Another mega-update I fear. Brace yourselves.
The story starts on Friday during the morning, when Patrick was busy dealing with the students who hadn’t paid their fees. Two brothers were sent home to collect the money and then sent back to school by their father who had said he was sleeping and didn’t want to be disturbed. They were sent back again. Two sisters were also sent home, and the mother sent back one girl, having told her to collect her things and come home. So, Patrick asked me… what should he do?
Non-profit organizations are really very similar to businesses, except the ultimate goal is impact rather than profit. An organization has to be sustainable and has to meet its expenses. As much as he would love to, Hope Streams cannot function if the students don’t pay their fees. They are already half a month behind and are running a deficit made up by generous community members. But this can’t work in the long term. So, he needs the fees. But if he demands the fees then the two girls will be pulled out of school, effectively punishing the girls instead of the parents and going against the entire purpose of the school, to provide an education for the local kids. So think about it, what would you do?
In the end he had the girl stay at school on Friday. I will have to see tomorrow if she is back in class again. But it’s not a simple situation, for sure. What’s really sad is that the school fees for a month is shillings, or about $5. But the parents can’t pay. And if the administrators are too lenient, then even the parents who can pay (like the father of the two boys mentioned earlier) will take advantage of the generosity of others and simply go without paying. Financial sustainability is a big issue for Hope Streams, like many other community groups.
After we had classes on Friday, Joyce and I took a Matatu downtown to meet Ken and take our trip to Kisumu, the third largest city in Kenya at about 160,000 people. Kisumu is in the west, on the coast of Lake Victoria, the world’s second largest lake and the source of the mighty Nile. Interesting side note: Apparently due to a contract negotiated in the 50s by the British, the Kenyas are not allowed to actually use the water from the lake, which means that even next to Africa’s largest fresh water source, there is a water shortage.
The bus took 7 hours to reach Kisumu so we went to our hotel, and some dinner and then headed to bed. It was up early the next morning to drive to the ferry to Rusinga Island. On the drive Ken told us about the project we would be visiting on the island and we also discussed politics (more later). We arrived at the ferry in a small fishing village and took some nice photos (on Joyce’s camera, mine is still broken…) Ironically, we took the 45 min ferry over to a peninsula that is closer to the island, and then crossed an artificial land bridge to the island. The island has no paved roads, is largely rural and is where Ken grew up. We went to stay with his brother and his large family (also more later). We walked down to the lake and then went climbing along some of the rocks and enjoyed the view. Then it was off to visit the project, a model school run by the humanist centre and sponsored largely by the Czech government. The school is much bigger and better equipped than Hope Streams. There are residences for the orphans who live there and brand new classrooms.
One important point that I discussed with Ken a lot on the way was that at this school the teachers are not allowed to hit the students. It was very interesting to see the responses I got to my earlier post on this topic. In general most people believed I should accept the local culture. However, Ken was on my side and argued that no violence is good violence and was very adamant that this island school have no physical punishments.
That night for dinner we had fish from the lake and slept early. We got up Saturday morning and Mark, one of Ken’s nephews, took us on a boat to Bird Island (Bonnie, you would have been sooooo jealous!!!) We saw lots of different birds and entire trees that were white from you can guess what. We also saw several Monitor Lizards and I got within a foot of one for some nice shots. (Oh Bon Bon, you missed it…..)
Then we went for a walk and visited the site where Mary Leakey had unearthed Proconsul Africanus (Mom, it’s your desktop). Then we visited the mausoleum of a famous Kenyan politician who was assassinated in 1969.
In the evening we had a very interesting conversation with Ken’s brother. He had recently taken a second wife and was therefore polygamous. He asked Joyce and I out opinions on this, which led to some interesting thoughts. However, I decided to take it further and asked him his opinion on gay marriage. I have noticed that unlike north America and even south America, there is absolutely no mention of homosexuality here at all. I had gotten the impression it was taboo, but hadn’t actually asked. It was a very interesting talk between him, from a country generally against gay marriage but ok with polygamy, and me, from a country that is generally ok with gay marriage but against polygamy.
Today (Monday) we were up at 6 to catch the ferry back. The island was very beautiful and so peacefully but we had to get back for exams this week for the kids. On the ferry we met a guy going to Kisumu so we offered him a ride. He turned out to be a journalist and we talked once again about Kenyan politics. It seems that in generally Kenyans believe best the solution to all the problems would be to clean out and restructure the entire government and start over. That’s how little faith they have in the system. And when I ask people when they think change will come, most say at least another 10 or 15 years. The politicians in power now have it too good to let it go easily, and new leadership is needed to see any difference for Kenya’s reality.
