Today, Jacob and I were responsible for teaching the first
grade class while the teachers were in training sessions. We had close to three
hours of total classroom time with them. Luckily, we had enough to keep the
kids engaged for the most part (shout out to Kathy for helping out.) Their
first grade class might be the hardest class at CPA. They’re all great kids,
but they have two that are a handful. We were able to devise a plan to divide
and conquer the two, and it ended up being a lot of fun.
After lunch, the team headed to a local public primary
school with the CPA staff to sit in on classes and talk to the teachers there.
I sat in on two third grade classes. The average class size at this school is
nearly 90 students. That’s 90 students to one teacher. One. There was a fourth
grade class with 111 students on the roster. Only. One. Teacher. I still can’t
get over that.
The kids sat three or four to a desk. Each desk was about
four feet long, and they were arranged in three rows of eight. The instruction
style in these classrooms is dictated by the class size. The teacher stood and
taught while the students sat quietly and listened. The only student engagement
happened when a couple students came to the chalkboard to solve a couple
problems. This definitely is not how I’ve been taught to teach, but it’s
impossible to criticize these teachers because they have to control nearly 100
kids while trying to teach. They’re probably just doing what needs to be done
to make sure they don’t lose control. One more note about the classrooms. Each
classroom was probably 40 feet by 30 feet, had dirt floors, and no electricity.
Light came through the glassless windows and a murky skylight. It wouldn’t be
wise for me to give my opinion on the conditions because I’m largely ignorant
of the intricacies of the Kenyan education crisis. However, it seems that these
conditions are endemic and are related to the systemic corruption in the Kenyan
government.
That’s one of the reasons I’m so excited for Cornerstone.
I’ll touch on this a bit more in a later blog, but Cornerstone is attacking the
root of the problem by raising up leaders with integrity to change the
government and education from the inside. I truly believe that what’s happening
at Naomi’s Village and Cornerstone is going to radically affect the nation of
Kenya within the next 50 years.
Anyway, after sitting in on the classes, we met with a dozen
or so of the teaching staff. We all had sodas and asked each other questions.
What a great opportunity this was to share with other teachers and, despite
vast cultural differences, find common ground on which we could relate to each
other. The problems we have in our classrooms are by and large similar to the
problems that these teachers were experiencing. We shared struggles with
students, administration, and lack of resources. I feel that our team made a
real connection with these teachers. We prayed, said goodbye, and headed back
to NV. Definitely an experience I’ll always remember. The classrooms, the
students, the teachers, and the outhouses. Oh, there were dozens of outhouses.
When we got back, Julie had several good things to say about
what we’d seen. She walked us through the reasons it was so difficult to affect
change in Kenya by just throwing money at it. She challenged us to really
wrestle with any conviction or calling the Lord was placing on our hearts to do
something about what we saw. It was very encouraging.
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TOMORROW: Traffic gets real on the way to our safari, and I
catch a bat with my bare hand.*
*not really
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