Our stars at The President’s Award-Kenya Bronze Level Adventurous journey on Ngong Hills

Life doesn’t get easier or more forgiving; we get stronger and more resilient.

• Steve Maraboli

What better way to understand Steve Maraboli’s assertion than through an exciting endurance and resilience experience!

Beyond providing an education to our young mentees, it is of utmost importance to mold them into multifaceted persons. Among the ways in which this can be done is provision of Mentorship and Psychosocial Support through challenging yet thrilling activities, thus the adventurous journey on Ngong Hills.

Why The President’s Award-Kenya (PA-K)?

This award scheme is an exciting self-development program available to all young people countrywide. It is aimed at arming them with constructive life skills to make a difference for themselves, their communities, country and the world. PA-K is a member of the Duke of Edinburgh International Award Association which manages the Award Program for young people in over one hundred and twenty countries. The awards fall into three levels; Bronze, Silver and Gold (for university students). The activities include, but are not limited to, cleanup drives, mentoring school children, giving donations and adventurous journeys.

 

Journey Chronicles

As part of Bronze Level activities, our students commenced their first adventurous journey on Friday, the 18^th of March 2022 and engaged in various activities till Sunday, the 20^th March 2022. Their excitement can be felt in their description of the experience.

We departed from Kikuyu town to our first camp site (Ngong Township Primary School) at 4.00 p.m. on the 18^th of Mach 2022. We were welcomed by a beautiful sunset and teeth-chattering low temperatures in a piercingly windy environment. We were assigned into three groups of 8 members each in which we were supposed to work together for the three days in order to survive.

On the evening of the first day, we had to make dinner – no kitchen, no fireplace, just ingredients, utensils and a matchbox. Eight minds are better than one; motivated by hunger, we gathered some firewood and rocks, assembled fireplaces and made good food!

On the second day, we woke up for some exercise to stretch our muscles. Thereafter, in our groups, everyone was assigned a role such as a group leader, navigator, quarter master, camp crafter, first aider and a public relator. We quickly made and had breakfast while already in our hiking attire and with the bag packs ready. The quarter master ensured that his/her group members had lunch for the day.

We checked out of Ngong Township Primary School for Kiprutti Hills (the first check-in point) then for SGR terminus (Lunch point) and finally to Oloshoibor primary school (the second camping site).

We covered a distance of 15 kilometers on the first day; everyone had a story to tell. Some sat along the way waiting for their teammates on the ragged terrains, some ran out of water under the scorching sun and others even got blisters. All in all, with perseverance, endurance and team work, we managed to get to Oloshoibor Primary School.

As expected, we did the evening cooking and retired to slumber anticipating the second day of our adventure. The first stop was Ilngarooj market, followed by Kashanga Waterhole and, finally, Kisamis town which marked the end of our Adventurous Journey. Having gained some knowledge from the experiences of the previous day, this section of the trek was easier and less tiresome. We walked a distance of 10 kilometers.

Journey Lessons

Every experience is made meaningful by the lessons we pick from it. Each of us picked lessons from the journey as outlined below.

Focus! Focus! Focus! When you set goals, you’re more likely to achieve them when you enjoy the journey while focusing on the end. It is best to write the goals because if they are only in the mind, they are just ideas but when written, they gain some concreteness. We wrote down each check point and prepared our minds for each leg and we believe we enjoyed the journey and managed to get to each checkpoint because that was where our focus lay.

Teamwork       Michelle Obama says that we should welcome each other to the world of greatness. We need support and that is why we were grouped. When the terrains got tough, we motivated each other, we shared water, we held hands and eventually, we made it! We walked together, we went far, we helped each other get to the goal.

Perseverance No matter how difficult it was, we endured the challenges and we kept going; so should everyone.

Equip and Believe in Yourself At some point during the walk, we almost lost our way. We put our heads together and used the information we had to work out the way – equip yourself with resources such as knowledge then step forth with confidence; believe in yourself, because if you don’t, who will?

The Expedition was impactful. We are grateful to The President’s Award-Kenya for being part of our growth. The greatest project anyone can ever work on is themselves and we are on the right path.

We would not have comfortably travelled to Ngong Hills without means of transport; Expeditions Maasai Safaris was there to our rescue. You give meaning to the truth that friends are those you can count on at any time and every time. We picked extra lessons from observing your professional ethics and we thank you for being part of the amazing journey.

