Week 6

Week 6 (Week 4 Mulandi)

This week got off to a rough start and got even rougher as it went on.

Monday started out pretty normal, I went for a nice long run in the morning and took my motorbike to school. Right away, the kids were not behaving. And by not behaving I don’t mean not listening, I mean stealing each others books and pencils, and hitting one another. I tried to do my lessons as planned, but they had no desire to listen to me, and they sure didn’t. I had no idea what to do so eventually I would just write on the board and they would copy. That at least kept them busy and most of them would do the work instead of beat each other. I thought I had gotten sick of hearing “Miss Schaap” all the time, but that’s nothing compared to how many times I have heard “TEE-cha TEE-cha (fill in the blank) is beating me, is taking my things, or stole my pencil.” Yikes. I need to pray for more patience.

Tuesday was not a whole lot better. I was thinking that maybe yesterday was because I did not have very exciting lessons planned, so I tried to do better today and make them more exciting and interactive. Now, this is not doing a whole lot, but a couple flashcards here and there do spice up what we normally do. The kids wanted nothing to do with it. I was pretty down today after two not very good days.

Wednesday was just a bad day also. I woke up all night and my stomach was in pretty bad pain. We ate out last night at the little chicken place across the street. Myself and three other Americans are really sick and I’m pretty sure we got food poisoning. The chickens here are cut into quarters so it would make sense that four of us are sick. It was not fun, but being completely honest it was really nice to have a day off school, aside from the other unpleasant side effects of food poisoning…

Thursday I felt a little better and decided to go to school. The kids have a new toy, which is actually pretty clever. They smash a Fanta or Coke lid down with a rock so it is a flat circle of metal. Then they punch two holes in it using a nail and rip a piece of their sweater (the school uniform) off and thread that string through the holes in the lid. Then they hold each side of the string and spin it around and when they pull it tight the lid spins. It’s actually pretty cool. What is not cool is when they try to cut each other with them, or slice up all the pages in their book. I felt one that I had confiscated and there is no way it is sharp enough to cut skin, but it definitely cuts paper. Today could be defined as Hannah vs. The Spinners. The Spinners definitely won and I picked up scraps of paper off the dirt floor for about 20 minutes. I tried to take them from the students, but I literally had eight, and they just kept pulling out more and more. I am pretty sure that they have figured out the worst I will do to them is give them a stern talking to and make them say sorry. That is nothing compared to getting whipped on the tush three times. They certainly don’t take me seriously this week.

On Friday, I had the opportunity to go visit Rosslyn Academy. This is one thing that I am extremely grateful for. God knows what I need, and it was reassurance that I want to be a teacher and that I want to be a good one. Rosslyn is an amazing place. It is an international school, and I went there to observe six different teachers. Each teacher I saw was executing a teaching strategy that I have learned about in class. They all did it extremely well, and it was just phenomenal to see it actually being done and done well. It reminded me that I love teaching, and I want to be a teacher like this and help students. The teachers have a heart for students who never know where they’re going to be next year. A lot of the students are missionary kids or diplomat’s kids. The school and teachers were all so incredible. I hope to be able to teach at a school like this at some point in my life. There are so many things I could say about today, but I don’t think a 18 page blog post would be appropriate – perhaps next week.

Even though this week was pretty bad, I was truly reminded of what I want to do with my life and what my passion is. It gave me hope that what I want to do is out there. The mission that God has put before me is going to be tough and challenging, but if I can do the placement that I am in now, I know that I can teach in a school almost anywhere. I am so thankful for my placement, even though it is not always fun. I have thought about education and what my true views are on it. I have thought about what is happening with the government, how it affects Kenyan Schools and what is happening across the country. I have considered what it would be like to be stuck in a place where education is the only way out. There are so many things that I would never have even crossed my mind if I was not teaching at Mulandi. It is hard, the kids are a handful, and sometimes I want to be back in America where my hands are not constantly covered in chalk, kid boogers, and a thick layer of dirt. But I am thankful that God has put me somewhere that I am not always comfortable. I am grateful for this challenge and I pray for the strength to keep going and the reminders from God that this is my calling.