my IGE album

Hi all!

I have posted all my pictures on Picasa, and they can be found here:

https://picasaweb.google.com/julia.ada.wong/IGE2011KenyaSept216?authuser=0&feat=directlink

Enjoy!!

pictures!!

Here are just a few pics of the school supplies hand-over and re-visiting of the Library at the Riandira Primary School!

the "official" giving over of the supplies with the director of the Riandira Primary School

the Library I helped to build back in 2007!

Outside, after a tour with both the director of the school and James Kinyanjui

the rest of the IGE

After the Youth Forum, we had a couple of days for "Strategic Planning" and "Life After Gold". These two days were pretty much slow days of unnecessary workshops.  However, as the International Council were meeting, they could not have 84 delegates running around unattended!

Ultimately though, we had the evenings to look forward to: the Bush Dinner and Final Closing Ceremony Gala.

The Bush Dinner was an amazing affair, where we were greeted by more Masai singers and dancers, and even presented with a Masai Warrior blanket to keep us warm for the night! Cocktails were served, and the dinner was amazing, including ostrich meat! It was a beautifully planned evening, and not at all as one would expect a Bush dinner to be!! HRH even graced us with his presence on the dance floor!!

The final night, the gala dinner was a formal affair, and definitely a sentimental way to end the event!  We had to say goodbye to Gilly and she will definitely be missed!  This was also a night of members of the Fellowship, International Councils and Trustees to be present and mingle with us delegates. Definitely a night of schmoozing!

Leaving the Great Rift Valley, and saying goodbye to everyone departing on flights was a tearful affair. Who would've thought that you would feel like you're saying goodbye to family after just 2 1/2 short weeks? Overall, it was an amazing experience, and one that I can only wish for other Gold Award holders. My life has been forever changed.

pictures to come!

Julia

update on the IGE!

Things have been moving quickly in the IGE ever since arriving at the Great Rift Valley lodge! Us delegates have been thrown into workshops and youth rep elections galore! We have been running around, and have learnt alot! Workshops included governance, communication, policy, training, research and fundraising.

We were then thrown into youth rep elections and were successful in getting our fellow Canadian delegate, Al-Karim Khimji elected to the International Council as a youth representative! Yay a seat for Canada! Since the elections, the delegation has been furiously working on putting
together workshops for the Youth Forum. I was apart of the workshop entitled: "Award Holder Associations - It's EEEasy for Each One to Reach One". I believe the workshop was an success in that we had amazing audience participation, and everyone who took the workshop thoroughly enjoyed out
content and the enthousiasm in which we delivered it!

Other activities that we have participated in, include the service projects, and a game drive! For the service project, I went with a group of other delegates to Empash Primary school, and there, we helped to re-concrete two classroom floors and repainted another two! We also planted olive trees and
had them named after each delegate, and the country with which we belong.

For our game drive, we left at 5 to see the big 5! Traveling to Lake Nakuru, we unfortunately were stuck in our massive greyhound buses and all of the wildebeasts and monkeys were inside the bus! Some people didn't seem to think that other people wanted to see outside the buys windows as well. I
did end up seeing a rhino though, so I have now seen 3 of the Big 5. I guess this just means that I will have to come back to Africa for a real/better/longer safari!

the return to sagana!!!

It is now the first day of workshops at the IGE, and I have finally found time to sit down and catch everyone up on my progress!

Upon arrival into Kenya, from saturday to monday, we stayed at Savage Wilderness Camp in Sagana and as an entire delegation participated in outdoor activities which included hiking, cycling, rock climbing and white water rafting! Many scraps and bruises have been collected, yet our war wounds are a testament to the great amount of fun that we have been having!!!

On the sunday, at lunch time, between the hiking and water rafting, I was able to escape away with James Kinyanjui to visit the Riandira Primary School at the top of the road! At last! There to greet us was the Director of the school, and welcomed me back to the school with huge smiles! I was able to give him the school supplies and display for him what 24kg of supplies look like! I explained that everyone back at home felt compassion for my cause and everyone was generous with their donations. That my friends and family from Canada are generous and great people who all care about the future of the students of Africa. We then posed for a photo shoot with the IGE media, and I got in some good shots of my own (pictures to come soon). After the photo shoot, we moved to the library itself, and I was given the opportunity to see how the library has stood the test of time.

