We would like to take this chance to encourage everyone of you to become fan of the Daraja Academy of Kenya on Facebook: this is where you will, for example, see great pictures of the game! See you there!

(Colin)

I’m pleased to introduce the new layout for the Official Blog of the Daraja Academy! Sorry for the down time and inconvenience… We lost some of the photos in the process but this should be fixed in the next few days.

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In the meantime, you can visit our Flickr Gallery!

It has been A HARD student selection process. Quite literally, over the past 2+ weeks a group of at least 4 Daraja Academy administrators (director of operations Peter Wathitu, vice principal Victoria, Jenni and I) along with a handful of volunteers, have conducted well over 100 student interviews. We have logged in almost 2,000 kms driving to Isiolo, Nairobi, Limuru, Eldoret, Kitale, Kakamega and all the way to Kisumu on Lake Victoria.

We have learned that word of Daraja Academy has spread across Kenya. With it we are meeting girls of tremendous need, who FAR exceed our expectations. Girls who received “straight A’s” all 8 years of primary school. Girls who were able to hold themselves together through abject poverty. Orphans who grew up with brothers and sisters and NO guardians, surviving on the goodwill of neighbors, missing school to dig ditches for food money – who somehow performed incredibly in school. We met girls still living in camps, displaced after the election violence, girls who still sleep in U.N. tents provided by the High Commission for Refugees. We have met miracles… three times I have excused my self from interviews because my eyes were so full of tears. These girls are angels, and we can’t take them all.

This is the reason I have not written on the BLOG about the process. I have played sports my entire life and this has been the most exhausting thing by far that I have ever done. The problem is at the end of the day, sleep is fought off by the problem presented that day: 13 amazing girls, 2 spots.

I am the luckiest man alive. This school is a lifelong dream. However, I would be misrepresenting myself if I didn’t describe the past 2 weeks as an equal mix of dream and nightmare. The indescribable highs of giving a wonderful young lady access to education and the lows of knowing there are others who today… we cannot help.

However, I have no doubt that as this project builds momentum, as people in North America, Europe, Africa and beyond hear about what is going on here… our scope will grow.

Until, please continue spreading the word about Daraja, that is the best weapon of change we have.

Later this week, when all is decided I will introduce that Daraja Academy class of 2014.

Thank you so much,
JASON DOHERTY

Daraja Academy now has an official football team (Kenyans refer to soccer as “football”)! Martin Husum Mikkelsen, a famous football trainer in his hometown Viborg (Denmark), agreed to volunteer at Daraja during his winter break. He has created a team of Daraja students interested in playing football and managed to build a strong squad for upcoming school tournaments.

Coach Mikkelsen has used students from MS Kenya, a Danish NGO on campus, to provide scrimmages against the girls. The first official match, however, is scheduled for Friday, February 5th against Nanyuki Secondary School.

We have footage of the first official Daraja pre-game press conference held by coach Mikkelsen and Relina, the team captain. Here is a clip:

Are you satisfied with the scores of your preparation games?
Coach: Totally! After a draw in our first game, we won our second game 2-1. It was awesome!

How did you find the team did during the games?
Captain Relina: The team was good! All players were doing their best.

But what will you have to improve to win your first official game on Friday?
Captain Relina: Every time we train we learn new things. We get better everyday; we will be better on Friday than last weekend.

What will be the team configuration on Friday?
Coach: This is top secret! But if you know me well, you can imagine that we will play safe, with 4 defenders.

The players seemed tired after the last game. Do you believe to be in a good enough shape?
Captain Relina: Yeah. You know, we gave everything during the game. But we will run a little for warm-up on Friday, it will be all right.

You have two amazing goalkeepers with Everlyne and Mary. Who will be on the field on Friday?
Coach: I haven’t taken any decision yet. But having each of them play a half of the game is definitely an option.

Captain Relina, what will you tell your teammates before entering the field?
Captain Relina: I will tell them to be good, to do their best! This way, we will win.

A prediction about the final score?
Coach: 3-0 for us!
Captain Relina: I think 3-1 for Daraja.

We will be sending a journalist on the field to provide exciting game updates so stay tuned!

