"The vote is the most powerful instrument ever devised by man for breaking down injustice and destroying the terrible walls which imprison men because they are different from other men."
Lyndon B. Johnson
The world is filled with challenges. As must as I would like to be believes that the world we live in is a progressive and generally happy place, I cannot block out the immense amount of issues that people around the world go through each day. Voting is a right. I think more people who have the right to vote need to start treating it as privilege because of the people who simply don't enjoy the same right or struggle to have the right to go into a voting booth and cast a ballot.
Voting is a civic responsibility that all people share. The greatest power that someone has is too make noise at the ballot box. The statement may appear to be a cliche but it is the greatest truth in the book. Politicians listen to the demographics that vote. A decisive vote can also force political parties to rule as one or rule collectively. Canadians lets look back to two examples: Universal health care was achieved under the liberal minority government of Lester B. Pearson with New Democratic Support from the father of medicare Tommy Douglas. More recently, Canadians have seen one party action from the newly formed Conservative majority sending Air Canada and Canada post workers back to work and off of the picket lines despite having the longest filibuster in Canadian Government history at 58 hours. Would Universal Health Care or Back to work legislation been handled differently if a different electorate had shown up to the poles and voted?
Canadians take for granted the civil liberties that have been granted to us: health care, marriage equality, the right to choose and the system that grants us these rights. Its not just the people who don't vote but its the people who only get informed during election season or the people who are informed and don't act on that information. Lets be honest for a second, When was the last time you wrote to your member of parliament or any governing body that governs you? Civic engagement is a lifelong responsibility that needs to be protected, remembered and cherished.
There are a couple of moments in my time in Kenya where I have known how lucky I am to be Canadian. Talking to people on the street, in our offices, teachers and even students, they have described all to well the post election violence that shook Kenya almost four years ago. People literally were beheaded, shot, stabbed and murdered in the street in Kenya during the post election. I have walked through an area in our neighbourhood where people lined up heads in the streets. It was a dangerous situation and not one that many Kenyans enjoyed. Violence was created because of the instability of the political system and the corruption that takes place but even tribalism and old values clashing against a youth electorate were part of the challenges. When I ask people if they voted, those that say 'Yes' usually follow up with a comment. The most memorable so far has been, When I was voting, I was standing in the line scared and feeling very uncomfortable and I asked myself the question, 'Why am I voting?' The sincerity and vunerablity is that statement really made me think to the reasons that million of people around the world vote, its different depending on the country you live in. I cannot say that I would vote in places like Kenya where your life is at risk. I think believing in the power to vote is a lot different when your faced with death at a ballot box.
There are also instances where you understand that the system is filled with corruption. Just recently, the ministry of education lost over 5 million KSH. No one really understands how or why and the minister of education involved in the incident is under heavy suspicion. What are the chances of an inquiry happening? What are the chances the money will be returned to the Ministry? Will there be accountability? I think Canadians often times forget that even though the process is so slow and often times tedious that when instances like this take place there are some measures initiated to bring justice to the actions that have been done. The Chief Justice talk that I mentioned I had went too was also an eye opening experience. There were performance pieces before the Chief Justice talked about the challenges within the neighbourhood. There was a silent to music dramatization about a riot that reflected the reality of two weeks ago when two police officers shot and killed six children for a small disruption. When the lay of the land is too shoot first and ask questions later; its hard to determine who's responsible and who is accountable because it no longer matters when innocent victims have paid the price. It is ironic that it will be up to the Chief Justice to try to deal with these issues head on.
Kenya established a new constitution last year filled with lofty goals and big promises. People were living in fear that post constitution violence would break out. The fear still exists even though Kenya is roughly forty five years old. Its astonishing to believe that people still are willing to participate in a system that is corrupt, unfair and deadly on many accounts. What drives these people to make change? I think its their own personal integrity and I am happy at least that they are strong enough to effect change no matter how small the impact.
It all goes back to the person standing in line at the ballot box. Thank you for voting and taking the time to shape the society you live in. Canadians complain about standing in two hour lines to cast an advance ballot or how inconvenient it is to follow a different route home from work to cast a vote but the reality is people die for the right to vote and risk their lives to shape the world they live in. Living without fear and obstacles on voting is the privilege we enjoy on top of the right. Perhaps, if Canadians treated voting as a privilege and exercised civic responsibility each day action would replace words and democracy would yet again be a shining example of effective and fair governance.
The Premise...
- Sebastien
- Kitchener, ON, Canada
- After completing a 3-month intensive placement in Nairobi, Kenya teaching grades 5-11 in 2011 and completing a post-grad degree in Education in 2012; Sebastien (Me!) is embarking on a new exciting challenge #teachingawesome ... The Journey begins soon!
6.28.2011
Education's Best Friend
"The whole object of education is...to develop the mind. The mind should be a thing that works."
Sherwood Anderson
Before I cam to Kenya, I got a link from a friend to an upcoming movie trailer. Since I would be teaching this summer, the friend sent me the link to 'Bad Teacher' starring Cameron Diaz and Justin Timberlake. Diaz is the 'bad teacher' who is inspired by her school board's new policy of providing bonuses to teachers whose classes do well on standardized tests. The same sort of ethical dilemma entered my Grade Five Class this week and is continuing to frustrate me to no end.
Monday morning was one of those classes where I felt under the gun because there was just so much material to cover in so little time. Then the most dreaded thing for a teacher happened: A class interruption. Now I understand what its like to loose precious class time in an already shortened assembly period. Five precious minutes later, I got the class back but they were very excited from the previous announcement. After the interruption, it was no longer the interruption that bothered me but the announcement itself.
Kenyatta University is offering the students at my primary school the opportunity ti take part in a Standardized test. To write, each student must pay 30 Ksh ($0.30 CAD approx.), if a student scores 85% or above they win a free trip to a place that the kids were all fascinated by and I couldn't make out because I didn't understand the name because it was in Swahili. If the students score between 75-85%, they receive a free watch. The kids got so excited. Not to be a pessimist but I have great difficulty in endorsing this idea when the highest midterm score was 80% within the class. This is the problem with incentives in education: It sets students up for great failure. Not only does the university benefit but its as if the University is stealing money from the children by charging them 30 KSH that could be better spent elsewhere. The children will also suffer having their hopes dashed and making it seem like education is out of reach yet again in an already fragile childhood.
Incentives are a high risk in education. Part of the reason is because even with ideal classroom environments, external factors are always a risk especially in this community where all of the children are living in slum environments. Incentives also pit teachers against each other. The Grade 5 Class that scores the highest average (minimum average is 70% to qualify) will receive free brand new textbooks. Incentives are giving teachers future unfair advantages as to how their students preform by offering materials that other teachers don't have access too. Incentives can also be dangerous to the classroom model. We must first ask ourselves; What the purpose of education is? If the purpose is too create a long game or to offer hot trends then incentives are the way to go but if we are looking to create sustainable leaders that work hard then we must be extremely careful offering lessons other than education in the classroom.
Education is not supposed to be easy. Education is not meager or belittling; education is challenging, ever-changing, and empowering. I don't protest to be an expert and I am sure that these comments and reflections just scratch the tip of the iceberg. Hopefully, over time, I will gain valuable experience and be able to further reflect on the meaning of education. Notwithstanding the previous disclosure, the meaning of education that I have formed thus far reflects someone who has been educated to a certain extent and just because I understand the meaning does not mean that its easier to set the same example for the students I teach because just like students before them, they must learn these lessons on their own. It's a lot harder to understand the power of education when you are the one sitting in front of the blackboard in your own desk.
I went to the first public appearance of the newly sworn in Chief Justice of Kenya in Korogocho, a slum on its own. A man obviously on some sort of drugs shouted at Emma and I "Do you know your in Korogocho where the poor people live?" We understood where we were and so did the Chief Justice who grew up in the neighbourhood and who is one of the few that was nurtured, educated and transformed into what Kenya hopes will be an honest, mature and progressive government leader. It was a powerful message for the Chief Justice to choose Korogocho to make his first public appearance and what it means for the challenges in the neighbourhood.
Its amazing to see what an honest education will do for someone. Education doesn't need flashy buzzwords or fancy gimics. All it needs is qualified teachers, a safe place, decent enough materials and students thirsty to learn. It shouldn't take much for those things to fall into place and when they do its more then sheer magic, its right. Education is right because it moves people out of poverty, it transforms ideas and transforms people. The Chief Justice did not need incentives and neither do my students. These children are too young to be conned by the education system and hopefully will learn that hard work is what raises them to the next level not valueless temptations.
Lets start a real conversation about real empowerment so that all children can grow up and be capable adults.
Sherwood Anderson
Before I cam to Kenya, I got a link from a friend to an upcoming movie trailer. Since I would be teaching this summer, the friend sent me the link to 'Bad Teacher' starring Cameron Diaz and Justin Timberlake. Diaz is the 'bad teacher' who is inspired by her school board's new policy of providing bonuses to teachers whose classes do well on standardized tests. The same sort of ethical dilemma entered my Grade Five Class this week and is continuing to frustrate me to no end.
Monday morning was one of those classes where I felt under the gun because there was just so much material to cover in so little time. Then the most dreaded thing for a teacher happened: A class interruption. Now I understand what its like to loose precious class time in an already shortened assembly period. Five precious minutes later, I got the class back but they were very excited from the previous announcement. After the interruption, it was no longer the interruption that bothered me but the announcement itself.
