Written by Canadian SportWORKS Officer, Luna Sinclair
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.
March Madness
Hi everyone! Karibuni sana blog post #3: March Madness. This was the first blog where the title came to me immediately, we have been booked and busy. I was telling our Canadian SportWORKS Officer Supervisor, Ryan that I had to make a list to keep track of everything I wanted to include in this blog because even though it’s only been two and half weeks since my last blog post we have had the pleasure of hosting seven events! Today, March 19th, also somehow marks one month left of my time in Nairobi with Cheza Healthy. In this post I’ve written all about our Cheza Healthy events first and then a bit of what I’ve been up to this month so far outside of Cheza.
I want to give a brief rundown of our initiative for those who are unfamiliar. The name Cheza Healthy comes from the Swahili word “play” so Play Healthy. The project was conceived by our wonderful leader Catherine (Kate) Cherotich and is a partnership between Commonwealth Sport Kenya (The National Olympic Committee of Kenya) and Commonwealth Sport Canada through the Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Program. Our project focuses on the promotion of physical activity as a tool for preventing non-communicable diseases. We have been primarily working with school-aged children and youth through school visits where we talk about the importance of staying active, play some games, and encourage them to create an Olympic Club at their school where they can continue to play healthy together and prioritize the Olympic values of Respect, Friendship, and Excellence. In March so far, we have had a direct impact on 1,210 primary and secondary school students and promoted Cheza Healthy on social media to an audience of over 300,000 followers.
It has been so exciting to see our project grow and to take ownership through planning events, speaking to students, and developing ideas for the future. I feel proud of the work we’ve been doing and I know when it is time to hand the project over to the next Canadian SportWORKS Officers I will feel proud to have been involved. While the end is nearing I am still so excited for another month with my coworkers and in Kenya doing my best to represent Mount Royal University, Commonwealth Sport Canada, and Canada in general.
Let’s start at the beginning of the month, on March 5th we had the pleasure of visiting Dagoretti Mixed Secondary School.
Our whole event was outside which I loved. We spoke about Cheza Healthy, the Olympic Values Education Programme, and then our team members Sam, Dennis, and Wangechi led the students in brain teasers, Zumba, and a dance competition.
I learned some trending dances too like Mapangale and Shake it to the Max. Let’s just all pretend that there aren’t videos of me trying them out, though they are pretty funny to watch.
Our next Cheza Healthy event was a two-day visit to Moi Girls School as they hosted the Kibera Sub County Championships for Athletics, Handball, and Basketball.
On March 7th, we visited the school before the opening ceremonies to lead some stretches and fun dances before the competitions and we spoke to the athletes about nutrition and injury prevention. It was a great way to start the morning.
Then we returned the following day to speak at the closing ceremonies about Cheza Healthy and how there are many fulfilling careers in the sports industry for those who are passionate about it.
One thing that made me smile was there was a student at the event wearing a Cheza Healthy shirt. We spotted it and asked her about it and found out she had been at the very first Cheza Healthy event- a tennis tournament in April of 2024, so cool!!
On March 7th we also supported the National Olympic Committee of Kenya (NOC-K)’s International Women’s Day celebrations.
It was really a great event, NOC-K invited women from the various Kenyan sporting federations as well as some young mothers from Mathare, including some of the friends I have made through yoga and the Saturday community programs there.
There were inspirational speakers, a psychologist who spoke about mental health, and a gynecologist who spoke about women’s health, as well as dancing, yoga, and games for all attendees. It was a hot hot day in the sun but a really inspiring event to be a part of.
Speaking of International Days, on March 10th we celebrated Commonwealth Day. Commonwealth Sport launched a movement ‘more in common’ to celebrate and promote how through diversity we can see beyond our differences and find common ground. We spent our day with the first Olympic Club Cheza Healthy formed at Visa Oshwal School.
To celebrate more in common, NOC-K also invited students from S.A. Joytown School, a school for students with physical disabilities. The Commonwealth Games differ from the Olympic and Paralympic Games as they fully integrate the Para sport programme, making them the first fully inclusive international multi-sport Games.
