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!