Patriotism here is an interesting thing. In Brazil, people are VERY patriotic. You will see flags everywhere and people are proud to be Brazilian. Even in Ecuador you could feel it. Here, there is very little patriotism. Firstly, because people associate first with their own tribe before their country and second because there simply isn’t that much for Kenyans to be proud of. Many are disappointed with their country and even apologize to me for being so negative. Change is wanted and needed but when and how it will happen remains to be seen. The will is there, the way is needed.
After arriving in Kisumo once again we went to the lake to buy some fish to bring back to Nairobi (we bought cooked fish). Then it was a quick lunch and onto the bus for another 7 hours back to the big city. It was a looong trip but we got to see Western Kenya and experience a bit of rural living, plus had some interesting discussions and learned ever more about this country.
***
Live Update (now Wednesday): Yesterday I had a long but good meeting with Patrick and the admin at Hope Streams to discuss strategic planning. I am going to be heading up the plan, which is really cool and I think it will be a great experience :)
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Cookie Batter Up
Written on Sunday - I have had trouble getting online lately, I really tried!!
I went yesterday to Kibera again for a visit. I went to Daniel’s house and met his mother. He told me that his mom there was not his real mom because his parents had died when he was young. His new parents had taken in him and his two siblings, plus had their own children. His new Mom is a nun at a local church and makes money braiding people’s hair. His Dad is an uncertified mechanic who does odd jobs. And on that they support the whole family. I can’t imagine.
Today I baked cookies! It was a little tricky given no running water, a gas stove and no cookie sheets, but I managed. And I only burned one batch, haha. Tomorrow is my host’s daughter’s fourth birthday so I made them for her, but we shall see if they last until tomorrow!
One odd Kenyan thing is that the security guards are required by law to wear helmets, and the ones they wear look exactly like baseball helmets. It’s hard not to snicker when I walk down the street and see a bunch of baseball players standing at the doors of stores. They are even in unifiorm!!
********
Live update: On Monday I had a really good meeting with Patrick and some of the other guys at the school. I showed them my draft proposal and they really liked it. We went through and talked about some other ideas and they said that they wanted to do more things like this, so I suggested we do a strategic plan for the school and they agreed! So now I am heading up the creation of the plan as well as hopefully sharing some of my other (AIESEC gained) knowledge with the staff at the school. I like doing the teaching but I am also glad to have the chance to do some more admin and strategic work. Yay!
School tidbit - when a student does well the other students clap and sing "Well done, well done, name here, keep it up". And if they didn't do so well they sing "Well done, well done, name here, pull up your socks". It's so cute!
This weekend I will hopefully be going to Lake Victoria to visit another project run through Humanist in a more rural setting. And next week the kids have mid-term exams so I am very curious about how they will do!!
I went yesterday to Kibera again for a visit. I went to Daniel’s house and met his mother. He told me that his mom there was not his real mom because his parents had died when he was young. His new parents had taken in him and his two siblings, plus had their own children. His new Mom is a nun at a local church and makes money braiding people’s hair. His Dad is an uncertified mechanic who does odd jobs. And on that they support the whole family. I can’t imagine.
Today I baked cookies! It was a little tricky given no running water, a gas stove and no cookie sheets, but I managed. And I only burned one batch, haha. Tomorrow is my host’s daughter’s fourth birthday so I made them for her, but we shall see if they last until tomorrow!
One odd Kenyan thing is that the security guards are required by law to wear helmets, and the ones they wear look exactly like baseball helmets. It’s hard not to snicker when I walk down the street and see a bunch of baseball players standing at the doors of stores. They are even in unifiorm!!
********
Live update: On Monday I had a really good meeting with Patrick and some of the other guys at the school. I showed them my draft proposal and they really liked it. We went through and talked about some other ideas and they said that they wanted to do more things like this, so I suggested we do a strategic plan for the school and they agreed! So now I am heading up the creation of the plan as well as hopefully sharing some of my other (AIESEC gained) knowledge with the staff at the school. I like doing the teaching but I am also glad to have the chance to do some more admin and strategic work. Yay!
School tidbit - when a student does well the other students clap and sing "Well done, well done, name here, keep it up". And if they didn't do so well they sing "Well done, well done, name here, pull up your socks". It's so cute!
This weekend I will hopefully be going to Lake Victoria to visit another project run through Humanist in a more rural setting. And next week the kids have mid-term exams so I am very curious about how they will do!!
Friday, February 13, 2009
School News
Yesterday was puzzle day again. All the kids stayed which made for a very full classroom once again. I did a logic puzzle, a mad lib, a math puzzles and a couple mind teasers with them. Again, I had to help them through it, but I think they enjoyed it and when I was explaining it I could see a few of them were thinking “ooohhhhhh”. Some just come because everyone else is there, so it’s a bit of a pain to keep them quiet, but I think they are learning, and when they get one right they all cheer.
