Safari and Teaching Adventures

As Jimmy and Whitney have reminded me, it has been ages since my last blog entry. Part of the reason for this is that I told my grandma I would write and post pictures while I was away and she passed away last month. Thus, I didn’t have the motivation to continue writing for some time, not to mention I was avoiding people and having to talk about it. I feel sad that I could not be with Mama, or there with my family, and I know it will be really hard to be back in CA without seeing her there. She was an amazing women, the queen of my family, and the best part of my childhood memories and visits home. Mama has always said that young ladies should live someplace different and go on adventures, of which she had many. How many young women of her generation had the courage to live in New York City with friends, drive across the country to go to college, go on road trips to Tijuana, start her own family and business, drive with her granddaughter all over California hunting for beanie babies and taking the search seriously, have a stroke yet crack jokes about joining the granny tap dancers for the Producers, and still laugh about everything? Not many. My grandma was one-of-a-kind! For her, and for my family and friends who are reading this, I’ll try to keep sharing about my adventures.

Since I last wrote, Jimmy and I enjoyed a safari trip to Massai Mara where we saw more animals than I could ever imagine. Grassy plains were covered with hundreds of migrating wildebeest (who acted a bit like Stetson in the turn-out, bucking and running). They shared the grass with zebra and all different kinds of antelope. Propped on their stout knees and partly under foot where pumbas (who looked and acted a bit like my first dog Iris). When they run, their tails point up like a flag to all the other pumbas so there is a small pig parade each time they startle.

In addition to the animals at the Royal Mara, Jimmy and I progressed from camping-like facilities in my village to the finest hotel and private “tent” I’ve ever seen. There were richly carved doors with images of zebras playing, a sun porch overlooking the river and a view of real hippos, crocodiles, gazelles, and monkeys swinging from the branches. When we unzipped the tent, we entered a palace complete with curtains around the princess bed. Hot water showers were also quite a treat after months of cold water bucket baths. There were even animals carved below the clear glass sinks and rhino-shaped toilet paper holders. I swear, they thought of everything. The food was pleasantly not kale and corn-based. Jimmy and I were served hot chocolate and tea in our own living area when we woke up in the mornings. We even went on nature walks in the afternoons where we felt like we were right up with the animals. It was an amazing experience that I’ll never forget. Jimmy put some pictures on facebook and I’ll try to add some to the blog when my internet connection is better. The pictures hardly do it justice, especially the sunrises, but they will give you a window into a fantasy world come to life.

When we returned to our home-away-from-homes, Jimmy and I found the schools back in session. The teachers ended their strike with the government promising the raises the teachers had hoped for. The teachers did have to compromise some, and the government still needs to follow through with their promises so my fingers are still crossed. At least the students get to return to school. In the US, young students do not have a concept of their unlimited access to education. I know we are still fighting for making college and university more available, but all children in the US can go to school at least through high school. Here, that is hardly the case even with the strike ending. “Free” public schools still send students home if they cannot pay to take exams, have a hole in their uniforms that they have no money to repair, fail to polish their shoes or do not have shoes, arrive even one minute late in the morning, or are at all disrespectful to their teachers. They are caned for any indiscretions and sent home. When I pass homes where students are not in school, I find them still studying or collecting wood or making charcoal to earn money so they can return to school quickly. School is valuable and people here know it is their chance to help their families and succeed in life. In order to attend high school, young students must do well on all of their exams. High school is not even “free” so they also must pay fees in order to attend. These fees can be more than half of a family’s income. I’m not even all that sure what they are paying for since I often find teachers in the break room eating while the students teach themselves. There are of course some amazing teachers here who are entirely deserving of a raise, but people often overlook the dedication of the students themselves and the role they play in making their schools successful. Cheers to the end of the teachers’ strike and a round of applause for Kenya’s students. May they inspire other young people around the world!

