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School Flooded, Classes Disrupted, and Salama Students Struggling for Help

Exacerbated by the El Nino pattern, a series of devastating downpours have relentlessly paralyzed the East Africa region, including Kenya. With 200+ people dead and thousands displaced nationwide, schools in the Nairobi area have been closed for weeks, if not destroyed.

Salama Gachie is among the many impoverished schools that are already in distress. Many students have lost their homes or are stranded by the flooding, while the infrastructure in the community, especially the failing drainage system, offers no help. Salama teachers, nevertheless, continue preparing lunch for the students who manage to come, despite the soaring food prices and lingering storms.

It is deeply saddening for the CTC team to hear about what has happened at Salama – our hearts go out to all Salama students and faculty members in hardship! In the meantime, we are seeking donations from our valued contributors and would greatly appreciate any gift that may help the school recover from the disaster!

Please make your donation through Paypal here.      

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Winners of UQ Fall 2023 Series Receive Prizes Upon New Year

As the new year of 2024 knocked on the door, winners of the Unruly Queens online competitions during the Fall 2023 free group lessons received their prizes as an award that recognized their outstanding performance and their dedicated chess study.

Winners of UQ Fall 2023

Winners that emerged from the fun-filled and bustling activities included Freya Austin, Lily Xing, Lilianna Gao & Isabella Gao at the Puzzle Contest, Dena Wang from the Best Game Review, and Matt S., Nathan Kuo, Freya Austin from the Arena Tournament.

Prizes for the winners were sponsored again by the grant that Unruly Queens was awarded for the 2023-2024 cycle, including chess hoodies and the newly released chess book Play Like a Champion: Chess Tactics from the Greats by the former US Chess Women Director Jennifer Shehade.

The team of Unruly Queens instructors would like to congratulate these winners one more time on their great work! The team also thanks everyone at the series for their consistent participation and looks forward to welcoming them back in the spring!

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A Hard-won Feast @ Carnivore Restaurant by Salama Players

A group of players from the Salama chess community, accompanied by teachers and their families, enjoyed a feast at Nairobi’s signature Carnivore Restaurant, thanks to the vouchers they recently won at the 2023 Potterhouse Chess Championship.
Salama Players

Carnivore is an open-air restaurant in the Langata suburb of Nairobi, Kenya, specializing in exotic meat and featuring an all-you-can-eat meat buffet. Dining in a restaurant as luxury as Carnivore for the first time in their life, by winning a major chess championship in the area, was a memorable and inspiring experience for these Salama players. Their true passion for the game and their hard work over the board earned them this rare opportunity to treat themselves and the very supportive and encouraging Salama faculty who are always helping off the board.

Congratulations again from CTC to our proud winners!

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