I was told that some people were having problems using the link to view my pictures on facebook. I've updated the link and put it in the sidebar right under my disclaimer. Hope this works!
Here it is one more time too:
www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2045872&id=27501679&l=02d9df7ee7
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Just for Fun
We are still in the middle of our end term exams, but I'm in Migori running a few errands and getting some paperwork typed and printed for my school. I thought I would share some random stories just for fun!
A Luo Name
When I arrived at Bande I was given a Luo name, and I realized I had never included it on my blog. Being given a Luo name was a very nice and welcoming gesture on the part of my community! In Luo tradition children are given names based on the time of day which they were born. Children can also be named after relatives, or for the kind of weather during which they were born, but by far the most common is to be named for the time of day you are born. Children are also given a "christian" name, which is usually what they go by in school since there are so many students with the same Luo name. It is also much easier for me to pronounce these names, so thats a nice advantage for me! So, since I was born in the morning my Luo name is Akinyi (female names start with A and male names start with O). It is pronounced so that is rhymes with bikini, with the A sound like in awake. So, when I go to the center I am known not at Christine, but as Akinyi!
Laundry
I've decided that doing laundry in Kenya is just like washing your car in America... Some days washing your car is fun and you have a good time, getting soaking wet and being outside in the sunshine. But, other days, washing your car is another annoying chore which takes a lot of time and effort, and you end up soaking wet... Washing clothes in Kenya is exactly the same way for me. I usually do my laundry on Saturdays in the late morning, washing a weeks worth of clothes can take me 2-3 hours from start to finish (depending on how dirty my clothes are, and how clean I want them). Sometimes I really enjoy being out in the sun, I listen to some music and sometimes some students stop by and keep me company. I usually end of fairly soaking wet from the process, but all in all its enjoyable. Other weekends, washing my clothes is the last thing that I want to do, it takes a lot of time and by the end the clothes I'm wearing are wet and I'm sweaty and tired from the process. So, there you have it, washing clothes in Kenya!
Going Green
Oregonians will be very happy with this post! My life is very green here in Kenya. All the water I drink, cook with, use to wash clothes, bathe with, is all from water catchments around the school. The water catchments catch all the water off the roofs of the classrooms, houses and kitchen and store them in giant tanks. In addition to these tanks I can also set out my buckets in a downpour and fill them up that way. The other day there was a huge rain storm and I filled all my buckets (about 30 liters of water) in only 20 minutes! Also in the green department, my school has a solar panel which is what I use to charge my phone, ipod, etc during the day. My house has no electricity, and since my parents were nice enough to send me an LED lantern I now use that to light my house at night, it runs on batteries which are rechargeable, which I can charge from the solar power at my school. I feel so green I could hug a tree!
Entertainment
Since my forms on entertainment are pretty limited, I spend a lot of time reading in the evenings and on the weekends. Thought some of you might enjoy seeing a list of the books I have read since arriving in Kenya.
Say You're One of Them
The Glass Castle
Educating Esme
Water for Elephants
Three Cups of Tea
Under African Skies
Atonement
Staggerford
The Gate Crasher
Remember When
Nine Hills to Nambonkaha
A Thousand Splendid Suns
Survivor
Handle with Care
So, since November I have read a total of 14 books! Its amazing how many books you can read when you don't have TV to distract you. Which reminds me, if anyone feels the desire to send me something, BOOKS!!!! I would love any novels you have laying around!!!
Hope this was at least a little entertaining!
Cheers
-Akinyi
A Luo Name
When I arrived at Bande I was given a Luo name, and I realized I had never included it on my blog. Being given a Luo name was a very nice and welcoming gesture on the part of my community! In Luo tradition children are given names based on the time of day which they were born. Children can also be named after relatives, or for the kind of weather during which they were born, but by far the most common is to be named for the time of day you are born. Children are also given a "christian" name, which is usually what they go by in school since there are so many students with the same Luo name. It is also much easier for me to pronounce these names, so thats a nice advantage for me! So, since I was born in the morning my Luo name is Akinyi (female names start with A and male names start with O). It is pronounced so that is rhymes with bikini, with the A sound like in awake. So, when I go to the center I am known not at Christine, but as Akinyi!
Laundry
I've decided that doing laundry in Kenya is just like washing your car in America... Some days washing your car is fun and you have a good time, getting soaking wet and being outside in the sunshine. But, other days, washing your car is another annoying chore which takes a lot of time and effort, and you end up soaking wet... Washing clothes in Kenya is exactly the same way for me. I usually do my laundry on Saturdays in the late morning, washing a weeks worth of clothes can take me 2-3 hours from start to finish (depending on how dirty my clothes are, and how clean I want them). Sometimes I really enjoy being out in the sun, I listen to some music and sometimes some students stop by and keep me company. I usually end of fairly soaking wet from the process, but all in all its enjoyable. Other weekends, washing my clothes is the last thing that I want to do, it takes a lot of time and by the end the clothes I'm wearing are wet and I'm sweaty and tired from the process. So, there you have it, washing clothes in Kenya!
Going Green
Oregonians will be very happy with this post! My life is very green here in Kenya. All the water I drink, cook with, use to wash clothes, bathe with, is all from water catchments around the school. The water catchments catch all the water off the roofs of the classrooms, houses and kitchen and store them in giant tanks. In addition to these tanks I can also set out my buckets in a downpour and fill them up that way. The other day there was a huge rain storm and I filled all my buckets (about 30 liters of water) in only 20 minutes! Also in the green department, my school has a solar panel which is what I use to charge my phone, ipod, etc during the day. My house has no electricity, and since my parents were nice enough to send me an LED lantern I now use that to light my house at night, it runs on batteries which are rechargeable, which I can charge from the solar power at my school. I feel so green I could hug a tree!
Entertainment
Since my forms on entertainment are pretty limited, I spend a lot of time reading in the evenings and on the weekends. Thought some of you might enjoy seeing a list of the books I have read since arriving in Kenya.
