Page 10 - Priorities #45 2010-January

I Left My Heart...
In Africa
by Sarah Montgomery ‘09
On June 10, 2009, I stepped off a Virgin Atlantic 747 and onto the tarmac at Jomo Kenayatta International Airport in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya. After nineteen hours of flying, I finally made it. Little did I know, these would be the best nine days of my life.
The drive from Nairobi to the Daraja Academy took us through some of the most economically disadvantaged places in Africa. We drove through
I traveled to Daraja hoping to empower the girls, especially through soccer (football in Kenya). The girls knew how to play, some better than others, but they all played as though their life depended on it. This was the first time the girls had been coached in soccer. They are as good as they are because they put in the effort and taught themselves. Each day, we spent two hours on shooting, dribbling, and passing. The girls never wanted to leave the field. We watched a video of a women’s professional soc-
cer game from 2001, and the moment I pressed play, the girls were off their seats, choosing teams to root for, screaming and yelling. They truly loved the game.
I fell in love with the girls. It is a feeling that is hard to explain. Nine days before, I believed I would travel to Daraja, teach the girls soccer, help them with their schooling, and then travel home and continue on with my life. Leaving the girls was one of the hardest things I have had to do. It breaks my heart to see these girls working harder than I do, yet I have
a seemingly better life. The morning I left, I was given four letters written by the girls. I
could barely read them without breaking down. For the rest of my journey, they stayed in my pocket and traveled with me everywhere I went. In one of the letters a girl wrote, “When you feel lonely, look at the sky and know we are on the same planet.” We all have passions. And somewhere on our planet, someone else shares our passion. As the Priory taught me so well, explore and share your passion with the world because it can change someone’s life.
For more information on the Daraja Academy visit www.daraja-academy.org.
10
Kibera, the largest slum in Africa and home to more than a million people, past resettlement camps for Kenyans displaced by the political violence in 2007, finally arriving at the Daraja Academy--a magical place that provides an education to girls born into these dire situations.
The girls at Daraja are from every part of Kenya: Kibera, the north near Sudan, the east near Somalia, the west near Uganda, the plains of the Rift Valley. Some girls have lost a parent through AIDS, acci- dents, meningitis, or birth complications and others through violence that permeates the region. A few girls have lost both parents and were left with rela- tives. Despite the heartbreaking situations, they are the happiest girls I have ever met. They laugh at everything, love to learn, play soccer as if they were in the World Cup, and idolize Michelle Obama.