Lets meet at MEDA

Najeeba and I worked for the two months at MEDA - Malindi Education Development Association - http://www.medakenya.org/ - who run lots of different programmes to promote, support and encourage education for children, youth and adults. The office always has different people coming in, meeting, working on different things; early childhood development, community outreaches, peer education, youth groups… never a dull moment! They were also the implementing partner for VSO in Malindi, so this was the teams main base and meeting point… the new Central Station! ; )

MEDA have a network youth volunteers who work for free to educate their community, raising awareness of issues affecting youth like HIV/AIDS and drug abuse, helping people access services, supporting and encouraging responsible decisions and behaviour. They have 300 peer educators, and over 100 who work as ‘Ambassadors of Change’ who have a talent like music, acting, or acrobatics and use that to mobilise the community at outreaches, where they then give information and educational performances.

One of our main roles at MEDA was going with Anisa to different girls schools and groups, and sharing experiences of how culture affects women in our countries, which provoked some interesting discussions comparing the equality in education and employment opportunities in UK, Pakistan and Kenya, and debating whether women can do anything a man can do, including be president!

We had so much fun with the girls, who were also keen to ask us questions about ‘girly’ subjects and dilemmas we can all relate to - appearance, self confidence, healthy diets and relationships! On request we also helped with some revision tips, although I don’t think they needed them - I was so impressed by how focussed and determined the girls are in their studies, and how confident and strong they are in their visions for their future! We also did peer counselling, taught life skills classes, and started work on a girls’ magazine, and I’d like to finish with a brilliant piece one of the girls wrote for the magazine;

Fail Forward Fast
We learn by making mistakes
So if we want to learn at a faster pace
The key is that you must learn from mistakes you make so you don’t repeat them.
Although we all make mistakes fear of failure doesn’t have to cripple you. Feel the fear and do it anyway. Have fearless life!

By Jamila Mwang