The 4th Annual Zawadi Bazaar Brings the Gift of Christmas to Campus

On Saturday 6^th December, AKA, Mombasa was bustling with activity as the 2014 Zawadi Bazaar took place. With 45 stalls, dozens of student participants, and hundreds of visitors, the school was buzzing all day--everything from games organized by student groups on the front lawn, to gift vendors and performances inside the Commons, and a wide variety of food and drinks to sample on the seaside patio.

There were also special appearances by Mr. Vlad Gogelescu and Head of the Academy Mr. Simon Otieno as Santa Claus!

Overall, this year's Bazaar raised over KSh 160,000 for the Citizenship Fund, a self-sustaining fund that students can access to implement service and leadership initiatives in school and around Mombasa. In addition to this amount, student stalls also raised another KSh 175,000 for their unique projects; bringing the total fundraising by student groups to nearly KSh 340,000.

The Zawadi Bazaar is also one of the major ways in which the Year 10s apply their entrepreneurship skills taught to them in the MYP curriculum. The students took lessons learned from their visit to the Wild Living Resources Conservancy in Kilifi, for example, and kept in mind the triple bottom line of profit, environment and community when running their respective stalls.

Ziana Bhanji and her group commissioned a local tailor to make bags out of locally made material. “We had to talk to quite a few different suppliers before we decided on this one,” explains Ziana. “We had to take into account the price he would charge as well as the quality of his work. But in the end what we thought was important was supporting the local community. We made posters and small cards that we put into each of the items we sold made by him, so that we could promote his craft.”

The students also learned important business skills when implementing their entrepreneurial lessons. Emaan Salim, who brought in a local cassava crisp vendor from her neighborhood, explained how their stall was initially focused on offering around nine different products, but in the end settled on selling fewer products of a higher quality. “It was special for me because the cassava crisp vendor is someone I have known since I was very young, and it was rewarding for me to be able to do something for him.” She also explained how the group learned to delegate tasks and work with external parties to be able to generate a profit for all.  

 We wish to extend our great appreciation to all those that participated in the Bazaar, whether it was by running a stall, donating to the raffle, making purchases from student stalls, or something else. Thank you for making the fourth annual Zawadi Bazaar a resounding success!