Kenya Presentation

Here is the Prezi presentation on Kenya that I made for school. I can skip through certain parts depending on the grade level or time allowed. If you get an advertisement on a video, click on the border of the video to make it disappear. You can also view it here.

Mr. Hansen goes on a Field Trip to Kenya on Prezi

The Streets of Mathare

Running and Racing in Kenya

I have enjoyed running and racing my whole life, well at least from 9th grade and up until last September. I had run so much that I could no longer run on my left hip and needed hip surgery. For a whole year, I had not been able to run and there I was in Kenya know for its distance running and marathon champions. I knew I had to try running sometime while I was in Kenya, but I wasn't sure where, when, and how. Near the end of our time in Kenya, while on safari, I found the perfect opportunity. We got out of our safari vans to see a marker that located the border between Tanzania and Kenya. I came up with a fun little plan.

Tanzania to my right, Kenya to my left!

First a practice run



Then a "race" from Tanzania to Kenya! It was fun. The good news is that I had my surgery a couple of weeks after returning from Kenya and have started working out and running again!

Mathare Valley's Got Talent

They love to sing and dance in the schools of the Mathare Valley. Classrooms greet you with songs, you might catch kids dancing and singing during recess time, morning exercises involve singing, and of course a farewell ceremony has more songs and dance. Here is a sample of some of the fun as seen at the Area 2 School, the Bondeni School, the Joska boarding school for children in grades 6-8 from the Mathare Valley.

Creative Kenyan Kids Animoto

I posted these pictures earlier on creative Kenyan kids in the Mathare Valley, but now I have put them to music.

 

Teaching at Bondeni School

How do you put the experience of a week full of teaching into a short video? There is so much missing here, but the video shows a good part of the experience. I was so happy while going through videos when I found I had Anthony, the child my family is now sponsoring, in one of the videos.



Here are earlier posts I made on The Bondeni School:
Monday afternoon: first visit to Bondeni School
Tuesday:Teaching at Bondeni Recess Dancing Class
Wednesday: Writing at Bondeni School
Thursday: Fun with Tangrams
Friday: Fun with Pentominoes

Here is the full video of the recess time where I asked kids their names. There was a lot going around me during this time. Kids were releasing lots of pent-up energy and you can see a bit of their personalities emerge.


Some kids are just natural performers in front of a camera. Just as they got me started on dancing, the recess bell rang and we had to go back inside for more learning.



It was good to find Anthony in the back of this video too, and to know that he was following me around. Little did either of us know that in a few days he would be matched up with me as our sponsor child. I would like to note that Anthony is a handsome, reserved, and well behaved little guy. We have already received a letter from Anthony.

Maasai Village Video

I have been working hard trying to put videos together for presentations at New Searles School. There are so many pictures and stories to tell. While on safari at the Masai Mara Game Preserve, we were able to visit a Maasai village. It was a tremendous experience.

Safari Video 2

I redid the Safari video. I added some close up pictures of the animals that some of my teammates took. My camera does not have a good zoom. I also rearranged a few things that were out of order. Then, I let animoto do its magic. Each time you redo an animoto video, the transitions, look, and play of a video turns out completely different. For my first video, I paid to upgrade the quality. I don't see too much difference so I left this without the upgrade. Both videos are fun to look at at.



If you want to learn more on the Masai Mara, you can look for the video online on Michael Palin's "Pole to Pole 1" Episode 6. I have Amazon Prime so I can watch it for free. The episode is entitled Plains and Boats and Trains. It was filmed in 1992, but gives some information on the animals. It is also on Netflix, but not for streaming like on Amazon. Another series on the Masai Mara is called "Big Cat Diary". It streams on both Netflix and Amazon Prime. I will be checkinig this one out  some more as I have only watched a bit of it so far. Having been to the Masai Mara, this will be even more intersting to me.