When the teachers’ strike ended, the amazing chemistry teacher I was supposed to work with for the health club did not return to school. She took ill and went to Nairobi and will hopefully return next year. In an effort to make the most of my time here, and get to know the students at the high school, I volunteered to take on some of her classes. So, I’ve been teaching high school chemistry which has been a blast (pun intended :) ). We did some great experiments on hydrocarbons and water while I did my best to teach using Model-based inquiry. I hope my attempts, or at least laughable effort, make my advisor proud. My first notable observation about model-based inquiry (which for my non-education grad school friends is basically let students figure out what is happening without telling them all the answers, then debate about their findings and inferences like real scientists do) is that the students first have to be okay with speaking in class. After a week of prodding and repeatedly assuring students that I won’t beat them for not giving “right” answers, I finally got students to discuss just their observations. Then, we had a discussion about the differences between observations and inferences. The next class, I had a few brave students volunteer to make some inferences and lo and behold, they naturally made models by drawing on the board to explain. Woohoo! After a couple more weeks of this, I finally reached a critical moment where one student asked me why I wouldn’t tell them the answer. We had a nice talk about model-based inquiry and had a great argument about how soap actually works. I think the students had fun and learned a lot even if I didn’t let on that my chemistry knowledge is based on what I myself learned in high school. At least, if anything, I got the students talking, thinking, and debating in class.

Lately, I have switched from teaching chemistry to teaching computers (although I manage to have each computer lesson involve science content to make it more fun for me…shhh). We graphed the way water reacts with different metals and made powerpoints on the elements. I realized that teaching powerpoint was a dumb idea on my part considering my poor students have never even done any kind of presentations before (except for my amazing chemistry debates). Now, I’m taking things back a little and we're doing some typing practice. If anyone has any ideas for what to teach on computers using Microsoft office (the only programs we have besides solitaire), please do share. I’m running out of ideas and don’t want things to get boring!

In addition to confusing students with my strange teaching methods and forced class discussions, my other accomplishments to date include finally learning to cook using the charcoal stove. Woohoo! I can now make several dishes that contain corn, fish, and kale and I attempted banana bread which after 5 hours had a consistency more like banana pudding, but was still tasty. I also taught some of the kids how to make pancakes which they learned about from watching the movie Matilda.

Jimmy has been doing an amazing job with his work in Isibania. While the position is supposed to be program management moving toward consultant type work, in my opinion he is really more like a superintendent plus teacher education department head. He seems busy with these roles, but is loving Nuru, his housemates, and the teachers he works with. Jimmy can definitely add to my crazy school rant and can tell you more about his program himself. I’m happy to report that he is doing well and definitely making a difference for hundreds of children in Kenya while still keeping up with UNC football games, talking to me every day, and making me smile.

Jimmy is coming to visit this weekend which I’m very excited about along with the rest of my village. They all love him here as much as I do. Then, there is a month left for me to figure out my research...haha. Jimmy and I will both be back in the US in December and we are looking forward to seeing everyone. Unfortunately, it will be a whirlwind trip for us. We’ll be in the Pasadena area from Dec. 6-8 and the Santa Barbara area from Dec. 9-11 (Ellie and Mal, can we crash at your place please?). Then Jimmy is heading to North Carolina and I’ll be in the Pasadena area again from Dec. 12-17 (plus a short trip south to Julian with my mom somewhere in between). Jimmy and I will be spending Christmas with his family in North Carolina then heading back to Kenya. I expect everyone to please clear out your schedules when I arrive and convert any holiday shopping plans to spending-time-with-Anne plans so that I can see you. I miss you all!

Pictures!

Thank you to the EWB team for sharing the pictures!

The sunrise from the patio:

 

 The house where I am living (very spacious):

 Garung, the cuddly dog who likes to sleep on the front porch:

The lovely latrine and bucket bath stalls (tiled and everything):

The kitchen and rainwater tank:

Some of the shops downtown:

A view of the mountains:

Some of my friends here (Stephan, 13, is on the far left in red, Peter, 9, is the other boy in red looking off yonder, and Teddy, 7 I think, is the one in front with the gray and yellow stripes):

Market day (On Mondays people come from the town and the nearby cities to sell their goods, its like target comes to us):

A view of the lake:

The Teachers' Strike Continues

Well, Jimmy and I are at a bit of a stand-still with the public schools here. The teachers’ (from primary school to university) unions in Kenya are on strike to improve their wages from the government. In July, other civil servants received salary increases, but not the teachers. After the minister of finance did not show up to their first attempted meeting, they finally met to resolve the issues. The government offered the teachers’ unions a three part lump sum, but the teachers’ union did not accept the offer. They argued that the lump sum would not even reach the individual teaches and that like other civil servants, they deserve fair wages for each individual.