Kenyatta University is offering the students at my primary school the opportunity ti take part in a Standardized test. To write, each student must pay 30 Ksh ($0.30 CAD approx.), if a student scores 85% or above they win a free trip to a place that the kids were all fascinated by and I couldn't make out because I didn't understand the name because it was in Swahili. If the students score between 75-85%, they receive a free watch. The kids got so excited. Not to be a pessimist but I have great difficulty in endorsing this idea when the highest midterm score was 80% within the class. This is the problem with incentives in education: It sets students up for great failure. Not only does the university benefit but its as if the University is stealing money from the children by charging them 30 KSH that could be better spent elsewhere. The children will also suffer having their hopes dashed and making it seem like education is out of reach yet again in an already fragile childhood.
Incentives are a high risk in education. Part of the reason is because even with ideal classroom environments, external factors are always a risk especially in this community where all of the children are living in slum environments. Incentives also pit teachers against each other. The Grade 5 Class that scores the highest average (minimum average is 70% to qualify) will receive free brand new textbooks. Incentives are giving teachers future unfair advantages as to how their students preform by offering materials that other teachers don't have access too. Incentives can also be dangerous to the classroom model. We must first ask ourselves; What the purpose of education is? If the purpose is too create a long game or to offer hot trends then incentives are the way to go but if we are looking to create sustainable leaders that work hard then we must be extremely careful offering lessons other than education in the classroom.
Education is not supposed to be easy. Education is not meager or belittling; education is challenging, ever-changing, and empowering. I don't protest to be an expert and I am sure that these comments and reflections just scratch the tip of the iceberg. Hopefully, over time, I will gain valuable experience and be able to further reflect on the meaning of education. Notwithstanding the previous disclosure, the meaning of education that I have formed thus far reflects someone who has been educated to a certain extent and just because I understand the meaning does not mean that its easier to set the same example for the students I teach because just like students before them, they must learn these lessons on their own. It's a lot harder to understand the power of education when you are the one sitting in front of the blackboard in your own desk.
I went to the first public appearance of the newly sworn in Chief Justice of Kenya in Korogocho, a slum on its own. A man obviously on some sort of drugs shouted at Emma and I "Do you know your in Korogocho where the poor people live?" We understood where we were and so did the Chief Justice who grew up in the neighbourhood and who is one of the few that was nurtured, educated and transformed into what Kenya hopes will be an honest, mature and progressive government leader. It was a powerful message for the Chief Justice to choose Korogocho to make his first public appearance and what it means for the challenges in the neighbourhood.
Its amazing to see what an honest education will do for someone. Education doesn't need flashy buzzwords or fancy gimics. All it needs is qualified teachers, a safe place, decent enough materials and students thirsty to learn. It shouldn't take much for those things to fall into place and when they do its more then sheer magic, its right. Education is right because it moves people out of poverty, it transforms ideas and transforms people. The Chief Justice did not need incentives and neither do my students. These children are too young to be conned by the education system and hopefully will learn that hard work is what raises them to the next level not valueless temptations.
Lets start a real conversation about real empowerment so that all children can grow up and be capable adults.
6.24.2011
I am Real Education
"Fathers, be good to your daughters
Daughters will love like you do
Girls become lovers who turn into mothers
So mothers, be good to your daughters too"
John Mayer
'Education! Education! Education!' This was one of the many chants I heard children preform at the Youth Alive Exchange. The Youth Alive Exchange exists to share the challenges and opportunties, the learnings and goals of six hundred African Students. On top of the dramatic skis and musical numbers preformed by the students, there was entertainment in the form of song, dance and comedy. The experience was amazing to say the least. When you put on an event like this, you want the students to have fun but you also want real learning to take place. This week as I was doing lifeskills classes, I saw the result firsthand.
I asked the students what they learned at the exchange the I was a litte surprised to hear the response. Time and time again, I heard, 'I learned that children have a right to education, food and shelter.' When I was eleven years old, I certainly knew and believed (even then) in the basic staple rights of people but I don't think I ever came close to an understanding of what having these basic rights ever realy meant. Perhaps these students don't understand it either because they don't see the privilege that students in other countries have but the overwhelming feeling I get from talking to these students is that they know far more about basic rights at eleven years old then I ever did at that age because it is a struggle form them to have these rights day to day.
During lifeskills this week, we landed on what so far has been my favourite topic: friendship. Before you disqualify friendship as an age appropriate topic for eleven year olds, remember what is happening in their lives. Children are startingto take on more responsiblities and are redefining their group of friends much like the transition to secondary school for the Canadian teenager.
Students were asked to describe the qualities of good and bad friends and what their lives would be like if they grow up and associate with good or bad friends. Beginning at this age, it is undeniable the impact that your peer group has on you, your choices and the consequences or rewards of those choices.
It felt good to offer students a safe space to discuss their ideas and feelings especially since it was evident that a lot of these topics are treated as non-issues at home. Students asked questions on how to deal with friends that have started to sniff glue or friends that were presurring them into early sexual behaviour. Students also asked aout moral dillemmas like not having enough money to afford things and giving into peer pressure when a so-called 'friend' offers oney in exchange for something else.
I think its difficult to hear these questions. I know that I can answer them. I know that teachers teach far more then academics but I can not help thinking that these kids have had absolutely no conversations with their parents at home. I remember having those difficult moments with my parents over issues like sex, drugs and alcohol. Looking back, no matter how uncomfortable, those topics made me feel, I'd rather have the conversation with my parents than with others like bad friends, friends that don't actually know the answer or when its too late and you have contracted an STI or been arrested for public drunkedness.
These aren't the only conversations that students don't have with their parents. Misguided and incorrect facts sit with the students regarding puberty and growing up. Some of the misconceptions include:
-The belief that when the penis enlarges, it means that young men need sex to survive
-In order for the egg to 'fall out of the vagina,' it needs to be fertilized at least once a month
-That during menstration, pads only need to be changed once
-Wet Dreams occur when a boy urinates during the night.
Its shameful that a culture of trust does not exist to discuss these ideas between parents and their children. A problem exists when a child is not allowed to discuss the most intimate details of life like sexuality, growing up and choosing good company with their parents. I am not arguing that these subjects should not be taught in the classroom because they should be part of the cirriculum but the subject matter should not be a first discovery in the classroom, rather a reenforcement of what the students learned at home.
A culture of learning must also take place so that parents are given accurate information to give to their children. Rolemodels like older siblings must also have accurate information in order for them to give honest answers when they are asked questions from younger children within the home. The subject matter has now surpassed basic rights in education, food and shelter and have now extended to the very important subject matter of health. Life is health. Without good health, it is near impossible to have a good standard of living.
The people I've met are entitled to their rights just like you and I but too often have to rely on faith to get through those important moments in life. Having an abdudance of medication, food, education is simply not in the cards for these people. We don't have to want for anything yet there are people around the world that have to want for rights they are entitled to.
Daughters will love like you do
Girls become lovers who turn into mothers
So mothers, be good to your daughters too"
John Mayer
'Education! Education! Education!' This was one of the many chants I heard children preform at the Youth Alive Exchange. The Youth Alive Exchange exists to share the challenges and opportunties, the learnings and goals of six hundred African Students. On top of the dramatic skis and musical numbers preformed by the students, there was entertainment in the form of song, dance and comedy. The experience was amazing to say the least. When you put on an event like this, you want the students to have fun but you also want real learning to take place. This week as I was doing lifeskills classes, I saw the result firsthand.
I asked the students what they learned at the exchange the I was a litte surprised to hear the response. Time and time again, I heard, 'I learned that children have a right to education, food and shelter.' When I was eleven years old, I certainly knew and believed (even then) in the basic staple rights of people but I don't think I ever came close to an understanding of what having these basic rights ever realy meant. Perhaps these students don't understand it either because they don't see the privilege that students in other countries have but the overwhelming feeling I get from talking to these students is that they know far more about basic rights at eleven years old then I ever did at that age because it is a struggle form them to have these rights day to day.
During lifeskills this week, we landed on what so far has been my favourite topic: friendship. Before you disqualify friendship as an age appropriate topic for eleven year olds, remember what is happening in their lives. Children are startingto take on more responsiblities and are redefining their group of friends much like the transition to secondary school for the Canadian teenager.
Students were asked to describe the qualities of good and bad friends and what their lives would be like if they grow up and associate with good or bad friends. Beginning at this age, it is undeniable the impact that your peer group has on you, your choices and the consequences or rewards of those choices.
It felt good to offer students a safe space to discuss their ideas and feelings especially since it was evident that a lot of these topics are treated as non-issues at home. Students asked questions on how to deal with friends that have started to sniff glue or friends that were presurring them into early sexual behaviour. Students also asked aout moral dillemmas like not having enough money to afford things and giving into peer pressure when a so-called 'friend' offers oney in exchange for something else.
I think its difficult to hear these questions. I know that I can answer them. I know that teachers teach far more then academics but I can not help thinking that these kids have had absolutely no conversations with their parents at home. I remember having those difficult moments with my parents over issues like sex, drugs and alcohol. Looking back, no matter how uncomfortable, those topics made me feel, I'd rather have the conversation with my parents than with others like bad friends, friends that don't actually know the answer or when its too late and you have contracted an STI or been arrested for public drunkedness.
These aren't the only conversations that students don't have with their parents. Misguided and incorrect facts sit with the students regarding puberty and growing up. Some of the misconceptions include:
-The belief that when the penis enlarges, it means that young men need sex to survive
-In order for the egg to 'fall out of the vagina,' it needs to be fertilized at least once a month
-That during menstration, pads only need to be changed once
-Wet Dreams occur when a boy urinates during the night.
Its shameful that a culture of trust does not exist to discuss these ideas between parents and their children. A problem exists when a child is not allowed to discuss the most intimate details of life like sexuality, growing up and choosing good company with their parents. I am not arguing that these subjects should not be taught in the classroom because they should be part of the cirriculum but the subject matter should not be a first discovery in the classroom, rather a reenforcement of what the students learned at home.
