KEEN - Kids Enjoy Exercise Now

I want to talk in this post about a charity I volunteered with at Oxford and which I've started volunteering at across here.

KEEN (Kids Enjoy Exercise Now) is a charity that was originally set up in Oxford over 20 years ago to encourage mentally disabled children to be physically active. It has since grown there to 3 sessions a week for children and young adults of all ages and disabilities and aims not only to get them physically active but also encourage their imagination, communication and other day-to-day skills. It has also headed across the Atlantic to the USA - more on that later...

When I arrived at Oxford 4 years ago, I joined the Oxford Origami Society, as I've always had a bit of an interest in the Japanese art of paperfolding (as a lot of mathematicians are). As part of this society, I volunteered to help out at a KEEN Oxford Zig-Zag session by teaching the younger kids how to make paper hats and boats as part of a "around the world" session. That session got me hooked - I really enjoyed it and went back the next week, then the week after that, and so on, until I was going to Zig-Zag every week. I also convinced Steph and Nicole to come along and got them hooked too.

The 'athletes' I worked with as a 'coach' had a range of disabilities - from verbal & non-verbal autism to downs syndrome to cerebal palsy - and each presented their own unique challenges to try and engage the athlete. Not only did they each present a new challenge, but each presented a new reward - you realize that little things can be big achievements. I will always remember when I was working with a non-verbal autistic athlete, who was about 10, and after not receiving much interaction for a couple of weeks, managed to get him to pretend to be a dog (we were reenacting the Wind in the Willows). Now getting a kid to bark doesn't sound like much, but this was a major step for this athlete and he looked genuinely pleased to be involved in the activity.

Unfortunately, for the next couple of years I found it harder and harder to fit in KEEN. I was rowing for my college 1st VIII meaning training 7 days a week, and also trying to get a degree (!) and so KEEN fell by the wayside. Then in my 4th year, Nicole started going back every Saturday to AllSorts, the sports session for athletes of all ages. Nicole caught the bug again and was soon selected as KEEN sports coordinator - organizing which activities would be done each week and setting up and clearing up each AllSorts session.

Now inevitably Nicole telling me all her KEEN experiences got me interested again and I started going back to AllSorts. Now I had never done an AllSorts session before and they turned out to be quite different from ZigZag! ZigZag concentrated on arts, crafts, drama and the aim was to get the athlete's imagination stimulated. On the other hand, AllSorts concentrated on 3 sports activities per session and the aim was to get the children physically active (The other session each week is GrEAT, which was for the older athletes and concentrated on social interaction by going bowling, karaoke etc). With the emphasis on sports AllSorts made a lot of the athletes quite excitable and there seemed to be a bit of a parity - usually either your athlete was really excited and the main challenge was to be careful they didn't run out the sports hall, or the athlete was difficult to engage with and the main challenge was to get them involved in the sport.

I was addicted again! I think the reason KEEN is so addictive is the little things - whether it be a child smiling or laughing, a parent being grateful for a little 'time off' or just that hint of recognition from an athlete when you return the week after and they remember you.

So I spent the rest of my final year at Oxford volunteering on any Saturday I could and then, when Saturdays became a problem due to rowing, on Friday nights. I made some great friends through the other volunteers and enjoyed 'special' sessions like an easter egg hunt and, my favorite, swimming. The swimming session was the first I had been to at Oxford and was something really special, but I'll talk more about that later.

So coming to the USA I was keen (no pun intended…) to keep up working with disabled children and so was really pleased to find KEEN New York. It turns out that Elliott Portnoy, who started up KEEN in Oxford, brought KEEN to the Washington, DC area in 1992 which then expanded to 7 US cities, including New York in 2008.

I got in touch with Nichole, who runs the New York program, before coming across here, and went to my first session a few weeks ago - a sports session held in Manhattan. KEEN runs a sports session every fortnight in Manhattan as well as a swim session in Manhattan and sports session in the Bronx, both once monthly.

