The kids are as cute as buttons, and insist on hanging on to you, as many as four on each hand, all calling out, "Me-me! Me-me!" They want to be picked up, or twirled around, or play with my sunglasses. I'm afraid only their Kenyan teachers can keep them under control. Whenever I try, it just turns into a game of tag the teacher and run away.
Heh.
On Tuesday, we went over to the main school, hoping to get in and teach some of the higher level kids, but instead we did a lot of sitting around and waiting for them to decide what to do with us.
It's understandable, because our arrival here was very last minute, and they don't really have teachers come here who want to teach. They are more about missions coming through and seeing their organization.
I think there might have been some trepidation from the teaching staff about why we were here, and how it was going to impact their jobs. The teachers have enough pressure on them already, just getting their students exposed to as much of the curriculum as possible. We should have perhaps sat down with them as soon as we got here and made it clear that we were here as much to learn from them as to teach their students.
I think we have done our best to build bridges and establish some trust with them, but we still are not being allowed to "teach" any grade higher than the third. I say "teach," but it is more like we walk into the classroom, ask what the teacher is doing, and then see what we can do ourselves. It is very easy, and not really in need of any planning per se. We don't really have enough time to do more than just give the students a small taste of us.
And we of them.
Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm student. Drool.
But I digress.
The lessons have a bit of teaching from the text at first, and I tried to get a little back and forth, question and answer, going with the students. I think they were catching on to what I was intending, but it was a little hit-and-miss. Then the students do some copying from the board. They can't really copy from their texts, as there are very few of them. In one class, there were two to share among 20 or so students.
I did give them an exercise to do from the text, which was to list the cash crops that were grown in their province. I had to direct them from the page we had finished on to the one that listed the crops, but otherwise they did okay.
I watched a class being taught by a teacher named Leonard, who was very energetic and engaged with the students. The teachers are more used to their style of teaching than we are, as are the students, so they do it better and more successfully. One of the "facts" that I learned from Leonard is that the Kikuyu (which is the local tribe) believe that if you have a turtle in your house, you will experience a drought.
Huh.
In the afternoon, we each took a high school class and gave them some tips on writing. Then we had them do some writing for us to correct. It took a while, but we eventually finished the corrections. Their writing reminded me a lot of the kind I saw in Korea. Run-on sentences, confusion of tenses, and inappropriate word choice. They just need practice to get better at English, and I hope the red marks of our corrections don't discourage them too much.
On Thursday, I got to do some teaching in the Grade 1 class. Their teacher was feeling a little under the weather, and I think she was glad to be able to take it easy. As I mentioned, we are very high up in the hills, and it is a lot cooler than you might expect for equatorial Kenya. It's nice for us. We can walk around in shirt-sleeves comfortably. But the Kenyans start their day wrapped up in as many sweaters and jackets as they can manage.
Heh.
On Wednesday, we took in a school for special needs kids, those suffering from autism, cerebral palsy, and retardation, who cannot handle themselves without special care and instruction. It was at a school north of town in an area called Manguo. There motto is: NIPE NAFASI NIJARIBU, which means "Give us a chance to try." Some of them do crafts to help raise money for the school, and I bought some nice bracelets and necklaces.
We did our usual thing of playing with them, and giving them a snack of bread and juice. We took a tour and they sang us a couple of songs. That trip and the one to Victory School on Friday (see previous post) affected us a lot. Getting a chance to do for these kids means a lot to them as well as ourselves.
Saturday saw us at Thomson's Falls yet again. I didn't go down to the bottom this time, but stayed on a nearby patio downing a couple bottles of the local beer, "Tusker."
Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm beer.
It's a nice tasting beer, and it's about $2.50 for a 500ml bottle. The alcohol content is only 4.2%.
That afternoon we went to Wachira's bro's place again for a celebratory lunch. We were taken by surprise, as we were a tad underdressed and unprepared for the speeches that followed the lunch. it's time like that when I wish to have a book handy. Having a book and not needing it is better than needing a book and not having it.
The rest of the evening was ours. Sometimes we just go to the school and hang out with the kids. I usually like to stay put and watch TV on my 'puter or read.
Sunday (June 2nd), was spent going from service to service, it seems like. We attended the PACE service until 10, and then went to Pastor Mugo's church before having lunch in town.
After an afternoon of rest, there was a time of family fellowship at another of Wachira's bro's. He has a big family.
It is only a week until we leave this place and go on our safari. I will tell you what happened during the week next time.
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