A culture of learning must also take place so that parents are given accurate information to give to their children. Rolemodels like older siblings must also have accurate information in order for them to give honest answers when they are asked questions from younger children within the home. The subject matter has now surpassed basic rights in education, food and shelter and have now extended to the very important subject matter of health. Life is health. Without good health, it is near impossible to have a good standard of living.
The people I've met are entitled to their rights just like you and I but too often have to rely on faith to get through those important moments in life. Having an abdudance of medication, food, education is simply not in the cards for these people. We don't have to want for anything yet there are people around the world that have to want for rights they are entitled to.
6.21.2011
'Aspire to Inspire before you Expire'
"First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do."
Epictetus
The title of this blog is inspired by the students at ACREF who wrote this quotation on the blackboard of their classroom. They say that the best teachers are those that inspire their students. I guess I've thought a lot about inspiration the past couple of weeks. Who inspires the youth in Kenya? What inspires the youth? What is the driving force to make mentors and rolemodels try to inspire their students when life appears to be so bleak?
I don't like to admit it but money is one of the driving forces of motivation and inspiration. The work of a teacher is undervalued universally. Its a thin line and a tiny thread to walk on because the teachers are the people who are forming and shaping the ideas and opinions of the leaders of tomorrow. Even in places like Ontario where teachers are decently compensated, there are still attacks on how much work the teacher actually does or how much vacation time they receive. The reality of the Kenyan classrooom is high volumes of students, long hours and poor pay. Teachers make approxamately $1200 CAD a year and can have upwards of ninety students in their classes. With hardly enough money to pay rent and food, there is little incentive to inspire students by giving them a quality education that refreshes their mind, body and soul. Why would a teacher want to put a lot of effort into their work when they get little in return and the challenges are so high?
Something that surprised me is the hardworking and dedicated teachers at ACREF that make so little yet work so hard. ACREF teachers are lucky to make a quarter of what a teacher at a government school makes but are passionate about teaching and are there for the students. True, most of them hold down other jobs but overall they are the most educated and qualified teachers I think I've met in Kenya. It restores my faith that it doesn't matter how much or how little you make financially but that you are happy in the job you are in. Although this timbit is reassuring, it is still scary to think about how little these teachers live on.
I met a girl at ACREF that has been dealt one of the most difficult cards in life I think I have encountered in Kenya. She has four sisters, all of whom have dropped out of primary education. Her mother has remarried to what appears to be not the greatest father figure forcing her to leave home and live with another family. Although she has a roof over her head, she must make all of her purchases on her own including clothes, wash products and her school fees. She has greatly improved her test scores but fears they might be slipping because she is struggling to make ends meat. She said to me that she is desperate to complete secondary school because her dream is too move out of the slum. Her story is inspiring because she understands that the path out of poverty is a good education and she is thirsty for that education. Its amazing to see this young woman combat everything in her life and stll want to transform her own life and the lives of people around her.
I think back to my childhood and even now to the people that truly inspire me. I think of famous leaders like President Lincoln, P.M. King, P.M. Trudeau, Sec. of State Hillary Clinton, Nelson Mandella and Maya Angelou. I think about the personal connections and people of inspiration I know; too many to list here and I think about the opportunities I've strived for to make a difference in my community and in my world. These are the people and things youth should be depending on for inspiration not the shiny and flawed figures and phony characteristics of the tragic Hollywood Story. I hope that youth I encounter are able to learn about the world's greatest leaders and learn from the people that are setting examples in their communities like the workers and volunteers at Education for Life, the exceptional teachers that do strive to inspire students or even the entrepeuneur who is changing the way life is lived in the slum each day.
I know that I am inspired by the people I meet each day and I can only hope that I am able to make inspired choices and promote inspired thinking. It requires a collective effort to change the culture in which we live. I want each person journeying along side me to make a concious effort to lead and not follow because the power of one cannot be underestimated.
Epictetus
The title of this blog is inspired by the students at ACREF who wrote this quotation on the blackboard of their classroom. They say that the best teachers are those that inspire their students. I guess I've thought a lot about inspiration the past couple of weeks. Who inspires the youth in Kenya? What inspires the youth? What is the driving force to make mentors and rolemodels try to inspire their students when life appears to be so bleak?
I don't like to admit it but money is one of the driving forces of motivation and inspiration. The work of a teacher is undervalued universally. Its a thin line and a tiny thread to walk on because the teachers are the people who are forming and shaping the ideas and opinions of the leaders of tomorrow. Even in places like Ontario where teachers are decently compensated, there are still attacks on how much work the teacher actually does or how much vacation time they receive. The reality of the Kenyan classrooom is high volumes of students, long hours and poor pay. Teachers make approxamately $1200 CAD a year and can have upwards of ninety students in their classes. With hardly enough money to pay rent and food, there is little incentive to inspire students by giving them a quality education that refreshes their mind, body and soul. Why would a teacher want to put a lot of effort into their work when they get little in return and the challenges are so high?
Something that surprised me is the hardworking and dedicated teachers at ACREF that make so little yet work so hard. ACREF teachers are lucky to make a quarter of what a teacher at a government school makes but are passionate about teaching and are there for the students. True, most of them hold down other jobs but overall they are the most educated and qualified teachers I think I've met in Kenya. It restores my faith that it doesn't matter how much or how little you make financially but that you are happy in the job you are in. Although this timbit is reassuring, it is still scary to think about how little these teachers live on.
I met a girl at ACREF that has been dealt one of the most difficult cards in life I think I have encountered in Kenya. She has four sisters, all of whom have dropped out of primary education. Her mother has remarried to what appears to be not the greatest father figure forcing her to leave home and live with another family. Although she has a roof over her head, she must make all of her purchases on her own including clothes, wash products and her school fees. She has greatly improved her test scores but fears they might be slipping because she is struggling to make ends meat. She said to me that she is desperate to complete secondary school because her dream is too move out of the slum. Her story is inspiring because she understands that the path out of poverty is a good education and she is thirsty for that education. Its amazing to see this young woman combat everything in her life and stll want to transform her own life and the lives of people around her.
I think back to my childhood and even now to the people that truly inspire me. I think of famous leaders like President Lincoln, P.M. King, P.M. Trudeau, Sec. of State Hillary Clinton, Nelson Mandella and Maya Angelou. I think about the personal connections and people of inspiration I know; too many to list here and I think about the opportunities I've strived for to make a difference in my community and in my world. These are the people and things youth should be depending on for inspiration not the shiny and flawed figures and phony characteristics of the tragic Hollywood Story. I hope that youth I encounter are able to learn about the world's greatest leaders and learn from the people that are setting examples in their communities like the workers and volunteers at Education for Life, the exceptional teachers that do strive to inspire students or even the entrepeuneur who is changing the way life is lived in the slum each day.
I know that I am inspired by the people I meet each day and I can only hope that I am able to make inspired choices and promote inspired thinking. It requires a collective effort to change the culture in which we live. I want each person journeying along side me to make a concious effort to lead and not follow because the power of one cannot be underestimated.
6.19.2011
Its all Over
"People say I'm extravagant because I want to be surrounded by beauty. But tell me, who wants to be surrounded by garbage?"
Imelda Marcos
Its a way of life, entire jobs and careers are centered around it, its mushy and smelly and Oscar the Grouch Loves it. The Sesame Street Reference may have given it away but if you visit a slum and fail to mention garbage- you probably weren't at a real slum. We are so used to our regimented weekly garbage routine where we lay our garbage and recycling out at the manicured curbside and trucks with drivers come and bring our trash to managed dumps where we sort out the different household waste, plastics, newspapers, paint and other toxic materials.
Life on the other side of the world is very different. Who cares about public garbage cans when you can just throw away your trash right next to the fruit stand that sells pineapples? Our neighbourhood is a collection of apartment buildings and absolutely none of them have garbage collections places. According to some of the other residents, approximately 20 000 people live in the same collection of apartments as we do. The garbage will continue to pile up. Residents will keep garbage on apartment balconies and wait for a group of garbage collectors to carry it down from each balcony and dump it into a central location within the neighbourhood. From there truck drivers will come and heave mounds of garbage into dump trucks. There is no regular schedule for pick up, often forcing residents to place empty phone calls to city hall. Truck drivers will get around to it when they feel like it. In fact they haven't felt like it since we arrived. [Update: A day after writing this, the garbage was picked up; we've been here for forty five days.]
Garbage just piles up in the streets. Its not uncommon to walk through smoldering piles of garbage on my way to a school or just on a relaxing walk through our neighbourhood. One of the worst things to see is when piles of garbage have been lit on fire resulting in toxic flames sparring together and smoke rising into the air. I don't know if people who do this (some of them city workers) actually know how unhealthy it is too burn garbage and the damage it can cause to both the human body and the environment. I wonder if they care.
More recently, I've seen children playing in the piles of garbage; a lot of them on fire. At first, Emma pointed it out to me but even walking to schools, I see it now. Children dig through the garbage, play in it, looking to find something radical as it is in flames. Its pathetic to see when you know how dangerous it is and the materials within the garbage.
Our site supervisor said to us, 'Somebody has to start to something about the garbage in our neighbourhood before it becomes a real problem.' Its unfortunate to know that with most aspects of life in Kenya something needs to be done about it not because Canada has a regimented garbage removal system but because there is now ownership on the government to do anything and no one who can do something about it cares about the garbage people live in and children play in.
The argument goes full circle back to good environments. Take for example a school. When you place mounds of garbage in front of the front entrance of a school nobody wants to go there and it is not an effective learning environment. The smell and sight agitate the teachers, students, parents and community members. The same can be said about the safety of roads. When piles of garbage are left on the road side, dangerous roads become even more dangerous. Vehicles have to swerve to miss the garbage and traffic becomes more congested because in some cases, road ways are reduced to one lane of through traffic.