They have stenciled the letters "LIBRARY" on the door, and have it locked up during the weekends and evenings for security. It looks even better than ever!!! The chalk board is pristine without any cracks, and books are all piled neatly and in order. The tables and chairs were pushed to one side, as they were in the midst of renovating another room of the school, and getting ready for the new school year, but it was easy to imagine the beauty of the place and students fully taking advantage of the room! You can fully see the amount of care and pride that the school has for the library and I am extremely proud to have been able to contribute to the education of these primary school students.

Yesterday was the official launch of the IGE, with the President of Kenya gracing us with his presence with a lovely ceremony which included traditional dancing from the Kenyatta University and other local schools. We are being treated with great respect at our conference location at the Great Rift Valley lodge, and our accommodations are beyond amazing.

I have just completed my first workshop on online e-learning/training, and am about to attend the next one on Policy.

Pictures of the school to come!!! Stay tuned!
With love from Kenya,
Julia

getting ready for the IGE

On my last hectic last two days in Toronto, I was asked to write a little something on my preparations for the IGE to be posted on the International Award's blog.  A lot of preparation and research has gone into this trip aside from the school supplies collection, and as sat and reflected, I realized that my entire summer has been devoted to this adventure.  I cannot express just how excited I am to be 2 plane rides away from the IGE!

I thought I'd share with you what I wrote for the International Award's blog, and it can be found here: http://intaward.wordpress.com/2011/08/31/getting-ready-for-ige-2011/

Thanks for all the well wishes! My flight will be boarding in one hour! I'll write once i'm in Nairobi!

I'm leaving on a jet plane.. for the 2011 IGE!

Hi everyone!

It's finally here!!! No more days left to count! I'm leaving on a jet plane tomorrow night!

Thank you everyone for your heartfelt generosity, encouragement and overall sense of community. You have all helped me to collect enough school supplies to push my luggage limit over the edge! 

I will be travelling with one duffel bag full to the maximum limit of 23 kg (50 lbs) and more in my 2nd piece of personal luggage/carry on!

 

So to count my final tally...

Stickers: 4 pack

Calculators: 4

Notebooks: 8

Rulers: 12

Pencil sharpeners: 19 (5 classroom size)

Pens: 47

Erasers: 73

Sidewalk chalk: 96

Eraser tops: 180

Pencil crayons: 432

Classroom chalk: 816

Pencils: 1,066

give or take a package of pencils!

Thank you all again for your amazing support! 

I will be blogging about my adventures at the IGE 2011, Kenya, in this space as well, so stay tuned!

thank you Jill Hermant and Megan Wainman!

more thanks to give!!

Thank you Jill Hermant & Megan Waiman for the pencil cases, pencil crayons, rulers and pencil eraser tops!

I am now adding more to my luggage and putting some in my 2nd personal piece of luggage. Time to take out that extra t-shirt that I will not have a chance to wear!

final tally to come! stay tuned...

23.3 kilos!!!! (50.9 pounds)

Pencils & Rulers & Chalk!! OH MY!!

With one week to go, I have reached my luggage limit!!! (okay, a little over, but I'll just have to hand carry some stuff)

My duffle bag is now stuffed to capacity and I am now bringing over  

23.3 kilos = 50.9 pounds 

of school supplies for the Riandira Primary school, as well as other elementary schools in the Mount Lognot area!!

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you ALL for your generosity!!!

Keep watching this space! I will keep this blog updated with pictures and posts as I travel to Kenya!

thank you Leyah Javed, Gloria Truong, Pearl Vas & Sara Riberro!

...and the supplies keep rolling in!

Thank you to Leyah Javed and Gloria Truong for your contributions today! more pencils and notebooks! YAY!

and Thank you to Pearl Vas and Sara Riberro for all the pencil crayons, rulers, pencils and stickers!

8 days left!

tally...

With one week and a half weeks to go, I've received more contributions to the pile! 

Thank you Savoarn Nov for the huge bucket of sidewalk chalk & Jennifer Lui for cute dinosaur pencils!

Here's what I've collected so far:  

Pencils - 694

Colour Pencils - 12

Erasers - 67 

Small paper notebooks - 4

Small Pencils sharpeners - 5

Large Pencil sharpeners - 5

Pens - 47

Sidewalk chalk - 96 pieces

Chalk - 792 pieces

I've just weighed it... and the total so far, is 40.5 lbs!! YAY!!!

thank you Mr. Anthony Lisanti!