Today we had some visitors at the school. A lady who runs a safari company here has a partnership with Hope Streams as part of her CSR initiative. She brings the safari participants to visit the school and she has also donated money to help them build the structures they have now. They came today and so all the kids were assembled to sing and dance for them. I got to play tambourine, haha. It was nice to see that the school has a good partnership and that they get some exposure through it. An article on the school made it into American travel group’s newsletter, which is sent to over 100 people. Good stuff!
I have been working on a Hope Streams proposal, and the other day I was doing the budget. The teachers get paid 4000Ksh per month. So how much is that? It works out to them have just around $2 per day, and earning $0.35 per hour. Ouch. That is WAY less than the public school teachers, who just went on stike for higher pay. But in a community of poverty, 35 cents an hour is better than zero, and a steady, reliable job is better than not knowing whether you will have money at all.
Wow, a short post from me! Something must be wrong with the world!
Today we had some visitors at the school. A lady who runs a safari company here has a partnership with Hope Streams as part of her CSR initiative. She brings the safari participants to visit the school and she has also donated money to help them build the structures they have now. They came today and so all the kids were assembled to sing and dance for them. I got to play tambourine, haha. It was nice to see that the school has a good partnership and that they get some exposure through it. An article on the school made it into American travel group’s newsletter, which is sent to over 100 people. Good stuff!
I have been working on a Hope Streams proposal, and the other day I was doing the budget. The teachers get paid 4000Ksh per month. So how much is that? It works out to them have just around $2 per day, and earning $0.35 per hour. Ouch. That is WAY less than the public school teachers, who just went on stike for higher pay. But in a community of poverty, 35 cents an hour is better than zero, and a steady, reliable job is better than not knowing whether you will have money at all.
Wow, a short post from me! Something must be wrong with the world!
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Moral Dilemma
At what point do you draw the line of cultural difference and establish right and wrong? This is not an easy question. There are many things about Kenya that are very different than Canada. The strong religion, the more defined gender roles and, unfortunately, the hitting of children at school. I became aware of this fact recently, and I have been discussing it with some of the staff at school. It was very obvious to them that I did not like the idea. I have been told that “African kids need more discipline” and “save the cane, break the child. Break the cane, save the child” and “you must straighten the tree while it is still flexible”. The canings are not severe by any means, but I am sure they hurt. So the question is, “is this ok”?
Today I was marking science and came across unfinished homework. I muttered “another one unfinished” and the class teacher, who was sitting nearby, heard me. She asked me how many were not completed and I told her almost half. So she grabbed up the books and the cane and made all the children who hadn’t finished or had many things wrong lie on the floor while she caned them. For MY homework. I asked her not to, but she said that if she didn’t the kids would think that for my classes they could get away with not doing their work.
I totally admit that disciplining the kids is not my strength and I’m sure I am too easy on them. But do I object and say I cannot condone caning? Or do I accept it as part of Kenyan culture? Are my Canadian values valid in this context? Is there a universal right and wrong?
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A few other notes. This morning there was a downpour. The noise of the rain falling on the metal roof plus the lack of sunlight to light the classroom made it almost impossible to teach. Makes you realize that we are a stone’s throw from being outside.
I noticed the day something quite unusual. The matatus are very tight. You have to squeeze to get in. Yet when there is a seat next to a Kenyan open and someone is getting on, they prefer to let the new person squeeze past them, often while the matatu is moving, instead of simply sliding over and letting them have their original seat. I have absolutely no idea why this is.
******************************
On the weekend I took my first trip to Kibera, the second largest slum in the world. Both of my hosts were born and raised there. It is home to more than a million people, with many subcommunities, often along tribal lines. As such, it was the site of much of the violence in late 2007. The guy who took me works for an NGO in Kibera focused on enabling young people through the arts. He told me that during the violence he and his group did hundreds of performances of anti-violence skits and plays. The organization hopes to finance a recording studio for talented musicians and do some other small projects, like providing feminine products for girls who can’t afford them. We walked through Kibera for about an hour and saw less than half of it. In the afternoon I watched a dance rehearsal.
On Sunday, Sylvia took me to a place called the Bomas of Kenya, which is a small park of replica villages of the different Kenyan tribes, and an auditorium where they show traditional dances. The music, costumes and dancing were really nice. One dance featured men with large wooden blocks on their feet that they stomped in time with the drums. There were also some acrobats, the African version of Cirque de Soleil.
*****************************
An update on my experimental teaching… The clouds experiment didn’t go quite as well as I had hoped, so I walked them through it as an example. This week I will try the puzzles again on Thursday, so we’ll see if they start getting the hang of it.
--
P.S. Posted on my birthday!! It's been a good day so far :) I am not ay Daystar Uni hanging out with the AIESECers. Oh, and I saw zebras!