One of the things that Conor is doing for his volunteer placement is garbage pickup to centralize garbage collection in the neighbourhoods. The Youth Alive clubs are trying to get students to take on litter as a personal responsibility by creating litter pick up days. Instead of waiting around for things to happen, litter pick up is one way children can make their lives in the slums a little better. These are small steps that will hopefully create a larger change. The city knows how to create change. This is the most frustrating concept. For example, when we are in the city centre to celebrate birthdays or going to the main park to play Frisbee, you can see multitudes of public garbage bins and very little litter. It’s the tourist effect. The city does this because they know tourists flock to the main city and want to create the image of a nice city but the reality of the rest of the people the city should be serving is ignored as proven by the piles of garbage that just lay there.
Garbage continues to be a job getter. People are able to pick up plastics and try to make a shilling off of other people’s care free attitude. Sanitation wise, it would be an excellent idea to pick up the garbage. When you eliminate health problems, think about the amount of problems that would dissipate as a result. Cholera would decrease because there is less of a chance of water contamination. Children could be healthier and wouldn’t succumb to sniffles, coughs or even asthma because the air their breathing would be cleaner and they would be given an opportunity to have clean communities to play in. The environment and overall standard of living would also increase and it doesn’t take much.
It’s no wonder why Coca Cola has such a successful recycling program in Africa. Charging deposits on bottles to get them returned and too be able to reuse them. What if these radical ideas were introduced somehow in relation to garbage? The possibilities are endless. Garbage can have many simple solutions and many complex solutions but the benefits are priceless. The next time you think about throwing litter on the ground, think about if everyone had the exact same attitude. Would your community turn into a slum?
Imelda Marcos
Its a way of life, entire jobs and careers are centered around it, its mushy and smelly and Oscar the Grouch Loves it. The Sesame Street Reference may have given it away but if you visit a slum and fail to mention garbage- you probably weren't at a real slum. We are so used to our regimented weekly garbage routine where we lay our garbage and recycling out at the manicured curbside and trucks with drivers come and bring our trash to managed dumps where we sort out the different household waste, plastics, newspapers, paint and other toxic materials.
Life on the other side of the world is very different. Who cares about public garbage cans when you can just throw away your trash right next to the fruit stand that sells pineapples? Our neighbourhood is a collection of apartment buildings and absolutely none of them have garbage collections places. According to some of the other residents, approximately 20 000 people live in the same collection of apartments as we do. The garbage will continue to pile up. Residents will keep garbage on apartment balconies and wait for a group of garbage collectors to carry it down from each balcony and dump it into a central location within the neighbourhood. From there truck drivers will come and heave mounds of garbage into dump trucks. There is no regular schedule for pick up, often forcing residents to place empty phone calls to city hall. Truck drivers will get around to it when they feel like it. In fact they haven't felt like it since we arrived. [Update: A day after writing this, the garbage was picked up; we've been here for forty five days.]
Garbage just piles up in the streets. Its not uncommon to walk through smoldering piles of garbage on my way to a school or just on a relaxing walk through our neighbourhood. One of the worst things to see is when piles of garbage have been lit on fire resulting in toxic flames sparring together and smoke rising into the air. I don't know if people who do this (some of them city workers) actually know how unhealthy it is too burn garbage and the damage it can cause to both the human body and the environment. I wonder if they care.
More recently, I've seen children playing in the piles of garbage; a lot of them on fire. At first, Emma pointed it out to me but even walking to schools, I see it now. Children dig through the garbage, play in it, looking to find something radical as it is in flames. Its pathetic to see when you know how dangerous it is and the materials within the garbage.
Our site supervisor said to us, 'Somebody has to start to something about the garbage in our neighbourhood before it becomes a real problem.' Its unfortunate to know that with most aspects of life in Kenya something needs to be done about it not because Canada has a regimented garbage removal system but because there is now ownership on the government to do anything and no one who can do something about it cares about the garbage people live in and children play in.
The argument goes full circle back to good environments. Take for example a school. When you place mounds of garbage in front of the front entrance of a school nobody wants to go there and it is not an effective learning environment. The smell and sight agitate the teachers, students, parents and community members. The same can be said about the safety of roads. When piles of garbage are left on the road side, dangerous roads become even more dangerous. Vehicles have to swerve to miss the garbage and traffic becomes more congested because in some cases, road ways are reduced to one lane of through traffic.
One of the things that Conor is doing for his volunteer placement is garbage pickup to centralize garbage collection in the neighbourhoods. The Youth Alive clubs are trying to get students to take on litter as a personal responsibility by creating litter pick up days. Instead of waiting around for things to happen, litter pick up is one way children can make their lives in the slums a little better. These are small steps that will hopefully create a larger change. The city knows how to create change. This is the most frustrating concept. For example, when we are in the city centre to celebrate birthdays or going to the main park to play Frisbee, you can see multitudes of public garbage bins and very little litter. It’s the tourist effect. The city does this because they know tourists flock to the main city and want to create the image of a nice city but the reality of the rest of the people the city should be serving is ignored as proven by the piles of garbage that just lay there.
Garbage continues to be a job getter. People are able to pick up plastics and try to make a shilling off of other people’s care free attitude. Sanitation wise, it would be an excellent idea to pick up the garbage. When you eliminate health problems, think about the amount of problems that would dissipate as a result. Cholera would decrease because there is less of a chance of water contamination. Children could be healthier and wouldn’t succumb to sniffles, coughs or even asthma because the air their breathing would be cleaner and they would be given an opportunity to have clean communities to play in. The environment and overall standard of living would also increase and it doesn’t take much.
It’s no wonder why Coca Cola has such a successful recycling program in Africa. Charging deposits on bottles to get them returned and too be able to reuse them. What if these radical ideas were introduced somehow in relation to garbage? The possibilities are endless. Garbage can have many simple solutions and many complex solutions but the benefits are priceless. The next time you think about throwing litter on the ground, think about if everyone had the exact same attitude. Would your community turn into a slum?
6.18.2011
Working it to the Bone
This week I was teaching some conversationalist English to my Form Three (Gr. 11) English Class. The phrase 'working it to the bone' came up. I used the phrase in a sentence and quickly the students raised their hands and understood the phrase means working extremely hard sometimes to the point of being overworked. The phrase is an oxymoron here in Kenya because students are expected to have so much responsibility including managing their academic responsibilities and often times holding down a job and working to support their family.
Child labour is an issue in Kenya. I think when I was younger, the issue was black and white. Child labour is wrong and the rights of the child need to be protected. As I grew up, I learned that the issue is far more gray. The first time I discovered the grey zone is while reading an article about Nike. Nike is infamous for their use of child labour. The argument within the article is that if Nike is boycotted and shuts down factories then children will be put out of work pushing families further into poverty. Obviously, this is a simplification. Of course, Child Labour is still wrong. The fact that Nike can sell shoes for upwards of $200 US and the children making the shoes only make $1 US/day says something right there.
My grey zone was further challenged very early on in Kenya when discussing the life skills curriculum about child labour. The reality is that child labour happens. Yes, its wrong but for many families it is a necessary evil in the current situation. I believe that this is the reality that people live in. As far as life skills is concerned, the hope is that school will remain as the number one priority but if students have free time then earning money can take place. This is much the same as Canadian teenagers taking on part time jobs. The unfortunate part of it in Kenya is children as young as eight can be seen working in the streets, parks and stadiums.
Some of the jobs that children hold are pretty basic. I've seen children sell pinenuts at the stadium, pulling goats to the slaughterhouse and selling vegetables in the village markets. There is also another silent truth: that these jobs sometimes do interfere with student learning. Students at ACREF sometimes skip school to work because they must support themselves. The teachers at ACREF know this happens and have even pointed out to me some of their students on the streets working as we've been walking around the slum. The situation is desperate and there is no real answer. The students are their own sole supporter and expenses continue to rise.
It is not just work that works children to the bone. Drugs are a huge challenge for Primary school aged children. Growing children especially during puberty eat large portions of food. Drugs here are not used recreationally like teenagers looking for a buzz back home; in many cases students use them to suppress hunger. Students eat paper as a way of filling the empty void in their stomachs. Glue sniffing provides a high but also tricks the body into thinking it is not hungry. There is more then a quick buzz that students are getting, they are also receiving false nourishment. Hunger causes students to fall asleep in class at all levels. If the body isn't nourished, it cannot sustain itself and it will fall asleep. Hunger works these children to the bone and they try to fill the void but its a void that will only be filled with proper food.
The Form One (Gr. 9) student that I spoke to in Form One at ACREF talked about earning 100 KSh (approx $1 CAD) for 12 hours work every Sunday. The truth is that an honest days work is grueling, tough, difficult work. It is worth more than the 100 measly Kenyan Shillings workers receive but there are no safeguards to promote fair wages. Working it to the bone is a literal meaning in Kenya. Tough labour works people to the bone and this real desperation can be seen in all workers eyes.
I wish I could go back to my white and black world where child labour is completely wrong. I know it is but I also know that the problems and situations are so complex that a grey zone whether I like it or not simply exists. Sometimes when you go searching for answers all you are left with are more questions. These questions add more perspective but on the same token this perspective comes at a loss. Thiss loss is the loss of innocence that appears to have been lost far sooner in the African child then any friend or I would ever conceive in our youth.