The following piece was written by Colin Grisel, who’s road luckily lead to Daraja. He has been working tirelessly to forward the Daraja Academy cause since his arrival in November. Originally from Switzerland, he has lived in Egypt and Nepal, utilizing the skills he learned while earning his master’s degree in Development. Colin has started a monthly Daraja newsletter while also making in-roads to Kenyan and international organizations. I really feel that he explains the tug-o-war that occurs inside of all of us, during this difficult selection process.

Jason Doherty

A TOUGH SELECTION

Daraja Academy is currently doing what I believe to be the toughest part of its work: selecting for the year to come, among a high pile of excellent but heartbreaking applications, 25 students. The school will have to turn down a number of brilliant girls in need of support: it is simply impossible to give a chance to all of them.

I hope this sounds tough on paper because I can confirm that it is also tough, in the field. Jenni and Jason Doherty, with the good advice of their outstanding Kenyan staff, must distribute the “yes’s” and the “no’s”. Because of your support, they are able to offer four-year scholarships, but this does come at the price of refusing help to others.

Today, Friday 29th, we met eleven amazing girls, knowing that there would be only one or two seats available in the Daraja Academy classrooms for students coming from this specific part of Kenya. Nine “no’s” to distribute, for two “yes’s”.

They all exposed us good reasons why Daraja Academy should accept them. Great marks at school, despite pasts full of stories about poverty, death, sicknesses, unemployment, prostitution, riots, refugee camps… always with voices full of hope and determination. Answering our questions with strength and courage, some girls, at times, burst into tears. This is a scene that I didn’t want to exist, but it is a reality that I needed to face.

Small girls, who looked fragile, proved to be so strong, so big, proved to know a lot more about the meaning of life than I do. Between other things, what these young women taught me today is exactly what I recently read in a Persian poem: “you have two ears and only one mouth, so listen twice as often as you speak.” They gave me a great lesson in humility that I wish to never forget.

I look forward to meeting some of these girls on campus come March! And I wish the best of luck, with all my broken heart, to the ones that I might not see again…

“(…)On our way, we found a group of boys. We greated them and continued, but they told us to wait for them. We were 4 girls and they were 10 boys. We knew 2 of them. They joined us and we went to church, we sang, and at 1am they told us to come to their houses. We refused to go with them.(…) Another boy came and took us to our home. The next day we heard that 10 boys raped 5 girsl and got caught. We did not tell anybody about our story. I will never forget it until the Indian Ocean comes dry.”

“It was on a vacation in the year 2009. My mum had promised me that we would visit my cousin in Nairobi. I couldn’t wait to see her. Days past and they turned into weeks. The day came and I was so excited because I knew I would have so much fun. We started our journey from Nanyuki town. We got into a bus going express to Nairobi. On the way, I saw many features that we had learnt in Geography like the valleys, mountains, hills and major rivers. It took two hours for us to arrive. We met my cousin, anxiously waiting for us at the bus station. I was so excited to see her that tears of joy fell down my visage. We had a good time and celebrated together…”

“(…)There were loud screams from the people living in the center. My uncle left me there and ran very fast towards the center without minding of what could happen to him. As he was running, there were other energetic young boys following him, also going to see what was happening.(…) I was worried of what could happen and ran helter skelter towards the center, because I knew that without my uncle, there would not be life again.(…) I could not believe what I saw, my mouth was wide open like a gap and my feeble legs shook when I discovered my uncle lying down while bleeding severely. I quickly called men passing by to help me to take my uncle to a nearby dispensary. Fortunately, he was helped by kind-hearted doctors and recovered after a week. Surely, this is a day that I will remember in my life…”

“The day turned out very well. It was the year 2009’s Christmas, which is a very important day to christians, especially me. I gave my blankets two kicks that left them sprawling on the ground. (…) My Aunt had sent me a Christmas dress which I longed to wear. (…) When I went outside everybody was staring at me as if I had a plastic nose. My mother showered me with praises saying that I looked like an angel. My mother had called a photographer and it was a surprise for me. When I started to smile, I was suprised to see flashes from different points. This made me as happy as a barren woman who recently gave birth to a bouncy baby girl with a golden spoon in the mouth.”

They returned in one mad rush of excitement, hugs and cheer. One year older, a little bit wiser and beating the odds, Daraja Academy’s 1st class of girls returned to the campus as FORM 2’s (sophomores).

