We are living in a time of uncertainty, a time when we may feel we have more questions than answers. In our perspective as students, we are accustomed to being occupied with school activities as well as fun engagements with our friends. But now, with a ton of free time on our hands, several questions are rising in our minds: How do we keep sane during this period? What are we going to do to be productive while remaining social and following the health guidelines? Even though we have few answers, let us not forget the words of President Theodore Roosevelt, “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are”.

It is upon this background that Strathmore Clubs and Societies have devised ways to engage students, both members and non-members, through online activities. This has been made possible by the fact that we live in an era of technology and innovation. Platforms like Zoom and social media sites like Instagram, Twitter, Tik Tok, Skype and WhatsApp have now eased our interactions online. In addition, they have enabled us work towards attaining our club goals.

Make money online

In the past three weeks, several clubs have successfully run online activities. To begin with, the Strathmore Business Club has held information sessions with external stakeholders in the business world. This gave members opportunities to make presentations. For instance, one of the members made a presentation on ‘How to make money online’. This presentation emphasized that we can use technology in this period to start online businesses such as production and content management. Many of us may have heard about Azziad, a content developer who made headlines last week. She caught the eye of many TV shows and has since landed a gig with ‘Too Early For Birds’, a renowned theatrical production.

Similarly, the Enactus Club has had an informative Kenya Tweet chat with Enactus members from various universities. The Strathmore Toastmasters Club in stride, has attended webinar sessions with other Toastmasters members all over the world. This improved their public speaking and presentation skills. The Debate club has also had several WhatsApp tournaments whereby the participants use audios to submit their speech. The judges adjudicate the debates using voice notes. On top of that, the Clubs have also engaged in fun online games like bingo, which attracted participation even by non-members.

The Mental Health Club in addition, is working with the Strathmore University Medical Centre to offer professional counselling services to the students during this time as cases of mental health challenges like anxiety and depression are on the rise during the pandemic. In light of this, it is important for us to keep checking on our friends.

Setbacks and solutions

Whereas Strathmore Clubs and Societies are doing their best to engage the students online, this has not been met without setbacks. First and foremost, the level of participation and enjoyment is not as vibrant and fun as in physical meetings. Coupled with this is the difficulty in following up with the progress of members in allocated tasks and activities. Also, poor connection poses a big hiccup to the quality of meetings and overall enjoyment that comes with participation.

Notwithstanding these setbacks, our clubs are positive and adapting to the situation so that we make proper use of this time. There is no doubt that the pandemic is putting all of us to task in innovating ideas of solving emerging problems. The Strathmore Clubs and societies have varied and creative members to engage students better.

I urge all of us to adhere to the health guidelines and minimise unnecessary movements. Let us do what we can, using the resources available to us in our homes! Together, we will defeat COVID-19.

 

This article was written by Farhiya Osman, Vice President, Student Council.  

Would you like to share your experience of living through the circumstances brought by the Covid-19 pandemic? Kindly email: communications@strathmore.edu