Written by Canadian SportWORKS Officer, Martin Villafuerte
Martin’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.
Hello everyone! Welcome to my second blog post. This will be more of a life experience update, as it has been quite hectic and challenging to organize events lately due to various scheduling conflicts and logistical hurdles. However, Cheza Healthy has persevered, and November is looking quite busy with several planned events and activities. October was spent mostly on planning and gathering experiences in preparation for these events. Since my last post, we visited CMETrust in Mathare, conducted a detailed tour of the community, and engaged with local leaders. It was a full day—at times I was tired and hungry, but meeting new people and experiencing the community made it worthwhile. Our tour began with a group yoga session to set a positive tone for the day.
This was the most challenging yoga class I’ve taken. It really kicked my butt lol, but I could feel my joints loosening and becoming comfortable in new positions. It reset my body, and now I feel like a newborn baby, however I was dripping sweat by the end of it and I didn’t bring an extra shirt… haha Next, we learned more about what CMETrust does by meeting with their team and touring their facilities alongside local students.
CME stands for Canada-Mathare Education, and Mathare is a slum in Kenya; CMETrust’s main goal is to provide educational opportunities by sponsoring children to attend school, even if it’s just one child at a time. They maintain long-term relationships with the students and assist with university scholarships if needed. During my guided visit through Mathare, I was introduced to Manu, who is currently benefitting from the CMETrust program.
Manu will be graduating from the University in 2026, and I think it’s incredible and selfless that he works with CMETrust to continue the growth of the program that helped him. During the community tour, our group visited a restored park—a thriving space featuring lush trees, bushes, and green grass, all of which are used by the community for relaxation and exercise. We saw several traditional huts where outdoor yoga classes are held, which was a fun surprise. What amazed me most was that this area, approximately 2 acres in size, had been a dump site before the community and CME Trust collaborated to clean and reclaim it. Here is a poster where you can see a picture of how this area looked before.
After learning about the park’s transformation, I noticed how lively and welcoming it felt. Community members were relaxing—some napping under trees, others chatting in huts. While I was taking pictures, someone even asked me to take their picture. He then released his inner Muhammad Ali, which I loved very much.
We explored more of the park, where our guide took us to a community-run farm that produces greens for local families. A short walk away, we came across a large metal trash bin, a rare community resource in Nairobi. Our guide explained that many areas lack public trash cans, which often leads to improper waste disposal.
Seeing this well-maintained bin and the educational signage attached highlighted the ongoing initiative: the bin is collected and sorted weekly, with recyclables, such as plastic, separated, and other waste disposed of properly by a partner organization. These improvements in the area stood out to me during the tour, symbolizing real progress for the local community and also aligning with Cheza Healthy’s event themes on environmental health. The tour itself included many such moments where it hit deep in my heart, making me realize what I have back home in Canada. And like this blog post, those experiences were just the beginning.
We then visited potential venues for future Cheza Healthy events, which consisted of three schools, a senior citizens’ centre, and a care centre for children with disabilities. I intentionally refrained from taking many photos at these locations to be respectful and fully present with the people who lived there, especially since some areas required prior consent for photography. Each school we visited had different facilities and funding levels; for example, one is sponsored by another country, has a dirt football pitch, and a modern two-story building. In contrast, another doubles as an orphanage, housed in a basic structure with limited amenities, including non-working lights. During school visits, we met with principals and, at one school, were warmly greeted by many students—mainly toddlers, who enthusiastically wanted to shake our hands. I’m happy to announce that we will be organizing an event later in November at the orphanage school and will be adding photos and videos of the activities that we do!
Earlier, I mentioned the senior citizens’ care centre; tomorrow, November 6th, we are scheduled to conduct an event with them as part of our November programming. Steph led the coordination and preparation with the centre’s staff. The event will begin with an educational talk about non-communicable diseases, focusing on practical prevention tips, followed by a gentle warm-up stretch session that I will lead. To round off the morning, we will play walking football with participants. Although I have been sick for a week and now taking antibiotics, I expect to be ready to help deliver the event. I hope to share event photos right after this paragraph.
The way this elderly centre was moving, they did not seem like they were elderly. They had to be lying about their age or maybe their inner competitor came out because they were going hard. At one point I thought I would have to break up a fight because these two opponents were getting in one another’s face, like an inch away from each other! Hoho, now this is epic.
In hopes to calm down the energy after the games we played (we played soccer first but we didn’t get a video of that game) I went around and high-fived everyone and it started a trend and got others to give high-fives all around. After this we had a cool down stretch session and I made sure to add breathing techniques. I added this because I wanted to lower their competitive spirit because they wanted to know which team won the handball game. I was discretely informed to say it was a tie so I don’t cause a war. It was easier to say it was a tie after the cool down because the energy came down after the stretching and breathing techniques. We then had a talk about what they got out of this event and what they felt, learned or anything they wanted to mention.
