The Kibera Girls LitClub: Invincible Determination

This past Sunday afternoon the Kibera Girls LitClub welcomed special guests. Adam and his wife Alisa of The CookBook Project visited Kibera last month to teach the girls about healthy nutrition and healthy eating. This time, Adam was joined by his lovely sister Ariel, a teacher, and Mother Rita, who was an art teacher for 30 years. They came on this afternoon to share their different talents with the girls.

As always, the afternoon started off with introductions. The girls were very welcoming as they told their new friends their names. Thereafter, the girls went to classes where they got to know Ariel a little better. They taught her the "halo song" which she loved, and thought the girls sang beautifully. Then Ariel taught the girls how to make really awesome origami (the traditional Japanese art of paper folding). They folded frogs that could actually hop! The girls really had fun with this activity.

After we let our frogs jump around for a while, it was time for our read aloud! This week we chose J. M. Barrie’s Peter Pan, the story of a mischievous young boy who never grows up. He also has the ability to fly, and spends his time chasing adventures with his friends. The girls were fascinated, because they too love adventure.

We finished the day with a praise circle, and our favorite song “Kamares.” Everyone was dancing with joy.

--Submitted by Girls LitClub Facilitator Prisca

The Kibera Girls LitClub: Showcasing Our Personal Identities

“Hello there, how are you,
 it’s so good to see you
we’ll sing and be happy
that we are all here together again!” 

The tunes of this popular welcome song filled the room as the girls, smiling ear to ear, hugged and patted each other at the beginning of yet another Girls LitClub session. A strong sign of sisterhood.

After the warm pleasantries, the girls got down to ‘business.’ Sisterhood is a salient pillar in the Girls LitClub. To strengthen this bond further, the girls engaged in an identity web activity: every girl wrote down three nouns that she felt described her best. Later on, everyone had the opportunity to share with the group, and realized that they had so much in common. We drew connecting arrows to attributes we had in common on a big flip chart. 

Next, the girls got to read aloud from their all time favorite book, Beauty and the Beast, which taught us so much about the power of imagination. The characters Lumiere, Chip, and Armoire were charming and beautiful, with personalities all their own. Just like all the wonderful LitClub girls. 

We ended the session with our praise circle. The girls felt proud, and valued for their participation in the community.

--Submitted by Girls LitClub Facilitator Prisca

The Kibera Girls LitClub: All About Creativity

Sparking creativity in children opens the door to learning in every developmental area. When children think creatively, they look beyond what is in front of them to see what could be. This week, the Kibera Girls LitClub learned all about creativity.

Our session on Sunday was extra special, because we welcomed three new girls to the LitClub, Betty, Sarah and Esther. The girls were so excited to meet our new friends! We taught them the Hello Song and played a few games together. We started our lesson with a brief introduction on creativity, so that the girls could understand what it was about. Then we played an interesting game whereby the girls created stories using storytelling dice. The girls had to dive deeply into their imagination to come up with great stories. The game was such a success, and all of the girls were able to participate. Most of the stories were hilarious!

Next we had a visit from a special guest, Grace Irungu. Grace is a professional script writer and has written for Kenyan TV shows that are favorites of many. She shared her love and passion for writing, and explained how she became a writer. She talked about all sorts of challenges and successes that she has experienced in her writing career. The children were compelled by her story, and had so many questions for Grace. She also taught them how to add interesting twists when storytelling.

After reading the first chapter of the Helen Keller story, we ended the session with a few songs and more games. We sang the Goodbye Song and promised to meet in the next session. 

--Submitted by Girls LitClub Facilitator Prisca

The First Ever LitWorld Camp in Kibera!

For five days at the end of August, the Girls LitClubs in Kibera were inundated with a series of fun activities. LitWorld and their wonderful partners The Cook Book Project and The Peace on Earthbench Movement were present to share their amazing projects with the young girls.

The team from LitWorld, Leah and Madison, conducted sessions that aimed at cultivating literacy skills. The girls did some really exciting activities, making a wall mural, writing stories, and a skype call with The Story Pirates a group of actors in New York who were amazing! The girls would create original stories, and then the Story Pirates would act them out! The girls also made Stand Up for Girls posters. This is a campaign that aims at empowering the girl-child all over the world.

The Peace on Earthbench Movement (POEM), an organization that empowers communitities to repurpose their trash into a building material, learn natural building techniques, and then create a communal gathering area, shared their project with the girls. The founder, Brennan Blazer, collected trash with the children, and used the trash to build an earthbench. The children enjoyed the activity throughout the week, and feel proud of the end product, our Kibera earthbench.

The third group was lead by Alisa and Adam, founders of the Cookbook Project, taught and trained the girls on healthy eating and good nutritional habits. The organization uses experiential food culture and cooking programming to help people make the connection between food, health, and sustainability. They helped the boys and girls to revisit their traditional culinary techniques to prepare good food. They also conducted games that informed everyone on the origin and nutritional content of different foods, which the girls really enjoyed.

On the last day of the camp, the girls had a talent show. This gave them a chance to showcase their talents and share with others their unique abilities. The Kibera LitWorld Camp was an incredible success, with amazing attendance, and engaging activities. All of the girls made new friends, had a lot of fun, and learned a whole lot. We can't wait for the next camp that will be bigger and better!

 --Submitted by Girls LitClub Facilitator Prisca

The Kibera Girls LitClub Celebrates Women

Our session this week started on a high note in the Kibera Girls LitClub. We began with the Hello song and had a few games to set a lively and fun mood for the girls. Once our energy was high, we we launched into discussion about some of the women in the world who the girls admire. Women who have made a difference, women who have inspired and continue to inspire girls everywhere. This week, it was all about empowerment.

Being the end of the Olympic season, the girls were in awe of the women who represented the various nations including our very own Kenyan athletes, such as Pamela Jelimo and Vivian Cheruiyot. Another representative that the girls greatly admire is Missy Franklin from America, who made her Olympic debut this year at only 17years old, and won five medals, four of which were gold! We also talked about women in great leadership positions, including Joyce Banda, the current president of Malawi, and Ella Sirleaf, the current president of Liberia.

Some of the other women who really stood out were, Michelle Obama, Helen Keller, Venus and Serena Williams, Alek Wek, Pam Allyn, Wangari Mathai, Hillary Clinton and many more. We read their stories and were keen on these women’s dreams, challenges, and successes. The girls were truly captivated and greatly encouraged.

To finish our time together, the girls made beautiful collages to celebrate the incredible women all over the world, who inspire the girls to have the voice, ability, and problem solving capacity to speak up, be decision makers, create visionary change, and realize their full potential. It was truly a beautiful, inspiring and joyous session!

--Submitted by Girls LitClub Faciliator Prisca