Today I was marking science and came across unfinished homework. I muttered “another one unfinished” and the class teacher, who was sitting nearby, heard me. She asked me how many were not completed and I told her almost half. So she grabbed up the books and the cane and made all the children who hadn’t finished or had many things wrong lie on the floor while she caned them. For MY homework. I asked her not to, but she said that if she didn’t the kids would think that for my classes they could get away with not doing their work.
I totally admit that disciplining the kids is not my strength and I’m sure I am too easy on them. But do I object and say I cannot condone caning? Or do I accept it as part of Kenyan culture? Are my Canadian values valid in this context? Is there a universal right and wrong?
******************************
A few other notes. This morning there was a downpour. The noise of the rain falling on the metal roof plus the lack of sunlight to light the classroom made it almost impossible to teach. Makes you realize that we are a stone’s throw from being outside.
I noticed the day something quite unusual. The matatus are very tight. You have to squeeze to get in. Yet when there is a seat next to a Kenyan open and someone is getting on, they prefer to let the new person squeeze past them, often while the matatu is moving, instead of simply sliding over and letting them have their original seat. I have absolutely no idea why this is.
******************************
On the weekend I took my first trip to Kibera, the second largest slum in the world. Both of my hosts were born and raised there. It is home to more than a million people, with many subcommunities, often along tribal lines. As such, it was the site of much of the violence in late 2007. The guy who took me works for an NGO in Kibera focused on enabling young people through the arts. He told me that during the violence he and his group did hundreds of performances of anti-violence skits and plays. The organization hopes to finance a recording studio for talented musicians and do some other small projects, like providing feminine products for girls who can’t afford them. We walked through Kibera for about an hour and saw less than half of it. In the afternoon I watched a dance rehearsal.
On Sunday, Sylvia took me to a place called the Bomas of Kenya, which is a small park of replica villages of the different Kenyan tribes, and an auditorium where they show traditional dances. The music, costumes and dancing were really nice. One dance featured men with large wooden blocks on their feet that they stomped in time with the drums. There were also some acrobats, the African version of Cirque de Soleil.
*****************************
An update on my experimental teaching… The clouds experiment didn’t go quite as well as I had hoped, so I walked them through it as an example. This week I will try the puzzles again on Thursday, so we’ll see if they start getting the hang of it.
--
P.S. Posted on my birthday!! It's been a good day so far :) I am not ay Daystar Uni hanging out with the AIESECers. Oh, and I saw zebras!
Friday, February 6, 2009
Love of learning
Today was a good day. In class three we have been starting fractions, which is something they haven’t seen before. Yesterday we did halves and today I introduced quarters. And they were getting it! I was really happy, and the regular teacher commented as well that they were really understanding. My hopes were dashed a little when we tried to do a quarter of a group (like, what is a quarter of 8) and they were struggling a bit, but I hope if we try it again next week they will figure it out.
Then in Class 4 for science I decided rather than just taking notes and being told everything, we need to have a more experimental approach. So today I taught them about clouds and then showed them how to write up a simple lab, with an objective, procedure, observations, questions and conclusion. Until the end of the weekend they have to record the clouds every day and answer questions based on what they have observed. It was pretty obvious that they had never seen anything like it before, but I explained what each part was for and gave them a really simple table to record things in. I guess next week we will find out if it worked! If it’s a success then I will try to do a few more simple observation based activities with them in the future.
I think I mentioned before that I have found that the kids’ problem solving abilities are weak, probably due to the “copy down and repeat” method of teaching. Patrick has also mentioned to me that he wants to have the school be more of a community for the kids. So I have been thinking and talking to him about starting an afterschool activity, just once a week. Well, today was my first day and it was a success!
I decided I would do puzzles with the kids to help them develop critical thinking and problem solving while having some fun, so I invited kids from class two, three and four to stay if they wanted to. Every single kid in all three classes stayed. I was expecting 10 or 15 kids to come, but I have three entire classes worth! In the end we had to send the kids from Class 2 home because there wasn’t enough space, so class 3 and 4 stayed with me and we did a simple logic puzzle where they had to use clues to put things in the right order, and a simple crossword puzzle with a theme of school. As I expected, the kids were pretty stumped by the puzzles, so after giving them a few minutes to ponder, I went through step by step and showed them how to do it. By the end they were starting to see how it works. I asked them at the end if they liked the puzzles and if they wanted to do it again next week and they all cheered “yes”! I think for the first few weeks I will have to guide them through the puzzles, but hopefully they will start to see how they can think about things differently and gradually start doing them on their own. I just have to figure out how to manage a tiny classroom with 32 kids packed into it! I’ll talk to Patrick and the other teachers and see if they have some suggestions. If I need to, I can do two sessions a week, but it means have to hang around and stay late, which I don’t want to do all the time. But if the kids want it and they are actually learning something, then I will do it. Today I had to help a lot with the logic puzzle - showing them how to set it up and how to get more information out of the clues that first appears - but after showing them the first few words in the crossword they started figuring out the other words. Some of those kids are very bright!
