Week 3

Week 3 (Week 1 Mulandi)

Well this week has been quite the experience.

Monday: On Monday Jeff DeKock (professor at Trinity and at Daystar) and I went into Daystar Mulandi Primary School. There were a couple people there to greet us and show us around. Basically it is a school built of tin and they are working on building concrete buildings. The only part of the school that is in the concrete part is the preschool or “baby class”.

After Jeff left I pretty much sat in the third grade classroom and watched them do their work. I didn’t know what to do and the kids seemed terrified of me. The teacher that was supposed to be my cooperating teacher left and taught the other classes and I just sat there and watched the third graders work. I felt bad, because I had no idea what I was supposed to be doing. I went home for lunch (12:45 till 2:00) and felt like I was completely lost and had no right to be at that school trying to teach. In the afternoon I went back to do the afternoon and pretty much the same thing. Jeff came and picked me up, and the only thing I could think is, “What have I gotten myself into?”

Tuesday: I rode a motorbike to school, and I was quite scared. Don’t ask me why, those kind of things usually don’t freak me out, but they were just zipping right along. Yikes. Thankfully I made it to school, and it is only about a five-minute ride. It was a bit of a better day because in the morning my teacher was teaching, and then when the kids turned in their work, I would grade it. Here is an example of what they would do.

The teacher would teach for maybe 10 minutes then leave them for an hour to gather around one book and finish the work. When I came home for lunch I was still feeling a little bit overwhelmed because the kids hadn’t really talked to me and all of the teachers there didn’t know what to think of me. Thankfully, Kyle made me a much needed (and first) cup of American coffee and made the afternoon much better. As I was leaving school, my “cooperating” teacher told me that she was probably not coming to school tomorrow and that I could teach. I said, “Ok, what do you want me to teach?” and she laughed. I told her that I was serious, I did not know what to teach so she gave me the books and page numbers. Oh boy!

Wednesday: I took the bodaboda (motorbike) to school and sure enough my teacher was not there. The Head Teacher (principal) was there and said they decided to do exams. This is when the whole school takes tests and then they look to see who is struggling and what classes need help. It was shockingly like AIMSWEB testing. I had been doing this in my fifth grade classroom right before I left. On Wednesday, they did the Math, English, and Social Studies test. I pretty much just explained what they were going to be doing and to not cheat, but I am sure they knew what they were doing better than I did. This was good because they got to hear my voice more and seemed less scared of this Muzungu (white person). I graded while they took their tests. Not a bad day! I felt needed and like I was actually doing something. I kind of made a friend too, Kimanthi. He is a teacher at the school and he is really great. I can tell that he loves his job and loves the kids. He really helped me out and explained so many things to me. I also met with the seventh graders in the afternoon and they asked me a bunch of questions about America. It was interesting, they asked about things like the drought, elections and who was the richest man. Also during the afternoon it poured rain, so I stayed at school for an extra hour, then walked home through the mud, because the bodaboda could not make it through the mud. I left right after the kids and they had a good time making fun of me while my shoes got sucked off and I slid around barefooted for the whole walk home.

p.s. When I got home I washed my shoes and left them outside to dry. It seemed like a good idea until I went to get them and it appears that a monkey had taken one. Looks like I won’t be wearing those shoes anymore…

Thursday: More exams! A good day, and the students seem to be warming up to me. I talked with some of the other teachers today and I am thankful for them. They seem like they will be much more helpful than my “assigned” teacher and they have a lot of questions about America too. Today made me feel much better about the whole situation and I am really really thankful for that. I think that everyday will be better and I will figure out what the heck I am supposed to be doing. I taught them sign language in the down time, because there sure seems to be a lot of that.

Friday: We took the last exam, and I am still the only teacher in that classroom. I think they have kind of decided to let me do what I want with the third graders. Of course, I have twenty two kids and two of them are certain to be a handful. I think the grade with the second most kids is grade four, and they have twelve. I hope I can do this! I think that these third graders are the most difficult group, and they just want to see what I can do with them. Then, for the rest of the morning we practiced songs and poems because they radio station was coming in the afternoon. Daystar University has a radio station, Shine FM, and Sam came out and recorded each grade saying a poem or song. The Head Teacher told me to teach a poem to the fourth graders and I could think of nothing. I taught them “Our God is an Awesome God” and the signs to go along with it. I don’t know if that’s what they wanted but they didn’t seem to care too much. The kids loved it and so did Sam. I listened on Saturday and heard them singing Awesome God on the radio. It was really really cool. For the rest of the afternoon I talked to Jos, one of the teachers, while the kids played and Kimanthi organized a soccer game. It was a really good afternoon, because Jos made me feel really truly welcome and like they wanted me to be there. She said that I was different from other westerners, by the way I dressed and the way I acted and she said she could tell I was doing God’s work. If there is ever a time I needed confirmation it was at that exact moment. We quickly became facebook friends and I feel much more confident that I am doing the right thing.

As a general conclusion, this week was extremely hard, I felt extremely lost, but also I found myself to learn amazing things. I have learned that maybe this school isn’t as different from American schools, and that kids are still kids. They still shove each other and pick their noses. Most kids want to learn, and yet there are still those kids in each class that just want to test the teachers. There is so much more I could say, but I can save that for next week. I hope and pray for all of my students and for this school that is only two years and one month old. They are transitioning into a public school and have four teachers that are paid for by the government. The other teachers are paid by the parents, but they are paid hardly anything. I think that they are doing extremely well for what little they have to work with and what little funding they get. The students have to pay 450 Schillings a month which is a little more than five dollars, but some cannot pay. The Head Teacher has been covering for them but she said that she will have to start chasing them away eventually. There are so many things that are really good about this school and I hope that all of the students can find the money. God is working in this school and I pray that I can help the students and teachers, and also learn as much as I can from this whole experience! I have learned so much already!

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** I apologize for the lack of pictures, I have been trying all weekend but I can't get them to work!