We are so grateful for Judy Berger’s visit to campus. Read below to hear about her experience:
“I had the distinct pleasure of spending 2.5 weeks volunteering at Daraja in March 2016. It was a unique challenge and memorable experience that I will treasure forever. Combining my various skills and interests, my service fell into 2 major categories: The first one was working with the 31 transition girls on life-skills, including prioritizing values, budgeting, job search, resume preparation, job interviewing, and business plan development. The second area was teaching yoga, which I did quite regularly in concert with their physical exercise program. This touched almost every girl and even the teachers asked for a session.
On the side, since I am a singer, I was able to teach a couple songs to the music club, do some improvisational singing with various girls, play a bit of keyboard at the end of some mealtimes and give a brief rendition of a few of my songs for the girls. The staff and the girls were just plain fantastic – warm, helpful, and eager to learn!
The transition girls called me their ‘shosh,’ which is Swahili for grandma. There apparently is a Kenyan TV show about a modern energetic grandma, and I seemed to fit the bill. I gained tremendous insight into Kenyan society and life, while feeling I was able to make a meaningful contribution into the lives of some great people. I hope to return to Daraja, and will continue to support the school in every way I can.” – Judy Berger
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