One day I asked Patrick what will happen to the older kids next year, if Hopestreams is unable to offer Standard 5. He told me that many work have to work in rich people’s houses, even at only 10 or 11 years old. These kids are amazing and I don’t want to see that happen to them. There is a school close by that offers the other classes, but the tuition is double that of Hopestreams, and most of the parents already cannot pay the full amount. These kids totally deserve a chance. It would be such a shame if they didn’t finish primary school.
A few other things to note – The dog at the school had puppies!! Nine of them and they are sooo cute! They haven’t opened their eyes yet. I go and visit them everyday, even though the mom doesn’t like me spying.
Another interesting cultural thing is that when someone trips or drops something, everyone around says “sorry”. For me it’s very strange because it is like they are apologizing for me dropping the chalk, but that’s just what they say!
The other day Patrick found a Yoyo that had been donated to the school. But nobody at the school knew how to use it! So I started playing with it and some of the kids saw we. Soon I had half the school gathered around me watching the yoyo going up and down. They had never seen it before!
Another thing that had been donated is some jigsaw puzzles. Patrick pulled them when I told him my idea for the kids. I started doing them in the office while I had free time, and all the teachers were stunned at how fast I could do it. They told me it would take them hours. They had not grown up with them. It made me think of two things. One, that the toys and games we play as children and so much more than that. The simple strategy of putting a puzzle together by starting with the edges was not something they knew. Second, the gifts that people donate to schools like Hopestreams and not always culturally revevant. Both the puzzles and the yoyo were donated, but neither had been used because they didn’t know how. Another thing lying around the office is a copy of Harry Potter and while I haven’t actually asked, I secretly wonder if such a strongly Christian community would even allow their kids to read it. So think twice about what you decide to donate!
My battery is about to die, gotta go!
Then in Class 4 for science I decided rather than just taking notes and being told everything, we need to have a more experimental approach. So today I taught them about clouds and then showed them how to write up a simple lab, with an objective, procedure, observations, questions and conclusion. Until the end of the weekend they have to record the clouds every day and answer questions based on what they have observed. It was pretty obvious that they had never seen anything like it before, but I explained what each part was for and gave them a really simple table to record things in. I guess next week we will find out if it worked! If it’s a success then I will try to do a few more simple observation based activities with them in the future.
I think I mentioned before that I have found that the kids’ problem solving abilities are weak, probably due to the “copy down and repeat” method of teaching. Patrick has also mentioned to me that he wants to have the school be more of a community for the kids. So I have been thinking and talking to him about starting an afterschool activity, just once a week. Well, today was my first day and it was a success!
I decided I would do puzzles with the kids to help them develop critical thinking and problem solving while having some fun, so I invited kids from class two, three and four to stay if they wanted to. Every single kid in all three classes stayed. I was expecting 10 or 15 kids to come, but I have three entire classes worth! In the end we had to send the kids from Class 2 home because there wasn’t enough space, so class 3 and 4 stayed with me and we did a simple logic puzzle where they had to use clues to put things in the right order, and a simple crossword puzzle with a theme of school. As I expected, the kids were pretty stumped by the puzzles, so after giving them a few minutes to ponder, I went through step by step and showed them how to do it. By the end they were starting to see how it works. I asked them at the end if they liked the puzzles and if they wanted to do it again next week and they all cheered “yes”! I think for the first few weeks I will have to guide them through the puzzles, but hopefully they will start to see how they can think about things differently and gradually start doing them on their own. I just have to figure out how to manage a tiny classroom with 32 kids packed into it! I’ll talk to Patrick and the other teachers and see if they have some suggestions. If I need to, I can do two sessions a week, but it means have to hang around and stay late, which I don’t want to do all the time. But if the kids want it and they are actually learning something, then I will do it. Today I had to help a lot with the logic puzzle - showing them how to set it up and how to get more information out of the clues that first appears - but after showing them the first few words in the crossword they started figuring out the other words. Some of those kids are very bright!
One day I asked Patrick what will happen to the older kids next year, if Hopestreams is unable to offer Standard 5. He told me that many work have to work in rich people’s houses, even at only 10 or 11 years old. These kids are amazing and I don’t want to see that happen to them. There is a school close by that offers the other classes, but the tuition is double that of Hopestreams, and most of the parents already cannot pay the full amount. These kids totally deserve a chance. It would be such a shame if they didn’t finish primary school.