I have mixed feelings on the strike. I agree that teachers should receive a pay raise especially since the other civil servants did and there were plans for pay increases set up in 1997 that the government has not followed through on. I also feel that their specific demands for increased wages for the month of September and back pay starting from July 2012 are somewhat unreasonable. Namely, where will the money come from? The government cannot just hand out checks for money that is not factored into the budget. The teachers are going to have to compromise when it comes to the immediacy demands they have made or the government will have to immediately cut the budget somewhere else. My vote is for cutting the budget for campaigning. Somehow even during the teachers’ strike they have been able to meet with regards to government-sponsored campaign budgets. Go figure.

The tricky part is that the government doesn’t really feel the impact from the teachers’ strike. They are already finished with school. It is the students who really feel the impact of the strike. Stephan, for example, who is reading this post as I type, says that he is feeling bad because he hasn’t been going to school for months now. "We are still continuing with our learning at home though. We are reading story books, doing maths, and taking some English tests, and learning science," he explains. Stephan and some of his friends meet every day to study. Luckily, they are still in standard 6 and 7, the equivalent of junior high in the US and have awhile before their big exams. The students who are most impacted are form 4s, like seniors in high school in the US, who are taking their exams in December. They worry that they will have to compete with students in private schools who have had teachers while their own schools have been closed this term. The exam is the main qualifier for getting into university and getting jobs. The students here are just waiting to go back to school and doing their best to keep learning.

As for my research and the health club, I cannot give the exact details from what is taking place at the secondary school. The outcome though is that I cannot work with the club there until the strike ends and I need to be extremely careful teaching public school students at all. So, the waiting continues. In the meantime, I will have to improvise my research and keep track of the strike. I guess one finding is how much science education can be tied up with politics. Though, I guess we also see that in the US. I’m keep you all posted on the strike. Jimmy is also waiting with a group of great teachers who have no schools to go to for the time being. At least they have time to do some great training and planning. I think he is essentially running his own teachers education school. 

Well, here’s hoping the teachers' strike ends and the schools reopen soon!

The Impact of Weather

Okay, when it rains in LA, the drivers can’t handle it and traffic stops. Of course, this is also true of Friday afternoons regardless of the weather. When it snows in Gettysburg, PA people go to the store to buy extra food then stay inside for the most part. Mainly because Gettysburg is notorious for doing a crummy job snow plowing. Anyway, things stop a bit but you hang out inside, drink some hot chocolate, and enjoy a book. When it gets windy and is about to rain by Lake Victoria, you are not allowed to sit inside and relax. First, you must go out into the thorn bushes to retrieve clothes that have fallen off the fence. Then you have to run around finding all of the dishes that have blown off the dish drying rack (those will need to be rewashed later), then you have to let the chickens into the kitchen so they stop screaming, then you have to find the goats and make sure they are tied somewhere safe, you have to put giant stones by all the windows so they don’t fly open, then you bring the stove into the main house to cook. Oh, and inevitably during this time any power there was (in like 4 houses and a couple of stores) will have gone out so you have to do all of this in the dark or one handed with a flashlight. You also have to try to get the children to their respective homes before the rain comes or tell them to stay put until the storm is over. The good news is that rain means no hauling water for a while since you can harvest the water for use. It also means the crops do well unless there is too much rain in which case they can wash away. Oh, and poor Stephan had to come back early from playing soccer. Tomorrow, the soccer field will be a lake. All in all, rain is life.

Updates Part 2 and Happy Birthday Jimmy!

