I’ve always been a planner. I love planning my week and during exam season I plan my days by the hour, I’ve been planning like this for around 10 years. I feel secure knowing what’s coming and what I have to do. You can probably see where this is going, but my LiA has challenged this fundamental characteristic that I have created to control my life and what I do with it in so many new ways. I’ve had to deal with so much uncertainty in my life, and I understand how integral it was to my development, and how I’ve always been led back to where I feel like I should be. I’ve dealt with completing my A-levels in covid, switching universities and starting fresh, but that all felt guided by an invisible hand and I had faith in a larger plan that was at play, and that as much as I may feel like I have control, every step I take in life is a step to ascertain my fate that was written for me when my soul was created. In Islam we believe that our destiny was written on a scroll that dropped from the throne of God when we were born, that is to hang until our life on this Earth ends. When I began preparing for my 6 weeks in Kenya, I made the mistake of assuming the full responsibility of every aspect of my LiA. Anything that happened that didn’t go to plan was my full responsibility, and I felt the full weight of the sadness and regret that ensued. It was my first time travelling alone, and my first time being out of the UK for longer than 2 weeks. Before I left, I tried to plan as much as I possibly could, partly because I was scared and partly because I really respected the school and was very eager to make an impact.

I heard about Freedom International Schools – Africa through a Cambridge scholar (Alex West) that came here in 2024, and I was completely blown away by what Dr Utheri and Oku have created. I’ve always been interested in the history of African Americans and the civil rights movement, which naturally led onto my interest in Africa and its leaders. I have always felt that African leaders have an incredible talent of driving change and emancipating themselves in the most effective way possible. I’ve never felt as though the stories and victories of African leaders have ever been taught properly in the UK; I only realised the depth and scope of the visionaries that belong to this continent through my own research as I left school. I was taught in school that Malcolm X’s assassination was justified because he preached violence. Knowing what I know now, that statement makes me feel sick. This school is filled with wonderful staff, who understand the importance of an Afrocentric curriculum, and the school is creating students who are proud, informed, compassionate and incredibly intelligent. The school practices ubuntu: ‘I am because we are’. This ethos completely transforms the feel of the school, and it is genuinely the most idyllic school I have ever have the privilege of experiencing.

During my first two weeks I led sessions for a new holiday programme that the school is introducing due to my placement beginning before school opens. Teaching came to me quite naturally, and I quickly fell in love with the process of planning and leading sessions. I led a physics session in the lab demonstrating the doppler effect and teaching about red shifted and blue shifted stars. I found it challenging coming up with ideas to teach physics in an engaging way with limited resources, but I’m proud of my final session. It set a great tone for my next sessions where I led gardening, sewing, videography, photography and craft sessions. Below are collages I made summarising my 1^st two weeks with pictures that either I or the students took.

During my first couple days I would become stressed every time something didn’t go to plan. I did my best to keep myself busy with the unexpected free time that I had at the school due to the programme only running in the mornings, and I’m happy with the way I handled the situation. Now that the holiday programme is over and I feel settled into life in Kenya, I can now understand that my arrival in Kenya on the 8^th August was predestined. I feel as though I connect with the country and its people so naturally, like I’ve arrived home. I’m already thinking about how difficult it will be to say goodbye, but I’m channelling that energy into trying my best to make an impact at the school and connect with everyone whist I have the blessing of time. I haven’t ventured out of the school much because I fell in love with it so fast and enjoyed it here so much, and I’m aware that safaris and markets will stay in Kenya for many years, but the staff and students at the school won’t. Each member of staff that I’ve been lucky enough to connect with are wonderful examples of hardworking, kind-hearted and compassionate leaders. As much as I hope that I make a lasting impact on just one soul at this school, I’m aware that they will all leave a much larger impact on me than I will on them, and I can’t express how grateful I feel to be given this opportunity to be here in such a beautiful country.