Say You're One of Them
The Glass Castle
Educating Esme
Water for Elephants
Three Cups of Tea
Under African Skies
Atonement
Staggerford
The Gate Crasher
Remember When
Nine Hills to Nambonkaha
A Thousand Splendid Suns
Survivor
Handle with Care
So, since November I have read a total of 14 books! Its amazing how many books you can read when you don't have TV to distract you. Which reminds me, if anyone feels the desire to send me something, BOOKS!!!! I would love any novels you have laying around!!!
Hope this was at least a little entertaining!
Cheers
-Akinyi
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Science Congress/Games/End Term Exams
The term is coming to a close. Sometimes its hard for me to believe how long I have been here in Kenya (going on 5 months), but at the same time it feels like the months are flying by. Kenya's school calendar is year round and has three terms, this first term will end on the 2nd of April and then we will have a month of vacation before the second term starts on May 2nd.
I'm sorry to admit that it has been a very long time since I have updated my blog... In my defense I have been keeping very busy! So, here is a rundown of the things I have been involved with since I last updated.
Science Congress
Science Congress is basically the Kenyan equivalent of what we would call a science fair, with a few differences. Students come up with a project which fits the theme of the year and then present their topic or their project at a meeting with other schools, which are then judged by teachers who have been trained to judge. This years theme was Science and Technology for Economic Recovery. Students can compete in any of the following categories: biology, chemistry, physics, math, technology, computers, home science or agriculture. These categories are subdivided into talks and exhibits.
This year Bande presented 8 projects at the regional competition (not bad considering this is the first year we have participate). Some girls gave talks about genetic engineering of crops, others made charcoal from alternative and locally found materials, one group made a plastic plate from discarded plastic and another tested the concentration of vitamin C in fresh fruit versus store bought juice. My role in the projects was advisor, proof reader and practice audience for all of the groups. All of the project were excellent and it was really great working with the students to improve their projects. I was able to see my students really learning and also saw their self confidence and public speaking skills improve. I was also asked to be trained as a judge in the biology category, so I also served as judge on the day of competition. At the regional competition the top 3 projects from each project move on to compete at the next level. 4 of the projects from Bande were in the top 3! This also placed us 4th overall among the 15 schools that competed from our region.
The sub-provincial competition was last week, and we used every minute of free time, or preps, to prepare the students and their projects. Once again I was asked to serve as a judge, which unfortunately meant I did not get to watch my students present, but it was interesting to see how the other schools performed. In the end, the students did an excellent job with their projects, but none of them will be moving on to the provincial level. The girls should all be very proud of themselves, especially since all the students that had projects advance are only in form 2, meaning they have 2 more years to compete, so this was a great first exposure for them!
Games
Games, or sports, was held a few weeks ago. Even though I am not coaching any of the teams that compete this term I was asked to go along to watch the competition. This term the teams competing were: handball, netball and athletics (track and field). All of the schools from our region compete on the same day, so the day runs more like a large tournament. Bande had an excellent day! Our netball and handball teams won all of their games, which means they will advance to the next level of competition which will be held at the beginning of next term. All of the girls who competed in athletics were among the top 3 in their event and will also be moving on to the next level.
End Term Exams
This week Bande is having our end term exams. I co-wrote the exam for my form 2 biology class (with the teacher who teaches the other form 2 class), and then wrote the form 1 biology and chemistry exams. Over the last couple of days I have been playing review games with all of my classes. This has not only (hopefully) helped my students prepare for exams, but it has provided me with endless entertainment! The concept of playing a game show type game is somewhat foreign, and has been an interesting concept to try and teach my students. They have pretty much gotten the hang of it, except for wagering or betting in the final round. It took my at least 10 minutes to try and clarify this idea, and when I thought I had finally gotten the idea across to all the students and asked each group for their final bet they all bet 50 points (the other questions had been between 100-500 points). I found this incredibly funny and had a good laugh. My mom has since commended me on introducing the concept of gambling to my students, but I maintain that its an important math and reasoning skill!
This more or less brings us to what I'm up to right now. I've made the trip into Migori today in order to do some research on scholarships to help some of my students pay their schools fees. A full year of secondary school at Bande (including room, board, uniforms etc.) costs about 25,000 Kenyan shillings, or about $300. The level of poverty in this region of Kenya is staggering, and even this amount of money is a struggle for the majoirty of families in the area. Some students are sponsored by various organizations, relatives or other individuals. A few of my brightest and most promising students have had recent deaths in the family which have taken their fee-paying relatives, or parents. In an attempt to help them stay in school I am trying to network with any and all NGOs and Kenyan non-profits. As I am unfortunately finding there are many many students who need financial assistance and very few resources out there. But, I will continue to work to try to help these students stay in school.
I'm sorry to admit that it has been a very long time since I have updated my blog... In my defense I have been keeping very busy! So, here is a rundown of the things I have been involved with since I last updated.
Science Congress
Science Congress is basically the Kenyan equivalent of what we would call a science fair, with a few differences. Students come up with a project which fits the theme of the year and then present their topic or their project at a meeting with other schools, which are then judged by teachers who have been trained to judge. This years theme was Science and Technology for Economic Recovery. Students can compete in any of the following categories: biology, chemistry, physics, math, technology, computers, home science or agriculture. These categories are subdivided into talks and exhibits.
This year Bande presented 8 projects at the regional competition (not bad considering this is the first year we have participate). Some girls gave talks about genetic engineering of crops, others made charcoal from alternative and locally found materials, one group made a plastic plate from discarded plastic and another tested the concentration of vitamin C in fresh fruit versus store bought juice. My role in the projects was advisor, proof reader and practice audience for all of the groups. All of the project were excellent and it was really great working with the students to improve their projects. I was able to see my students really learning and also saw their self confidence and public speaking skills improve. I was also asked to be trained as a judge in the biology category, so I also served as judge on the day of competition. At the regional competition the top 3 projects from each project move on to compete at the next level. 4 of the projects from Bande were in the top 3! This also placed us 4th overall among the 15 schools that competed from our region.
The sub-provincial competition was last week, and we used every minute of free time, or preps, to prepare the students and their projects. Once again I was asked to serve as a judge, which unfortunately meant I did not get to watch my students present, but it was interesting to see how the other schools performed. In the end, the students did an excellent job with their projects, but none of them will be moving on to the provincial level. The girls should all be very proud of themselves, especially since all the students that had projects advance are only in form 2, meaning they have 2 more years to compete, so this was a great first exposure for them!
