Amisi at Dogodogo Centre in Dar

Amisi is a jump rope student in the Dogodogo Centre in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. When I returned to Dar after my first visit in January, 2009, I started to wonder if there was anything Amisi and Athumani could't do with practice. Not only had they mastered the skills I taught them during my first visit, but they had created new combinations, and taught the basic skills to other kids at the Centre.

Will Futch and Greg Sronce in Kibera

Special thanks to Will Futch and Greg Sronce for all of their help the past couple of weeks in Kibera. They took many excellent photos and helped teach many of the kids here. some of his photos here:

Photos from Kibera

They both left Monday afternoon for Dubai. Asante sana, marafiki!See

Kibera

I just finished up at the Aga Khan Academy in Mombasa. It was great watching the kids progress during my time there. Many of them have put together some really nice crossing combinations, a few can do the pushup, and some have mastered complex wraps and rope releases. A small group of residential students are now training during their 6 a.m. exercise sessions.

One of the Academy students shattered the 30-second speed record set in Tanzania. It now stands at 60, making him the fastest speed jumper in East Africa. He's 9 years old.

I arrived in Nairobi last night, where I will be teaching with Carolina for Kibera (CFK). CFK was founded by Salim Mohamed, the late Tabitha Festo, and Rye Barcott, an MBA from Harvard. Here is a video of Rye with staff members in Kibera that will give you an idea of the challenges faced.

Thank you for all of your continued support. It means so much to these kids.

Amani,

Mike

Saltare!

Six very good friends of mine are competing for the title of America's Best Dance Crew on MTV. Saltare (Latin for "jump") is comprised of team members Lee Reisig, Brittany Fortier, Lisa Brown, Billy Jackson, Chaz Robinson, and Tyler Perez. Read more about Saltare here:

Saltare

These are some of the top jumpers from the U.S., and they will do a great job representing the sport in a new arena of competition. Tune in each Thursday at 10 PM ET/PT. Congratulations, and good luck!

Back in Mombasa

After a few short stops in Tanzania (Tanga, Morogoro, and Dar es Salaam), I headed to the Aga Khan Academy in Mombasa for my first round of teaching in Kenya.

A teacher conference was held here in last weekend. Teachers flew in from around the world, including the United States, Switzerland, Zambia, and Qatar. One teacher uploaded this video earlier in the week:

Here is what he said: "This was an informal demonstration given by Michael Fry on January 29, 2010, at the Aga Khan Academy in Mombasa, Kenya, for a group of teachers attending a workshop there. Michael is spending the year in Tanzania and Kenya promoting jump-roping as a competitive sport. Here he explains what it involves and his hopes for the future development of the sport, and demonstrates some of the skills involved. For more information about his project go to: http://www.oneworldonerope.org/. "

There is some serious talent here. Look for more updates soon.

跳绳的超人们

"Superhuman Rope Skipping"

Don't miss an article in China's "University Students" magazine about teaching jump rope in East Africa.

Very special thanks to all of you who contributed jump ropes for the project.

Click here to read: 跳绳的超人们

Documenting the Decade

The New York Times has a great feature, "Documenting the Decade." Among the many wonderful photos from January 1, 2000 to December 31, 2009, is a picture of the kids of Ummu Salama learning to jump rope.


You can see many great pics in the Times photo essay, starting from the link above, or: Here!