St. Joseph House of Hope

Our first day at St. Joseph House of Hope was on Friday when we (Anne-Sophie, Magda, Roxanne, Mousbah and Lena) were visiting the different projects. We received a very warm welcome from Lydia who introduced us to all the small children, age ranging from 2 years to 16 years old, studying at St. Joseph. With lovely songs like "welcome, welcome" and "good bless you"  the students welcomed us, their visitors.

After meeting the children and students studying at St. Joseph House of Hope, we were introduced to the business class, which consists of entrepreneurs, teachers, students and workers who are interested in extending their knowledge in business. On Monday, together with Mariaelena, we started an interactive one hour class with the older, high school students, where the students had to discuss a business case. Goal was to analyse the case, find a group solution and defend this solution they had choosen for. For the project team it is very important to create an understanding of the necessity of group work, as the students can reach a higher end result by sharing ideas, knowledge and expertise.

On Tuesday we met Carol, the dean of the school, and Susan, her assistant, in order to discuss the schedules and the availability of the students. Both of them offered their help whenever we need it and are very glad and happy that our team is at St. Joseph House of Hope to support and teach the students.

In total our team has now 5 groups (4 classes from St. Joseph House of Hope and 1 class of external people) which are all very keen gaining more business background to have the ability to successful open and sustain their own business. So far, we taught what business is in general and how business differs in regards to the internal and external environment. Furthermore, we shortly explained how to create a business plan in order to represent their idea, get in contact with investors, NGOs and banks and convince them to financially support their business idea. Our end goal is to provide knowledge that is sufficient in writing a successful and complex business plan. 

Also, Mousbah gave an introduction into entrepreneurship that aimed to inform them that entreperneurs have a different way of thinking than others, and that entrepreneurs are able to filter idea killers from feedback. Additionally, Anne-Sophie spoke about creativity were she explained how to tap into ones creative mind and that creativity is the key to entrepreneurship. Afterwards, Roxanne introduced the students to marketing and mentioned the differences between products and services as well as which factors are needed when starting a business by explaining PESTEL and SWOT analysis. Later on she devided the class in groups and handed out a case, so that they could apply there new acquired  knowledge.

All of the students are highly motivated and interested in what we are teaching, but also interested in our background and culture as well as our language. Some classes have already invited us to have lunch at their houses so that we can try some typical Kenian dishes. At the end of our course, we would like to cook together with all 5 classes to enjoy Kenian food all together. Most of the time the students also accompany us through the little village, we need to go in order to reach the main street to take a Matatu back to our hostel. This is an adventure every single time as we never know for sure where the Matatu will take us, but so far we have always managed to reach our destination. Occasionally, in the middle of our trip we need to exchange the Matatu, and finding a newne is never easy, hence it never gets boring.

Our team is very much looking forward to the next four weeks of teaching, but also to getting to know the Kenian culture even more in-depth.