Games
Games, or sports, was held a few weeks ago. Even though I am not coaching any of the teams that compete this term I was asked to go along to watch the competition. This term the teams competing were: handball, netball and athletics (track and field). All of the schools from our region compete on the same day, so the day runs more like a large tournament. Bande had an excellent day! Our netball and handball teams won all of their games, which means they will advance to the next level of competition which will be held at the beginning of next term. All of the girls who competed in athletics were among the top 3 in their event and will also be moving on to the next level.
End Term Exams
This week Bande is having our end term exams. I co-wrote the exam for my form 2 biology class (with the teacher who teaches the other form 2 class), and then wrote the form 1 biology and chemistry exams. Over the last couple of days I have been playing review games with all of my classes. This has not only (hopefully) helped my students prepare for exams, but it has provided me with endless entertainment! The concept of playing a game show type game is somewhat foreign, and has been an interesting concept to try and teach my students. They have pretty much gotten the hang of it, except for wagering or betting in the final round. It took my at least 10 minutes to try and clarify this idea, and when I thought I had finally gotten the idea across to all the students and asked each group for their final bet they all bet 50 points (the other questions had been between 100-500 points). I found this incredibly funny and had a good laugh. My mom has since commended me on introducing the concept of gambling to my students, but I maintain that its an important math and reasoning skill!
This more or less brings us to what I'm up to right now. I've made the trip into Migori today in order to do some research on scholarships to help some of my students pay their schools fees. A full year of secondary school at Bande (including room, board, uniforms etc.) costs about 25,000 Kenyan shillings, or about $300. The level of poverty in this region of Kenya is staggering, and even this amount of money is a struggle for the majoirty of families in the area. Some students are sponsored by various organizations, relatives or other individuals. A few of my brightest and most promising students have had recent deaths in the family which have taken their fee-paying relatives, or parents. In an attempt to help them stay in school I am trying to network with any and all NGOs and Kenyan non-profits. As I am unfortunately finding there are many many students who need financial assistance and very few resources out there. But, I will continue to work to try to help these students stay in school.
Friday, March 19, 2010
Random Moments
A few random moments which I hope can bring you some laughs and smiles
Locks in Kenya are almost all padlocks. I have a padlock to lock my front door and another that I use to lock my bedroom door. A major downfall of padlocks is that you can lock them even when you have NO IDEA where the keys are. I had a lovely run in with this fact. The other morning I woke up and got ready for school as usual and then headed off to school, I locked my room and then froze, realizing too late that I had just locked my purse, phone and keys in my room. I contemplated scaling the walls of my room since they dont reach my roof (there is no ceiling between my walls and tin roof), but first I attempted to reach the keys through my bedroom window. All my windows have bars on them so this was no east feat, but thanks to another teacher who happened to be walking by, we were able to get a branch from a tree and scoop up by purse from the window... crisis averted.
Transportation is a constant source of entertainment here in Kenya. I've described matatus previously on my blog, but matatus are rare between Migori and my village of Bande. Instead, there are station wagons which are called olwendas (cockroach in Luo). All these station wagons are in some sort of disrepair, whether its cracks in the windshield, spares on the tires, duct tape holding parts in place, and none of them have doors which you can open from the inside. Now, when you think about a station wagon you are probably thinking that they seat 4 passengers plus a driver. Well, you are mistaken. These olwendas can carry 16 adults if the need arises (and the need seems to arise on every trip). How is this accomplished you might ask? Well, the driver routinely shares his seat with another passenger, two more passengers share the front seat, 5 adults cram in the middle seat and 6 are in the trunk. Oh, thats only 15? I must have forgotten to mention that the tout is sitting on the window sill of the front seat, legs in the car but with his body outside while he holds onto the roof. There are also numerous combinations of adults and children that can cram into the olwendas, and dont forget the chickens and yes, even goats, which occasionally also make the trip!
Trousers vs pants. Friends vs coworkers.
Oh cultural differences and the never ending language barrier that inevitably turns into an embarrassing moment for the mzungu. Here in Kenya when you talk about pants you are actually talking about underwear, when you want to say pants you have to say trousers or you have just made a rather embarrassing social blunder. Also, there is no such thing as a man and a woman being friends here. If you are just friends with a person of the opposite sex you say they are your coworker, classmate or some other descriptor which explains how you know them. If you say that you are friends with someone of the opposite sex it means you are having a love affair with them. During our cultural training all the trainees were told all of these things, but that doesnt mean its not easy to slip up here. During my first life skills class I had my form 1 students ask me all the questions that they had about America. The questions that I get asked are always entertaining (maybe I'll include a blog listing all those questions), but one was about whether students in America wear uniforms to school. I answered with most dont, but schools have a dress code. When they asked what I used to wear to school I say just pants and a shirt... OOPS! I meant trousers and a shirt, but it was too late the class had already burst out laughing at my mix up! The students also wanted to know about the 2 other Peace Corps volunteers in the area, both of which happen to be male. I told them what schools they work at and their names, then a student asked if either one of them was my friend. I answered, without even thinking about it, "Of course! They're both my friends!" OOPS!!!! No, I meant they are both my coworkers, we get along well... but, too late the class was already in stitches again!
Being a mzungu in rural Kenya for awhile now, I am no longer phased by being stared at, poked and prodded by interested children or by making a fool of myself, it all comes with the territory! Just like we were told in training, our sense of humor will really come in handy over there 2 years!
Locks in Kenya are almost all padlocks. I have a padlock to lock my front door and another that I use to lock my bedroom door. A major downfall of padlocks is that you can lock them even when you have NO IDEA where the keys are. I had a lovely run in with this fact. The other morning I woke up and got ready for school as usual and then headed off to school, I locked my room and then froze, realizing too late that I had just locked my purse, phone and keys in my room. I contemplated scaling the walls of my room since they dont reach my roof (there is no ceiling between my walls and tin roof), but first I attempted to reach the keys through my bedroom window. All my windows have bars on them so this was no east feat, but thanks to another teacher who happened to be walking by, we were able to get a branch from a tree and scoop up by purse from the window... crisis averted.