Arriving at the sports hall I noticed people there to volunteer from all ages, though mainly people around my age. We had a briefing by Nichole about safety guidelines etc (mainly the same as the UK) before being assigned athletes. I got paired with an athlete with autism who is non-verbal. He finds it very difficult to communicate and his vocabulary was mainly 'food' and 'steak' - he obviously has an expensive appetite! After a brief difficulty getting him to leave his mum we started the session. He went straight for the slide, which he enjoyed for a good 15 minutes before deciding that he wanted to sit on the ping pong table - even if someone else was playing on it!

After convincing him it wasn't a great idea to stop someone else's game he decided to head downstairs. Now KEEN mainly consists of the sports activities, but athletes can do arts & crafts downstairs for some of the session if they want to. Normally my athlete doesn't have any interest in the craft session but for some reason he really wanted to get involved this week. We sat him down and handed him some paper and crayons and he started drawing circles. He then got some glue and glued on some bobble-fluffy-things before starting the next one. He got very interested in this which was great, and then he started telling us what colours he was using - a real surprise after only hearing 'food' and 'steak' all session! I found out his favorite colour was definitely green (and don't try to take the green crayon off him!) but he also pointed out blue, yellow and red.

This tied in nicely with, once we left the craft section,the parachute upstairs. It seems to be a universal activity across both sides of the atlantic, and one all athletes enjoy. Basically, the athletes get under a big colorful parachute, then the volunteers waft it up and down. The sensory stimulation really seems to bring some children out of their shell and you get lots of giggling athletes (a good thing!). My athlete headed under and, after getting a little scared, I joined him to calm him down a little. He then proceeded to point out the green, blue, yellow and red sections of colour on the parachute.

Then it was nearing the end of the session so we did something we didn't do back in Oxford but I thought was really nice. Everyone sat in a circle and we went round so that each athlete/volunteer could explain what they had done that session, and then receive a round of applause. It was great to see the kids so proud of what they had done - and I felt proud for myself and my athlete when I described the arts and crafts and sports we had done. Next up, a few athletes did a small show of little red riding hood and then we finished with a race. Back in Oxford, every session finished with a rendition of the Hokey Cokey, whereas in KEEN NY it was a race along the hall with athletes and coaches. What was particularly nice was that quite a few parents had already arrived, so my athlete's mum got to see him race, and his look of joy when he realized his mum was watching was truly heartwarming.

Just like Oxford, the session was finished with the coaches heading for a drink together which was a great chance to get to know some of them. It turns out a lot were there through a scheme called New York Carers - something I don't know too much about but seems to be an online database of charities which need volunteers. It seems a really great idea and covers everything from KEEN to dog walking for rescue shelters to serving at soup kitchens.

I then headed last week to the monthly swim session held in Manhattan and I was really excited! Like I mentioned before, I had attended a swim session in Oxford and they are truly unique sessions. The NY session was two 45min sections with different athletes in each one. There is something about the water that brings out something in the athletes - some who have minimal communication are suddenly laughing and giggling, and quiet athletes can become quite talkative. I think one of the best things is to see the athletes who are in wheelchairs (through cerebal palsy, spina bifida etc) get into the water. All athletes get floats and the wheelchair athletes get lifted into the pool using a chair lift and suddenly they are off trying to get to the other end of the pool!

As I arrived, I got into the lift with an athlete (in a wheelchair) and parents and started up a conversation asking the athlete if they were looking forward to the session. To this, the athlete just grinned and then the mother explained that they only told the athlete he was going swimming as they arrived at the building - if they tell him earlier he doesn't sleep and even finds it hard to eat because he gets so excited! I think this shows how important this session is for the athletes - its something that they would struggle to do in a communal pool so being able to do it in such a safe environment is fantastic for them.

I was partnered with the same athlete as the week before and it was nice to notice him recognize me when he arrived. We were straight in the pool and he headed for the deep end… Obviously we want to keep all athletes in the shallower end so I went off after him and guided him back to the correct end. I then had a really fun 45 minutes while we played water polo with some other athletes, played with some floats and investigated the water fountain at the end of the pool. He also pointed out colours of all the floats we used - another really pleasing moment.

