Wednesday, November 23, 2011 at 1:17PM The Broadway Housing Boys LitClub in New York City send a BIG thanks to Hachette for their wonderful book donation for this week's LitClub.
We read together the opening chapter of the Frequenaut! series featuring Ignatius MacFarland, and the boys loved signing the books with their names, cementing them as their own.
Sunday, November 20, 2011 at 1:41PM All three New York City Boys LitClubs joined together for the first time yesterday to watch the Lions of Columbia University face off against conference foe Brown. The teen LitClub and younger LitClub from the Polo Grounds Community Center enjoyed meeting their new friends from Broadway Housing Communities, sharing stories with each other, playing games in the stands together, and witnessing a mighty comeback from the home team in overtime.
We share an incredible bond as LitClub members in New York City, one that was strengthened when we all united in the beautiful Lawrence A. Wien Stadium in northern Manhattan.
Wednesday, November 16, 2011 at 9:00AM 
The challenges of boyhood are at times tricky, or even traumatic. It is also how we carry out ourselves at this stage that would determine our fatherhood stage (a dream every boy harbors). This was very much evident when the boys club met four gentlemen; Eddy, Jeremy, Billy and Jim.
Eddy, a taxi driver, and a successful one for that matter, told an inspiring story about his boyhood dreams and obsession with cars. He fantasized an adulthood of driving fancy cars from one place to another across Kenya. He nurtured this dream to a successful realization. He now drives people as a delightfully chosen career.
Jeremy, of the Children’s Village in New York also told his story of a tempting boyhood. It is for this reason that he has vouched help young men as he understands the confrontations that come with being a boy. He helps to model them into achievers.
Jim, a lawyer by training only practiced law for a few years and embarked on a mission to help young children (boys included) at LitWorld. He, together with his wife Pam (founder of LitWorld) are out to build a society united in reading. The three stories from these gentlemen are an inspiration to the boys and whenever they (boys) chant the songs they learnt from them (the men) their hearts are filled with joy and hope. Hope that a brighter fatherhood is beckoning.
“We are the boys”, they bellow in unison.
Thank you.
-Jeff
Tuesday, November 1, 2011 at 12:13PM 
The LitWorld Boys Club had four sessions in the month of September. On the first week of that month they were re-introduced to the seven pillars of the Boys Club curriculum. They had a general overview of the whole curriculum after which they set on discussing one of the pillars-Esteem (Confidence). Participants were able to define esteem, explain its importance, characteristics, how to develop self-esteem, the contributing factors of positive self-esteem and the importance of high self-esteem. They also had a weekly test which involved self-esteem assessment test. This scoring purposes to get a general idea of where their self-esteem is at the moment.
The third week was characterized by discussion about values. The objective of this session was to enable them to be in a position to explain what is meant by values and attitudes, identify personal, family, religious and cultural values. They were also able to learn where values come from, know how values affect our behaviors and how it determines our relationship with others. The methodologies that were used included brainstorming, discussions and small group work.
On the last week of September, the boys discussed another element in the clubs curriculum-Curiosity. Again they defined curiosity, its importance, characteristics and how to improve on it. They also read poems and quotes on curiosity from famous authors. Lastly, they made a pin-up chart that contained the poems and the quotes.
In the month of October, the group had enjoyable moments. The following poems were composed by members of the club as an attempt of appreciating some the elements they have discussed during their meetings.
COMPASSION
By Brian
Compassion is a feeling of love
When you show compassion
Many souls are at peace
The world becomes a better place
Compassion, is all the world needs
Imagine of a world without compassion
People harming and killing
It is a lost world
We can avoid this
Compassion is all what you and me need
Compassionate people have
Smiling faces around them
They help the poor
Encourage the weak
Accompany the lonely
And………list is endless
Compassion, is all that we need
HOPE
By the Kibera Boys Club
Circumstances are grim
Uncertainty is the theme
Fear has blurred my vision
Vision to future mission
Left with a wounded eagerness
Despair and other mess
Hope has deserted me
I keep digging
Deep into my intricate being
To ‘exhume’ the little bit
Left to save the soul a bit
Hope is all I need
Belief is all I breed
To regain my normal being
I hear they say
A hopeless man says nay
And lives with despair and gloom
Never lives to bloom
Hope they say
Is essential for a day
It designates the essence of humanity
-Jeff
Wednesday, October 12, 2011 at 9:00AM 
Sunday, the 9th of October 2011, the LitWorld Boys Club made an amazing trip to the renowned Nairobi Arboretum for an exciting outdoor learning session. The Nairobi Arboretum is a public recreational park situated in the outskirts of the city centre and is frequented by the city dwellers for hedonistic fulfillment. The site also provides room for games at the central lawn in the park.
Having made a 30 minutes journey from Kibera to the park, the group settled down fast and begun with a read aloud session. The read aloud method enabled the boys to read in turns about a story that highlighted the seven principles which form the basis for the Boys Club curriculum. It was meant to improve their comprehension, listening and memory skills during and after reading. They also had an opportunity to revisit some of the elements they had previously discussed during the in-door sessions. The engaging nature of the session also provided a platform for modeling curiosity and posing of questions that enriched the boys with proper understanding of the seven pillars.
After the read aloud session, they also engaged in brainstorming activities, forming questions in groups and asking them to the other members. Later on, the boys sat down for their lunch which was followed by the stretching of limbs. Some jogged around the park, others roamed around enjoying the parks steady breeze and amazing scenery, yet others played soccer. At around 4.00 pm we re-converged and boarded our bus back to Kibera.
It was a fantastic trip and all the boys enjoyed every bit of it.
-Jeff
