Week 5 (Week 3 Mulandi)

Week 5 (Week 3 Mulandi)

What an interesting week we had over here in Kenya!

Monday: Today I realized that Daystar and Mulandi School are starting to feel like home. We came back from a long weekend and it was nice to be able to feel like I was coming home to where I am comfortable. I am really thankful for that feeling because it has definitely been an adjustment living here. There are so many things that I love, and so many things that I miss about Trinity. A lot of the students here want to learn. They want to be in school because they understand that this is their only shot. If they can’t go to University, they probably won’t have jobs. It is crazy how early they can recognize that, my kids are only 8 and they know that. Some of the students don’t care already. They know that they won’t make it to high school and they seem to be ok with that as well. It is so interesting the different attitudes towards school.

Tuesday: Today was not such a good day. There are still moments when I feel really out of place and wondering what the heck I am doing. Everything I tried to teach seemed to miss and they were just confused and not getting it. Honestly, it was a tad discouraging.

Wednesday: Anything that happened yesterday I have forgotten about because today was a great day. I thought about yesterday and where I went wrong and why it was so bad. I decided to reteach most of the stuff in a different way and it was way better. For example, I taught them fractions again and it was ridiculous how much better they understood it. I was pretty proud of myself for that one! Another interesting thing about today was the head teacher gave us sheets we had to fill out about the student’s illnesses in the last two weeks. Some of the diseases on the sheet the teachers didn’t even know what they were. So I called up all the children and asked and marked down their responses. I had to ask what age they were and a lot of them didn’t know. Some said twelve! I doubt that any are twelve, but there are definitely some bigger kids who might be ten or eleven. Most of them were eight. Then the head teacher left, and I was told to make a copy of the sheet. Well, the head teacher had already left with the sheets, so I had to do it all again. This is not that big of a deal, but all the kids answered completely differently. The whole thing was very interesting and I am not sure why it was required. Probably for the government.

Thursday: Today was Valentines Day! I was not quite sure if Valentines Day was a big deal in Kenya or not, but people at Daystar seemed to be making a big deal of it. I figured that must be how it is everywhere. Not so much. I got to school and said Happy Valentines to the teachers and some of them didn’t even know it was today. The kids didn’t know what was celebrated on Valentines day. I decided to go ahead with my plans anyways, and we made Valentines for their parents at the end of the day. For English we have been talking about writing letters. I had them write a letter to their parents or someone they loved and tell them the reasons why they loved them. It was pretty cool. They had to write a draft in their English books, then show it to me and get a notecard. They copied it onto the notecard and then got a heart sticker and then drew on the back. It was pretty cool and good practice of writing for them. Most of the writing they do is copying books or copying off the board, so it’s really good to make them think a little bit while they are writing.

Friday: Today was a very interesting day. Yesterday we also got a new teacher, so now there are four who go between fourth and eighth grade teaching different subjects. His name is Tom and he is quite, um, friendly. He was talking to me about how they might go on strike next Tuesday. That would be really bad for the students, the teachers, and for me. I was a little worried, because he said that they happen often and that they just had one at the end of last year. They also said they won’t know for sure until Tuesday. All of this made me just a tad nervous. After school I had to stay pretty late to watch the soccer game that our older kids were playing. When that was over I saw a white person come up and a bunch of kids go running to her. I thought that she might be from Red Rhino, the Children’s Home that is just down the street. I went to talk to Mama Joy, who just came in from Ireland for three weeks. She is great. The first thing she asked is if I wanted to come over for the evening. This may sound lame, but I had absolutely no plans for my Friday night so I walked on over with her and the kids. I helped them do their homework, and then she gave me a little tour of the place. Right now there are 17 kids, and some of them just started going to Mulandi Primary. She said she was really pushing for that over boarding school. Some of the older girls got to pick if they wanted to go to boarding school, so the oldest three were home from school for the weekend because there were two birthdays this weekend. I ate there, and helped her sort out some clothes that she brought over and then Gilbert (a man who works there) drove her and I back to Daystar. She stays at a place really close to Daystar. There is so much more to tell about Red Rhino, but I can save that for a later time.

Basically this week I have learned that God is really good. As soon as I heard about the strike, he put another opportunity in my lap to be the homeschool teacher at Red Rhino. All of those kids would be out of school and they need a teacher. On Sunday, I went over for lunch and the birthday party, and met David who runs Red Rhino. He is from California, and he has a real heart for kids and this home. It is amazing. He was talking about how if there was a strike, I could come and teach his kids. It is an official NGO and everything would be legit. I was just so thankful that there are always opportunities and that God never leaves me.

On Sunday night we heard good news! There is no strike! The strike was going to be mainly over pay. From what I understand, the political candidates were urging teachers not to strike, but that the Teachers Union had a unanimous decision to strike. The elections are coming up in Kenya and it is a really big deal. Things are really tense and everyone is just praying that there is no fighting like there was last time. I don’t really understand very much of it, but I know that most people are really passionate about this election and care a lot about the outcome. They are switching their government, so this is the first time that there will be only a President. There is so much more that goes into it all and I am sure that I only understand a small percent of what is really happening.

This week has had its ups and downs, but overall it has been good. I have been challenged a lot, thinking differently, and learning more about how much need there is not only in Kenya, but all over the world. I come home after school everyday exhausted because I think so much about all the issues and troubles that are happening. It is good to be able to come back and talk about these schools with Jessica and Becca. They came and observed a couple times and I am really thankful for them.

I hope that next week goes even better than this one and please keep praying for peace in Kenya!

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** I apologize for no pictures. My computer and the internet here seem to be incompatable.