School Life

SCHOOL LIFE..one for the teachers…

If kids thought they had something to complain about in Melbourne..they only need to spend a week in a Kenyan school to see how easy they have it. Kids start school at 8am each morning. At 8am the entire school lines up in perfect lines for the morning assembly. The morning assembly includes rants from the teacher in charge..usually about how kids haven’t paid for things or how they don’t have their hair shaved and the consequences associated with not complying with the teachers. After the rants about 12 kids line up and raise the Kenyan flag..it’s actually really cute..they take it so seriously and have a whole routine planned..always saluting everything. They then sing/chant their morning song (ADORABLE) and then say prayers…they do this covering their faces with their hands..oh it is so cute..the big kids are really good and keep their faces hidden but the little ones are always looking around and a bit confused.

After assembly the day begins. The day comprises of 8 classes..the classes are 35 minutes long, with two breaks and lunchtime included. Lunchtime goes for an hour and twenty minutes, such a long time I thought..until I noticed the kids running from the school to get lunch and returning back to school in the nick of time..no canteen lines here! The ages here are slightly different..primary school begins when the kids are 5 (class 1) and runs until they are about 14 (class 8..equivalent to year 8 back home). Although ages are not strictly adhered by, like if they don’t pass their exams, the kids are kept down and have to stay there until they pass so there are different ages in all classes. These 8 classes finish at 3pm. From 3pm until 4pm there is ‘recreational time’..what a joke. If you’re unlucky you’re put on cleaning duty..kids have to sweep and scrub the floors each and every day. If you’re lucky enough not to be on cleaning duty then you’re out doing \recreation’. For the boys, this means running around on rocks kicking a hand-made rubbish ball. They actually love it so that’s great. The girls play elastics (remember that game!!)..although their elastics comprise of either thread they have found on the ground or lots of elastic bands ties together. Elastics are definitely the first thing on my lest to buy! At 4pm school is officially over, although the kids are not allowed to leave..they have to stay until 5:30pm to do homework/study or do extra classes with their teachers. And they have more homework when they get home.

So as you can imagine, by the end of a day at school I’m EXHAUSTED. Lucky me..I’ve normally had a few classes off and get to go home to guaranteed food and water..not so lucky for the village kids..it’s now time to plough the fields and feed and water the stock. Life is tough in Kenya!

The school I’m at is called Mwadi Primary School. It’s a village school located about 1km from the main road that leads from Kisumu (city) to Uganda. Each morning I walk about 20 minutes down the highway and then another 10 minutes through a small pathway to get to school. The pathway is my favorite part of the walk..it’s a red dirt path that twists its way through little communities, red fields of ploughed dirt and countless numbers of crops. There’s always people in the fields working away who stand up and greet me..in either broken engligh or Luo (their native language). It’s funny..I know how to say ‘Hi, how are you, I’m good’..so apart from that if they talk to me in Luo I’m like ahh no I only speak English..haha. The morning walk is different each day..it’s nice and cool in the morning so it’s the only time really when exercise doesn’t kill you because of the heat. The other morning I was walking behind a guy carrying a huge knife that all the locals use to cut crops and stuff with..didn’t make me too nervous as he turned off and every second person carries one around.

The school is extremely under resourced and poor. The kids do have notebooks and pens, but they are so thin and all have warning written across htem like ‘Don’t steal my book..or else I’ll get you’..it’s so funny. I am teaching Science, Maths, English and PE. In each class I have about 50-55 kids..the classrooms are dirty and they sit on these tiny wooded desks that would surely give them knee problems! The cane is also enforced at the school..the other day I saw a little girl getting smacked across the bum..she was jumping and squeeling in pain. I also had a girl some up to me with a giant welt on her arm..it looked like she had fallen down and broken her arm..no..she revealed whilst bawling to me..she was caned by her teacher. Awful teachers..I’ve only seen the men doing this. I spoke to some of the men the other day about it and asked them what gets kids the cane (not doing homework, doing poorly in a test, getting to school late, etc). I found out that the cane is actually illegal in Kenya..after asking why they still do it (and being laughed at by the teachers when I gave them alternated to hitting the kids), they told me (and I quote) “They like being caned. If we do not cane them, their grades will go down and they will riot and burn the school down.” Wow. And kids back home thought detention sucks!!

DESPITE all this..the lack of resources..the horrendous hours..the cane..the horrid teachers..the kids have a passion for education and are infectiously happy. They are so happy to come to school each day and sit in the same spot for 7 hours without food or water (I forgot to mention there is no water there..so they bring it in container from home to share and clean with). Each time I walk into the classroom or through kids, their smiles and laughter remind me of why I came to Kenya in the first place. It’s so funny..at uni we leant about alternate forms of learning..encouraging the kids to think for themselves..etc etc..this is just non existent in Kenya..and after 3 years of not thinking about teaching this way (we do it naturally in Aus), I am forcing the kids to think differently..it’s very interesting. This is where I’m thinking of spending some of the fund raised money..I’ll keep you posted .

Anyway I have once again typed for way too long..hope you enjoyed at least a part of it and I’ll write again soon.

Lucy xxx