In an earlier blog post you heard from Vice Chair Anne Baldwin about her month-long trip to Kenya. Now hear from her fiancé aka “Uncle Dan” who is the last in this volunteer series to reflect on their KGSA experiences.
I heard a lot about KGSA before I ever set foot at the school, let alone in Kenya. It’s been such an important part of Anne’s life since college, but spending so many years of our relationship quarantined together in Denver, it always seemed a bit distant.
Before my first visit in 2023, I had a wide variety of feelings, everything from excitement to finally seeing KGSA, stress to travel to a new country, to worry that things wouldn’t be all that we hoped. As with many of the visitors, KGSA exceeded all my expectations.
This year, Anne & I had the opportunity to spend a month in Kenya, visiting the school whenever we could. In the same spirit that convinced Anne to become their new physics teacher on the side of a soccer field in 2008, the school leadership were eager to find projects for us, or even just chances to visit classes and clubs. And while I was happy to help however I could, what made the time really special was just being around consistently enough to really connect with students.
I loved being able to be a small part of some special moments, like seeing them mastering soccer skills, finally getting coding projects to work, and celebrating winning a chemistry competition!
There were also serious moments, like helping distribute food aid after the recent floods or seeing thoughtful discussions between Form 4s and teachers about preparing for KCSEs. But even just being able to say hi and chat during downtime in classes, clubs, meals, and chores was one of the best parts of our trip.
Early on, Moha, the soccer coach, appointed me his assistant and “Uncle Dan,” a name that caught on outside of the team. While I’m not sure I really earned those titles, after all this time, I loved being able to feel like part of the KGSA community and family. The end of our month there came too quickly, but I can’t wait to come back!
-Dan Wiegand