The Daraja girls did it again! Over the weekend, ten students participated in the regional Poetry and Music Festival. Of those competitors, four girls will be traveling to compete in the provincial competition in Eldoret. Three of those girls came first in their competitions: Mary N. from Form 1 in Swahili public speaking, Rosalia from Form 2 in Swahili poetry recital, and Teddy from Form 2 in English public speaking. Emily from Form 3 came second in Swahili public speaking and will also be going on to represent Daraja at the provincial competition.
The girls spent all day Friday and Saturday at the competition where they had plenty of opportunity to meet and reconnect with students from all over the region. Between their competitions, the girls were able to get more feedback from the competition adjudicators, enjoy their peers’ dance and music performances and get a few photos taken with their friends; Rosalia also got to spend some time with her mother, who lives near the venue and stopped in to cheer on her daughter.
Betty from Form 3 came third in the region in English poetry recital; Irene N. in Form 1 and Teddy in Form 2 placed fourth. In English public speaking, Alice N. from Form 2 placed fourth in the Form 4 competition. In Swahili poetry recital, Form 1’s Jesica placed third; and Form 3 students Cate and Monicah placed fourth in the Form 3 and Form 4 competition respectively.
In the week leading up to the festival, the competitors used some of their free time to work with volunteer Sue August, a performance coach for healthcare leaders. Sue led workshops on confidence building and public speaking to help the Daraja girls prepare–and feel sure of themselves—before the competition.
The first- and second-placed girls will be heading to the next level of competition at the end of the month.