So the NOC-K team alongside the students and teachers from both schools all had fun with games, activities, and dancing to celebrate more in common. It was great to see students from a previous Cheza Healthy event still so excited about their Olympic Club and eagerly listening when we spoke more about it.
We had another two-day Cheza Healthy event on March 13th & 14th at Aquinas High School for the Nairobi Regional Championships.
On the first day Maya, Jenna, and I spoke to students in smaller groups about Cheza Healthy and then on the second day Jenna and I spoke to all the athletes during the opening ceremony for the day.
It was also cool to watch the students compete, we watched the boys and girls 5000m speed walking. I had never seen it in person before and Jenna and I had to look up the rules because it looks a lot like jogging to us 😂.
At Aquinas High School we were approached by a teacher from Lavington Girls School and they kindly invited us for a Cheza Healthy event on March 18th.
The event was really fun, the girls at the school had great energy and great questions. We spoke about Cheza Healthy and Olympic Values, and also had the chance to speak about representation and success for girls in sport which I really enjoyed.
We also had an amazing guest speaker, George Darril Omondi. Darril is a player on the Nairobi City Thunder Basketball Team and also represented Kenya at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham in 2022. He inspired the students to always know their “why” and to use their values and inspirations as tools to persevere.
We then finished the event by planting trees in the school’s field. It was a great event!
Alongside preparing for all our events we have also been busy at the office working on the rollout of NOC-K’s Olympic Clubs in schools to promote Cheza Healthy and the Olympic Values Education Programme. The goal is to have a network of clubs all across Kenya where students are encouraged to stay active with their classmates and use Cheza Healthy values and Olympic Values in their everyday lives. The current plan is to host a national debate tournament on June 23rd to celebrate National Olympic Day. We have recently created a Google form to have interested schools and teachers sign up for an information session as we could not reach enough schools solely with Cheza Healthy events. We have already had 170 responses from schools across the country eager to begin their own clubs. We are really excited about what this means for the reach and sustainability of Cheza Healthy. The next step is an informative virtual meeting on March 31st, followed by a training and certification process for the lead teachers of each club. I am excited to keep you all updated on where it leads!
When I’m not at work I’ve been spending a lot of time cooking and baking, as well as at the gym and at the climbing gym.
I think when we’re going around to schools telling students that the WHO recommendation for their age group is 60 minutes of physical activity a day, it’s hypocritical if I’m not staying active as well. One form of non-communicable diseases we talk about is also mental health and I know for me personally one of the best ways for me to stay mentally well is through physical activity. In Canada, I almost only do outdoor physical activity like running, but as I don’t want to get flattened by a boda (motorcycle) in the streets here, I have been running indoors. And while I’ve previously said treadmill running is the bane of my existence, I’ve been doing better than expected. I turn 23 in May when I’m back in Calgary and I think I want to celebrate by running 23km with a few of my friends, I got the idea from one of my former supervisors (and ETOL alum), Stephen, when I worked at Camp Chief Hector and I think this year is the year. So wish me and my knees luck as I train in the hottest gym I have ever encountered, even the AC is no match for the Kenyan heat.
I’ve shouted him out in a previous blog but I wanted to give another big thank you to my classmate and friend Syd Daniels. Syd is from Nairobi and has been the biggest help with recommendations and overall support in preparing for this practicum. Jenna and I had the pleasure of meeting his brother, Martin, a few weeks back and had a great time getting brunch with him and his friends. I feel so far away from home sometimes but meeting people who welcome you in like family always makes it feel like the world is smaller.
I also am so grateful for my coworkers for being so warm and welcoming as well. I love getting to know everyone and making friends I’ll remember for a lifetime.
For everyone who was interested in MaSCA and our Football Tournament from my last blog post feel free to check out this video they made about the event:
It is a great representation of the work they do and delves deeper into their mission of environmental health and sustainability. It is really inspiring to see how they prioritize the well-being of community members through promoting long lasting solutions to waste management, reducing pollution, creating jobs, and reinvesting in the community.
Thank you to everyone for taking the time to read about what we’ve been up to here in Nairobi. I’m excited for where this last month will take me and I feel optimistic and excited for the future of this project and where we’re headed.
Until next time!
Luna
Some more miscellaneous photos 🙂
Okay, with that, until next time actually. 😸😸
Luna