Child labour is an issue in Kenya. I think when I was younger, the issue was black and white. Child labour is wrong and the rights of the child need to be protected. As I grew up, I learned that the issue is far more gray. The first time I discovered the grey zone is while reading an article about Nike. Nike is infamous for their use of child labour. The argument within the article is that if Nike is boycotted and shuts down factories then children will be put out of work pushing families further into poverty. Obviously, this is a simplification. Of course, Child Labour is still wrong. The fact that Nike can sell shoes for upwards of $200 US and the children making the shoes only make $1 US/day says something right there.
My grey zone was further challenged very early on in Kenya when discussing the life skills curriculum about child labour. The reality is that child labour happens. Yes, its wrong but for many families it is a necessary evil in the current situation. I believe that this is the reality that people live in. As far as life skills is concerned, the hope is that school will remain as the number one priority but if students have free time then earning money can take place. This is much the same as Canadian teenagers taking on part time jobs. The unfortunate part of it in Kenya is children as young as eight can be seen working in the streets, parks and stadiums.
Some of the jobs that children hold are pretty basic. I've seen children sell pinenuts at the stadium, pulling goats to the slaughterhouse and selling vegetables in the village markets. There is also another silent truth: that these jobs sometimes do interfere with student learning. Students at ACREF sometimes skip school to work because they must support themselves. The teachers at ACREF know this happens and have even pointed out to me some of their students on the streets working as we've been walking around the slum. The situation is desperate and there is no real answer. The students are their own sole supporter and expenses continue to rise.
It is not just work that works children to the bone. Drugs are a huge challenge for Primary school aged children. Growing children especially during puberty eat large portions of food. Drugs here are not used recreationally like teenagers looking for a buzz back home; in many cases students use them to suppress hunger. Students eat paper as a way of filling the empty void in their stomachs. Glue sniffing provides a high but also tricks the body into thinking it is not hungry. There is more then a quick buzz that students are getting, they are also receiving false nourishment. Hunger causes students to fall asleep in class at all levels. If the body isn't nourished, it cannot sustain itself and it will fall asleep. Hunger works these children to the bone and they try to fill the void but its a void that will only be filled with proper food.
The Form One (Gr. 9) student that I spoke to in Form One at ACREF talked about earning 100 KSh (approx $1 CAD) for 12 hours work every Sunday. The truth is that an honest days work is grueling, tough, difficult work. It is worth more than the 100 measly Kenyan Shillings workers receive but there are no safeguards to promote fair wages. Working it to the bone is a literal meaning in Kenya. Tough labour works people to the bone and this real desperation can be seen in all workers eyes.
I wish I could go back to my white and black world where child labour is completely wrong. I know it is but I also know that the problems and situations are so complex that a grey zone whether I like it or not simply exists. Sometimes when you go searching for answers all you are left with are more questions. These questions add more perspective but on the same token this perspective comes at a loss. Thiss loss is the loss of innocence that appears to have been lost far sooner in the African child then any friend or I would ever conceive in our youth.
6.14.2011
I have a Good Dream
“Great minds discuss ideas; Average minds discuss events; Small minds discuss people”
-Eleanor Roosevelt
The African Culture Research Education Foundation (ACREF) is quickly turning into the favourite part of my placement. I've always known I wanted to teach and I have enjoyed the mentoring roles I have been a part of but now that I am actually in the classroom; planning lessons, marking and giving feedback- it feels like I know that teaching is the right path for me. Teaching English fascinates me. Although I am teaching English as a Second Language to these Swahili and mother tongue speaking students, this is not English as a Second Language. It is just like a regular English class where students learn grammar skills, writing skills, oral communication skills and practice reading comprehension.
Words are the foundation of ideas. We communicate the greatest ideas in written form. All philosophers profess but long after they are gone, their words remain. This helps make English class have the best class discussions. English class opens up students perspectives on life, culture and society. When I think back to my high school days, I had so many good teachers but there was always something about English that helped me open up a world of knowledge and a world of critical debate. This past week at ACREF, I feel as though I was able to crack open just a little piece of that knowledge with my students and help them form their opinions and perspectives on current ethical issues.
It was strange being the moderator of a discussion because for the last nineteen years, teachers have mentored me and helped me open up my eyes to the world and now I had to do this for my students. My role as the teacher is not to tell the students what to think but to guide their own thought processes so that they might arrive at their own conclusions. I think this is what makes secondary school education so fascinating. Students are old enough to start putting their world view together and teachers can act as a major influence on how students will perceive their own lives as well as the world around them. University, I would argue functions as a refining of that skill set. But it is in secondary school that students start to form their own ideas and seeing that formation is highly rewarding.
The students at ACREF are so intelligent. I appreciate even having the opportunity to teach them and be an influence in their quest for knowledge. Retrospectively, its interesting to see students figure out and comprehend the challenges and the real problems in this world. The one discussion we had was on the internal problems within Kenya. The global recession has had an impact on the whole world but I keep on hearing how difficult it is here in Kenya. The students understand that corruption is part of the way of life in Kenya. You can bribe police officers, government officials. Even academics in order to get research permits can bribe government officials in order to further their research. The students believe that in order for Kenya to prosper then corruption needs to be put under control. The students get it and my only hope is that they can be the voice of change. Lessons of course still need to be learned. For example, the students believe that the western world has no corruption. Although, you wouldn't easily be able to bribe police officers in Canada, it does not mean our country is without corruption. Whether its large scale, the sponsorship scandal or the Bev Oda Affair or smaller scale where you cheat the system and bend the rules, corruption happens. Having to break the news to these students was unfortunate but necessary.
One female student in particular, in form one was so brazen when discussing some of the challenges she faces. She talked about the members of parliament who receive 800 000 KSh a month and are tax exempt and compared how wasteful that money is compared to public school teachers who are lucky to bring in 10 000 KSh a month. She is starting to frame her ideas of taxes and economics and its so promising to see. I talked with her about the minimum wage. She is a big proponent of a minimum wage law being introduced. She asked about Canada and I was honest about Ontario's minimum wage being approx. 1025 KSh/hour. She was shocked since low income workers here are lucky to make 10 KSh/hour. We had a discussion about the rights of workers and the need to protect worker's rights. She ended the conversation by grabbing my hand and saying right in my face; 'my name is _________ and in thirty years you will hear about me on the internet.'
Its not even the hope that attracts me to teaching and the hope that made these discussions so promising. Its the vigor in these students eyes and their thirst for knowledge and change. When Guttenberg created the printing press, people had to wait for months for a new book to be published. Today, in our society, a new webpage is developed every six seconds and what's worse is that we often overlook how fortunate we are to have knowledge at our fingertips.
The hot topic in Kenya is currently the nomination of the Chief Justice. Dr. Willy Mutungu is being nominated and confirmed by the parliament in Kenya. Dr. Mutungu wears an earring in his left ear which is a sign of homosexuality in the society. Dr. Mutungu has also been tied to various gay groups. Homosexuality in Kenya is illegal and people are threatened by Dr. Mutungu's status as a Chief Justice nominee. I asked the students what they thought about the issue and about gay rights. Its amazing to think that in Canada our main issue surrounding gay rights is fair adoption practices for gay couples and that for the last 6 years (July 20th, 2005) gay marriage in our country has been legal and there are still countries that have outlawed homosexuality. The students are divided regarding same sex couples and their ability to have rights but are secular when it comes to Dr. Mutungu's nomination and what it would mean for Kenya and its people.
At ACREF, I can feel the wheels of change take place and I can see real progression. The female student in form one said to me, 'I have a good dream.' I was inspired by this comment and hope that all students have good dreams. If each student in the world was nurtured to have good dreams for themselves, think about the goodwill, prosperity and change that could take place in our world. I believe in these students. I understand that it is difficult and I am not putting on the rose-coloured glasses but I believe that these students have more drive to change the world. This brings me to my final point. Al Gore proclaimed in the Kitchener Memorial Complex recently that 'If youth in Egypt are changing the world then youth right here in Canada can do the exact same thing.' I will extend this idea to the entire world. We should not dismiss our youth because they are our greatest asset. I hope to do my part in continuing to frame the student's experience and guide their own thoughts so that they can arrive at life altering ideas and concepts.
The students at ACREF are living out Eleanor Roosevelt's famous quote by discussing ideas and at the same time they are also living out Roosevelt's view on self awareness and self concept, "No one can make you feel inferior without your consent." I hope these students will never feel inferior because their ideas matter. Period.
-Eleanor Roosevelt
The African Culture Research Education Foundation (ACREF) is quickly turning into the favourite part of my placement. I've always known I wanted to teach and I have enjoyed the mentoring roles I have been a part of but now that I am actually in the classroom; planning lessons, marking and giving feedback- it feels like I know that teaching is the right path for me. Teaching English fascinates me. Although I am teaching English as a Second Language to these Swahili and mother tongue speaking students, this is not English as a Second Language. It is just like a regular English class where students learn grammar skills, writing skills, oral communication skills and practice reading comprehension.
Words are the foundation of ideas. We communicate the greatest ideas in written form. All philosophers profess but long after they are gone, their words remain. This helps make English class have the best class discussions. English class opens up students perspectives on life, culture and society. When I think back to my high school days, I had so many good teachers but there was always something about English that helped me open up a world of knowledge and a world of critical debate. This past week at ACREF, I feel as though I was able to crack open just a little piece of that knowledge with my students and help them form their opinions and perspectives on current ethical issues.
It was strange being the moderator of a discussion because for the last nineteen years, teachers have mentored me and helped me open up my eyes to the world and now I had to do this for my students. My role as the teacher is not to tell the students what to think but to guide their own thought processes so that they might arrive at their own conclusions. I think this is what makes secondary school education so fascinating. Students are old enough to start putting their world view together and teachers can act as a major influence on how students will perceive their own lives as well as the world around them. University, I would argue functions as a refining of that skill set. But it is in secondary school that students start to form their own ideas and seeing that formation is highly rewarding.
