An exchange from country to country with our Kenyan team over the last few years has proven to be very valuable for both sides. That’s why this year, we were happy to welcome our director back to Munich after five years. The summer-like temperatures that greeted him in early April likely helped him acclimate quickly.
But it was far from a vacation. In consultation with the members of our Active Members Group, who contribute significantly to the success of such a visit, a varied and intensive program was put together. The first week included school visits to the Franz-Marc-Gymnasium in Markt Schwaben, the Theresien-Gymnasium in Munich, the Realschule in Prien, and the Herrschel-Mittelschule Ingolstadt, as well as the Gymnasium Gaimersheim. It was a colorful mix of educational institutions where Jimmy gave presentations about our projects to various grade levels and answered many questions. All these schools are so incredibly important to our association, as they contribute to the success of our projects and the support of the children in Kenya through their sponsored runs, bazaars, and other events during the school year. Jimmy also took home impressions and ideas from each of the schools, which gave him inspiration for school life in our projects in Kenya.
A highlight was our active members’ meeting on April 13, where many of our group members were able to meet Jimmy in person again after a long time and chat with him later in a cozy setting. As always, the catering was excellent, and thanks to the Klement family and the Gaimersheim parish, who kindly made their parish hall available to us again, space issues were not a problem. Before that, Jimmy also visited the Riegg family and was able to get an idea of their constantly evolving organic farm; the motto here was “right in the thick of it,” and there was certainly a tip or two for our shamba as well.
Another highlight of the weekend was the visit to the benefit concert of the Rotary Club Munich-Hofgarten, which has been supporting our association with generous donations for many years. A wonderful summer evening at Nymphenburg Palace, accompanied by a fantastic and very entertaining classical concert, “Opera Paradiso,” rounded off the first week for Jimmy.
In the second week, there were more school visits, such as to the Lena-Christ-Realschule Markt Schwaben, the Thomas Mann-Gymnasium Munich-Sendling, and the Max-Planck-Gymnasium in Munich. Our program was rounded off with a visit to the Grundschule am Gotzinger Platz, where Kathrin Walk is currently completing her teaching residency and gave Jimmy the opportunity to observe one of her classes. He was impressed by the way the children are taught and, above all, which tools were used for discipline and quiet, and hopefully much of this can be applied to the Maisha Mazuri Primary School in Kenya.
Jimmy spent the last few days with the association Promoting Africa, which also belongs to the Youth Support Kenya family and didn’t want to let this opportunity go to waste. He will head back to Kenya on April 22.
We thank Jimmy for his time, as well as everyone involved who made this visit a success.
Asante Sana!