiona Wandera, and our Cheza Captain, Catherine Cherotich. Thank you to our friends at the Canada Mathare Education Trust, Charles Onyango and Titus Kuria, and all the lovely people from MaSCA and PaaMoja. Thank you to the Queen Elizabeth Scholars Program, made possible through the leadership of the Rideau Hall Foundation, in collaboration with Community Foundations of Canada, Universities Canada, and Canadian universities. And thank you to my partner Reed, for everything.
What else could you ask for after a 30 hour travel day
Thank you for following along over the course of these blog posts, I hope you enjoyed reading about my time in Nairobi and I hope you learned about our Cheza Healthy project. <3
– Luna