Transportation is a constant source of entertainment here in Kenya. I've described matatus previously on my blog, but matatus are rare between Migori and my village of Bande. Instead, there are station wagons which are called olwendas (cockroach in Luo). All these station wagons are in some sort of disrepair, whether its cracks in the windshield, spares on the tires, duct tape holding parts in place, and none of them have doors which you can open from the inside. Now, when you think about a station wagon you are probably thinking that they seat 4 passengers plus a driver. Well, you are mistaken. These olwendas can carry 16 adults if the need arises (and the need seems to arise on every trip). How is this accomplished you might ask? Well, the driver routinely shares his seat with another passenger, two more passengers share the front seat, 5 adults cram in the middle seat and 6 are in the trunk. Oh, thats only 15? I must have forgotten to mention that the tout is sitting on the window sill of the front seat, legs in the car but with his body outside while he holds onto the roof. There are also numerous combinations of adults and children that can cram into the olwendas, and dont forget the chickens and yes, even goats, which occasionally also make the trip!
Trousers vs pants. Friends vs coworkers.
Oh cultural differences and the never ending language barrier that inevitably turns into an embarrassing moment for the mzungu. Here in Kenya when you talk about pants you are actually talking about underwear, when you want to say pants you have to say trousers or you have just made a rather embarrassing social blunder. Also, there is no such thing as a man and a woman being friends here. If you are just friends with a person of the opposite sex you say they are your coworker, classmate or some other descriptor which explains how you know them. If you say that you are friends with someone of the opposite sex it means you are having a love affair with them. During our cultural training all the trainees were told all of these things, but that doesnt mean its not easy to slip up here. During my first life skills class I had my form 1 students ask me all the questions that they had about America. The questions that I get asked are always entertaining (maybe I'll include a blog listing all those questions), but one was about whether students in America wear uniforms to school. I answered with most dont, but schools have a dress code. When they asked what I used to wear to school I say just pants and a shirt... OOPS! I meant trousers and a shirt, but it was too late the class had already burst out laughing at my mix up! The students also wanted to know about the 2 other Peace Corps volunteers in the area, both of which happen to be male. I told them what schools they work at and their names, then a student asked if either one of them was my friend. I answered, without even thinking about it, "Of course! They're both my friends!" OOPS!!!! No, I meant they are both my coworkers, we get along well... but, too late the class was already in stitches again!
Being a mzungu in rural Kenya for awhile now, I am no longer phased by being stared at, poked and prodded by interested children or by making a fool of myself, it all comes with the territory! Just like we were told in training, our sense of humor will really come in handy over there 2 years!
Thursday, February 18, 2010
A Kenyan Birthday
Last week I celebrated my 23rd birthday! Being in Kenya made my celebration very different from what I am used to, but I was able to celebrate with some fellow Peace Corps Volunteers in Kisumu the weekend before, and on my actual birthday the teachers and students at my site were great and I had an amazing day.
First I will start with a recap of my trip to Kisumu. The trip from my site to Kisumu took about 7 hours each way. Luckily I was able to travel with Chris, the PCV who is in Muhuru Bay, not far from Bande. We met in Migori and then traveled from there together. Most of the 7 hours is spent waiting. Waiting for a car to drive through my village that I can take to Migori, waiting in Migori for the matatu to fill with passengers so we can leave, waiting while passengers get off and board the matatu at various intervals along the route. But, all in all, the trip to Kisumu was fairly painless. When Chris and I arrived in Kisumu we met some PCVs from the public health sector as well as 5 other PCVs from our training class. It was great to see the people from our group and also great to meet some new faces. It has been hard going from seeing the other people in my training class everyday to being so far apart (so I must note that when Margaret, Jenny, Whitney and I all saw each other for the first time we ran to each other and hugged and laughed.. all very strange things for any Kenyans witnessing this happen, but we were just soooo excited!)
This was my first time in Kisumu and I have to say I absolutely love it! It offers a lot of amenities but is a little smaller and therefore a little safer than Nairobi. Kisumu was majorly affected by the post election violence though, and there are still many burned out buildings and piles of rubble. It was such a contrast to see tall, new, shiny buildings next to burned out shells of what used to be super-markets, banks, hotels etc. Most of the city is being rebuilt or cleaned up, but you can still see signs of the violence on almost every street. There are also a lot more tourists in Kisumu, which was kind of bizarre, I am used to being the only mzungu (white person) within many kilometers. And it is rare to see even another mzungu in my main banking town of Migori, and most of them are here working with NGOs, missions, and orphanages, not tourists…
While in Kisumu I was able to eat pizza, hamburgers, ice cream, Chinese food, and had the most amazing brownie for dessert one night. These are all foods, with the exception of ice cream which I can buy in Migori, which I cannot get anywhere near my site, and haven’t had since last time we were in Nairobi. We also went and saw two movies while we were in town, went swimming at one of the nice hotels in Kisumu and watched the Superbowl!!! We also went out to a few bars which was fun, but the guest house where we were staying also had a roof-top balcony where we spent a lot of the evening, drinking wine, talking and catching-up on each other’s lives.
Watching a movie was an interesting experience. I walked into the theatre and felt like I had been transported back to America! The theatre was empty expect for me and the other PCVs and it was air conditioned!!!! We all got popcorn and soda, and both of the movies we saw were excellent! We watched Sherlock Holmes and Avatar! I had heard so much about Avatar from people back home that I felt somewhat connected to American pop-culture by seeing it! The movie was breath-takingly gorgeous, and all of the PCVs had to laugh at the similarities between the movie and our lives. If you’ve seen the movie, think about when the main character is trying to learn to live in Pandora, and that was and sometimes still is our lives here. Learning a whole new language, eating different foods, new customs etc etc. Swimming was another excellent amenity that I was able to enjoy. Since Lake Victoria and other fresh water here in Kenya can give you Schistosomiasis (a lovely disease that affects your liver, and can have complications for the rest of your life if not treated) we are told to stay far away from swimming in these places, so even with the temperature soaring, we get to enjoy only the view. So, being able to actually swim was amazing, in fact, I think it was my favorite part of the whole weekend! I had planned to only be in Kisumu for the weekend, and to return to my school to teach on Monday morning, but Peace Corps had informed us that we needed to be in Kisumu on Wednesday morning in order to receive that H1N1 vaccine, so I stayed in town for a long weekend instead of traveling all the way back to site just to turn around. This is what made is possible for me to get to watch the Superbowl! Since we are so far ahead of US time we had to stay up until 3 in the morning just to watch kick-off, but it was fun to watch some American football (actually TV at all) for a change. Unfortunately, we did not get the commercials, which are almost the best part, but we made some delicious nachos, pizza and drank some beers and really enjoyed.
