Students build organic farm
A group of Ismaili students from Afghanistan and Tajikistan made the most of a difficult situation when they were unable to return home from the Aga Khan Academy in Hyderabad during the Covid-19 pandemic. With the abundance of spare time they were suddenly given, the students planned and implemented an organic farm on the school grounds.
Golden Girl Emily Muteti Glows
The Daily Nation reports on the Coast Amateur Swimming Association (CASA) Championship which took place on 11th-12th February at the Aga Khan Academy Mombasa.
Mombasa Schools League Fixtures, January - March 2015
Date |
Fixtures |
Home/Away |
Results |
January |
|||
1 | Open Boys Basketball AKA, M vs. BMIS | Away | WIN (50-60) |
8 | Athletics Inset | ||
20 | U11 Boys Hockey BMIS Vs AKA, M - U16 Girls Football AKA, M vs OA | ||
22 | Open Boys Football AKA, M vs SSA - U13 Girls Hockey MA vs AKA, M | ||
27 | U11 Boys Hockey AKA, M vs MA - U16 Girls Football AKA, M vs CA - U11 Girls Hockey JA vs AKA, M vs BMIS at AKA, M | Home | U11 Boys Hockey WIN (6-2) - U11 Girls Hockey WIN (3-0 BMIS), WIN (1-0 JA) |
29 | U13 Boys Hockey AKA, M vs BMIS vs LA at AKA, M | ||
February |
|||
3 | U11 Boys Hockey LA vs AKA, M - U16 Girls Hockey BMIS vs AKA, M | ||
10 | Open Boys Football AKA, M vs JA - U16 Girls Football LA vs AKA, M | ||
12 | Open Boys Football AKA, M vs LA | ||
13 - 15 | CASA Open | ||
19 | Open Boys Football LA vs JA | ||
20 - 22 | KSF Open | ||
21 | U13 Girls and Boys Hockey Tournament | ||
24 | U16 Girls Hockey AKA, M vs BMIS | ||
26 | U13 Girls Hockey BMIS vs AKA, M - Open Boys Football AKA, M vs BMIS | ||
28 | Junior Athletics at AKA, M | ||
March |
|||
3 | Open Boys Football AKA, M vs CA - U16 Girls Football BMIS vs AKA, M - U16 Girls Football LA vs OA - U11 Girls Hockey JA vs AKA, M vs BMIS at BMIS | ||
5 | Senior Athletics – Field Events at SSA | ||
7 | Senior Athletics – Track Events at SSA | ||
10 | U11 Boys Hockey AKA, M vs JA - U16 Girls Football AKA, M vs JA | ||
12 | U13 Boys Hockey AKA, M vs BMIS vs LA at LA - U13 Girls Hockey LA vs AKA, M - Open Boys Football AKA, M vs MA | ||
13 - 15 | CASA Junior | ||
14 | Cross-Country at OA | ||
17 | U16 Girls Football CA vs JA at AKA, M | ||
19 | Open Boys Football AKA, M vs OA |
AKA, M | The Aga Khan Academy, Mombasa |
BMIS | Braeburn Mombasa International School |
CA | Coast Academy |
JA | Jaffery Academy |
LA | Light Academy |
MA | Mombasa Academy |
OA | Oshwal Academy |
SSA | Shree Swaminarayan Academy |
CASA | Coast Amateur Swimming Association |
KSF | Kenya Swimming Federation |
Ruhi Kamal Manek (Class of 2016): Advocating for Africa
Ruhi Kamal Manek, an alumnus of the Aga Khan Academies in Mombasa and now a sophomore at Yale University in the United States, took away one enduring lesson from the Academy: the importance of engaging in thoughtful and careful consideration of diverse opinions. She explains that it was her time at the Academy that forced her to reexamine her old-world views and believes that her new way of thinking as a citizen of the world was borne of her stay in residence at the school:
“Living with people from so many diverse backgrounds helped me appreciate differences in people. This experience further helped me feel comfortable interacting with people from diverse backgrounds and diverse cultures at Yale.”
Ruhi was born in Nairobi, Kenya and grew up in the small town of Eldoret. It was her desire to learn and challenge herself more that made her apply to the Academy.
“I could not think of a better place to do that than at the Academy,” Ruhi states. “Being admitted to the school was the beginning of a transformative journey for me - a defining moment in my academic and personal life.”
The Academy places immense importance on meaningful public service. Ruhi participated in numerous voluntary undertakings but it was involvement in the annual school-based deworming program in the impoverished Bombolulu area of Mombasa that had a lasting impact on her. Under this program, school children receive an oral dose of deworming medicine designed to lower their risk of infection by worms and thus enhance their health and school productivity.
“The experience opened my eyes,” Ruhi says. “The thought that something so trivial as administering a few drops of medicine in a child’s mouth can transform that child’s future was inspiring to me.”
