Kibera Connection Project - Hawaiian and Kenyan pen pals

As part of our Kibera Connection Project, students that study at the Uweza Community Center have been exchanging letters with students in 7th grade at Punahou School in Hawaii. Both groups are really excited to have pen pals so far away and are learning a lot about each other and their respective countries!


Here are some examples of the letters the students have written:

Teava, Ke’ala, and Alana from Punahou School, Hawaii


Hello, we are your new pen-pals from Hawai’i! Aloha means hello in Hawaiian. Our names are Teava, Ke’ala, and Alana. We are 7th graders from Punahou School. We are extremely excited about being your pen-pals for the coming months and we have many questions. We look forward to learning a lot from you!

Keʻala is 13 years old, and loves to play American football, basketball and volleyball. He also enjoys going to the beach. He has an older sister. His favorite subject in school is P.E and he would like to be an engineer when he grows up. His favorite food is hamburgers. Alana is 12 years old and likes to go to the beach, read, and horseback ride. She has a older sister and her favorite subject in school is science. She wants to be a veterinarian when she grows up. Teava is 12 years old and his favorite hobbies are swimming, reading, and playing video games. He has a younger brother. His favorite subject in school in improvisation and he hopes to be an actor when he gets older. His favorite food is Sicilian pizza and he wants to live in Italy one day.

Hawai’i is an island in the middle of the Pacific ocean that is part of the United States of America. Our state is known for our beautiful beaches, many tourist attractions, and unique Hawaiian cuisine such as plate lunches, loco mocos (hamburger with rice and gravy) . A popular hobby many Hawaiians have is going to the beach and doing things that take advantage of the fact that we are surrounded by water such as swimming, surfing, or getting a tan. Surfing is an ancient Hawaiian sport where you stand on a board and ride a wave.

America is a large country on the equator with 50 states. Our president is Barack Obama and our capital is Washington DC. We use dollars and cents and inches and feet for money and measurement. Some things many Americans love doing are playing sports, watching TV, and eating. America is known for freedom, football, and food. Some foods America is know for are hot-dogs, hamburgers, and pizza. America has also pioneered the film and fast food industries in the 1900s. We look forward to learning more about Kibera from you.

We had a great time writing this letter and sharing with you. We do have a couple of questions for you. How old are you? Are you a boy or girl? What are your favorite hobbies? What is your favorite food? We thank you for your time and we canʻt wait to hear back from you!

Sincerely,
Ke’ala, Teava, and Alana

David Johnson from Uweza Community Center, Kibera

Dear friends Keala, Alana, and Teava,

I am greeting you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. How are you all. I hope you are all fine. My name is called DAVID MUTHUWI JOHNSON. The main purpose for writing this letter is to appreciate your letter that you sent to us.

Furthermore, am so happy to know your names and how life is in your country. I would also like to inform you how life is in our country Kenya. Here is full of happiness, full of joy and also peaceful. This is because every body here is allowed to do his/her commitments and hobbies in peace.

First, I would like to introduce my hobby to you before telling you any other thing else. My hobby is to watch cartoon and practice my favorite subject maths. I also like eating chicken which is my favorite food too.

In our country, we have got so many interesting things e.g. wildlife and also cultural ceremonies. These are the most leading producers of government revenue. In our country, we also have cool and hot climate which can also be good for you too. For more information, you are invited to our country in order for you to see the big five which are also part of the wildlife. You will also be able to see the lakes with hot springs e.g. Lake Bongoria.

Yours Lovely,
David M. Johnson

Counseling Program at the Center

Students in Kibera were on break from school for the month of August and we took this opportunity to launch a daily counseling program for youth at the Community Center. Many of the participants were players from the Uweza soccer team. The program lasted for three weeks and was lead by Becky, Uweza's Counseling Manager and Joyce, Uweza's Girls Soccer Coach. We hope to continue this program once or twice a week for the rest of the schooly ear.

Below is a blog post written by Becky about the program.

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This was an am amazing moment to relate with sponsored children as we talk heart to heart matter of life.

From day one we created a rapport where started by setting the ground rules of journey we walk together.

The aim of this counselling program was to help the young people deal with the difficult situation they face in their lives as they grow up. Beside soccer program the management of Uweza came up with this educating counselling program so that they can be all rounded teenager/ youth.

However, there was a lot of relationship with the soccer and counselling where kids could identify with e.g discipline in life and in the field, focus in life, books, and in the field, friendship among others attribute we were learning. Both boy and girls did topics together which was very interactive and healthy.

During this learning lesson I provided them with a supportive environment that will help them build their self confidence, acquire knowledge, dispel myths, develop positive values and attitudes , and adopt responsible practices when in school, at the field , at home , with their friends or at the centre. Every day they would do a home work or a reflection of the things they have learnt and this helped me to assess how far they are getting the information

Some of the topics we went through are as follows.

Self awareness and self worth : The purpose of this lesson was to help them build self confidence, self acceptance and to value themselves. Typically adolescents are not happy with who they are or their situation, they want to be taller or shorter, to have money to live in a different house etc. This topic can protect them from negative influences and accept who they are and what they have.

Body changes during Puberty : Mostly teenagers learn about body changes of puberty and sex from their peers, they may hear information that is confusing and lead them to risky behaviour. The session was to provide teenagers with correct information about changes in their bodies. It also includes new things they needed to consider during this time like personal hygiene.

Consequences of premarital and extramarital sex : Curiosity and peer pressure are very real forces in the lives of teenagers. The purpose of this session was to help teenagers value the purpose of sex in marriage and to understand there can be negative consequences, physical, emotional, spiritual and mental- when they have sex outside marriage relationship.



The facts about HIV/ AIDS and STIs: This session was dealing with facts about HIV/ AIDS and STIs. It contained many facts, though I tried to keep them vey simple and clear, kept them engaged and involved with the knowledge they were receiving.

Valuing Abstinence : Though they were aware of consequences of premarital sex, they may still decide to have sex in spite of risk to their health and well being. They may be seeking, acceptance, admiration and affection from their peers. In this session i was trying to help them discover that they can still have these things without being sexually active.



Dangers of drugs, alcohol and the influence of the media: Young people may want to make good choices, but there are many influences and temptations that can persuade them to make bad choices and decisions. Using drugs and alcohol can put them in to a great risk to their life and
health. This session aimed at helping them to be aware of these dangers and to consider how these things can affect their health, goals, and decision. It also focused on negative peer influences and build skills to help them overcome peer pressure, allowing following what is right.

However, this program is good but it needs a lot of follow up, because the environment the said teenagers are growing in is among the contributing factor to risky behaviours. Thus, there is a lot of work to be done for these teenagers if this information is to sink through and be put into practice.

The program was wrapped up with skit, poem, song and drama which was like a summary of what we were learning throughout the two weeks. With the help of coach Joyce it was very good.