The students at ACREF are so intelligent. I appreciate even having the opportunity to teach them and be an influence in their quest for knowledge. Retrospectively, its interesting to see students figure out and comprehend the challenges and the real problems in this world. The one discussion we had was on the internal problems within Kenya. The global recession has had an impact on the whole world but I keep on hearing how difficult it is here in Kenya. The students understand that corruption is part of the way of life in Kenya. You can bribe police officers, government officials. Even academics in order to get research permits can bribe government officials in order to further their research. The students believe that in order for Kenya to prosper then corruption needs to be put under control. The students get it and my only hope is that they can be the voice of change. Lessons of course still need to be learned. For example, the students believe that the western world has no corruption. Although, you wouldn't easily be able to bribe police officers in Canada, it does not mean our country is without corruption. Whether its large scale, the sponsorship scandal or the Bev Oda Affair or smaller scale where you cheat the system and bend the rules, corruption happens. Having to break the news to these students was unfortunate but necessary.
One female student in particular, in form one was so brazen when discussing some of the challenges she faces. She talked about the members of parliament who receive 800 000 KSh a month and are tax exempt and compared how wasteful that money is compared to public school teachers who are lucky to bring in 10 000 KSh a month. She is starting to frame her ideas of taxes and economics and its so promising to see. I talked with her about the minimum wage. She is a big proponent of a minimum wage law being introduced. She asked about Canada and I was honest about Ontario's minimum wage being approx. 1025 KSh/hour. She was shocked since low income workers here are lucky to make 10 KSh/hour. We had a discussion about the rights of workers and the need to protect worker's rights. She ended the conversation by grabbing my hand and saying right in my face; 'my name is _________ and in thirty years you will hear about me on the internet.'
Its not even the hope that attracts me to teaching and the hope that made these discussions so promising. Its the vigor in these students eyes and their thirst for knowledge and change. When Guttenberg created the printing press, people had to wait for months for a new book to be published. Today, in our society, a new webpage is developed every six seconds and what's worse is that we often overlook how fortunate we are to have knowledge at our fingertips.
The hot topic in Kenya is currently the nomination of the Chief Justice. Dr. Willy Mutungu is being nominated and confirmed by the parliament in Kenya. Dr. Mutungu wears an earring in his left ear which is a sign of homosexuality in the society. Dr. Mutungu has also been tied to various gay groups. Homosexuality in Kenya is illegal and people are threatened by Dr. Mutungu's status as a Chief Justice nominee. I asked the students what they thought about the issue and about gay rights. Its amazing to think that in Canada our main issue surrounding gay rights is fair adoption practices for gay couples and that for the last 6 years (July 20th, 2005) gay marriage in our country has been legal and there are still countries that have outlawed homosexuality. The students are divided regarding same sex couples and their ability to have rights but are secular when it comes to Dr. Mutungu's nomination and what it would mean for Kenya and its people.
At ACREF, I can feel the wheels of change take place and I can see real progression. The female student in form one said to me, 'I have a good dream.' I was inspired by this comment and hope that all students have good dreams. If each student in the world was nurtured to have good dreams for themselves, think about the goodwill, prosperity and change that could take place in our world. I believe in these students. I understand that it is difficult and I am not putting on the rose-coloured glasses but I believe that these students have more drive to change the world. This brings me to my final point. Al Gore proclaimed in the Kitchener Memorial Complex recently that 'If youth in Egypt are changing the world then youth right here in Canada can do the exact same thing.' I will extend this idea to the entire world. We should not dismiss our youth because they are our greatest asset. I hope to do my part in continuing to frame the student's experience and guide their own thoughts so that they can arrive at life altering ideas and concepts.
The students at ACREF are living out Eleanor Roosevelt's famous quote by discussing ideas and at the same time they are also living out Roosevelt's view on self awareness and self concept, "No one can make you feel inferior without your consent." I hope these students will never feel inferior because their ideas matter. Period.
6.10.2011
The Greatest Lessons I Ever Learned...
The poem title that finishes the title of this blog is 'I learned in Kindergarten.' The poem promotes sharing, kindness, love and other childhood lessons that you learn. These life lessons are truly the foundation of character development. Its funny to think that some of the best and toughest lessons students learn have nothing to do with long division, the fuedal system, the parts of the human body or any other circulium based concepts. Instead the lessons are learned outside of the classroom whether they are from an afterschool activity, hobby or mentor.
When we were preparing for our summer destinations, our site supervisor answered one of our questons about materials we could bring over. He explained to us that sports equipment would be a wonderful asset. When we arrived he further explained that non-formal schools (schools that receive no government funding but are not well equipppd unlike private educaton) have no budget for student activities like sports. Through this Emma and Sam were able to put together a 'league' with the cooperation of Education for Life and six non-formal schools.
The program launched this week amid our rapidly and increasingly busy Youth Alive Clubs week. The launch was planned to the tee. In the morning, we had child games like egg races or potato sack races with actual potato sacks. It was great fun to watch the kids move at a rocket pace. The afternoon was dedicated to ball sports (football [soccer], rugby and volleyball). There was an intermission set with semi pro and pro Kenyan sports stars to give motivational speeches to the children. Not everything took place and some plans changed last minute; much like back home but a little more so because we are on African time. Notwithstanding, the lesson learned remained the same.
Kids learned they can't hog the ball; that passing will always be more beneficial than trying to act like the star of the show and that the point is not who wins the game but to have fun. Kids got to spend a worry free day running around the sports field where they could just be kids. It didn't matter what kind of home the kids grow up in or how much sleep they got the night before, it didn't matter what would be for supper or how they would get home safely. The sports day was about being a kid and running free.
It is vitally important for children to have organized and unstructured fun. It helps kids develop into well rounded adolescents and hopefully adults. Kids need time to let out aggression, to exercise and to prosper at what they love. Whatever the activity, whether athletics, drama, music, dance, or extreme sports - the result is just as important as a diploma that combines those academic skills.
We must invest into these programs now, not only so that a chld can run around and have fun ut also so that children can learn essential life lessons that they might never learn in the classroom. In this case, athletics taught leadership, sportsmanship, dedication and ability. It is a lot more beneficial when you can learn this skill set in a hands on approach. I know for me it was always funner and easily enforceable if it was hands on rather than sitting in class reading a textbook or looking up a definition in the dictionary.
The problem here is there is absolutely no budget for student activities. Goodwill donations are relied upon to give kids the opportunity to have fun and learn what it means to be a team player and show initiative. School and Education is of course valuable. This does without saying but kids also need to have fun and an opportunity to shape the world around them. Sports is one way for them to accomplish this one task. Adults try to live through the mantra of all work and no play but the same concept needs to happen for children for them to grow up to be well balaned individuals.
Kudos needs to go out to fellow Beyond Borders Student Emma who is with me in Kenya. Her tireless prusuit of resources allowed Education for Life and the six non-formal schools the opportunity to launch a sports program. It is obvious why Emma is a mover and shaker in our community. Hopefully her example can encourage schools and government alike to understand the benefits of healthy and active fun.
The Greatest Lessons I ever Learned were outside of the classroom. Where were your Greatest lessons learned?
When we were preparing for our summer destinations, our site supervisor answered one of our questons about materials we could bring over. He explained to us that sports equipment would be a wonderful asset. When we arrived he further explained that non-formal schools (schools that receive no government funding but are not well equipppd unlike private educaton) have no budget for student activities like sports. Through this Emma and Sam were able to put together a 'league' with the cooperation of Education for Life and six non-formal schools.
The program launched this week amid our rapidly and increasingly busy Youth Alive Clubs week. The launch was planned to the tee. In the morning, we had child games like egg races or potato sack races with actual potato sacks. It was great fun to watch the kids move at a rocket pace. The afternoon was dedicated to ball sports (football [soccer], rugby and volleyball). There was an intermission set with semi pro and pro Kenyan sports stars to give motivational speeches to the children. Not everything took place and some plans changed last minute; much like back home but a little more so because we are on African time. Notwithstanding, the lesson learned remained the same.
Kids learned they can't hog the ball; that passing will always be more beneficial than trying to act like the star of the show and that the point is not who wins the game but to have fun. Kids got to spend a worry free day running around the sports field where they could just be kids. It didn't matter what kind of home the kids grow up in or how much sleep they got the night before, it didn't matter what would be for supper or how they would get home safely. The sports day was about being a kid and running free.
It is vitally important for children to have organized and unstructured fun. It helps kids develop into well rounded adolescents and hopefully adults. Kids need time to let out aggression, to exercise and to prosper at what they love. Whatever the activity, whether athletics, drama, music, dance, or extreme sports - the result is just as important as a diploma that combines those academic skills.
We must invest into these programs now, not only so that a chld can run around and have fun ut also so that children can learn essential life lessons that they might never learn in the classroom. In this case, athletics taught leadership, sportsmanship, dedication and ability. It is a lot more beneficial when you can learn this skill set in a hands on approach. I know for me it was always funner and easily enforceable if it was hands on rather than sitting in class reading a textbook or looking up a definition in the dictionary.
The problem here is there is absolutely no budget for student activities. Goodwill donations are relied upon to give kids the opportunity to have fun and learn what it means to be a team player and show initiative. School and Education is of course valuable. This does without saying but kids also need to have fun and an opportunity to shape the world around them. Sports is one way for them to accomplish this one task. Adults try to live through the mantra of all work and no play but the same concept needs to happen for children for them to grow up to be well balaned individuals.
Kudos needs to go out to fellow Beyond Borders Student Emma who is with me in Kenya. Her tireless prusuit of resources allowed Education for Life and the six non-formal schools the opportunity to launch a sports program. It is obvious why Emma is a mover and shaker in our community. Hopefully her example can encourage schools and government alike to understand the benefits of healthy and active fun.