 The water project is doing well. I spoke with the lady who lives down by the pump and she showed me around her new garden. She has been using some of the water to grow kale and they have already sprouted. She also said that people have been coming from very far to get water; even people from the shore of the lake have been coming to get their drinking and cooking water.

My research…not going as well. There is a teachers strike for better wages (a document they prepared and have been trying to pass since the mid ‘90s) so none of the schools are starting. Some of the secondary school students told me that they will still go back to their boarding schools so they can be together and study. I may try to go on Thursday and see if anyone wants me to still run the health club, but I’m honestly not sure if anyone will be there.

Jimmy is having the same trouble with the teachers’ strike multiplied by nine since he works with nine different schools. He was also supposed to be expanding to new schools this term. The good thing is this gives his team some extra time to plan, but we are both hoping the strike ends soon. We had a great weekend in Kisii together though. It was nice to get away and see a city (with running water, toilets, electricity, a variety of food, and even supermarkets). Mostly, it was just good to see Jimmy! It is his birthday today so please send him many birthday wishes and tarheel football updates. :)

I’m still doing program evaluation with Lubi and Ellie, albeit from a distance. I miss having them with me in person, but it is nice to work with them from afar. I also managed to use the stove for the first time today. I cooked a giant pot of spaghetti that I brought back from Kisii. All of the ingredients came from Kisii except for the tomatoes and onions. It was crazy cooking in large quantities and feeding over 20 people, but it was nice finally cooking for the families who always cook for me. 

I miss everyone in California (and my East Coast friends if any of you are reading this). Please send me lots of e-mails telling me how you are doing since facebook is sometimes hard to load. I hope the start of the school year is going well. Miss you all!

Updates

The EWB team, other than me, left Luanda last week and should be arriving back home about now. We had a great time and it seems strangely quiet with them gone. The little kids are doing their best to keep me entertained though. The day after the team left was a bit sad. Not only was everyone gone, but I talked to my mom on the phone and she told me my dog Maggie had passed away. She died in her sleep and my dad said that she seemed really peaceful, but I’m upset that I wasn’t there with her. I guess that's the suckiest part about not being near home. Benson’s youngest kids came over to cheer me up and sang lots of songs with me and I talked to Jimmy on the phone so that helped. I’m feeling a bit better now, but I really miss Maggie.

On a better note, the water project is finished and people keep coming to me and thanking me for bringing them water. I’m passing their thanks along to the team.

I’m going to go eat yummy millet and sorgum/cassava porridge as a snack while I work (it’s almost as tasty as raiding the extra sandwiches with you Ellie, though not quite as fun).

Building Foundations

This week has been pretty crazy. Professor Roy arrived in Luanda and we began work on the EWB water project. The day before he came, everyone in Luanda was very excited and his coming became the catalyst for work. Trenches that had been started suddenly multiplied, supplies came in, and people materialized to start the project. It was all very exciting.

During the day, I’ve started getting my hands dirty on the construction sites to make concrete foundations with the community. Monday we dug giant holes in both dirt and rock, Tuesday we filled the holes with stones and hard pack (a mix of sand, rocks, and water), Wednesday we poured cement mixed with more sand, rocks, and water into the hole that used to have dirt, and today we did the same with the hole that used to have rock. My dad was totally right about the volcanic rock though. With a chisel and this great worker whose previous job happened to be in a quarry, the rock broke apart. Tomorrow we will break apart more of the rock to finish up the trenches for the pipes. Everything is moving very quickly on the project and very fun. The work sites are a fun mix of volunteers who live in the nearby homes, hired workers, a mason, a carpenter, the water committee (a small group who sits around drinking sodas and watching the work), women who are busy harvesting corn and millet but come to great us and thank us for bringing water, and a gaggle of small children who watch the work and ask me to take their picture. The construction sites are full of activity. 

Unfortunately, this will be a short blog post because I’m exhausted and the mosquitoes really like my computer screen and think I taste delicious. Time to head under the mosquito net for bed and to get ready for tomorrow when the rest of the EWB team arrive. More to come on stories from the water project sites. Also, Roy tells the best stories about his adventures traveling around the world that I should try to share on here too. Oriti (goodbye)!