Most Daraja girls were busy between Thursday and Saturday of last week, when they participated in Nanyuki’s three-day sports competitions. On Thursday, February 21, the 22 Daraja students who comprise the school’s track-and-field team boarded buses by 7 a.m. and drove 25 kilometers to Nanyuki town, where they joined more than forty other high school teams at the Nanyuki Municipal Stadium. Three Daraja Kenyan Scouts (Doreen, Dianah, and Ann W.) accompanied the team – at their Scouts training they’ve learned about first aid, so their duty was to assist with any (moderate) injuries their athletes might face.

The stadium – an outdoor arena comprised of a large track and some seating – was teeming with hundreds of local youth, high school staff, judges, and athletes’ supporters. It was hot, sunny, and dusty – it hasn’t rained in Nanyuki in months – but students were too busy preparing for their events and cheering each other on to complain about the heat. From morning till late afternoon, the hundreds of athletes participated in a wide array of track-and-field events, including various runs, sprints, fast walking, hurdle-jumping, and discus- and javelin-throwing. Amazingly, many, if not most, of the participants ran barefoot, because, as Daraja students have explained, running with shoes feels too “heavy.” Daraja girls stood out amongst the crowd as, perhaps, the team that cheered the most loudly for one another. While their peers participated, Daraja students lined up by the fence lining the track, screaming and applauding, encouraging their athletes onward. And, as soon as one of their own had finished an event, Daraja spectators were quick to meet them outside the track with high-fives and glasses of water. In fact, the athletes had more than just support from their peers – local parents showed up, and even last year’s Form 4’s who live nearby came to support their former classmates.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Four Daraja girls excelled that day, and on March 12 they will travel to Nyahururu (a four-hour drive from Nanyuki), where they’ll compete in the next leg of the tournament. Jamaica, Form 4, will compete in discus; Caroline, Form 2, will compete in fast-walking; Joan, Form 2, will compete in high jump; and Lisayo, Form 4, who was incredibly impressive Thursday, will compete in four events – 100 meter hurdle, 400 meter hurdle, triple jump, and long jump. (This is especially impressive given the fact that Daraja doesn’t actually have any hurdles, so the girls have never practiced on them.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Friday, Daraja’s fifteen-person netball team and twelve-person basketball team headed to Nanyuki early in the morning to compete in the next part of the competition. The basketball team, which is new this year and had never competed before, managed to finish third of eight teams; meanwhile, the netballers won both of their two games that day and returned to Nanyuki Saturday for the final two matches, which they also won. So, the netballers will accompany Jamaica, Caroline, Joan, and Lisayo to Nyahururu on March 12 to compete in the district netball competition.

Stay tuned for more news about these exciting competitions, as well as in-depth analyses of some of Daraja’s most skilled athletes. Later this week we’ll pose this question: How can Lisayo, who comes from poverty, be such a skilled runner, and could this talent impact her future? Her – and others’ – talents are definitely impacting Daraja’s present, by uniting Daraja students via strong school team spirit.