It's Bah-ngladesh, not Bang-ladesh!

My first term as a Kenyan teacher has come to close. Exams were last week and we compiled the results and officially closed the school two days ago on Tuesday. How were the results you might ask? Chemistry - great. Biology - not so bad. Physics - the students did well considering the class. Geography - not as good as expected. Math - well, it's math...it's never what you want.

I think this term was somewhat of a crashcourse in the Kenyan education system and I feel more prepared heading into next term. I also have a better comraderie with the students and know their strengths and weaknesses.

The end of the term also marked possibly the last time the principal would be with the students and staff. Believe it or not I don't really enjoy change (I know, I know, yes I basically changed everything in my life by coming to Kenya, but I like stability and tradition). The principal was the person that brought me to the school, filled out the paperwork for the Peace Corps, was my supervisor. I will miss him.

Last weekend, inbetween giving exams and grading them, I ventured to Nairobi to take the Foreign Service Exam. This is the exam all Foreign Service Officers (those hip cats that work at the embassies all over the world) must take and pass. I was taking the first part, the written exam. If you pass you move on to the oral exam which is only offered in the U.S. If I pass I am not flying back to the U.S. Why did I take it knowing that I would go no further than the written exam? Honestly, I just wanted to take a test. I haven't been tested like that since college and I was missing it somewhat. I enjoy knowledge and I enjoy being tested. Keeps me sharp. It's also supposed to be one of the hardest tests in the world. I read that somewhere. I don't know if I agree. By taking the test I am also gaining familiarity in case I ever decide to do something like the Foreign Service in the future.

While in Nairobi for the exam I stayed the night in the homes of embassy workers. Yet another reason why joining the foreign service might not be so bad. I was offered Doritos, Hershey's Kisses, fresh-brewed coffee, Cracklin Oat Bran (with cold milk! from a refrigerator!), home-made pizza (HOME-MADE!). I watched a brief amount of SportsCenter and MTV on the tube. I took hot showers, bounced on a trampoline, played basketball (we didn't play h-o-r-s-e, we played j-a-m-b-o), played the accordian, used a microwave, basically lived a different life. Also these embassy workers were married and had children so I felt like part of the family, just one of the kids. Good times, yet life isn't so green on the other side of the razor-wire fence.

So school is on break until May 9. During the break I have a couple trainings and conferences to attend and some relaxation to attend to. I hope life is splendid on the other side of the 'pond'.

As a reminder my current information is as follows:

P.O. Box 163
Nzeeka, Kenya

phone:
011-254-736-543-139

I will be in places with excellent phone reception from April 16-26 so if you want to call that would be a good time. Those of you in Michigan there is a 7 hour difference. 12 noon there is 7 PM here.

Word

Peace

hizi na zile (this and that ... maybe)

I wonder... to all the teachers out there, how often do you chase goats out of your staff room? Is it a daily occurrence, weekly, monthly, or never? My experience is it is a weekly happenstance.

Also the 'scorpion entering my house and being crushed by a heavy object' tally is now up to three.

The end of the term is approaching and so I have one week to prepare the students for end of term exams. Boy, I hope they learned something.

I feel more and more like a character from a Harry Potter book. Our school has been 'sorted' into 4 houses. I am an assistant master to Kimathi house. There is also Mandela House, Wangari House, and Ngilu House. We are having and inter-house competition so I need to prepare my students physically and academically to win. Good times

I'll be updating in a couple weeks with a bit more information.

This was just a quickie as I was in town (Nairobi) celebrating the Peace Corps 45th anniversary. I was able to eat a hamburger, play softball (I made a spectacular game-saving catch), attend the Peace Corps Prom...the usual.

Hope things are swell in your neck of the woods!

neno juu (word up)

Let's talk schools (Kenyan style).

Secondary Education is divided into 4 years much like America but instead of the usual Freshman, Sophomore, Junior, Senior we say Form I, Form II, Form III, and Form IV.

The day begins for the students at 6:30. They are expected to be at school for morning preps, completing homework and studying. At about 7:30 They clean the school grounds: sweeping classrooms, sweeping the pathways, dusting, picking up trash, and the like.

At about 7:45 the students assemble for the morning assembly. They stand in rows by Form with the prefects to one side. Usually on Monday and Fridays the flag is raised by the Scouts and the national anthem is sung. Following the flag raising is the singing of two hymns and a prayer. Following this, the students are addressed on certain issues. They are addressed by the following people in this order: the prefects, then the teachers, then the teacher on duty, then the deputy, and finally the principal.

The first lesson of the day begins at 8:00. Each lesson is 40 minutes long. The schedule is as follows: 3 lessons then a 20 minute break, 2 lessons, 10 minute break, 2 lessons, 50 minute lunch break, 3 lessons. The lessons end at 4:00.

After lessons the schedule is MondayWednesdayFriday - Games, Tuesday - Clubs, and Thursday - Debate. This lasts for one hour. The day ends at 5:00.

As i have noted before it is the students who remain in the classroom and the teachers who move from class to class. This makes things interesting especially since there is no break inbetween classes. When the bell rings (manually rung by a Form II student) that is the teachers cue to wrap things up and move out so the next teacher can enter. But you find that teachers don't really mind taking your class time and will continue the lesson for another 20 minutes. It can be frustrating.

Also staff meetings are usually planned during class time, so you miss lessons. Students are punished during class time. When they should be in class they are out digging a hole or something and missing the information. The teachers seem unfazed by this saying that the Kenyan government allows punishment during class time. I try to explain my disagreement with the policy as it creates more work for the teacher in reteaching concepts.

Enough about structure for now.

Lately this is what has been happening:

I had a friend come visit from another part of Kenya. He couldn't believe how hot is was and he said he's never leaving his mesa again. Yes, his mesa.

My principal is planning his retirement party. Which meant he had a meeting in which he attended and we had to elect a chairman and co-chair for the party, also three secretaries, a treasurer and about 10 members. It was all in Kikamba and so I mostly zoned out and raised my hand when it appeared we were voting on something.

I attended a games competition yesterday for my school. It was basically a track meet only very less organized. I was able to see the high jump, shot put, and 100 metre dash before I had to go. Our students were actually doing quite good. I'm anxious to know the results.

Most people are not happy with the principal right now because he has not gotten the results of the national exam yet. He is the only person who can do it and everybody is so anxious. So people are not speaking to him until the results are in.

National exam fever has swept the nation. This year a record number of students, 57000, have qualified for admission to the university. This is good news. However, there are only 9000 spots available. This is bad news. There are not enough options for Kenyans after secondary school.

I must end there.

Peace out