A few other things to note – The dog at the school had puppies!! Nine of them and they are sooo cute! They haven’t opened their eyes yet. I go and visit them everyday, even though the mom doesn’t like me spying.
Another interesting cultural thing is that when someone trips or drops something, everyone around says “sorry”. For me it’s very strange because it is like they are apologizing for me dropping the chalk, but that’s just what they say!
The other day Patrick found a Yoyo that had been donated to the school. But nobody at the school knew how to use it! So I started playing with it and some of the kids saw we. Soon I had half the school gathered around me watching the yoyo going up and down. They had never seen it before!
Another thing that had been donated is some jigsaw puzzles. Patrick pulled them when I told him my idea for the kids. I started doing them in the office while I had free time, and all the teachers were stunned at how fast I could do it. They told me it would take them hours. They had not grown up with them. It made me think of two things. One, that the toys and games we play as children and so much more than that. The simple strategy of putting a puzzle together by starting with the edges was not something they knew. Second, the gifts that people donate to schools like Hopestreams and not always culturally revevant. Both the puzzles and the yoyo were donated, but neither had been used because they didn’t know how. Another thing lying around the office is a copy of Harry Potter and while I haven’t actually asked, I secretly wonder if such a strongly Christian community would even allow their kids to read it. So think twice about what you decide to donate!
My battery is about to die, gotta go!
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Catching Up
Note: Second of two (long) updates
I have been writing down a list of things I should blog about, and the list never seems to stop. It’s long, but I know if I don’t cover it all it will just grow longer! I’ll try to be brief.
On the lighter side, I discovered today that playing cards is illegal in Kenya - at least outside the home. This is to prevent people from being lazy and encourage them to work. Similarly, loitering is illegal.
Yesterday I saw the girls again that I met last Sunday. I had told one girl that my hair was very long before I came here. Yesterday she told me she wanted to go to Canada so she could eat out food so that her hair would grow long. Kids have such interesting ideas :P
On Friday I saw the President of Kenya! His motorcade (about 20 vehicles!) passed by as I was downtown with Sylvia. They stopped all the traffic for a long time while the president was coming.
On the darker side, it has been a very dark week in Kenya. For the past few weeks, there has been famine in much of the country. As much as a third of the population is living day to day. As if that wasn’t bad enough, the government has made a huge mess of the food relief. They have huge stores of grain, yet they have been borrowing money from the states to pay for food for starving families. The relief is scant at best and many families have not been helped. In fact, it’s been the corporate sector who has stepped in with a lot of funds to help those who need it. Then, last Wednesday one of the locations of Kenya’s biggest grocery store chain went up in flames due to a faulty generator. Bad enough that the place burnt down, but many people were trapped inside because there weren’t enough emergency exits. They have found 25 bodies already with almost 50 people still reported missing since the incident. Add to that that there wasn’t enough water for the fire services to properly tackle the flames and it took them more than 3 hours to douse the flames. People flocked to the scene in the thousands to watch and the police had to keep them back with tear gas. Another example of Kenyans getting to close to an accident happened last Saturday night, an oil tanker overturned and sprung a leak. Locals gathered by the hundreds to get free gas. Then, one person lit a cigarette. Guess what happened. Over 100 people died in a huge ball of fire. Another hundred or so are being treated in hospital. And what’s worse is this is not the first time this has happened. There have been no less that 7 crashed oil tankers since 2003, and another one also exploded with severe casualties. It’s such a shame and so sad. In a week Kenya has lost almost 200 people to fire with millions on the brink of starvation. The government is being attacked for it’s poor emergency preparedness, both with regards to fire safety and drought.
The whole government here is such a mess. Ben has been telling me about the scandals and the corruption and the messes they always manage to make. It will be a long road before Kenya can have a good, responsible government. They really need a complete overhaul of the system and the people. The people here don’t have any faith in the government. The president has WAY too much power and the ministers all have shares in the companies they give permits to. And if I am exaggerating, it’s not by much.
Back to culture now. Kenyans have very interesting rules when it comes to inviting people. In Canada if a friend said to me “hey lets go for dinner tomorrow” I would expect to pay my half of the meal. Here, if you invite someone it is automatic that you pay for them, no questions asked. The other day I invited the girls to go get some pop because it was a hot day, so I was sure to pay for them. Sometimes this policy makes me feel bad because I want to contribute when people invite me out, but I have started keeping quiet when the bill comes. I’ll just have to invite them out in return sometime…. Once I know some good places to take them
I was talking to Joyce yesterday and she was saying that she had felt very awkward when someone had asked her whether her parents are still alive. She said she had been offended at the question because the Chinese do not like to talk about deaths. However, in Kenya it is customary to ask about ones family. It is polite and given the average lifespan of Kenyans it would be possible that Joyce’s parents would be deceased. I thought it was an interesting cultural misunderstanding. We also talked for quite a while about the size of families and how in Kenya it would be crazy not to have 4, 5, 6 or more kids. To Joyce, from one child China, and me from Canada, that is quite rare. One teacher at the school was asking me why we have small families and no reason I could give would satisfy him, it just didn’t make sense to him.
