Kids Say the Darnest Things

On Mondays and Fridays, I teach at the African Cultural Research Education Foundation or ACREF for short. ACREF was founded by a religious organization and picks orphans up off of the streets who have no choice but to support themselves. The school is not recognized by the government and therefore is not funded but these students whave no other opportunity for education elsewhere. The director of the school is a headteacher at a primary school and donates half of his salary to ACREF and uses the remainder to sustain himself. Half of the teaching staff there are volunteers who teach part time at ACREF and work full time to sustain themselves. All of the students at ACREF are incredibly grateful for the opportunity to learn but that doesn't mean that they don't encounter challenges. The students raise themselves and must pay for all of their expenses including rent and food because they no longer have parents. Most of their parents have passed because of complications related to HIV/AIDS. These students sometimes have to choose work over school to afford the basic necessities and all of the students have gaps between their Class 8 education (Grade 8) and beginning Form 1 (Grade 9) at ACREF. However these students are far from the uneducated like you might assume.

If I could use one world to describe kids, I would use the word unafraid. When your a kid- you'll do anything: eat a bug, skate without fear of falling down, try that one roller coaster you shouldn't but do anyway and most of all kids are unafraid to ask any question without thinking and without hesitation.

I allowed the students to ask me questions to get to know me and I asked the students questions to get to know them. I was asked in all of my classes (form 1, 2, 3; Grade 9, 10, 11) how old I was to which I responded, 'old enough to be your teacher' which garnered a good laugh and a strong command of respect from the students. But this wasn't the question that made me speechless. A form three (Grade 11) student asked, 'Is this classroom environment conducive to successful learning?'

The setting of the school is right smack dab in the middle of a slum, worse than the one that I live in. The school is located next to a construction site that offers valuable work to vulnerable workers and the average temperature of the tin shack they call a class room is 45 degrees Celsius. Students have no desks, instead they site on plastic lawn chairs on gravel floors. Learning can take place anywhere - but lets get real: this is not an environment conducive to successful learning.

What is a teacher to do? I was asked a question; I had to answer. My pause let another student ask two very jabbing questions, 'Is a Canadian Classroom better? Is the blackboard big enough for you?' The students obviously knew the answer to all of the questions they asked. They understand that the Canadian classroom offers more picturesque scenes and a better quality education. There teenagers - they aren't stupid. But I still owed them an answer.

I said, 'I can't give you an answer to the question, you have to figure out the answer for yourself. If you believe this isn't a conducive learning environment then I think it is your responsibility to become as educated as possible and fight like hell to change it.'

In many ways, the answer was a non-starter but I think it was the closest to honesty that I could come to taking their livelihoods into consideration. I am proud of the student asking me the tough questions because this is what needs to happen in order for progressive action to take place. Students need to take hold of the power and be assisted in doing so.

Why does Caning continue to take place even though it was outlawed in 1998 in Kenya? Why are teachers not required to be qualified? Why are students forced to learn in environments that the wild dogs won't even go into? Why do students still not have equal access to a quality education?

A student stood up for their basic right to education; a right so many students take for granted. It is shameful to think that more students need to adopt this exact attitude. Luckily, on my journey so far; I have met so many vibrant children unafraid to ask the tough questions and relentless enough to demand the honest answers. I hope I gave them the honesty they rightfully deserve.