Thank you Mr. Anthony Lisanti for your amazingly generous donation!
I made a trip to Staples, and found chalk that comes in 144 per box! And big pencil sharpeners!! Ones where you can attach them to a wall or desk, and can be a sturdy communal sharpener for a class!!!

By the way.. chalk is HEAVY!!! I now have 30 lbs of school supplies thus far!! I have a max of 50lbs! Almost there!!

Thanks for your support everyone!

all roads lead.. back to the beginning

Hi everyone!

For those of you just coming into my blogspace, and at a quick glance, do not understand what this blog is about.. may I direct you to my first post in June entitled "my story".

This explains what I am doing, and who I am doing it for.

Thank you all for taking the time to read my posts!

Love,
Julia

Thank you Amy & Tommy Lee!

Did you know? Staples sells chalk that comes with 144 pieces in one box?! Isn't that amazing?!

The only problem is.. it's so heavy!!! With Amy & Tom's donation, I was able to get 288 pieces of chalk!!

CRAZY! Can someone say #winning!!

Thank you Kate Leroux!

Thank you Kate Leroux for your generous monetary donation! A trip was made to Wal-Mart, and yay for Back-to-School season!!  

You know you're getting a deal when they start bulking and throwing in "bonus items"! 

4 erasers for the price of 2!

only a couple of weeks left!!

With my flights now booked, the reality of seeing Riandira Primary School again is really setting in!!
3 1/2 weeks left!!

I have a 2 baggage limit, so I am dedicating one solely to the school supplies that I am donating to the students.

If you have school supplies available for donation, please let me know asap! Thank you all!
Time to start packing!

CHALK!!

chalk

Chalk is now available at Walmart!!!
Thank goodness it's summer school season!


I wonder if anyone other than Crayola makes chalk?

thank you Bev Wong!

Spoils from Target!! Gotta love cross border shopping! Two tubs of sidewalk chalk, 120 pencils and multi-coloured push up pencils generously donated by Beverly Wong!

...and the pile continues to grow!

What I've also realized: "teacher chalk", will not be readily available in stores until it comes closer to the beginning of the school year again. So hopefully the bulk of that will be added to my collection of supplies closer to the departure date!

Countdown: 10 1/2 weeks to go!

the time I interviewed HRH The Earl of Wessex

My involvement with the Award after Gold, so far, has been spread out between my time at home, in Toronto, Ontario, and living and studying abroad in London, United Kingdom.

While I was completing my postgraduate education in London, I volunteered my time at the International Award Association Offices, helping with the sourcing and editing of articles for publication in Award World, as well as helping with marketing communications and fundraising research.

Through the Secretariat, I had the honour of being asked to appear in a promotional Youtube video for the Award. In it, myself and fellow Award holder, Jassin Rezai, had the privileged of interviewing HRH The Earl of Wessex on the Award, and we discussed the benefits of the Award and how it can positively change a participant's life!

Entitled "A conversation about The International Award for Young People", this Youtube video can be found on both The International Award channel, as well as The Royal Channel.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxU95rOXEUQ

Enjoy!

donations through PayPal

After a thorough research of potential donation websites, their fees, and by popular demand, I have set up a donation link that will connect directly to my email address.  I have named this donation page the "Riandira Primary School - School Supplies". For those of you who are interested in making a monetary donation, this will be linked directly to my email address.

Everyone please note, that I am doing this for my own personal goal bringing over school supplies to the Riandira Primary School during my trip to the 2011 IGE in Nairobi, Kenya. While the Duke of Edinburgh's Award is aware of this endeavour, as it is not a formal charitable event taking place in Canada, there will be no tax receipts available.

Best case scenario:  if you have school supplies, please contact me for a mailing address, and send them that way. However, in case you are unsure about online donations, I assure you that I will be posting "thank you" posts for all donations, and will constantly posts picture updates of the supplies. And of course, pictures will be taken upon the delivery of said supplies to the school!

Thanks everyone! I hope this will help to encourage you to make a donation to this wonderful cause.
Sincerely,
Julia Wong
Julia.ada.wong@gmail.com

thank you Samantha Young & Mom & Dad Wong!