When we were wrapping up visit, the group wanted to do a farewell song for us and it was extremely special for me. This is a part of Kenyan culture and its amazing and really makes us guests feel loved and welcomed. A heartbreaking moment however was that they asked us to come back for another event before Stephanie and I leave but it would not likely happen. We are packed with events every week and to have a team meeting about this is even harder to coordinate. I left them saying that the next group of Canadian SportWORKS Officers will have their contact information so that they can come pay a visit and bring a new type of event. I trust that this will be carried out in the future.
The weekend after our Mathare visit brought a wonderful change of pace—our long-awaited office retreat. After two years of anticipation, Steph and I were lucky to join the team for three nights in Diani, a Kenyan coastal community. The nine-hour drive was worth it; along the way, I saw a wild zebra and nearly caught a glimpse of a giraffe—a refreshing contrast to the busy days in Mathare.
At the coast, the office organized excursions—including a visit to the African Pool. I imagined a man-made pool shaped like Africa, but it turned out differently.
Exploring the African Pool was a memorable experience, with its unique shape, diverse marine life, and even a swim through a tunnel (thanks to Enoch’s encouragement, he’s the main guy in the middle picture). There was a bunch of navigating sea urchins and slippery rocks, and finally taking the leap to do the cliff jump!
The pool was a little shallow, so I was advised not to dive or go deep, but I failed and scratched up my foot pretty badly. Oh well, I’ll live. Some people from the office didn’t come because we had to get up early, but the trip was worth it.
Later, we drove three hours to Malindi, which had more beach and dunes than the African pool. Both had the ocean, but Malindi offered sand and dunes! Access was required for payment, but it covered quad rentals. Driving was so much fun. I ran to join coworkers talking with a guy who had a quad and got to drive first! Three people fit, making steering tough, but I managed to do so. Approaching other coworkers on a quad, we then saw them fall off. It turned out the back wheel broke off, rendering it unusable… hahaha, lol.
Ending the day with shared adventures on the dunes, we celebrated a great group-bonding experience. These moments helped me grow closer to my colleagues and reminded me of the importance of everyone at NOC-K taking time to recharge. Our retreat not only created lasting memories but also gave me new joy and perspective.
I can’t believe I’m reminiscing about Kenya this much, but I’m still here lol. It’s just been such a nice experience, even if it’s hard to get events going. I’m learning how to work in an office setting because this is my first office job. Below is an example.
During our Monday morning meetings with the entire staff, it often feels too tense, and people aren’t fully present. So I took it upon myself to be comic relief during the meetings, although it might not be professional. I think that’s something I need to measure against how unserious I can be in meetings and keep it at a good level, so we can focus on the important points. For example, at the start of our meetings, we go around and share with the group how our weekend was. My coworker, for instance, told us about going on a hike with some friends, but some of them didn’t make it. Obviously, he meant that some of his friends didn’t come on the trip, but for comic relief, I said, “Wait, some of your friends died on the hike??” All in all, I learned that I should learn more about office work etiquette if I want to work in an office in the future.
The next day, we planned to go snorkelling and potentially see some dolphins! We took a small boat into the ocean and drove far into the Indian Ocean, passing Wasini Island and some other Islands that have been left untouched by humanity. I learned this from the guide that was with us on the boat; he told me that the Kenyan government mandated that no one go to those Islands. I wondered what kind of wildlife there was. Our guide has really irritated eyes, and he mentioned that it’s due to allergies. Luckily, I brought some Reactine with me. Unfortunately, it did not help, but he appreciated the attempt, haha. Once we drove out far enough, we started scouting out for dolphins. We were all ready with our phones to catch them on video, but we never could. One dolphin popped up from far away, and I got to see it! I didn’t catch it on video, but that’s okay. After trying to spot the dolphins, the guide got people started on snorkelling, and I did not expect it to be so magical. I know that’s a corny way to describe the experience, but it was truly that way. I never thought I would see something that came out of the movie Nemo. So many fish were swimming in packs, some big fish were swimming alone, and even the floor of the ocean was cool to look at. We were in a relatively shallow area, so I could see the floor clearly, and I was stuck there, taking in the surroundings. With the snorkeling gear, I didn’t have to surface for air. I floated away from the boat a couple of times, so I had to swim back, and I was told that I missed out on other people trying to snorkel. Apparently, one of my coworkers, who said they could swim, almost drowned, and I didn’t even notice… They’re okay, though, so don’t worry.
The next day we drove back to Nairobi and I thought I was going to dread the drive back but this time we had one less person in our car (it was Tony my supervisor, he went back to Nairobi Saturday evening because he had more work to do), I sat at the front and we were playing songs that we could sing our hearts to, for example…
Yeah, it was a good time 🙂 The drive felt like it took only an hour; it was just that good. And that concludes the highlights of the trip! I’ll add some more photos and videos that I think are worth sharing, and I hope one of them makes you laugh.