Highlights:

* Daraja Academy held it’s first democratic election. Girls ran for the positions of Dining Hall Prefect, Dorm Prefect, Sports Prefect and Head Prefect. I cannot stress just how much work and responsibility falls on the prefect’s shoulders. Often they rise before their classmates, overseeing cleaning, delegating responsibilities to classmates who don’t always want them, and coordinating activities and chores with Daraja teachers and staff. I am proud to announce that for the second year in a row Mary K. will act as Dining Hall Prefect, Catherine will serve as Sports Prefect, Betty won a very close three-way race and will be Dorm Prefect and Marylene will oversee everything in 2010 as the Head Prefect. To me the most exciting aspect of the election process was the fact that our students truly voted for the girl they felt would represent them best, rather than allowing the election to become a popularity contest.

* Daraja has been very lucky to host 3 wonderful volunteers from Denmark. Unlike the Danish students who prepare with MS Kenya for their 3-month placements across the continent at our school, these volunteers all chose to give their time specifically to Daraja Academy. Signe, a life long Girl Scout worked with the Daraja scouts (about 8 girls) on skills, scout philosophy and team building, while also working on the school garden. Anne Marie has been incredibly helpful in many aspects of campus life. She has been assisting in the office creating a database for the Daraja Academy 2010 applicants, helping in the kitchen and working with the girls. And then there was Martin… a member of the Danish military; Martin chose to give Daraja Academy his well-earned vacation. To the girls he has become a football (soccer) God. Martin has worked the girls into a pretty formidable team, often barking at them the way I did with the guys on my American football teams back home. “COME ON GIRLS, RUN!” and “RELINA MOVE YOUR DEFENSE UP!! COME ON!” can often be heard roaring through campus with a Danish lilt in the afternoon. As I type, boxes of gear and uniforms are in transit, generously donated by Martin’s father in Jutland.

* New teacher Mr. Wycliffe had a fantastic opportunity to bring his teaching into the World, when a solar eclipse occurred during his Geography class. It was tangible teaching as its best as the girls felt the temperature drop and continue dropping, as it got darker and darker. Mr. Wycliffe, along with Mr. Mwambura and Ms. Caroline, Daraja Academy’s new teachers, have been accepted and embraced by the students and staff.

* University of San Diego professors Nancy and Peggy visited campus and made an unforgettable impact. It amazes me when visitors seamlessly become part of our little community, genuinely interacting with the students and staff. Nancy is the super hero who took on Daraja’s water worries as her own. This was essentially a fact-finding mission her providing her with the info she needs to approach groups in the USA requesting their assistance. She also spent a lot of time talking with our teachers and often 1 on 1 with students. Several times actually, I saw both Nancy and Peggy slowly walking or sitting in a quiet corner of campus with a Daraja girl, talking and more importantly… listening. Both women actually helped with our first set of interviews for the upcoming year, about 10 girls from our closets villages. Peggy was a whirlwind during her stay at Daraja. At one point utilizing her background in counseling she spent several hours with the students discussing issues, reading poetry and just talking about matters they generally don’t get the chance to. She was up at 6am to watch the sunrise over Mt. Kenya and continued buzzing around campus until long after it set in the west. We look forward to their return.

So it is 2010, the girls are back and the World is right. Signe, Nancy and Peggy drove off campus, heading home this morning, after many hugs and very few dry eyes.

Every Monday and Friday Daraja Academy students and staff assemble around the flagpole. The scouts raise the flag, we sing the Kenyan national anthem and the teachers or I speak to the students. Kenya is a very religious country and the students have set up a sort of “prayer rotation.” One day the Baptist girls will prepare a song, another time the Muslim students will read a passage from the Koran and explain what it means to them personally and so on.

Today Mary P. read an excerpt from the book of Ecclesiastes, if she had tried, I don’t think she could have picked a more poignant passage to be read on a day when three of our new friends were leaving. Standing under the Kenyan flag she read:

“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance”

And I thought, how lucky are we that this is working. How lucky am I, and for me it was both a time to laugh and a time to weep.

Thank you so much for taking the time to catch up with news from Daraja Academy.

JASON DOHERTY