After getting him out the pool and sending him off with his mum we started the second session. My athlete hadn't arrived yet so I waited at the end of the pool without he other free coaches. Maybe I'm still slightly traumatized from my school days but I felt like we were being picked for teams and, inevitably, my athlete didn't turn up so I headed to the pool and went round helping anyone and everyone. This was really nice getting to interact with all the athletes as well as watching the coaches interact. There was a really nice idea by one coach who had a little girl where he gave her a ring float which she used as a "steering wheel" to direct where he would take her. This really brought her out of her shell and got her interacting a lot more - I'll have to try that myself next time!

As always, the session unfortunately had to come to an end so we headed to a bar before I went to meet my Fulbright friends for a nice night out. Midterm revision meant I had to miss this weeks sports session and I can't make next week with my parents being here (although maybe they would enjoy it?) so my next session is in two weeks - another swimming session! If anyone fancies coming along, please get in touch with me or Nichole (through the KEEN New York Website ) - you won't regret it. I hope I've managed to convey how rewarding it is and hope that some of you might get a chance to join in sometime soon! KEEN is something that I'm coming to realize is really important to me and I hope to do it the whole time I'm here so if you ever fancy it then drop me a line...

Later days

David

NOTE: As with my disclaimer to the right of the page, the views expressed in this blog are entirely my own and may not represent the opinions of KEEN Oxford or KEEN New York .

It's Broadway!

Just a quick post this time to talk about my first ever Broadway experience...

So, the story starts 2 months ago, when at the International Orientation at Rutgers we had the chance to buy a Broadway Ticket for the Lion King or Billy Elliot. As luck, or rather lack of luck, would have it - me, Vukosi and Simon just missed out on the tickets - by about 3 people… Considering there were a good one or two hundred tickets it was *really* annoying that we missed out.

However, a couple of weeks ago it was announced that anyone that didn't get a ticket in the orientation would have a chance to get another ticket, this time to the Lion King or Mamma Mia. Needless to say, I didn't particularly want to see Mamma Mia, but I've always wanted to see the Lion King so thought this would be my chance. This time I made sure that I was one of the first in line and got my ticket for $25. Now to put this in perspective, the ticket included transport both to New York and back which would usually cost $17, so the actual ticket for the show cost me a grand total of $8 ≈ £5. NOw in the West End if you're really lucky you can get tickets to shows for £15, but on Broadway the cheapest Lion King tickets are $60 - So I saved at least £30!

So that's how I ended up on a coach last night with Tarek, Simon, Berna, Natalia and other international students. I've never experienced going to New York by road and, to be honest, I don't really fancy doing it again! The roads were crazily busy, before we were even halfway there we were gridlocked and it continued all the way to Broadway.

We got dropped out straight outside the Minskoff Theatre - the home of the Lion King on Broadway. Now most theaters in the West End I've been to are decorated to match the show - the Phantom of the Opera was like a Parisian opera house, Wicked had everything green, but they were nothing compared to this! There were full scale costumes, a mask that must have been at least 20ft tall, and everything was gold or orange.

We headed into the theatre and were shown to our seats. We may have been in the 2nd last row on the upper level, but we were smack-bang centre and had a perfect view. The seats were a lot bigger and comfier than on West End, and the leg room was amazing! The theatre was huge, and on each side of the stage, where the boxes are usually, there were two booths where the percussionists were, which was really cool as throughout the night you could see them play bongos, djembes, gongs and everything else in between.

Before we knew it, the lights dimmed, the curtain lifted, and the first sounds of 'Circle of Life' started…

I can't begin to describe what the experience was like - it really is something that has to be seen to be believed. The costumes were amazing - they captured the essence of the animals perfectly, and were ingenious. 'Elephants' and 'rhinos' walked through the aisles, 'birds' flew above our heads and 'gazelles' leaped all over the stage. The staging was incredible, with had the stage tilting, staircases emerging from the floor, people 'swinging from the trees' and the canyon scene was one of the best things I've ever seen in a theater. When the scenery first appeared for it, I was a bit disappointed - it looked like 3 MDF wedge cut outs with a box in front. I couldn't really see how this was going to replicated a stampede, but then suddenly wildebeest appeared *everywhere*. It was stunning, and that's all I can say to describe it.