Then on Monday, since I needed to stay around Kisumu anyway, I travelled with Jenny to her site. It was really fun to get to see someone else’s site. Her house is really nice and she has electricity, unlike me, but she also has a 45 minute walk from her house to her school. It was great to meet her students and we spent a lot of time answering questions about the US. The students seemed shocked that Jenny and I didn’t look anything alike… Then in the evening we ate dinner with her neighbors, an elderly couple, and they were great to talk to, and the woman is an amazing cook! The next day Jenny taught her lessons and then we once again headed to Kisumu for one more night before I headed back to Bande.
Since our medical officers were traveling from Nairobi they were able to (finally) bring me the package that my parents had sent me for Christmas! I’m excited to have some movies to watch, a book to read, and more pictures to put up in my house, among other things that I got from my amazing family for Christmas! Traveling from Kisumu to Bande once again took 7 hours, so by the time I arrived I was exhausted.
The day after I returned to site was my birthday! My day started with a phone call from home (where it wasn’t my birthday yet) and it was great as usual to get to talk to my family. I am constantly reminded how lucky I am to be able to communicate relatively easily with my family and friends back home. The rest of the day was spent teaching my classes, including the form 1 students who had reported to school the week before, so it was my first time teaching them. The teachers in the staff room also sang me the happy birthday song, which I didn’t think they would know, so that was a fun surprise. After school I took a nap and tried to recover from all of the traveling and then cooked myself my birthday dinner. I decided to make the most American food I could with what I had in my house, so I ended up eating tunafish and guacamole sandwiches for my birthday dinner.
This post has become very very long, so I think I will stop there, and I’ll write more the next time I head into Migori, and I will also upload more pictures then. Thank you to everyone who sent me a happy birthday message!
Cheers!
First I will start with a recap of my trip to Kisumu. The trip from my site to Kisumu took about 7 hours each way. Luckily I was able to travel with Chris, the PCV who is in Muhuru Bay, not far from Bande. We met in Migori and then traveled from there together. Most of the 7 hours is spent waiting. Waiting for a car to drive through my village that I can take to Migori, waiting in Migori for the matatu to fill with passengers so we can leave, waiting while passengers get off and board the matatu at various intervals along the route. But, all in all, the trip to Kisumu was fairly painless. When Chris and I arrived in Kisumu we met some PCVs from the public health sector as well as 5 other PCVs from our training class. It was great to see the people from our group and also great to meet some new faces. It has been hard going from seeing the other people in my training class everyday to being so far apart (so I must note that when Margaret, Jenny, Whitney and I all saw each other for the first time we ran to each other and hugged and laughed.. all very strange things for any Kenyans witnessing this happen, but we were just soooo excited!)
This was my first time in Kisumu and I have to say I absolutely love it! It offers a lot of amenities but is a little smaller and therefore a little safer than Nairobi. Kisumu was majorly affected by the post election violence though, and there are still many burned out buildings and piles of rubble. It was such a contrast to see tall, new, shiny buildings next to burned out shells of what used to be super-markets, banks, hotels etc. Most of the city is being rebuilt or cleaned up, but you can still see signs of the violence on almost every street. There are also a lot more tourists in Kisumu, which was kind of bizarre, I am used to being the only mzungu (white person) within many kilometers. And it is rare to see even another mzungu in my main banking town of Migori, and most of them are here working with NGOs, missions, and orphanages, not tourists…
While in Kisumu I was able to eat pizza, hamburgers, ice cream, Chinese food, and had the most amazing brownie for dessert one night. These are all foods, with the exception of ice cream which I can buy in Migori, which I cannot get anywhere near my site, and haven’t had since last time we were in Nairobi. We also went and saw two movies while we were in town, went swimming at one of the nice hotels in Kisumu and watched the Superbowl!!! We also went out to a few bars which was fun, but the guest house where we were staying also had a roof-top balcony where we spent a lot of the evening, drinking wine, talking and catching-up on each other’s lives.
Watching a movie was an interesting experience. I walked into the theatre and felt like I had been transported back to America! The theatre was empty expect for me and the other PCVs and it was air conditioned!!!! We all got popcorn and soda, and both of the movies we saw were excellent! We watched Sherlock Holmes and Avatar! I had heard so much about Avatar from people back home that I felt somewhat connected to American pop-culture by seeing it! The movie was breath-takingly gorgeous, and all of the PCVs had to laugh at the similarities between the movie and our lives. If you’ve seen the movie, think about when the main character is trying to learn to live in Pandora, and that was and sometimes still is our lives here. Learning a whole new language, eating different foods, new customs etc etc. Swimming was another excellent amenity that I was able to enjoy. Since Lake Victoria and other fresh water here in Kenya can give you Schistosomiasis (a lovely disease that affects your liver, and can have complications for the rest of your life if not treated) we are told to stay far away from swimming in these places, so even with the temperature soaring, we get to enjoy only the view. So, being able to actually swim was amazing, in fact, I think it was my favorite part of the whole weekend! I had planned to only be in Kisumu for the weekend, and to return to my school to teach on Monday morning, but Peace Corps had informed us that we needed to be in Kisumu on Wednesday morning in order to receive that H1N1 vaccine, so I stayed in town for a long weekend instead of traveling all the way back to site just to turn around. This is what made is possible for me to get to watch the Superbowl! Since we are so far ahead of US time we had to stay up until 3 in the morning just to watch kick-off, but it was fun to watch some American football (actually TV at all) for a change. Unfortunately, we did not get the commercials, which are almost the best part, but we made some delicious nachos, pizza and drank some beers and really enjoyed.
