 Team Reports |
Education in KenyaDon McCormick — Huntsville, ON
As a former schoolteacher and, more recently, a recruiter and trainer of volunteers, I was particularly interested in the school system and in the non-Rotary volunteers that assisted with our distributions. From the abundance of signboards along the streets and roads it was clear there were a lot of schools – and churches. It was equally clear that a lot of those schools were private schools. Vestiges of the English schooling system – both a private school system that catered to those who could afford it and a public system for those who could not or chose not to - were very much in evidence. School uniforms – even in the public system - and school discipline were other remnants of Kenya’s English colonial history. Since SCAW operates in some of the poorest regions of the country, its clients are in the public system, a system that still insists on school uniforms. This presents quite a problem for families of these students since purchasing a school uniform can be a great burden on the family resources. Poor families keep their children out of school because they can’t afford the uniforms. We were particularly impressed by the patience and discipline of the students. They often waited several hours seated on the ground in the full equatorial heat and intense sunshine. While it was apparent in many ways that their teachers cared greatly for them, the “old school” attitude towards discipline – brusque, no-nonsense treatment – was also clearly in evidence. The students, quite ebullient in the playground, were very compliant in the presence of their teachers.
One can hardly blame the teachers for being very firm. By North American standards they teach in very basic conditions with class sizes of between seventy to a hundred students. They lack sufficient buildings, desks, books, and all the material things we take for granted in North America. What they have in plenty is their commitment to their students. I was in awe of the enormity of their challenges and of their dedication to the children. While I considered myself a successful teacher in my comfortable Canadian education surroundings, I would feel hopelessly inadequate in their situation. There was a broad range in the nature of the non-Rotary volunteers who assisted with the distributions. In some cases they were young foreign aid workers for one of the numerous aid agencies operating in the country. They were young, energetic, idealistic, and very committed to improving the lot of the people in a country that was not their own. Many of the local people were also young, energetic, idealistic, wonderfully good-humoured, cooperative, and dedicated to improving conditions for the people in their own country. I greatly enjoyed chatting and bantering with them.
I was very impressed with what they were able to achieve in spite of what we would consider overwhelming odds. I particularly enjoyed Kevin whose goal was to represent Kenya in speed skating in the Vancouver Olympics and to be an example of what was possible for young people of his country. If there’s a Jamaican bobsled team, why not a Kenyan speed skater? He was an inspiration to me. Many of the other local people assisting were older and often had some church affiliation. At a couple of the distributions all the volunteers came from church congregations. Their commitment to creating better lives for their children was heart warming. I came away from this experience chastened and inspired. Many of these people live in horrendous conditions. In my wildest fantasies I cannot imagine myself living under such conditions. I shall remind myself of that any time I am inclined to complain about some aspect of my existence. Their spirit and their determination to make better lives for their children is an inspiration. This distribution was unquestionably a “growth experience” for me. |