The characters were all really well developed, Timon and Pumbaa were hilarious, Scar was fantastically devilish, and the adult Simba, adult Nala and Rafiki had stunning voices. I suppose I shouldn't expect otherwise from a Broadway show, but every single person was a fantastic singer as well as dancer, gymnast and puppeteer. I did feel kind of sorry for the people who were dressed as grass - seems like a bit of a crap part, but I suppose if you're in a Broadway show you can't complain! The music was also fantastic. The original soundtrack to the film was pretty damn good, and the new songs fitted in well and really fleshed out the storyline.

To try and demonstrate what it's like, here's a clip of the 'circle of life' scene from their performance at the Tony Awards… (so add to this a revolving staircase rising from the floor and half the stage rising up and you're getting close to what it was like last night):



I'm not even going to attempt to carry on articulating my night - needless to say it was amazing, and one I will definitely remember and gladly repeat! I'll try and post another update soon - I'm going to write one on KEEN, the charity I'm volunteering at in New York, but I've got a midterm coming up so it depends how much I can pry myself away from revision...

Later Days

The next installment of the David Chronicles...

Well, I've just survived a work week from hell and had a 5 hour nap (about as much sleep as I've had each night this week...) so thought I'd finally update you on the last few weeks. I've got 4 or 5 weeks to cover so I'm warning you that this may be a long one...

I left off last time at the start of IMR - the new math grad seminar. Being held at the Hill Center (the math department) it was a chance to see where I'm going to be based for the next 5 years, as well as helping me prepare for grad school and get through all the admin stuff. It was also a chance to meet my peers, and grad students from other years.

It all started with tea and coffee with a few professors which was great. I met Prof Lepowsky who had given me some advice on selecting courses and a few of my course professors - it was useful to know that they are real people and not just scarily-intelligent exam-setting robots! This was the start of a very intensive 3 days - 15 lectures on everything from Linear Algebra to Differential Manifolds, other grad student's research topics and how to be a 'good grad student'. 100 pages of lecture notes, a scavenger hunt (only mathematicians would set a scavenger hunt that involved solving limits, differential equations and classifying algebras!) and a party with the senior grads later, I emerged as a fully fledged grad student... I also got my own website, which I'm gradually updating with things like contact info, my dissertation, which courses I'm taking etc (the website is here)

Then term started...

I've done quite a bit over the last 4 or 5 weeks so I'm not going to go over everything, so here are my highlights etc...

*Lectures - not so much a highlight, but a necessary evil taking up all my time. I'm taking 4 courses this term - 2 core courses and (because I got exempt from the other core courses) 2 extra courses (effectively 2nd year courses). I have two 80 minute lectures for each course each week (plus 2 lectures in a course I'm not taking for credit) and then 4 seminars a week (each 1 hour long).
For the two core courses I have to hand in a problem set every week, and for the two other courses I have to hand in a set every fortnight. This means that I alternate between 'nice' weeks and 'evil' weeks. For each set I have to hand in about 20 pages of typed solutions, on top of actually working out the solutions, so the workload is pretty intense... Even so, I suppose this is what I'm here for, so I can't complain too much! Combine that with not getting much work done last week (with me being ill) means that this week I've gotten to bed at 4am, 4am, 2am and 4am - this lead to a 3hr nap yesterday afternoon and a 5hr nap this afternoon (the first one planned, the second one unplanned) which certainly leads to a screwed up sleep pattern...

*Cycling - After finding out that I won't be able to row while here, I decided to take up another sport. It didn't take me long to decide on road cycling and I went to the first meeting of the Rutgers Cycling Club. They seemed a really cool bunch, and it seemed a sport I could really get involved with. I've decided to concentrate on road cycling rather than cyclecross or track - but hopefully I'll be able to pick those up some time during the next 5 years... I ended up getting a bike from Kim's Bikes - the local bike shop, and the owner's son cycles for Rutgers so I ended up getting a really good deal on it. It is an absolute dream to ride and I've been on a few long rides, including a great one along the canal in the glorious sunshine. Being ill the last fortnight, the rides have been sparse, but I'm hoping to step up the training again, and look to be racing with the cycling club come the spring.
One note about cycling - it takes a while to get used to being on the wrong side of the road... Normally it doesn't really bother me, but roundabouts are terrifying! I swear when I first went round one I thought I was going to die - it just seems so wrong to be going round them the wrong way...

