Nationals

I just returned from the National Championship in Galveston, Texas, where I received an outpouring of support in the form of donated ropes. Thank you so much to all of the coaches and individuals that helped! If you are interested in donating/purchasing ropes to help get this program off the ground, please contact me at mfry@oberlin.edu.

Creativity Fellowship Announced!

Following up on previous post, Oberlin College formally announced the Creativity & Leadership Fellowship winners for 2009-2010.

Awarded to graduating seniors each year, C&L grants . . . offer innovative, motivated, and prepared Oberlin students the opportunity to move their entrepreneurial ideas from concept to reality. The program supports dedicated students who have a creative model for addressing a demonstrated need or demand.

Here's a link to the story:

Oberlin's Creativity & Leadership Project

Creativity and Leadership Fellowship

Got it!

It's official. I will be returning to Tanzania and Kenya this August on a one year Fellowship from Oberlin College. I can't wait!

Aga Khan article

Here's a recent news update written by Phillip Newton, Head of Physical Education at the Aga Khan Academy in Mombasa, Kenya. http://www.agakhanschools.org/academies/mombasa/news.asp?tri=401.

If you haven't gotten a chance to look at the Aga Khan website, check it out: http://www.agakhanschools.org/academies/mombasa.

More updates coming soon. Baadaye.

TanzaniaSports.com

Hamjambo!

Here are two recent stories, both from TanzaniaSports.com. The first is a reprint of an article from The Akron Beacon Journal about The Heartbeats:

http://www.tanzaniasports.com/?p=1921

TanzaniaSports also asked me to write about my trip to Tanzania and East Africa:

http://www.tanzaniasports.com/?p=2178

It goes into the details a little more than I can in this blog. I hope you enjoy reading it.

Kiswahili

During the trip, my Kiswahili slowly improved. I learned some important phrases, such as:

Habari za asubuhi? - (Good morning/News of the morning?)
Hamjambo? - (How are all of you?)
Jina langu ni... - (My name is...)
Natokea... - (I am from...)
Nikohapa ufundisha kuruka kamba - (I am here to teach jump rope)
Moja, mbili, tatu, nne, tano, sita, saba, nane, tisa, kumi - (#'s 1-10)

I used some of the phrases below, during a performance at Mchikichini School near Morogoro:

/

Nothing too impressive. I slowly got better during the trip, taking every opportunity to talk with local speakers.

See more jump rope videos at: http://www.youtube.com/user/MikeFry09

Map of Tanzania

This is a map of Tanzania, and part of Kenya. I flew into Dar es Salaam on January 11th, then traveled to my first school in Morogoro. This was followed by Iringa, then back to Dar.

The Aga Khan Academy in Mombasa, Kenya, was my next destination. Finally, I returned to Tanzania to visit the Mkombozi Center for Street Children in Moshi. I had hoped to give demos and classes in Dar, Tanga and Arusha; but time just didn't permit.

My stay in Tanzania and Kenya was far too short; but I needed to return for second semester classes at Oberlin College. My final destination was Nairobi for my flight back to the U.S. But I'll return to finish the work I have just begun with the wonderful people of Tanzania and Kenya.