The Greatest Lessons I ever Learned were outside of the classroom. Where were your Greatest lessons learned?
Our Collective Responsibility
This week marks the first of two weeks that our schedules at Eduation for ife are a little different. Life Skills i hain a two week pause in order to focus ore on the Youh Alie lus which seek to promote practical ways for children to make their lives and communities better. A central reason why Youth Alive exists is too raise children to be better than they ever thought they could be by empowering them to make decisions that have a positive impact on their own lives. One EFL worker said that it is important for children not to expect handouts because real change requires real work.
One of the hopes of the Beyond Borders program is for students to engage in citizenship. One of the goals of citizenship is too share incollective responsiblity. Collective responsiblity can mean taking ownerships for the challenges of society and to celebrate in he successes of the same society. The ideal is tha we all would have mutual responsiblity for our world. I guess this means that there would be no developped world and no developping world but rather one world with a similar standard of living. Right now, it feels like a dream.
The Youth Alive Exchange will bring together 600 students from twenty schools. The exchange will strive for students to exchange ideas, stories, and messages on how to make their own lives, schools and communities a better place. The children are excited to hear about what other students from other schools believe the challenges of growing up in the slums is like. Its both rewarding and difficult to hear and listen when children discuss their issues. Students have had responses that range from: sanitation issues, garbage collection, access to sanitary napkins, HIV/AIDS, Child Abandonment, teen pregnancy and drug abuse.
Its good to hear these responses because it means that these issues are no longer being pushed under a rug and are open to discussion. On the other hand, it is difficult to hear because you feel helpless when you hear that young girls don't have enough money to afford sanitary napkins or knowing that fathers have no issue with abandoning their unborn children and that the system really does nothing to prevent this and protect the rights of the child.
The Youth Alive Exchange will be a dynamic performance piece that showcases and celebrates the children and will open up dialogue about the challenges that children face. I was skeptical at first on how it would actually work because issue based dramatizations can often be a little cheesy. After touring the Youth Alive Clubs and seeing these performances; I have come to realize that these children know how to tell a story and make it come alive because this is the reality that they live in.
What struck me the most is that these children know what the real problems are. The children at one school sang and danced to a song they created about early pregnancy. In the girls routine, they sing about how fathers will abandon the unwed mothers and the constant struggle for the girl to fight for the rights of the child. The 'children' of the skit are stuck in the middle. These kids understand the issues. The challenge not just in Kenya but all over the world is that we can only educate students on the choices and options that are out there; it is up to the students to make the decisions themselves and live with the rewards or consequences.
It is our collective responsibility to raise the generation of tomorrow. It starts with good parents then good friends then good schools but it needs to extend to other agents of socialization and include good messages. Perhaps the greatest message is hope. Even in the most troubling of times, I have seen real hope Life doesn't end in highschool. It gets better. Life doesn't end at teenage pregnancy or an overdose or at the diagnosis of HIV/AIDS. My hope is for good citizens to take control of the power and to do good. I think every teacher has one final request of their students. The request has nothing to do with climbing to the top of the career ladder or getting power but rather to do good. I hope to one day include this in my teaching pedagogy. The one lesson you must take away is to do good.
One of the hopes of the Beyond Borders program is for students to engage in citizenship. One of the goals of citizenship is too share incollective responsiblity. Collective responsiblity can mean taking ownerships for the challenges of society and to celebrate in he successes of the same society. The ideal is tha we all would have mutual responsiblity for our world. I guess this means that there would be no developped world and no developping world but rather one world with a similar standard of living. Right now, it feels like a dream.
The Youth Alive Exchange will bring together 600 students from twenty schools. The exchange will strive for students to exchange ideas, stories, and messages on how to make their own lives, schools and communities a better place. The children are excited to hear about what other students from other schools believe the challenges of growing up in the slums is like. Its both rewarding and difficult to hear and listen when children discuss their issues. Students have had responses that range from: sanitation issues, garbage collection, access to sanitary napkins, HIV/AIDS, Child Abandonment, teen pregnancy and drug abuse.
Its good to hear these responses because it means that these issues are no longer being pushed under a rug and are open to discussion. On the other hand, it is difficult to hear because you feel helpless when you hear that young girls don't have enough money to afford sanitary napkins or knowing that fathers have no issue with abandoning their unborn children and that the system really does nothing to prevent this and protect the rights of the child.
The Youth Alive Exchange will be a dynamic performance piece that showcases and celebrates the children and will open up dialogue about the challenges that children face. I was skeptical at first on how it would actually work because issue based dramatizations can often be a little cheesy. After touring the Youth Alive Clubs and seeing these performances; I have come to realize that these children know how to tell a story and make it come alive because this is the reality that they live in.
What struck me the most is that these children know what the real problems are. The children at one school sang and danced to a song they created about early pregnancy. In the girls routine, they sing about how fathers will abandon the unwed mothers and the constant struggle for the girl to fight for the rights of the child. The 'children' of the skit are stuck in the middle. These kids understand the issues. The challenge not just in Kenya but all over the world is that we can only educate students on the choices and options that are out there; it is up to the students to make the decisions themselves and live with the rewards or consequences.
It is our collective responsibility to raise the generation of tomorrow. It starts with good parents then good friends then good schools but it needs to extend to other agents of socialization and include good messages. Perhaps the greatest message is hope. Even in the most troubling of times, I have seen real hope Life doesn't end in highschool. It gets better. Life doesn't end at teenage pregnancy or an overdose or at the diagnosis of HIV/AIDS. My hope is for good citizens to take control of the power and to do good. I think every teacher has one final request of their students. The request has nothing to do with climbing to the top of the career ladder or getting power but rather to do good. I hope to one day include this in my teaching pedagogy. The one lesson you must take away is to do good.
6.05.2011
Saved by the Bell
At my highschool, class promptly began at 8:20am and we were out the door at 2:24pm barring any after school activities. The best learning took place during period two at 9:$1am in the morning. Students were fully awake and alert, period two took place early enough for students not to think about lunch and being hungry and unlike period 5, period 2 didn't cause students to day dream about leaving the school doors behind. Much time and attention goes into student schedules to make sure students are getting the best possible education. In Kenya, from what I've seen; the time table is much more regimented.
All of the schools have different start and end times but all of them appear to be extreme. The longest school day I know of is from 6:30am to 6:30pm; the majority of schools I go to begin at 7:30am and end at 4:30pm. These are all primary schools. Not all of the schedule is bad but the day is too long for growing children to keep effective concentration.
When I went to primary school, out day began at 8:45am and ended at 3:15pm. It seemed so much more reasonable then what the students must complete in Kenya. Classes don't actually start until 8:20am and end at approx 4pm. Students have thirty five minute periods and an eighty minute lunch with one or two twenty minute breaks depending on the day of the week.
Because students live in slum environments, the education system assumes they won't be able to complete their homework on time. This is where the long day comes into effect. Before and after classes, students are given the opportunity to complete work that they might not complete at home. I actually think this can be a very effective idea but it has its flaws.
For example, even when students have no work to complete, students must still report to school at the prescribed times. This time is unsupervised so there is no incentive for students to actually get work done and most are too young to understand self discipline. Students usually miss out on breakfast, the most important meal of the day and miss that strong start in the morning because of the early wake up call. Students also wake up incredibly early. One ten year old girl who lives in our neighbourhood must wake up each day at 5:30am which frankly is too early for a child that young. Most primary school children are unable to get the recommended eight to ten hours of sleep each night because of long school hours.
I've encountered students who have fallen asleep in class, who have been sent home for the day because they arrived to school at 8:00am and students that are exhausted by the time Friday roles along.
At some of the secondary schools, it is an expectation that students arrive at the same time as the teachers as a sign of respect which again can be as early as 6:30am.
Students must also spend Saturdays in school. This means that students do not have a good amount of time for actual rest between each week and aren't given enough time to be kids.
There are some positives to the class timetables. Schools get to coordinate club activities right into the time table and students so get to take part in fun activities like flag raising, music (choir- the schools don't have instruments), and Youth Alive. Schools can also work together to coordinate sports activities. At one of my elementary schools, the students competed against another school in an Olympic themed afternoon and the students got let out early to do so.
The students look at their timetables and class schedules as normal because they know no different. Especially in primary school, the students are trained to keep up with the rigorous schedule but nobody can keep up under extreme exhaustion. Adults I've talked too know all to well that the schedule is too long and too tiring. The positives of this system do not outweigh the negatives. In some ways, the education system is setting its students up for failure because having a good nights sleep, taking a healthy breakfast and being prepared to learn will always win out against work horse hours and one day weekends. Its good to examine other systems of education to provide the best of the best. The western world could take a look into incorporating club time into the class schedule (I've only heard of private schools doing this) and the developing world could look at what advantages students could receive just by giving them a little more balance in their lives.
All of the schools have different start and end times but all of them appear to be extreme. The longest school day I know of is from 6:30am to 6:30pm; the majority of schools I go to begin at 7:30am and end at 4:30pm. These are all primary schools. Not all of the schedule is bad but the day is too long for growing children to keep effective concentration.
When I went to primary school, out day began at 8:45am and ended at 3:15pm. It seemed so much more reasonable then what the students must complete in Kenya. Classes don't actually start until 8:20am and end at approx 4pm. Students have thirty five minute periods and an eighty minute lunch with one or two twenty minute breaks depending on the day of the week.
Because students live in slum environments, the education system assumes they won't be able to complete their homework on time. This is where the long day comes into effect. Before and after classes, students are given the opportunity to complete work that they might not complete at home. I actually think this can be a very effective idea but it has its flaws.