Thank you for the words of encouragement thus far! I can but only hope what I am doing will be able to bring some excitement and much needed supplies to the children of Riandira!

Thank you to Samantha Young for your donation, and thanks to my mom and dad for allowing me to raid your wallets for change!

Let the collection of supplies begin!!!

my story

It was a fateful day in my second year of undergrad at The University of Western Ontario, when one of my closest friends suggested that I seriously consider registering for The Duke of Edinburgh's Award Programme. After receiving my record book, I didn't look back! 

The Award has literally changed my life. All my life's adventures, the amazingly inspirational friends I've met along the way, and my outlook in life to always challenge myself to do better, is a direct result of being apart of this fantastic Programme.

For those unfamiliar with The Duke of Edinburgh's Award Programme, the Award was founded in 1956 by His Royal Highness, The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh K.G. K.T. The Award is a programme that encourages youth to be active, to participate in new activities and pursue current interests in four different areas: Community Service, Personal Skill Development, Physical Recreation, and Adventurous Journey (Residential Project for Gold level). There are three Awards to achieve: Bronze, Silver and Gold.  http://dukeofed.org/about-the-award

Mt. Kenya, Point Lenana, 4,985m above sea level

To complete my Gold, I combined both my Adventurous Journey and Residential Project together in a month long expedition to Kenya in June of 2007. With 15 other participants, 3 leaders and the full support of The Duke of Edinburgh's Award Ontario Division, we embarked on a journey of a lifetime. To complete the Adventurous Journey, we completed a 5 day trek up Mount Kenya to 4,985m & a glorious sunrise over Kenya. It was both physically exhausting and one of the biggest accomplishments in my life.

Our Residential Project was to build a library, complete with books, for the Riandira Primary School in the rural village of Sagana, which is situated about an hour and a half outside of Nairobi, Kenya. After spending months fundraising at home in Southwestern Ontario, we were able to pull together enough funds to build (from scratch) a beautiful and sturdy library for these primary school children! We partnered with participants from the President's Award - Kenya, and without their help, we would not have completed the library in time! http://www.presidentsaward.or.ke/

Riandira Primary School

Digging the trenches

Building almost complete, waiting for the cement to dry before adding the roof!

Inside the library with plastered walls and floor

The President's Award - Kenya participants + The Duke of Edinburgh's Award Ontario participants at the opening ceremony

Fast forward four years later...

The International Award Association puts on the International Gold Event (IGE).  Every three years, a different country hosts this event. This year, in 2011, Kenya is hosting the IGE with the theme: Each One Reach One. Established in 1967, the event provides opportunities for Gold Award holders to contribute to the development of the Award Programme on a national and international level. It also allows young people to have their say on the International Award Association’s (IAA) governance structures. http://www.intaward.org/about-the-award/International-Gold-Event/

As a Gold Award holder, I applied to the IGE, and am one of four lucky Award holders to represent Canada at the IGE 2011 at the beginning of September!! I'm heading back to Kenya!

A small selection of the books we brought over to fill the library

Through my friendships forged with President's Award - Kenya participants and leaders, I have since learned that the Riandira Primary School has recently added an additional building to their grounds, and now have an enclosed school block. The library is still in use and the books that we brought over to stock the shelves are still valued. In 2007, during my original trip, my teammates and I brought over school supplies as well as the books.

James Kinyanjui, one of the organizers of the IGE 2011, has recently informed me that we will be returning to the rural village of Sagana for part of the IGE, and doing so, will be passing by/visiting the primary school! 

After this long winded testimonial, my hope and wish is this: to stuff my suitcase to capacity (or to bring an extra piece of luggage) with school supplies for the students of the Riandira Primary School. 

If you are interested, I am looking to collect school supplies such as pencils, erasers, pens and chalk to bring over for the children.  

If you have new and un-used supplies that you are able to part ways with, please contact me, Julia Wong at julia.ada.wong@gmail.com for a mailing address.  Alternatively, if you are interested in donating a small sum to this cause, please contact me at the above address. 

*Please note that I will not be able to provide you with a tax receipt, and when I say small, I mean that I have luggage weight restrictions!

Thank you all for your time and patience, I hope that my story has inspired you visit The Duke of Edinburgh's Award website to learn more!  www.DukeofEd.org

Let the countdown begin:  11 1/2 weeks to go!

the kindergarten classroom

Students of Riandira Primary School