Once we were back from Diani, we picked up where we left off with the events. The Diani trip took place around the middle of October, and just before this trip, we had a seminar that was postponed. The office was also organizing the Africa Youth Games participants, ensuring we had all the necessary documents from them. This is to say that it was hard to get the Cheza healthy team together for dire meetings about the events. I still had to visit the places where we would host events, such as an orphanage in Donholm, and attend KCA University, but since the team was busy with other NOCK tasks, we didn’t have time to go together to these places.
Even though I could not visit some places with my team, It did not stop me from progressing the plan. So I planned to go to these places without some of the team members. I am glad because it gave me a better idea of the venue, so I can plan the activities for the event according to the space and equipment they have. The KCA event has been confirmed for November 20th. Beside this paragraph is the poster being posted around the University, inviting more students to attend the event.
The event in Donholm is still being confirmed, but a tentative date has been set for November 28th. I’m praying that we can provide not only a fun event for the kids in that orphanage, but also some socks and sports boots! I believe it’s possible; it just takes early communication and coordination. I forgot to mention it in my last blog, but I obtained the contact information for this orphanage from a rugby player who is on Kenya’s national rugby 7’s team. I met him through someone who works at the office with me, and he told me he would love to do an event with me. I was planning to work with an orphanage in Naivasha, but unfortunately, they did not think a Cheza Healthy event was necessary for them, since their kids were already very active. Kevin, the rugby player, gave me the contact information for the orphanage in Donholm, and we got the ball rolling immediately.
I met first to share information about who they are, and I got to share who I am and what I am doing in Kenya. Then I visited them alone and saw how big their heart are. They have about a hundred kids living there, and many of the rooms are small. However, the overall size of the place where they live is about the size of a basketball court. After breaking the ice with the leaders of the children’s home, we went for a walk to the field where they play. It was a big space; however, it was very uneven and had stones poking out of the ground. They do have two goal posts for football and some poles for setting up a volleyball net. They also have a makeshift punching bag made of old tires stacked on top of each other, tied to a rope, and hanging from a tree branch. After returning to the orphanage, the caretakers had gathered the children to greet me. They sang me a greeting song, and I wish I had a video of it, but I forgot to take one. There were many small children and a few older teenagers, and most of them didn’t speak English very well, but we managed to get by. When it came to explaining what Cheza Healthy was, it was difficult to put it into words, so I resorted to showing it. I did squats in front of the group and asked them if they knew what it was called in English. Then, I did a push-up and asked them the same question. And then I found a place where I could do a pull-up, and then asked them if they could do it too! At first, they were shy, but they came around, and all the little kids wanted to try! This went on for a few minutes because there were many kids, and some of them wanted re-tries. I eventually pulled away and had to say goodbye, as I had planned to return to the office for lunch and write down the ideas I had come up with for the event.
For the structure of the event, it will be like a skill/technique training session, and here is my reasoning. The first reason is that during our conversation, the leaders of the home expressed a desire for their children to develop their athletic abilities so they can participate in sports. Creating an event where they can develop their skills in a fun way can motivate them to pursue physical improvement for enjoyment, at least this is my dream. For the event, I would test how fast they can run and how high they can jump before and after the event, so they can see that they have improved. I hope this inspires them to continue. The second reason for this type of training event is that they were so interested in me doing squats, push-ups, and pull-ups, so I thought this type of event would relate to what I did with them when I first met them. As I have been coordinating the Cheza Healthy events, I have been offering others in the office the chance to share what they have been working on. One challenging task was to devise a method for organizing the forms and documents we receive from athletes and coaches of various sports. So far, the documents were organized by sport and then by individual, but the problem was determining which individuals had shared which documents with each other. After brainstorming for a while, I made a Google sheet and organized the document titles horizontally and the sports vertically. After that, I typed in the names and checked off who shared what. Doing that alone would have been really tedious, but after having the sheet laid out, we worked in a team of four and got through the athletes and coaches in no time.
The second task was to create a presentation for the upcoming SG seminar. Like tomorrow soon lol. However, I was asked about it two weeks ago and have already completed it. My coworkers saw how well the poster I made for KCA turned out, so they asked me if I could create one for a PowerPoint presentation. At first, I didn’t think I could make it look as good as the poster, since I had help from a graphic designer. For this presentation, I sought advice from our media team to find suitable pictures that complement the content being discussed. After some collaboration, we made the presentation look pristine and captivating, so viewers can keep their attention on what is being shared.
I could keep talking on and on with what’s going on in the NOC-K office but I will share more on the next blog. This blog is twice as big as my first one and I think its about time to wrap it up haha. Thank you so much for reading and I appreciate you for taking the time to look into how Cheza Healthy is going and checking in on my wellbeing. These blogs truly are not doing the Kenyan experience justice. However I will still try to show you how it is to work and live in Nairobi, Kenya.
I want to shoutout my friends back home; Clovis, Diego, and Amaziah, thank you for having long calls with me when I was feeling down and needed to call my brothers back home. And shoutout to my girlfriend Sophie who reminds me that I am cared for and raises my Spirit even from exactly 13875km away. I love you and see you soon 🙂
Until the next blog!
Warm Regards,
Martin Villafuerte