Jazz Band: Village Market Holiday Performance, 3 December 2011

            For this performance I was hoping to, much like all my other concerts and performances, build my experience and skills as a saxophone player. I particularly wanted to improve my skills as a solo player and as an improviser. Therefore I played one planned solo and played louder on parts that were saxophone soli for the entire saxophone group. I also played an unprepared solo for one of our other songs. Mr. Ligon, our director, pointed at me during one of the songs near the end of our performance and asked me if I was willing to play a solo during the song. I accepted the challenge and improvised a solo. I think I was quite successful with the solo and this further established my comfort and confidence at improvising. This will ultimately help accomplish my goal of being a skilled saxophone improviser and soloist.

            In this performance we played for two hours with a few short breaks in which other performers played some solo songs. We played a variety of fun Jazz and Christmas songs. This performance was a great opportunity to extend our experience as a band and to become more recognized in our community. Many people came and watched even though most of them were ISK parents and teachers. I think that this experience was good for the development of our band and it would be good to organize more events similar to this one.

Jazz Band: High School Christmas Concert, 1 December 2011

            For this concert I was hoping to further develop my skills as a saxophone player. I also wanted to build my experience with performing on stage in front of a large crowd. This semester I was only able to go to the Friday morning practice sessions because I was had football training on Wednesday mornings. Therefore I was not able to play with the entire band as much as I might have liked. However, this was a challenge that I had to face and my experience with the saxophone and with playing in concert bands allowed me to cope with this challenge. This is my third year in Jazz Band so I was able to still play to a high level even though I had less band practice.

            The High School Christmas concert included all the High School choirs and bands. The Jazz Band played last and we played four songs. These were all fun Christmas/Jazz songs. I believe we played quite well as a band and that we were successful as a band to entertain the audience. I therefore gained more experience as a saxophone player and as a performer. This helped build my confidence as a Jazz saxophone player and it further prepared me to improvise and play solos as is required in a Jazz Band. My experience and confidence with playing the saxophone prepared me for playing solos in the next performance we had in Village Market. It also has prepared me to hopefully play many solos in the next semester of Jazz Band and to become very comfortable with improvising.

            However, I do believe that the band could work a bit better together to become a truly good band. This could be done by practicing more often as an entire band. Since this year many people were unable to make both practice sessions, the band was unable to reach its maximum quality level. I therefore believe that if everyone in the band could attend all the Jazz Band practice sessions, the band could develop into a very good band that would be recognized countrywide. For this to happen, it would be good to organize more performances in different places like the Village Market to develop our experience and to build our recognition around the country.

Marich: Golf Tournament, 11 November 2011

            We organized this same event last year as a fundraiser project for the Friends of Marich group. This event was very successful last year so we decided to organize the same event this year to raise money for the bridge that we are building this year in Marich. Before the event day we had to organize all the hole sponsors and the prizes for the winners of the tournament. We also had to organize the golf course so that everything would be ready for the day of the event. Since I was away for ISSEA during most of the organizing period, I was unable to contribute greatly in acquiring sponsors and prizes for the event. However, I did help set up and organize the tournament on the day itself.

            On the 11^th of November we went to Windsor early in the morning to set up all the sponsor banners and to confirm that everything was ready for the tournament. We set up different banners across the golf course as well as around clubhouse. Matthew, James, Alberto, and I all had to leave back to school before the golf tournament started to go and play a football match but a few of the other members of the group stayed behind to ensure that everything went as planned during the tournament.

            This tournament as well as the raffle draw raised a good amount of money and we were satisfied with the outcome of the tournament. We still have to raise more money to reach our desired goal but we have significantly progressed. We are now looking at future possible fundraising projects to add to our collection of money so that we are able to carry out the desired projects when we get to Marich. When school starts again in January we will immediately look at what we can do to raise more money. Some possible projects include a concert and a poker tournament.

            It is great that the Friends of Marich group, a group that a Mr. Currey, Mr. Robbins, a couple of friends and I started two years ago, has become so successful. It is an excellent service group and it has already had many significant positive impacts on the local people of Marich. I am very proud to be a leader of this group and it this group is a great opportunity for students at ISK to give something back to their host country Kenya. Since Marich is such a remote area, hardly any people go to visit that side of Kenya. Therefore it is important for us to show people at ISK what a beautiful place the North of Kenya is and how we can help the people living there.

It is very exiting to see the newer members of the group work hard for the group and it will be very interesting to see them working in Marich. Our hope is that these younger members carry on what we have started and that it continues to grow and develop. Our goal is also to show the significance and honor of doing service work in Kenya and how if one takes his/her own initiative, service becomes a fun and interesting thing to carry out. We hope that other groups and possibly other IC trip members see that long term involvement in a project somewhere in Kenya is more effective than a one off service project that is completed over the course of one IC trip.

I have been very privileged to be part of the group that started this group two years ago and to have been able to visit Marich for three years come January. It has been and continues to be a great experience to be committed to the area of Marich and to its people. This has allowed us to form close relationships with the local community in Marich and this helps with the efficiency and effectiveness of our work there. Creating a strong relationship with the people you are working with in a service project is crucial for the success of that project. I therefore hope that other people see this necessity too so that the students of ISK can contribute significantly and positively to Kenya as a whole.

Marich: Raffle Organizing, November 2011

            For the Friends of Marich group, we organized a raffle to raise money for the bridge that we are planning to build in Marich. We gave each person in the group at least ten raffle to sell at 200ksh each. I personally also sold 50 tickets. The prizes for the raffle included vouchers for nights at hotels, such as the Hilton and the Tribe, dinners at restaurants, and massages, among others. The raffle draw was then done at the Golf Tournament in Windsor on 11 November 2011. The money raised by the raffle draw will be used to pay part of the bridge in Marich. This money will go along with money raised at the Golf Tournament as well as money from Mr. Brown’s foundation and other fundraising projects. Some of the money will also go to the other projects that we are planning to do in Marich such as building a library and possibly adding to the playground that we built last year.

            We will build the bridge when we are in Marich end of January during the IC trips. The goal of this project is to provide safe passage over the rivers for the local Pokot people. Together with the organization Bridging the Gap we built a bridge in the area of Marich last year and we will do the same again in another area near Marich. It will be nice to see the happy and grateful faces of the local children and elders when we have built the bridge. That was definitely a highlight of last year’s project.