Posts Tagged ‘mark lukach’
A Volunteers Voice: Sarah Montgomery
Hello from Kenya!
Soccer clinic tomorrow at Daraja!!!
My name is Sarah Montgomery and I am currently visiting the Daraja Academy along with my friend Claire Watson and my mother Suzanne. Claire and I just graduated from Woodside Priory School where Mark Lukach and Bob Bessin, two board members, teach. Claire and I planned this trip as our senior project. Tomorrow, we will begin teaching the girls art and soccer (football in Kenya). We arrived yesterday after traveling for 3 days from San Francisco through London, to Nairobi and driving to Daraja. We are a little jet lagged, but it is very relaxing here and there is plenty of down time. It took us 4 hours to get to the school from Nairobi (a route that normally takes 2.5 hours), however; we got a good taste of Nairobi and the surrounding areas. Driving is very different from the states. The traffic is unreal and people walk in between cars on the highway selling newspapers and other goods. Majority of people walk along the highway as transportation getting to and from work, looking for jobs or food. On the drive in, we saw a resettlement camp of refugees from the conflict from the 2007 elections. The people were moved by the government from Western Kenya to Central Kenya. They are resettled on very dry land with no trees surrounding them, but they were given the land to farm with.
We arrived on campus just in time for lunch, which was great as are all the meals. The girls were very welcoming and I can’t wait until we start teaching the football and art tomorrow. Thankfully all the supplies, in 3 suitcases, made it and in one piece. Today the girls got get a jersey, shorts, and socks for the football classes. They started screaming when they saw the supplies and the nets up. I unpacked the nets and they were put up. We also pumped up the balls. Claire unpacked the art supplies and set up kits for each of the girls to use. We are going to teach in 2 hour blocks, 13 girls in each group. We have four lessons planned and we will teach while the girls are on mid-term break for 4 days. I watched the girls play football during their PE period and they were having a lot of fun and I think they will like working on their technique starting tomorrow. It has been fun with the girls, especially at meal time. They are so funny and always have smiles on their faces.
We went on a walk today down to the river, which is extremely low and not moving. They estimating that unless it rains, the water will last only about another month. The generator has been running all day, more than the usual 3 hours a day, because the school has to pump the water from the river up the hill to the school. We drink rain water that has been boiled and the shower and sink water comes directly from the river. Today Jenni and Peter are working on bringing in more pipes and other systems to make sure the school has water.
So far, all has gone well. The weather is in the 80s, but there is a nice breeze. The food is great! The staff and girls are extremely welcoming! I can’t wait to see what the next 7 days have in store for us!
Tags: Bob Bessin, Claire Watson, Jenni, mark lukach, Peter Wathitu, Saraha Montgomery, Soccer, Suzanne Montgomery, Woodside Priory
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Jun 12th, 2009
Listen to the Travelingirls.com interview with Mark Lukach
The Wednesday before Thanksgiving Denise Cochran and Meri Wayne of travelingirls.com interviewed board member Mark Lukach to learn about the school. You can listen to that interview by clicking on the player below.
Tags: daraja, daraja academy, denise cochran, interview, mark lukach, meri wayne, travelingirls, travelingirls.com
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Nov 29th, 2008
Board member Mark Lukach to be interviewed by Travelingirls.com
Board member Mark Lukach is going to be interviewed on Wednesday, November 26 at 12pm EST on the online radio show Travelingirls. Travelingirls is a podcast put together by two photographers/moms aimed at empowering children, especially girls, through knowledge. Mark and Denise met through twitter and are set to chat about the school live online at their website www.travelingirls.com. The interview will also be available online to download afterwards, but if you listen live you can call in with questions and/or comments.
Tune in and spread the word about the interview to share the knowledge of Daraja with friends!
Tags: blogtalkradio, daraja, daraja academy, girl's education, lukach, mark lukach, travelingirls
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Nov 19th, 2008