Then on Monday, since I needed to stay around Kisumu anyway, I travelled with Jenny to her site. It was really fun to get to see someone else’s site. Her house is really nice and she has electricity, unlike me, but she also has a 45 minute walk from her house to her school. It was great to meet her students and we spent a lot of time answering questions about the US. The students seemed shocked that Jenny and I didn’t look anything alike… Then in the evening we ate dinner with her neighbors, an elderly couple, and they were great to talk to, and the woman is an amazing cook! The next day Jenny taught her lessons and then we once again headed to Kisumu for one more night before I headed back to Bande.
Since our medical officers were traveling from Nairobi they were able to (finally) bring me the package that my parents had sent me for Christmas! I’m excited to have some movies to watch, a book to read, and more pictures to put up in my house, among other things that I got from my amazing family for Christmas! Traveling from Kisumu to Bande once again took 7 hours, so by the time I arrived I was exhausted.
The day after I returned to site was my birthday! My day started with a phone call from home (where it wasn’t my birthday yet) and it was great as usual to get to talk to my family. I am constantly reminded how lucky I am to be able to communicate relatively easily with my family and friends back home. The rest of the day was spent teaching my classes, including the form 1 students who had reported to school the week before, so it was my first time teaching them. The teachers in the staff room also sang me the happy birthday song, which I didn’t think they would know, so that was a fun surprise. After school I took a nap and tried to recover from all of the traveling and then cooked myself my birthday dinner. I decided to make the most American food I could with what I had in my house, so I ended up eating tunafish and guacamole sandwiches for my birthday dinner.
This post has become very very long, so I think I will stop there, and I’ll write more the next time I head into Migori, and I will also upload more pictures then. Thank you to everyone who sent me a happy birthday message!
Cheers!
Saturday, January 30, 2010
To Be A Kenyan Student
I have been at site for three weeks now, I have started teaching, coaching and doing guidance and counseling at my school. I am still adjusting to some things, like the language barrier, but I am really enjoying getting to know the students and the other teachers! I also have a new address where I can get mail and packages! It is:
Christine Boyer PCV
C/o Bande Girls Secondary School
PO Box 55 – 40409
Muhuru Bay
Kenya
I wanted to give you some insight into what it’s like to be a secondary school student in Kenya, in many ways it is very different from being a high school student in the US, at least from my experience. First of all, secondary school is not free. Right now it is subsidized by the Kenyan government, but many families either cannot afford to send their kids to school, or really struggle to pay for school fees. Many secondary schools in Kenya are boarding schools, Bande Girls is almost totally boarding. Also, many schools are single-sex. The education system is 8-4-4 like in the US, 8 years of primary, 4 of secondary and 4 of university. (In Kenya grades 1-8 are called standard 1-8, while grades 9-12 are called Forms 1-4). But, unlike in the US, Kenyan students take national exams at the end of primary and secondary school. The KCPE is taken after finishing primary school and tests students over 8 years of information, and the KCSE is taken after finishing secondary school, and tests students over 4 years of information. Secondary school students take the KSCE in 8 subjects and are then given the option to drop one of the scores. The scores are then averaged and an overall grade is given. This grade more or less determines the rest of your life. Universities look solely at the KSCE score for admission, and employers ask for your KCSE score before offering employment. So, not only is there a lot of information covered on the exam, there is also an immense amount of pressure to do well. Students take 11 subjects in Forms 1 & 2 and 7-9 subjects in Forms 3 & 4. Students must take English, Kiswahili and math for all four years. In forms 1 and 2 all students must take chemistry, biology and physics, but can choose to drop one in forms 3 and 4. At my school students take Christian Religious Education (some schools also offer other religious studies), geography, agriculture, business studies and government in addition to the required language, math and science classes.
At Bande Girls School the students wear uniforms, which consist of a dark blue skirt, white button down shirt, a blue tie and optional red sweaters (right now most of the girls are wearing their sweaters to class since they think it is cold… I on the other hand think it is very very hot.) Secondary school students in Kenya are also required to shave their heads, so all of the girls at my school have shaved heads. I’m sure there is more than one reason for this, one, it prevents things like lice in schools, and it also creates equality among the students. The schedule of each day is probably the biggest difference. The following is the students daily schedule:
4am-4:30 – Waking up/personal cleaning/Dressing
4:30-6:30 – Dawn Preps
6:30-7:00 – Breakfast
7:00-8:00 – Remedial work
8:00 – 10:00 – Morning Classes
10:00-10:30 – Break
10:30-1:20 - Midday Classes
1:20-2:00 – Lunch
2:00-4:00 - Afternoon Classes
4:00-5:00 - Games/Guidance and Counseling/Clubs
5:00-6:00 – Personal cleaning
6:00-7:00 – Supper
7:00-10:00 - Evening Preps
10:00-10:15 – Lights out
Some variations are that on Mondays and Fridays the school has an assembly from 7:30-8 and the girls do manual labor around the school from 7-7:30 on those days. There are games (sports practice) after classes on Mon, Tues, Thurs, and Sun. Guidance and Counseling is on Wednesdays and clubs/debate are on Fridays. On the weekends the schedule is the same from 4-7am, but on Saturday the students clean their dorms for inspection between 7-10, and on Sundays the students go to church at this time. The students are in class for preps and lessons from 10-2 with lunch in the middle, then the schedule is the same again from 4-10, with the only exception on Saturdays when the students have entertainment from 4-6. For the few day scholars at my school they are expected to be at school at 6:30am and leave school at 5pm, and they must come to preps and classes on the weekends between 10-4.
Preps are basically times when the students sit in their desks and are expected to be quietly studying, reading or completing homework. Some teachers make-up lessons during this time as well. The remedial hour is for teachers to teach lessons if they are behind in the syllabus, or if the last year’s syllabus was not completed. The Kenyan syllabus is HUGE and covers many many topics, and teachers often do not finish in the time allotted.
