2011 ISSEA BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT

The 2011 ISSEA Basketball tournament was held in Ethiopia this year, it was a wonderful experience as we got to and reclaim for the 4th year in a row the title as the CHAMPIONS of ISSEA! as captain of this years team i was very proud and hope to see a 5 peat next year. This year was also wonderful cause we got to see our boys pull out a 2 peat.
Going into the tournament i held alot of pressure on my shoulders as we were walking in to defend a 3 year winning streak, we entered the tournament with only 9 players and quickly lost another to illness leaving us down to only 8 players. We were all fearful that we would let our legacy down however we all picked each other up and me as a leader had to keep picking my team up through the 3 days of intense grueling  basketball. After seeing the state my team was in, on the first day my goal was to keep their morale high and kick out another win.
As our coach was also the coach of the boys team we had Mrs, Thompson with us, she was a great help to us as she took care of us, she made sure we always had water and if anyone had any pain anywhere she made sure we had ice. Without her we would have all come back broken in many places. The ICS courts were rough courts that were not basketball friendly. An outside court made of cement scratched and hurt you every time you fell and a indoor court made from wooden floors that gave you splinters every time you fell.
This ISSEA tournament benefited our team as it lifted our spirits after having come second in our local season, we felt achieved and able. Us winning the tournament also helped ISK as our sports program is seen as accomplished. If i had the chance to go to ISSEA again i would not change a thing because it was perfect the way it was :)

2010 ISSEA TOURNAMENT

The 2010 ISSEA Football tournament was held in Uganda, this was my first Football ISSEA and was an incredible experience. Uganda was a beautiful location however the weather didn't stay to nice for us. Although we came 4th in the tournament and also lost a player to injury, it was very memorable.
The ISSEA football tournament is a meeting of east african schools to compete in a 3 day long intense tournament, the schools involved are AISJ,AISL,ISU,ICS,ISU,IST, and ISK. After the 3 days a winner emerges and sadly this year it was not us but it was new comers to the competition AISL.
Going into this tournament i hoped to improve my football skills and make new friends, fortunately for me my leadership skills were also needed as coach made me co-captain of the team on the second day of the tournament. This was a wonderful achievement for me as this was my first year playing football as ISK and less than 2 months into our season i had become co-captain of the team, i was very proud of myself.
We started out the tournament unstoppable defeating every team in the round robin, however on the 3rd and final day of competition one of our players Rebecca popped her knee out of place, shocking our entire team. This injury had such a profound effect on all of us that we were unable to play our games to our full potential, we ended up losing in our semi-final in penalties. Which was a great disappointing as we deserved to win the tournament having already defeated every other team.
If i had the chance to re-live the ISSEA i would do my best not to be so affected by the injury of Rebecca, and work hard to get my teams spirits lifted enough to win the final :)

2011 Visit to the Marich

The 2011 trip to Marich presented a new opportunity for the club, Friends Of Marich we were able to in partnership with Harmon Parker build a bridge and watch its opening and the significance it held for the local people of the west Pokot region of Kenya. The trip was about a week long and in this time we build a bridge and implemented other small scale projects such as installing a play ground for a school and providing another boarding school with enough food to last time sometime. By going on the Marich trip i wanted to explore the variety of culture you get exposed to in Marich and see what type of work Harmon Parker does and understand why he truly is a CNN Hero.

Our aims for the trip were to successfully install a bridge, learn about the pokot culture and learn about the living conditions in Marich. All of which we were able to do, learning how to gold sift and learning what a tedious and hard task it truly is helped us to understand how people in the region earn a living.

During the trip, we didn't encounter and major set backs all our plans fell through as planned and we were able to learn how to build a bridge and gain new skills through the process. The teachers that came with us on this trip were Mr. Currey, Mr. Robbins and Mrs. Thompson, in regards to the projects we did Mr. Currey and Mr. Robbins were the ones who ran that aspect of the trip, while Mrs. Thompson ran the more cultural side. The teachers taught us some new information about gold trading and the economic robbery going on in Marich. This drove us students to want to help the people even more, this coming school year of 2011/12 we will raise as much money as possible to implement more sustainable projects to help the people of the West Pokot.

If i could change one thing about the trip, it would be the knowledge i had before going into it, because going on the trip without and information made me wish that i had known the conditions of the people beforehand so i could have helped and provided more than i was able to. However all in all the trip was a great learning experience and i cannot wait to see what the future holds for the club

2011/2012

I believe the 2011/2012 school year poses some challenges for me. I created a few goals for myself that i want to achieve by the end of my last year in high school.
1. The first is to expand my horizons and think outside the box with my creativity in my club, academic and daily life
2. The second is to learn about myself though my time in isk and the time i spend in my community with either the community within isk or the greater community outside of the school and in the rural areas of Kenya
3. The third is to continue on the progress of last year and raise enough money to build a second bridge with the club i am now a co-chair of "Friends of Marich"
4. The forth and final goal for me is the most important as a senior, i would like to step into the role of a leader not only on the basketball court or in the meetings of my club but in high school as a whole i would love to leave a mark and be looked to as a leader.

This year i expect to open my self up to new experiences and challenges, i am excited and interested to see what this year of CAS brings to me and what i can do for my community.