One last observation for today, the buses at the terminal downtown just sit there until they are full. It doesn’t matter how long that takes, they won’t go until they have enough people. Sometimes this makes for a long wait!
This last weekend I went for the EB election for AIESEC Daystar. It was nice to hang out with the AIESECers and it was also very interesting to observe the differences in behaviour between the more affluent Kenyans and some of the people I have been working with. But I think that is enough for now.
I have been writing down a list of things I should blog about, and the list never seems to stop. It’s long, but I know if I don’t cover it all it will just grow longer! I’ll try to be brief.
On the lighter side, I discovered today that playing cards is illegal in Kenya - at least outside the home. This is to prevent people from being lazy and encourage them to work. Similarly, loitering is illegal.
Yesterday I saw the girls again that I met last Sunday. I had told one girl that my hair was very long before I came here. Yesterday she told me she wanted to go to Canada so she could eat out food so that her hair would grow long. Kids have such interesting ideas :P
On Friday I saw the President of Kenya! His motorcade (about 20 vehicles!) passed by as I was downtown with Sylvia. They stopped all the traffic for a long time while the president was coming.
On the darker side, it has been a very dark week in Kenya. For the past few weeks, there has been famine in much of the country. As much as a third of the population is living day to day. As if that wasn’t bad enough, the government has made a huge mess of the food relief. They have huge stores of grain, yet they have been borrowing money from the states to pay for food for starving families. The relief is scant at best and many families have not been helped. In fact, it’s been the corporate sector who has stepped in with a lot of funds to help those who need it. Then, last Wednesday one of the locations of Kenya’s biggest grocery store chain went up in flames due to a faulty generator. Bad enough that the place burnt down, but many people were trapped inside because there weren’t enough emergency exits. They have found 25 bodies already with almost 50 people still reported missing since the incident. Add to that that there wasn’t enough water for the fire services to properly tackle the flames and it took them more than 3 hours to douse the flames. People flocked to the scene in the thousands to watch and the police had to keep them back with tear gas. Another example of Kenyans getting to close to an accident happened last Saturday night, an oil tanker overturned and sprung a leak. Locals gathered by the hundreds to get free gas. Then, one person lit a cigarette. Guess what happened. Over 100 people died in a huge ball of fire. Another hundred or so are being treated in hospital. And what’s worse is this is not the first time this has happened. There have been no less that 7 crashed oil tankers since 2003, and another one also exploded with severe casualties. It’s such a shame and so sad. In a week Kenya has lost almost 200 people to fire with millions on the brink of starvation. The government is being attacked for it’s poor emergency preparedness, both with regards to fire safety and drought.
The whole government here is such a mess. Ben has been telling me about the scandals and the corruption and the messes they always manage to make. It will be a long road before Kenya can have a good, responsible government. They really need a complete overhaul of the system and the people. The people here don’t have any faith in the government. The president has WAY too much power and the ministers all have shares in the companies they give permits to. And if I am exaggerating, it’s not by much.
Back to culture now. Kenyans have very interesting rules when it comes to inviting people. In Canada if a friend said to me “hey lets go for dinner tomorrow” I would expect to pay my half of the meal. Here, if you invite someone it is automatic that you pay for them, no questions asked. The other day I invited the girls to go get some pop because it was a hot day, so I was sure to pay for them. Sometimes this policy makes me feel bad because I want to contribute when people invite me out, but I have started keeping quiet when the bill comes. I’ll just have to invite them out in return sometime…. Once I know some good places to take them
I was talking to Joyce yesterday and she was saying that she had felt very awkward when someone had asked her whether her parents are still alive. She said she had been offended at the question because the Chinese do not like to talk about deaths. However, in Kenya it is customary to ask about ones family. It is polite and given the average lifespan of Kenyans it would be possible that Joyce’s parents would be deceased. I thought it was an interesting cultural misunderstanding. We also talked for quite a while about the size of families and how in Kenya it would be crazy not to have 4, 5, 6 or more kids. To Joyce, from one child China, and me from Canada, that is quite rare. One teacher at the school was asking me why we have small families and no reason I could give would satisfy him, it just didn’t make sense to him.
One last observation for today, the buses at the terminal downtown just sit there until they are full. It doesn’t matter how long that takes, they won’t go until they have enough people. Sometimes this makes for a long wait!
