Learning to Spell

This past week I had my kids do a simple exercise. Apparently it is engrained in Kenyans to love cameras; therefore I put the idea the to good use. I wrote out on pieces of paper the letters that make up their name. For each letter of their name they would sign and I would take a picture. Of course they enjoyed this. Below is pictures of a few of the kids.

Ruth

Daniel

Jacob

Change from the Inside Out

I was asked recently how Kenya has CHANGED me. Sixteen months in kenya and counting and my mind never seems to stop thinking about what appears to me everything under the sun.

Being in country this long so many things passed by that does not affect me like it did when I first arrived. I wonder if those things would alter how I have changed.

I have a great respect for the mama that sells fruit and vegetables in a wooden make shift shack. She does not have electricity or anything fancy; she is just selling what she has to make enough money so her family can eat that evening. 

I appreciate that people go to great lengths to make sure things are clean. Children and adults wash their clothes after one use. They have control over how clean they can be and they take pride in that. Or what about the duka (shop) owners who sweep away the trash from in front of their place. They make sure that the dirt is clean with no rubbish anywhere.

I have learned about self confidence. It was fairly certain that my belief in myself before coming to Kenya was very shallow. Living in a foreign land for months standing up for onself and believing in yourself comes with the territory. I am very grateful for where I have come from and where I am now. Self confidence was something I greatly desired as part of my journey here.

I am learning what I am competent and good at doing, teaching. I knew very little about teaching before coming. After receiving training for two months I was thrown to the wolves. I can assuredly say that I am a good teacher. I do not have years of experience as my counterparts, but I believe in what I am doing. I have realized along the way that if I am passionate about the subject and care for the kids it will translate over to the kids wanting to learn themselves.

Leaving a world of abundant resources at my fingertips to coming to a place where people are resourceful for what they have. Children make their own toys. Empty juice cartons, bottle caps, wire, and sticks are assembled together to make a car. If one car is not enough they will string together several together to make a train of sorts. 

Kids love playing football (soccer) and since buying a ball is virtually out of the question for all of the kids they make their own. The pupils gather paper (plastic, plastic bags are called paper bags) bags and tie them together with some string for their homemade ball. I have yet to learn how they make the ball, but before I leave I am going to learn.

I can take a bath with 3 liters of water. I turn on my lights only when necessarily, at night. It is no inconvenience for the power to go out and for me to use a candle or a lantern.

Washing my clothes in a basin and hanging them to dry outside shows me that having a washing machine and dryer are not a must. I agree, it will be nice to use on a regular basis. On the same note, I would not be afraid to clean my own clothes and then hang them dry.

Community and Friendships in Kenya are very much a part of the culture. Visitors are always welcome and invitations are not needed for someone to drop by. If you are visiting someone who is just leaving their house it is rude to not welcome them in the house and have a cup of tea. If you are sick it is expected that people will stop by all the time to see if you are ok and what they can do for you. This of course is different than the west. We want our privacy. Thoughtfulness of others is always welcome, but we want to be left alone while we get better. 

Where ever you are going, greeting people along the way is necessary.

I appreciate the community model that happens here. The focus is not about self, but caring about your neighbor. I think in the west we have missed that a lot of the times.

Rewarding Moments

Teaching has those very rewarding moments that reminds you that what you are doing is having an effect. There are several other PCVs that are teaching class one, two and three and a few teaching remedial. I will occasionally call or read their blogs to find out what they are doing so I can steal/borrow their ideas. They have a vast knowledge of different activities that I can definitely use with my kids.

This past week I was re-teaching counting 1 to 5, Ok I have taught counting for the whole year. I wanted to do something different than writing on the black board. I took the kids on the walkway outside the class. Who wants to sit inside a class all day.

I wrote their names and numbers 1 to 5 with chalk. I have a good friend in town that I had asked her to keep all of the bottle caps of the sodas she sells. We used those bottle caps for the kids to put the caps on top of the chalk numbers that I wrote. They kids were enjoying themselves. 

Daniel

Ruth

Witney

W Ouma

David

Meshack

Benjamin

Linda

Jacob

Follow up to possible South Africa trip. Senior Peace Corps staff discussed the issue at length and decided that only two PCV will be given clearance to go. I am not one of the two that are going. This of course is not the news I wanted to hear. 

Map project.

It is hard to believe after nearly 4 to 5 weeks the map is drawn on the wall. There were several kids that helped in drawing. I envy their drawing ability, they are really efficient and good. I hope in the next few days to start painting the individuals.

Remedial Help

The phrase, you will be teaching remedial/special needs class this term (maybe year), had brought about a lot of stress and anxiety. I was clueless how to teach such a class. I wondered how I was going to survive. I requested from Peace Corps for a fellow PCV to come to my site for one week, 14 February to 18 to do what felt like a miracle. Mary left her site on a Saturday morning and arrived in Mumias Sunday afternoon. Traveling from the coast to western is a two day journey. 

A synopsis

Monday. Mary sat in the class and just observed my co-teacher and myself to get a feel for how we teach and the behaviors of the kids. At the end of the day she ran across me what she observed and things i could possibly do.

Tuesday to Friday.

I implemented a lot of things she noted. There were a lot of things she said that i took to heart and it made a difference. I will list those here. 

-Being attentive to every child--they are all different

-caning is not the answer

-continue using the time out chair for discipline. The chair faces the corner of the wall and the pupil must sit there for a few minutes before returning to his/her seat.

-coming to class prepared is vital. There are kids that need the artwork drawn for them.  need to do that before and not when i am through teaching.

-after i finish teaching and give out the exercise books i go around the class giving high fives and encouragement to the kids. Without being prepared i can not do that.

-the more visuals for the kids to see the better. One day i brought in a live kuku (chicken). Yes, their attention was held.

-when a kid or two are misbehaving i need to go around to the other kids that are working well and give HIGH 5's to say they are doing good. The 2 misbehaving kids will notice.

-when multiple kids are being disruptive i must chose the appropriate battle to fight. I can not address all of the needs at one. I should chose the situation that is most important and more than likely if that one stops the others will simmer down as well.

-implementing a behavior chart-this is inclusive of class rules (no fighting, do your work,  and stay in class). If the pupil can do these i will give them a reward after two periods. I must start on a small scale. The better behaved the kids become the longer between rewards. The behavior chart is taped to the wall so the kids can see whether they are following the rules.

If you would have seen my class Monday then came again on Friday, it was night and day. I told Mary there were a few instances during the week where i was speechless. "I am confused, it is quite and they are all working. That has never happened. “

With out a doubt her visit has done wonders for my self confidence, behavior of the kids, and allowing myself to teach and not try to manage behavior the entire period.