#AffectoToTheWorld

#ThePresident’sAwardAdenturousJourney

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What better way to understand Steve Maraboli’s assertion than through an exciting endurance and resilience experience!                                  

“Life doesn’t get easier or more forgiving; we get stronger and more resilient.” – Steve Maraboli

Beyond providing an education to our young mentees, it is of utmost importance to mold them into multifaceted persons. Among the ways in which this can be done is provision of Mentorship and Psychosocial Support through challenging yet thrilling activities, thus the adventurous journey on Ngong Hills.

Why The President’s Award-Kenya (PA-K)? This award scheme is an exciting self-development program available to all young people countrywide. It is aimed at arming them with constructive life skills to make a difference for themselves, their communities, country and the world. PA-K is a member of the Duke of Edinburgh International Award Association which manages the Award Program for young people in over one hundred and twenty countries. The awards fall into three levels; Bronze, Silver and Gold (for university students). The activities include, but are not limited to, cleanup drives, mentoring school children, giving donations and adventurous journeys.

Journey Chronicles

As part of Bronze Level activities, our students commenced their first adventurous journey on Friday, the 18^th of March 2022 and engaged in various activities till Sunday, the 20^th March 2022. Their excitement can be felt in their description of the experience.

We departed from Kikuyu town to our first camp site (Ngong Township Primary School) at 4.00 p.m. on the 18^th of Mach 2022. We were welcomed by a beautiful sunset and teeth-chattering low temperatures in a piercingly windy environment. We were assigned into three groups of 8 members each in which we were supposed to work together for the three days in order to survive.

On the evening of the first day, we had to make dinner – no kitchen, no fireplace, just ingredients, utensils and a matchbox. Eight minds are better than one; motivated by hunger, we gathered some firewood and rocks, assembled fireplaces and made good food!

On the second day, we woke up for some exercise to stretch our muscles. Thereafter, in our groups, everyone was assigned a role such as a group leader, navigator, quarter master, camp crafter, first aider and a public relator. We quickly made and had breakfast while already in our hiking attire and with the bag packs ready. The quarter master ensured that his/her group members had lunch for the day.

We checked out of Ngong Township Primary School for Kiprutti Hills (the first check-in point) then for SGR terminus (Lunch point) and finally to Oloshoibor primary school (the second camping site).

We covered a distance of 15 kilometers on the first day; everyone had a story to tell. Some sat along the way waiting for their teammates on the ragged terrains, some ran out of water under the scorching sun and others even got blisters. All in all, with perseverance, endurance and team work, we managed to get to Oloshoibor Primary School.

As expected, we did the evening cooking and retired to slumber anticipating the second day of our adventure. The first stop was Ilngarooj market, followed by Kashanga Waterhole and, finally, Kisamis town which marked the end of our Adventurous Journey. Having gained some knowledge from the experiences of the previous day, this section of the trek was easier and less tiresome. We walked a distance of 10 kilometers.

Journey Lessons

Every experience is made meaningful by the lessons we pick from it. Each of us picked lessons from the journey as outlined below.

Focus! Focus! Focus! When you set goals, you’re more likely to achieve them when you enjoy the journey while focusing on the end. It is best to write the goals because if they are only in the mind, they are just ideas but when written, they gain some concreteness. We wrote down each check point and prepared our minds for each leg and we believe we enjoyed the journey and managed to get to each checkpoint because that was where our focus lay.

Teamwork       Michelle Obama says that we should welcome each other to the world of greatness. We need support and that is why we were grouped. When the terrains got tough, we motivated each other, we shared water, we held hands and eventually, we made it! We walked together, we went far, we helped each other get to the goal.

Perseverance No matter how difficult it was, we endured the challenges and we kept going; so should everyone.

Equip and Believe in Yourself At some point during the walk, we almost lost our way. We put our heads together and used the information we had to work out the way – equip yourself with resources such as knowledge then step forth with confidence; believe in yourself, because if you don’t, who will?

The Expedition was impactful. We are grateful to The President’s Award-Kenya for being part of our growth. The greatest project anyone can ever work on is themselves and we are on the right path.

We would not have comfortably travelled to Ngong Hills without means of transport; Expeditions Maasai Safaris was there to our rescue. You give meaning to the truth that friends are those you can count on at any time and every time. We picked extra lessons from observing your professional ethics and we thank you for being part of the amazing journey.

#AffectoToTheWorld

#ThePresident’sAwardAdenturousJourney