As you can see a huge difference is the amount of time that students spend in class. (Class times plus preps) They spend a lot more time “studying” then I probably did in high school, but with limited resources (5 text books for a class of 40, no outside reference material etc.) the time can sometimes be less productive. It can also be challenging as a teacher to assign different types of homework to encourage learning. There are not materials or resources for research projects or group projects, so we have to be creative! My school is very lucky to have a lab, many schools do not have a separate lab classroom, but many of the materials are lacking. The sinks in the lab don’t currently work, and neither do the gas lines and there are only 2 microscopes. But, we are lucky to have even that, and we do have many chemicals, so I count myself and my school as lucky!
I wrote last time that I would be teaching chemistry form 1, biology forms 1 and 2, plus life skills. I am still teaching those things, but since there is a shortage of chemistry teachers I will be teaching both form 1 streams. I am also teaching life skills to all of the forms, so now I have a total of 22 lessons a week (not counting lessons on the weekend or during the morning remedial work). More than the 16 we had agreed upon, but I think it will be ok. My days are very full, especially since my school is boarding! I wake up at 6 and am at school by 7. I teach throughout the day until 4, and then head to the volleyball “court” at 4 (The volleyball court is a patch of field that we slashed and then dug lines to mark the court, we then filled the lines with ash to make them stand out, and the poles for the net are big logs, not what I am used to playing on. Plus there is sometimes the added chore of chasing chickens, dogs, donkeys and cows off the court!). I am usually out there with the students until 6 when I head to my house to bathe, clean up and relax. I either make myself dinner or I eat with my principal who lives next door.
This week was fairly uneventful, but I did have a surprise visit from my bat friend, and found a scorpion on my front step one morning. The sunrises and sunsets are absolutely amazing here, and they help to start and end my day right! I’m going to try to post some pictures of the school, my house, the surrounding scenery and the sunset and sunrise on facebook! The address to get there is: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2045872&id=27501679&l=02d9df7ee7
I hope everyone is doing well back home! Love you all! Cheers!
Christine Boyer PCV
C/o Bande Girls Secondary School
PO Box 55 – 40409
Muhuru Bay
Kenya
I wanted to give you some insight into what it’s like to be a secondary school student in Kenya, in many ways it is very different from being a high school student in the US, at least from my experience. First of all, secondary school is not free. Right now it is subsidized by the Kenyan government, but many families either cannot afford to send their kids to school, or really struggle to pay for school fees. Many secondary schools in Kenya are boarding schools, Bande Girls is almost totally boarding. Also, many schools are single-sex. The education system is 8-4-4 like in the US, 8 years of primary, 4 of secondary and 4 of university. (In Kenya grades 1-8 are called standard 1-8, while grades 9-12 are called Forms 1-4). But, unlike in the US, Kenyan students take national exams at the end of primary and secondary school. The KCPE is taken after finishing primary school and tests students over 8 years of information, and the KCSE is taken after finishing secondary school, and tests students over 4 years of information. Secondary school students take the KSCE in 8 subjects and are then given the option to drop one of the scores. The scores are then averaged and an overall grade is given. This grade more or less determines the rest of your life. Universities look solely at the KSCE score for admission, and employers ask for your KCSE score before offering employment. So, not only is there a lot of information covered on the exam, there is also an immense amount of pressure to do well. Students take 11 subjects in Forms 1 & 2 and 7-9 subjects in Forms 3 & 4. Students must take English, Kiswahili and math for all four years. In forms 1 and 2 all students must take chemistry, biology and physics, but can choose to drop one in forms 3 and 4. At my school students take Christian Religious Education (some schools also offer other religious studies), geography, agriculture, business studies and government in addition to the required language, math and science classes.
At Bande Girls School the students wear uniforms, which consist of a dark blue skirt, white button down shirt, a blue tie and optional red sweaters (right now most of the girls are wearing their sweaters to class since they think it is cold… I on the other hand think it is very very hot.) Secondary school students in Kenya are also required to shave their heads, so all of the girls at my school have shaved heads. I’m sure there is more than one reason for this, one, it prevents things like lice in schools, and it also creates equality among the students. The schedule of each day is probably the biggest difference. The following is the students daily schedule:
4am-4:30 – Waking up/personal cleaning/Dressing
4:30-6:30 – Dawn Preps
6:30-7:00 – Breakfast
7:00-8:00 – Remedial work
8:00 – 10:00 – Morning Classes
10:00-10:30 – Break
10:30-1:20 - Midday Classes
1:20-2:00 – Lunch
2:00-4:00 - Afternoon Classes
4:00-5:00 - Games/Guidance and Counseling/Clubs
5:00-6:00 – Personal cleaning
6:00-7:00 – Supper
7:00-10:00 - Evening Preps
10:00-10:15 – Lights out
Some variations are that on Mondays and Fridays the school has an assembly from 7:30-8 and the girls do manual labor around the school from 7-7:30 on those days. There are games (sports practice) after classes on Mon, Tues, Thurs, and Sun. Guidance and Counseling is on Wednesdays and clubs/debate are on Fridays. On the weekends the schedule is the same from 4-7am, but on Saturday the students clean their dorms for inspection between 7-10, and on Sundays the students go to church at this time. The students are in class for preps and lessons from 10-2 with lunch in the middle, then the schedule is the same again from 4-10, with the only exception on Saturdays when the students have entertainment from 4-6. For the few day scholars at my school they are expected to be at school at 6:30am and leave school at 5pm, and they must come to preps and classes on the weekends between 10-4.
Preps are basically times when the students sit in their desks and are expected to be quietly studying, reading or completing homework. Some teachers make-up lessons during this time as well. The remedial hour is for teachers to teach lessons if they are behind in the syllabus, or if the last year’s syllabus was not completed. The Kenyan syllabus is HUGE and covers many many topics, and teachers often do not finish in the time allotted.