For example, even when students have no work to complete, students must still report to school at the prescribed times. This time is unsupervised so there is no incentive for students to actually get work done and most are too young to understand self discipline. Students usually miss out on breakfast, the most important meal of the day and miss that strong start in the morning because of the early wake up call. Students also wake up incredibly early. One ten year old girl who lives in our neighbourhood must wake up each day at 5:30am which frankly is too early for a child that young. Most primary school children are unable to get the recommended eight to ten hours of sleep each night because of long school hours.
I've encountered students who have fallen asleep in class, who have been sent home for the day because they arrived to school at 8:00am and students that are exhausted by the time Friday roles along.
At some of the secondary schools, it is an expectation that students arrive at the same time as the teachers as a sign of respect which again can be as early as 6:30am.
Students must also spend Saturdays in school. This means that students do not have a good amount of time for actual rest between each week and aren't given enough time to be kids.
There are some positives to the class timetables. Schools get to coordinate club activities right into the time table and students so get to take part in fun activities like flag raising, music (choir- the schools don't have instruments), and Youth Alive. Schools can also work together to coordinate sports activities. At one of my elementary schools, the students competed against another school in an Olympic themed afternoon and the students got let out early to do so.
The students look at their timetables and class schedules as normal because they know no different. Especially in primary school, the students are trained to keep up with the rigorous schedule but nobody can keep up under extreme exhaustion. Adults I've talked too know all to well that the schedule is too long and too tiring. The positives of this system do not outweigh the negatives. In some ways, the education system is setting its students up for failure because having a good nights sleep, taking a healthy breakfast and being prepared to learn will always win out against work horse hours and one day weekends. Its good to examine other systems of education to provide the best of the best. The western world could take a look into incorporating club time into the class schedule (I've only heard of private schools doing this) and the developing world could look at what advantages students could receive just by giving them a little more balance in their lives.
6.03.2011
Sticks and Stones: "GoodBye F***ers"
Content Warning: As you can probably tell from the title of this blog, this blog is intended for mature audiences and contains graphic language.
June 1st is Kenyan's Independence day. Kenya got independence from Britain in the days of decolonization under the reign of the current monarch, Queen Elizabeth II. It is a national holiday like Canada Day (July 1st) or July 4th for the Americans. The four of us decided to spend the day in a very relaxed mode. We moseyed up to the city center to Independence Park.
Kids got their faces painted, families enjoyed the paddleboats on the water and tons of footballs were kicked around. We relaxed. Conor took pictures (he's turning into quite the photographer), Sam listened to music while Emma and I read in the sun. I am reading "The Catcher and the Rye" for those wondering. We finished the afternoon by playing Frisbee and headed up to a pub like atmosphere at Taco Club.
It was supposed to be a fun afternoon where we just enjoyed Kenya and had fun. The patio was supposed to offer us a cold Tusker (African beer to fit the theme of Kenyan Independence) and a taste of Western food that we miss so much. The time was 5:00pm. We were in the city where several white people can be seen, in fact there were two other tables with white people at them in Taco's.
We were basking in the sun enjoying cold beer, a commodity in Kenya. Our food had just arrived and it was delicious. A group of woman at the table next to us were truly enjoying independence day and clearly had already had a couple rounds of cold Tusker when out of no where, one woman said "Why the fuck are these people being served?"
It made for a truly uncomfortable situation especially as she got louder making sure the entire patio could hear. She even cleared out one table of White travelers. She continued on her rant, "They have no right to be here," "Especially today," "Damn British people should not be served," "Why are they in our country?," "They should get out now!"
It wasn't as if we could make a quick exit. We were sitting on the edge of our seats at a public restaurant. It was the first time that I was met with opposition to me being in Kenya. One man from another table came up to us and told us to just ignore her ignorance. That is what I had hoped we would have done but some of the rest of us wanted to say something to clear up some things she had said. We responded by telling them we were not British. The phrase "we are here to help your country" even came up which garnered a response "We Don't need your help." Two of the woman did come to our table and apologize for their friends rude behaviour. When we finally left, the girl made sure to let out on final scream, "GoodBye Fuckers!"
I guess there are a couple of things to dissect here. First I will say, everyone is entitled to their opinion so if that is truly her opinion then fine. I am not here to change her mind. Second, it isn't a point of conflict but it was a little disturbing to hear a Beyond Borders student say "We're here to help your country." I don't think that is in any of reasons that I am personally in Kenya. I don't know if I've even fully figured it out. What I do know is that I am here to learn and to engage in work especially in the education field. I would like to think we're helping but to say help the country seems a little to big for me. I think the biggest fear right now is that when we leave that nothing will change whether that's within our organization or in our personal lives.
It was strange to have that amount of hate thrown at me. The hate rant lasted around thirty minutes which gave me time to think about all the great minorities who have had to overcome prejudice in society. The Jews, African Americans during slavery and civil rights, those affected by Genocide, gay people... the list goes on. Its amazing how cruel people can make this world that is supposed to offer limitless opportunity. Isn't that the dream?
The other thing I thought about is that old feelings die hard. The fact that it was Kenyan Independence Day didn't skip my mind. The woman made a dig at the former colonizer, Britain and accused us of being the same as those colonizers from fifty plus years ago. If one woman held this attitude and vocalized it, I wonder how many go silent with this same feeling. Some of the greatest conflicts come from lingering feelings like the Somalian Clan wars, the Rwandan Genocide. It is unfortunate that this woman could not let go of feelings that are literally historic at this point.
We all set out to have a nice relaxing day and came back home with a story. I know I'll remember this adventure for a long time. Words were exchanged and I'm sure feelings got hurt on both sides whether it was over unkind remarks, our status or our intentions or possibly the amount of Tusker had by the other party- I guess we'll never know. What I do know is that overcoming adversity will always be a long standing struggle that requires the full cooperation of humankind: a diverse and sometimes overly proud people.
June 1st is Kenyan's Independence day. Kenya got independence from Britain in the days of decolonization under the reign of the current monarch, Queen Elizabeth II. It is a national holiday like Canada Day (July 1st) or July 4th for the Americans. The four of us decided to spend the day in a very relaxed mode. We moseyed up to the city center to Independence Park.
Kids got their faces painted, families enjoyed the paddleboats on the water and tons of footballs were kicked around. We relaxed. Conor took pictures (he's turning into quite the photographer), Sam listened to music while Emma and I read in the sun. I am reading "The Catcher and the Rye" for those wondering. We finished the afternoon by playing Frisbee and headed up to a pub like atmosphere at Taco Club.
It was supposed to be a fun afternoon where we just enjoyed Kenya and had fun. The patio was supposed to offer us a cold Tusker (African beer to fit the theme of Kenyan Independence) and a taste of Western food that we miss so much. The time was 5:00pm. We were in the city where several white people can be seen, in fact there were two other tables with white people at them in Taco's.
We were basking in the sun enjoying cold beer, a commodity in Kenya. Our food had just arrived and it was delicious. A group of woman at the table next to us were truly enjoying independence day and clearly had already had a couple rounds of cold Tusker when out of no where, one woman said "Why the fuck are these people being served?"
It made for a truly uncomfortable situation especially as she got louder making sure the entire patio could hear. She even cleared out one table of White travelers. She continued on her rant, "They have no right to be here," "Especially today," "Damn British people should not be served," "Why are they in our country?," "They should get out now!"
It wasn't as if we could make a quick exit. We were sitting on the edge of our seats at a public restaurant. It was the first time that I was met with opposition to me being in Kenya. One man from another table came up to us and told us to just ignore her ignorance. That is what I had hoped we would have done but some of the rest of us wanted to say something to clear up some things she had said. We responded by telling them we were not British. The phrase "we are here to help your country" even came up which garnered a response "We Don't need your help." Two of the woman did come to our table and apologize for their friends rude behaviour. When we finally left, the girl made sure to let out on final scream, "GoodBye Fuckers!"
I guess there are a couple of things to dissect here. First I will say, everyone is entitled to their opinion so if that is truly her opinion then fine. I am not here to change her mind. Second, it isn't a point of conflict but it was a little disturbing to hear a Beyond Borders student say "We're here to help your country." I don't think that is in any of reasons that I am personally in Kenya. I don't know if I've even fully figured it out. What I do know is that I am here to learn and to engage in work especially in the education field. I would like to think we're helping but to say help the country seems a little to big for me. I think the biggest fear right now is that when we leave that nothing will change whether that's within our organization or in our personal lives.
It was strange to have that amount of hate thrown at me. The hate rant lasted around thirty minutes which gave me time to think about all the great minorities who have had to overcome prejudice in society. The Jews, African Americans during slavery and civil rights, those affected by Genocide, gay people... the list goes on. Its amazing how cruel people can make this world that is supposed to offer limitless opportunity. Isn't that the dream?
The other thing I thought about is that old feelings die hard. The fact that it was Kenyan Independence Day didn't skip my mind. The woman made a dig at the former colonizer, Britain and accused us of being the same as those colonizers from fifty plus years ago. If one woman held this attitude and vocalized it, I wonder how many go silent with this same feeling. Some of the greatest conflicts come from lingering feelings like the Somalian Clan wars, the Rwandan Genocide. It is unfortunate that this woman could not let go of feelings that are literally historic at this point.
We all set out to have a nice relaxing day and came back home with a story. I know I'll remember this adventure for a long time. Words were exchanged and I'm sure feelings got hurt on both sides whether it was over unkind remarks, our status or our intentions or possibly the amount of Tusker had by the other party- I guess we'll never know. What I do know is that overcoming adversity will always be a long standing struggle that requires the full cooperation of humankind: a diverse and sometimes overly proud people.
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