Sunday, February 17, 2013

A day in a Kenyan School - Feb 14th, 2013


On Thursday, I spent the day at a rural Kenyan school. This is the first time I have missed a day of clinics in four years, but with such a great team, they didn’t need me there. Lloyd was filling in for registration and the rest of the group is a well oiled machine! I went to Kinwe (pronounced kin-oye) Primary School and sat in on Class 2 (Grade 2) lessons for the morning. The teacher was speaking in English during the English lesson, Swahili during the Swahili lesson, and Kimeru (local tribal language) during the social studies, maths (brits make this plural), science, and CRI (Christian Religion Instruction). Apparently each school is sponsored by a religion so all students are taught in that religion. The teachers were shocked to learn that you’re not allowed to talk about religion or even mention God in government (public) schools in Canada/US. They explained that in places like Mombassa where there are two main religions, the parents choose which school to sent their child to, to receive Islam or Christianity Instruction. I told them there’s this third new ‘religion’ that many people are becoming in the US and described atheism. They had never heard of it and I had to describe it a few times. ‘No God?’ they asked. I said ‘Yes, they believe there is no god and so they don’t want to have to listen to people who say there is’. Their response was ‘how is that fair? That’s oppression’. Geez – you know it’s bad when the Kenyans who have massively corrupt governments, school systems, and hospital systems are calling it oppressive. 

Anyway, the teachers in primary school (K – 8) are required to have a teaching diploma – that’s a two year program. The teachers with a bachelor of education are allowed to teach in secondary schools. That’s either a 4 year university program, or for the primary teachers looking to upgrade, they go to Nairobi (4 hour drive) during their holidays. There are 3 terms in Kenya with three weeks break in between each. The teachers who are in university spend 4 years of their three weeks off in classes in Nairobi. That’s more dedicated than I think I could be! 

It was a neat day because I spent breaks and lunches with the teachers. The school is set on the side of a mountain, so breaks are spent under a great tree nearby. The teachers bring over cardboard to lay on the dirt, to relax. There are 166 students and there are four buildings. The two oldest buildings were constructed around 1990 and somewhat dilapidated. The foundations are built up dirt so the floor is nearly level, though not even as there are bumps throughout. The walls are made with wooden slats that are varying thicknesses around 8 inches are rarely straight. This allows light in between the slats. There are a few crossbeams on the walls and the ceilings are constructed in A-frame with two sheets of corrugated tin. There are three windows in each classroom, 2 feet by 2 feet.  That is the primary light source.  The dark room is a stark contrast to the brightness of outside. There is one chalk board on the wall, the teacher gets two shelves in the corners of the room, each about 2 ft by 2 ft. One complains there is nowhere to put her book while she’s teaching. The students sit together on benches at long tables. 6 children per sides of the 8 ft tables. Some classrooms are slightly different, but all are equipped very simply. This classroom was the only one with a door that locks, so there is wood stored in the corner for the cook to use to make tea and lunch. 

The chats with the teachers are quite elucidating. They asked if I was married and I said ‘no thank you’ so they all laughed that I could be resistant to the idea. I explained at this point, I’m too busy to look for a husband and that I spend much time in different places. They didn’t understand why this would preclude a husband. I explained that in Canada (and US), most couples live together with their children. They told me that they often live apart from their husbands for years, coming together only for the occasional weekend. Many of their children were in boarding school as early as 4th grade. Almost all secondary schools (9th – 12th grade) here require boarding. They also explained that you can be married under contract. Both parties agree to be married for, say, 10 years, then go their separate ways afterwards. They asked if divorce was allowed in the West and I said it was and the rate was quite high. They said it’s not very high in Kenya because when two people fight, they often separate for a few years, come back and live together again. Also, there’s a new law in Kenya that if you live together for two years, the chief of the village has the right to issue a marriage certificate. Polygamy is common as well.

The actual class day was very similar. The teacher reviewed yesterdays material, presented new material in a variety of ways, using auditory, reading, recitation, and really had an interactive class. Only one or two children were not paying attention and the rest were extremely engaged. The biggest difference I saw was that when one child got the answer right, all the other children clapped; it was adorable. When the children clearly needed a break, the teacher asked them all to sing, and every child joined in!

The students for a number or reasons miss school, so as a result, In Class 2, there were 6 year olds, like you’d expect, up to 10 or 12 year olds. The teachers said there was a 17 year old student in Class 7 last year. After Class 8, the students take a test, their mark gains them entrance to secondary school or polytechnic schools for welding, carpentry, plumbing, etc. In secondary school, students are in Form 1 – 4, and at the end, they take a second test, where their mark determines whether they go to college for teaching, government, administration (secretary), nursing, accounting, etc, or university to become doctors, lawyers, engineers, etc. It is a neat system, similar to the British one.

After eating lunch with the teachers, a huge helping (2 – 3 cups) of beans, maize, and spinach, I went into the 7th and 8th grade class. They combined so I could have a science lesson with them. We talked about gravity, rockets and satellites. They knew very little of this. They had just gone over speed distance and time, however, so they had a great base to start. I attached a string to the wall with a small piece of straw around it, and attached a blown up balloon to the straw. Once we let the balloon go and all of the air is released, it acts a rocket and the children all laughed. We then hypothesized whether the balloon would be faster or slower if it goes up the slope or down, and while the students all knew the answer, they couldn’t answer ‘why’. In Kenya, the students are taught using recitation and repetition primarily, there is a not a lot of thinking at the primary school level. When I asked ‘why’, there was silence in the room.  After two long minutes, one student finally suggested gravity could be the reason the balloon goes faster on the way down. I was so relieved to hear the answer! The students though vocal as a group, are shy as individuals. I had each student assist me in different ways throughout the lesson individually, and many were very embarrassed, moreso than in an American or Canadian classroom. They have an adorable way of showing that they’re shy, with a slight giggle then covering their eyes or face with their arm or hands. 

Next we worked on programming a robot. There is an NXT Lego robot that I brought with me to Kenya. You can program the robot to do a basic program using the interface on the robot. We walked through the steps, letting the students decide, then I posed a problem that required them to change 1 step. It as slow, but there was definitely learning. It was great to work with the students on something I like, and be able to teach them as well. The situation was so different, I have not yet found the word to describe how neat but surreal it felt: most of the students were not wearing shoes and there was no electricity in the building, yet they were taking turns programming a robot and we were talking about space. Confusing, absurd, neat, different, blessed – there are so many words I could use!

We started a feeding program at lunch time there just three days earlier, and all of the students were thrilled to come back from lunch with full bellies. I look forward to seeing these kids next year as there were a few who were just too small for their age. We exchanged letters with Westwood Primary school in Cornwall, PEI, and I will return next week to collect the letters. The children were wonderful to be around and I am so lucky to have had the experience learning from the teachers and interacting with the students. It was a great day and when I returned to the clinics, I learned they saw over 700 patients! I should leave more often!!

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