Involvement in this program inspired Ruhi in many ways. Watching the children joyfully engage with life forced her to reflect on values of humility, modesty and gratification:
“As I stood among the children, I felt as though my heart had grown twice as large, making space for these beautiful souls. I was filled with an inexplicable amount of joy as I marveled at the contentment and optimism around me. Despite the conditions in which the children lived and learned, they were radiating with happiness. I was in awe. The whole experience reminded me of a quote by the Buddha: ‘The cessation of desire is the cessation of suffering.’”
After this experience at the Academy, Ruhi continued her volunteer work at Yale. She is part of the TEDxYale team and helps to organize seminars and conferences. She is a member of Yale UNICEF and is involved in fund-raising efforts to make a difference in children’s lives globally. Committed to women’s rights regarding education and leadership roles, Ruhi also joined the Yale chapter of the Circle of Women, a non-profit organization “that educates, inspires and empowers women to become leaders and peacemakers.”
Additionally, Ruhi is involved in developing a wellness curriculum for a girls’ secondary school in Orkeeswa, Tanzania, which promotes the ideas that healthy students are better learners and that focusing on wellness now can produce huge intergenerational benefits.
“My first year at Yale has undoubtedly been enhanced through my participation in activities that I have long been passionate about,” states Ruhi. She unequivocally credits the Academy’s International Baccalaureate (IB) curriculum and the residential program for her growth and personal development. “My journey at the Academy was one of the most intense yet fulfilling growth periods of my life. I think it is safe to say that it played a key role in helping me develop the person I am today.”
When asked what her aspirations are for the country of her birth, Ruhi radiates determination. “I want to help redefine the way in which the rest of the world views my country, and more particularly the African continent. I want to be an active agent in ensuring that our stories are no longer told for us but by us.”
She is also determined to promote education in her country. “I want to tackle the issue of the lack of education. I value nothing more than the education I have been so privileged to receive and the many opportunities that have come my way because of it. I wish to help provide the same for as many people as I possibly can in my country of origin and beyond.”
By Perviz Walji
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Vasanthi Thandlam: Lifelong learning and giving
An active volunteer for Operation Smile, an international charity group that helps children with cleft palates around the world, Vasanthi trained at the Operation Smile head office in Norfolk, Virginia, USA and has been passionately promoting the cause for five years. She started an Operation Smile club at the American International School Chennai with a small group of high school students who went on to participate in various local and international medical missions.
Now, Vasanthi will be accompanying a team of Indian students to Vietnam to make presentations on various health modules. These not only teach prevention and basic health knowledge but also help reshape everyday habits of people with unhealthy lifestyles. Health education is an effective tool to improve health in developing nations. In the future, she hopes to bring Operation Smile to the Aga Khan Academy Hyderabad.
Everyday Africa Photography Student Samples
Below are some student samples that they submitted to be admitted to the Everyday Africa workshop
Zawadi Bazaar 2016
Some scenes from the Zawadi Bazaar which took place on 03 Dec. 2016. It was a lively event full of fun, food, games and of course, tons of gifts for the buying!
Photo Credit: Inaara Gangji (DP2)
Tanya Kakkade: Chasing Big Dreams
Limitless opportunity and a chance to excel can provide the motivation for even the young to do whatever it takes to improve their lives. Grade eight student Tanya Kakkade believes that her education and growth at the Aga Khan Academy, Hyderabad will enable her to pick and choose from the top universities in the world.
The attraction of those possibilities drove her to leave her previous school in Chennai and come to Hyderabad. “I’d always wanted to join a residential school, but the Academy hadn’t been built last year and no grade eight program. This school has a lot of opportunities once you finish; it has a good way of learning and gives you leadership qualities.”
She likes the fact that the AKA doesn’t just focus on education and career development but also on becoming well-rounded adults, encouraging students to participate in a number of activities. Tanya also enjoys being able to try new things at the school during her free time and participating in clubs that will help her in the future, including theatre and publications.
“I want to become a layer; I enjoy fighting for rights and arguing. I can imagine myself getting out of school and getting a lot of job offers or applying for top universities.”
While Tanya left her family behind in Chennai, she hasn’t felt that going to school in Hyderabad has been particularly challenging.
“The school is like a family, so you don’t always miss home [and] they never make us feel homesick. My parents miss me a lot but they say that it’s for [my] education and the AKA is the best school so [they] sacrifice a little fear for [my] good future.”
With her passion for human rights, it’s obvious that Tanya has the makings of a successful professional in the legal field. “I’ve not decided yet, but I’d like to become a business lawyer. I always wanted to go [overseas], maybe apply to a lot of universities and pick from the best.”
In Tanya’s mind, regardless of her future plans, her experiences at the Aga Khan Academy have begun to give her a foundation that she can be proud of.