This last weekend I went for the EB election for AIESEC Daystar. It was nice to hang out with the AIESECers and it was also very interesting to observe the differences in behaviour between the more affluent Kenyans and some of the people I have been working with. But I think that is enough for now.
A few notes
I want to tackle a tricky subject – Religion. Kenya is VERY Christian. Yes, there are some groups of Muslims and Hindus, but the Christians are very Christian. Christian Religious Education is part of the standard curriculum. The students at school pray each morning and before they eat. Almost everyone goes to church and there are Christian programs all over the TV.
This puts me in an odd situation. Joyce has the excuse that she is Buddhist, but when I tell people that I am not religious, many look at me as if that is not possible. They could accept that I follow another religion, but NO religion?? Just today at lunch I began eating and one of the teachers said to me “Jessica, you have started eating. Did you pray?” I have considered what I should do in such a situation and I have decided that I will be honest, even if they don’t like it. However, I avoid the subject if at all possible, especially with the kids.
That being said, the presence of such strong faith has made me do a lot of thinking. Here in the slums people have nothing. Barely a house, barely electricity, barely enough food. Yet what brings them together is their faith. They rely on it. They trust that something bigger is looking out for them and allowing them hope. They come together every Sunday and they work together on church sponsored projects. Even as a non-believer, I can see its value here, as a source of hope and strength and a form of infrastructure where little exists.
At first I didn’t like how religious Kenya seems to be, because it made me uncomfortable. Now maybe I need to use it to help me rather than hinder me.
*************
A few other small notes while I am here and still have battery power on my laptop…
I started watching another anime series yesterday, since I usually have some down time in the evenings and I can only take so many bad Spanish soaps on TV. Anyways, one of the characters said, “If you have money, life is the same no matter where you go. But without money, you adapt to wherever you are. That has its own merits.” It’s an interesting thought, and true. Here, I could be living in a big house with many things and it wouldn’t be so different from Canada. But I am living with the not-so-rich and therefore experiencing this place and their lives in a way very different to Canada.
Another note I can’t remember if I mentioned before is how people greet each other. They always shake hands, every day, in the morning and ask how you are. It would be rude not to shake someone’s hand.
The people at the school call me Teacher Jess-Ka, and I think it’s cute. In Kenya, my name has only two syllables.
I found out today that one of the girls in my Standard 3 class doen’t speak English or Swahili. She just moved here from the country and only speaks her Mother Tongue (Kenyans are usually tri-lingual, with their tribal language as their mother tongue). So even the regular teacher cannot speak to her. Luckily, on of the girls in the class also speaks her language and can help with translation. But that must be very difficult, to be taught in two different languages and understand neither of them.
That’s enough from me today!
This puts me in an odd situation. Joyce has the excuse that she is Buddhist, but when I tell people that I am not religious, many look at me as if that is not possible. They could accept that I follow another religion, but NO religion?? Just today at lunch I began eating and one of the teachers said to me “Jessica, you have started eating. Did you pray?” I have considered what I should do in such a situation and I have decided that I will be honest, even if they don’t like it. However, I avoid the subject if at all possible, especially with the kids.
That being said, the presence of such strong faith has made me do a lot of thinking. Here in the slums people have nothing. Barely a house, barely electricity, barely enough food. Yet what brings them together is their faith. They rely on it. They trust that something bigger is looking out for them and allowing them hope. They come together every Sunday and they work together on church sponsored projects. Even as a non-believer, I can see its value here, as a source of hope and strength and a form of infrastructure where little exists.
At first I didn’t like how religious Kenya seems to be, because it made me uncomfortable. Now maybe I need to use it to help me rather than hinder me.
*************
A few other small notes while I am here and still have battery power on my laptop…
I started watching another anime series yesterday, since I usually have some down time in the evenings and I can only take so many bad Spanish soaps on TV. Anyways, one of the characters said, “If you have money, life is the same no matter where you go. But without money, you adapt to wherever you are. That has its own merits.” It’s an interesting thought, and true. Here, I could be living in a big house with many things and it wouldn’t be so different from Canada. But I am living with the not-so-rich and therefore experiencing this place and their lives in a way very different to Canada.
Another note I can’t remember if I mentioned before is how people greet each other. They always shake hands, every day, in the morning and ask how you are. It would be rude not to shake someone’s hand.
The people at the school call me Teacher Jess-Ka, and I think it’s cute. In Kenya, my name has only two syllables.
I found out today that one of the girls in my Standard 3 class doen’t speak English or Swahili. She just moved here from the country and only speaks her Mother Tongue (Kenyans are usually tri-lingual, with their tribal language as their mother tongue). So even the regular teacher cannot speak to her. Luckily, on of the girls in the class also speaks her language and can help with translation. But that must be very difficult, to be taught in two different languages and understand neither of them.
That’s enough from me today!
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