*New York! - So the first weekend after term started I decided to visit the city that never sleeps and see what all the fuss is about. Me and Simon, my flatmate, headed up to have a look around and meet some of the other Fulbrighters. It really is an amazing city - there is so much going on it is crazy. We first went to the typical sights round Manhatten - the Empire State, Rockafella Center, Times Square before meeting with the Fulbrighters. Now a bit of advice - never try to organise a group of around 20 people meeting in New York - it is the worst logistical nightmare ever imagined. We decided to meet at the Apple Store just off Central Park (such a cool shop) and it seriously took us about an hour to find everyone. Afterwards we had a wander around Central Park and caught up. It was really nice to see how everyone was doing and it was a shame it was such a fleeting visit. I'm heading back up to New York next weekend to start volunteering at KEEN NY (the New York branch of the charity I volunteered at in Oxford helping at youth clubs for disabled children) so hopefully will start seeing more of the Big Apple more regularly.

*Food - American food is different from British food, and when I say different, I mean really different. First off, words don't necessarily mean the same; when I was asked if I wanted some 'Veggies' with my meal I thought it was some weird "Buy a lunch, get a free vegetarian" offer... Also, the word might be the same but the pronounciation different; I still can't pronounce yoghurt or raspberry so that they understand me first time.
Next up, cereals. These take on a completely different form than back home - everything is either chocolate coated, or bright red, green, blue and orange. I found a pack of Raisin Bran and thought I had finally found a healthy cereal, only to open up the box and be shocked and appalled - they coat the raisins in sugar! I mean, this is a simple breakfast of bran flakes and raisins and they can't help but add sugar - as of now, I'm sticking to toast.
Ask any Brit here about tea and it seems we all agree - Lipton's tea tastes like tea, but only if you add sawdust, grit and anythign else you might find on the ground. Not to be disrespectful to Lipton's, but their tea just doesn't come close to a good cup of Tetley's, Yorkshire, Rington's, PG Tips etc. Hence my excitement when (a) mum sent me some Earl Grey in the post and (b) I found a local shop that stocked a full range of Twinings!
Finally, a non-US specific moan: why did people think condensed soup was a good idea? Obviously it saves space, and probably makes it last longer, but it is one of the worst ideas in the world. When I was ill last week, I decided to have the stereotypical comfort food and opened a tin of chicken soup. Now the problem with condensed chicken soup, is that if you are ill and feeling naseous, then the last thing you want to see is condensed chicken soup partially mixed with water. Seriously, why make it look like that?!? Sorry, rant over...

*Shopping - Americans have truly turned this into an art form. My nearest mall is Menlo Park and I assumed being a 'local' mall, it would only have a handful of stores. How wrong I was. The mall had any store you could name: Macy's, Abercrombie & Fitch, Aeropostale, Barnes & Noble, American Apparell and a HUGE food court. Top that off with a Target next door and you pretty much have naything you could ever need in one place.
You might remember me complaining about not really being able to get much food anywhere locally - well then I discovered Stop & Shop. Think of a huge Tesco's, and make it even bigger... They have everything you could ever want to eat, and then some. They have a massive freezer section (about a 1/3 of the store) and in the veg section, every few minutes they freshly 'mist' the root vegetables - giving them a nice sheen, but it does soak you if you stand too close when it goes off!

Well that's about all for the updates right now, I'll try to update again soon!

Later days

P.S. By the way, the British accent is still working it's charm :) It seems most days I get at least one girl saying how cute it is, it's all rather flattering really!

P.P.S. I'm going to try and put some more pictures up on my Fickr page, so have a look here