News & Stories

One of the focuses of our Club’s is to provide kids with new opportunities and experiences. The Afro Quiz is one example. It’s a Jeopardy-style quiz competition held each year during Black History Month to celebrate the rich history of people of African descent across the globe. It also instills a sense of pride and appreciation in the youth of our community.

Aashwin and Chaitanya are two boys who regularly attend the Sakaw Boys & Girls Club. Nirmal, the Club Coordinator, told them about the Afro Quiz 2016 and got them excited about the opportunity. Online they were able to register and find the study materials and together they prepared for the quiz.

“They both prepared their own notes and also kept an eye on the current events related to the African community to get prepared for the competition,” says Nirmal, noting how awesome it was to see them get so invested in the competition.

Finally, the day of the Afro Quiz rolled around. When the kids and Nirmal arrived at the Stanley Milner Library, there were already over 100 kids and their families getting ready to participate and cheer on their friends.

As part of this year’s literature theme, local author Tololwa Mollel – whose 17 books have been published internationally – also attended the event. That’s when our kids realized that this Quiz is a big deal in Edmonton. Because our Sakaw boys had never participated before, none of them were expecting to win a prize plus there were so many other kids there who had been coming back year after year.

“My goal was just to give the kids exposure so that they get some sort of experience about the quiz and get know about the African culture and heritage,” Nirmal explains.

So finally the show began and Nirmal asked his boys if they were ready.

“Yes, we are Nirmal!” They said in unison with resounding confidence.

So they got up onto the stage with 8 other contestants. Aashwin and Chaitanya were both bit nervous in the beginning and little hesitant to press their buzzers. However, both the boys got in the momentum soon as they learned quickly how to play and compete with other participants.

“I was really impressed with their self-confidence and how quickly they adjusted themselves according to the situation,” Nirmal says with pride.

After the quiz was over, the convener announced the results: Aashwin and Chaitanya secured first and second place! They were over the moon with their success and to top it off they won an iPad mini and a Samsung Galaxy tablet and two books about Africa culture.

Two other participants from our Sakaw Club, Tejas and Suryansh, also got prizes and participation certificates. And we are just so proud of all of them.

Overall it was great day for our Sakaw Boys that was filled with fun, learning and winning. They really proved the saying “where there’s is a will there’s a way”.

To learn more about our Club programming, click here.