After a few short stops in Tanzania (Tanga, Morogoro, and Dar es Salaam), I headed to the Aga Khan Academy in Mombasa for my first round of teaching in Kenya.
A teacher conference was held here in last weekend. Teachers flew in from around the world, including the United States, Switzerland, Zambia, and Qatar. One teacher uploaded this video earlier in the week:
Here is what he said: “This was an informal demonstration given by Michael Fry on January 29, 2010, at the Aga Khan Academy in Mombasa, Kenya, for a group of teachers attending a workshop there. Michael is spending the year in Tanzania and Kenya promoting jump-roping as a competitive sport. Here he explains what it involves and his hopes for the future development of the sport, and demonstrates some of the skills involved. For more information about his project go to: http://www.oneworldonerope.org/. “
There is some serious talent here. Look for more updates soon.
Six very good friends of mine are competing for the title of America’s Best Dance Crew on MTV. Saltare (Latin for “jump”) is comprised of team members Lee Reisig, Brittany Fortier, Lisa Brown, Billy Jackson, Chaz Robinson, and Tyler Perez. Read more about Saltare here:
These are some of the top jumpers from the U.S., and they will do a great job representing the sport in a new arena of competition. Tune in each Thursday at 10 PM ET/PT. Congratulations, and good luck!
The New York Times has a great feature, “Documenting the Decade.” Among the many wonderful photos from January 1, 2000 to December 31, 2009, is a picture of the kids of Ummu Salama learning to jump rope.
You can see many great pics in the Times photo essay, starting from the link above, or: Here!
Keo, Zee and Leps are all members of the South African Gymnastics Federation who traveled to Tanzania to help teach jump rope. They brought all their skill and enthusiasm as we worked with the new kids from Tuna Haki and Amani, and some of the older jumpers from Mkombozi.
Keo, Zee and Leps also took some great pics, which you can see from the links below:
“I am here to make miracles”. This is one of the first things Sello “Zee” Sethunya said to me, as we sat in the Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta Airport with Lebogang “Leps” Molatudi and Keo Lebogile. Since Day 1, all three of them have done just that - every day, in every place, with every kid they have taught.
Zee, Leps, Keo, and I have been teaching at the Tunahaki Centre for Street Children and the Amani Children’s Home for the past week. The kids at Tunahaki are excellent acrobats, and pick up new skills very quickly.
They are a very close-knit group of kids, extremely focused and determined, and just so full of life and energy. It’s been a lot of fun working with them.
Lukas is back! He and Rogers, both from the Mkombozi Centre for Street Children, joined us at Tunahaki for the past two days. Lukas got his frog, pushup, leap frog, and switch in double dutch, a few nice single rope combinations, a backwards elephant cross, and a toad to pushup.
The kids at the Amani Centre have been great, too. I will post more about them soon, but for now, here is a video from their first day of double dutch.
It really has been a blessing having the South African jumpers here. Each of them brings their own unique teaching style, an arsenal of new skills and combinations, and an amazing passion for the sport. They bring so much energy to their teaching, and the kids are benefiting immensely from it. Expect big things from Moshi.
I arrived in Moshi last night, but spent all of last week teaching at the Dogodogo Centre in Dar. I’m starting to wonder if there’s anything Amisi and Athumani can’t do with practice. Not only had they mastered the skills I taught them during my first visit, but they had created new combinations, and taught the basic skills to other kids at the Centre. Here a brief summary of what those two picked up this week:
180 triple under sideswing triple under double under TJ pushup landing in a cross, behind the knees cross, and toad backwards TS AS to TS belch kamikaze kamikaze with a cross
Kamikaze with a cross? Are you kidding me, Amisi? It’s been amazing seeing this kid in action. I’m looking forward to watching him grow over the years. Here’s a nice combo he recently put together:
Athumani has really stepped up as a role model for the other kids. He takes time away from his own practicing to teach anyone who is interested in learning. He is very patient, and thorough in his explanations of skills.
As hard as it was to leave Dar, I couldn’t be more excited to start teaching in Moshi. The kids at Mkombozi have been practicing regularly since my first visit in January, so I’m very eager to see how they’ve progressed. I’ll also be teaching at the Tunahaki Centre for Child Development and the Amani Children’s Home.
On Saturday, I’m traveling to the Nairobi airport to pick up Lebogang, Madigomang, and Lesala, three extremely talented jumpers from South Africa. They will be teaching with me in Moshi for the next two weeks. Special thanks to the South African Gymnastics Federation, and to Sandile Ntombela for helping to make this possible.
Moshi is home to Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa. It’s pretty amazing to look up at the peak and see snow. I won’t be able to make the climb during this trip - it’s about a one week trek, and very exhausting - but will definitely be doing it on one of my next visits.
Internet connection has been very hit-or-miss lately, but keep checking back for more updates. I have a feeling that Moshi will be one of the powerhouse regions in Tanzania.
Stakes were raised today as a new top speed score was reached in Iringa. 54, set by 10-year old Frieda at IDYDC, is just one jump short of the Tanzanian record (55). This is her second day ever jumping speed, and she’s using a plastic freestyle rope. Expect another update in a few days.
Last Monday (11/09/09) marked the beginning of an epic battle of speed in Iringa. There are now 12 or 13 kids after the title of “Fastest Jumper in Tanzania”. The record at Iringa International School stands at 47 right-footed jumps in 30 seconds, but the bar was raised on Saturday at IDYDC (Iringa Development of Youth, Disabled, and Children Care) to 49, just 6 jumps short of the Tanzanian record. The scores will continue to rise, and I have a feeling that the current record will be shattered by the end of this week. Most of the kids are still developing the timing between their arms feet as they increase in speed, but once they have that figured out - the sky will be the limit.
I continue to be amazed by the speed at which kids are learning skills. Buddy bounce, caboose, inverse toad, frog, various wraps and releases, you name it. I’ll post a video later this week.
Frequent power outages (as often as every other day for 5-6 hours) can make it difficult to keep phones, computers, and cameras charged, but it definitely makes me appreciate the electricity more when it is working.
Iringa is a really nice place. It’s a quiet, small town, but there are a lot of really cool craft stands with beautiful handmade jewelry, cloth paintings, and wooden sculptures. There are some really nice restaurants (check out Hasty Tasty Too, Sai Villa, and Mama Siyovelwa), and the hills are covered with huge boulders, the biggest of which is Gangilonga (Talking Stone).