As you can see a huge difference is the amount of time that students spend in class. (Class times plus preps) They spend a lot more time “studying” then I probably did in high school, but with limited resources (5 text books for a class of 40, no outside reference material etc.) the time can sometimes be less productive. It can also be challenging as a teacher to assign different types of homework to encourage learning. There are not materials or resources for research projects or group projects, so we have to be creative! My school is very lucky to have a lab, many schools do not have a separate lab classroom, but many of the materials are lacking. The sinks in the lab don’t currently work, and neither do the gas lines and there are only 2 microscopes. But, we are lucky to have even that, and we do have many chemicals, so I count myself and my school as lucky!
I wrote last time that I would be teaching chemistry form 1, biology forms 1 and 2, plus life skills. I am still teaching those things, but since there is a shortage of chemistry teachers I will be teaching both form 1 streams. I am also teaching life skills to all of the forms, so now I have a total of 22 lessons a week (not counting lessons on the weekend or during the morning remedial work). More than the 16 we had agreed upon, but I think it will be ok. My days are very full, especially since my school is boarding! I wake up at 6 and am at school by 7. I teach throughout the day until 4, and then head to the volleyball “court” at 4 (The volleyball court is a patch of field that we slashed and then dug lines to mark the court, we then filled the lines with ash to make them stand out, and the poles for the net are big logs, not what I am used to playing on. Plus there is sometimes the added chore of chasing chickens, dogs, donkeys and cows off the court!). I am usually out there with the students until 6 when I head to my house to bathe, clean up and relax. I either make myself dinner or I eat with my principal who lives next door.
This week was fairly uneventful, but I did have a surprise visit from my bat friend, and found a scorpion on my front step one morning. The sunrises and sunsets are absolutely amazing here, and they help to start and end my day right! I’m going to try to post some pictures of the school, my house, the surrounding scenery and the sunset and sunrise on facebook! The address to get there is: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2045872&id=27501679&l=02d9df7ee7
I hope everyone is doing well back home! Love you all! Cheers!
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Bande - First Week at Site
I have made it safely to my site and have survived my first week at my new school. The trip was long from Nairobi, but my principal and I were able to buy a few things in Migori before we headed to Bande. I am living on the school compound, and my house is really really nice! I have four rooms (which means a guest bedroom for visitors!!!!) and have my own latrine and wash room behind my house. There is no electricity or running water, but that's fine with me. My school uses solar panels and a generator to run lights in the classrooms at night, so I am able to charge my electronics from that, which is really I all need to stay happy. Bande is much much smaller than Loitokitok, and that has taken some getting used to. There is no hoteli (restaurant) where I can grab some food if I dont want to cook, there is no supermarket, and there is only open air market on Wednesdays. The things I was accustomed to being able to buy on a daily basis during PST are now much harder to get here. The hardest part is the new language barrier. While all the teachers at my school and all the students there speak english and kiswahili, there are very few people in the town who speak either of these languages. The more common language in town in Luo, and I only know a few greetings in Luo. I need to ask a teacher, or find someone in the community who can teach me Luo, because I know that will go a long way to my intergration into the community. For now, I am focusing on my school and teaching the students.
This week I spent a lot of time in the staff room preparing lessons, as all the students are taking opening exams this week. Unfortunately for me, that meant that I was mostly bored, and wasn't really able to get to know any of the students. The other teachers are all very nice though, and I had some interesting conversations. I am looking forward to next week when I will actually be teaching, and hopefully coaching volleyball after school. But, the week was now totally boring, I did have some exciting things happen to me.... Last Saturday I went to Kisii with Chris so we could buy things for our houses like jikos (stoves) and water filters, and when we were driving back to our sites between Migori and Bande, our car hit a COW, yes a cow! The cow had been on the side of the road until just before we reached it, when it decided it wanted to be on the road.... There was no time to break and swerving would have put us in a ditch.. so we hit the cow. The cow suffered a broken leg, and probably had to be slaughtered that night, and the car lost a headlight and broke its bumper, but all of the passengers were fine, thank god. The other exciting thing happened when I returned to my house on Tuesday after a staff meeting. I opened my door and was going to open all the windows in my house to let in the breeze when something dive bombed my head. I can out of the house in a panic, and from outside I could see a bat swooping over and over again in my house. I have no idea how it got in, since I keep the windows closed when I'm not around, but there it was. With the help of one of the prefects I was able to chase the bat out of my house, and hopefully it will not return for a visit anytime soon.
I think that is about all for me now, next time I head into Migori I will bring pictures to upload. The landscape around my village is gorgeous, and the sunrises and sunsets are always amazing! Everything is green right now because it is the rainy season, but I am told soon enough everything will be brown and dead... That is also about the time I think I will die from the heat as well... Cheers!
This week I spent a lot of time in the staff room preparing lessons, as all the students are taking opening exams this week. Unfortunately for me, that meant that I was mostly bored, and wasn't really able to get to know any of the students. The other teachers are all very nice though, and I had some interesting conversations. I am looking forward to next week when I will actually be teaching, and hopefully coaching volleyball after school. But, the week was now totally boring, I did have some exciting things happen to me.... Last Saturday I went to Kisii with Chris so we could buy things for our houses like jikos (stoves) and water filters, and when we were driving back to our sites between Migori and Bande, our car hit a COW, yes a cow! The cow had been on the side of the road until just before we reached it, when it decided it wanted to be on the road.... There was no time to break and swerving would have put us in a ditch.. so we hit the cow. The cow suffered a broken leg, and probably had to be slaughtered that night, and the car lost a headlight and broke its bumper, but all of the passengers were fine, thank god. The other exciting thing happened when I returned to my house on Tuesday after a staff meeting. I opened my door and was going to open all the windows in my house to let in the breeze when something dive bombed my head. I can out of the house in a panic, and from outside I could see a bat swooping over and over again in my house. I have no idea how it got in, since I keep the windows closed when I'm not around, but there it was. With the help of one of the prefects I was able to chase the bat out of my house, and hopefully it will not return for a visit anytime soon.
I think that is about all for me now, next time I head into Migori I will bring pictures to upload. The landscape around my village is gorgeous, and the sunrises and sunsets are always amazing! Everything is green right now because it is the rainy season, but I am told soon enough everything will be brown and dead... That is also about the time I think I will die from the heat as well... Cheers!
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