It has begun

Actually it began 24 years and six days ago, but that's beside the point. The academic year has gotten of to a bouncy though average start. After one week about one half to two thirds of the Kayuki Girls had arrived. Needless to say this makes teaching a little odd, considering that a large number of my students missed the early material. Slow is the pace to go. Fast, fast has no blessing: if you care to reverse the proverb. This is fine with me. I'm not really feeling the weight on my shoulders to save the world. In general we simply have to make it through the day. And making it through the days has proved to be much easier than I expected. I can't attribute where these past three weeks have gone, but they've positively whipped by.

First I was introduced at morning assembly where the girls stand in lines and sing the national anthem or school pride songs. Then announcements and daily punishment, for those who arrived late to school from their respective homes or for any of a large number of other infractions which I have yet to understand require being hit on the hand with a stick. Girls who woke up late, failed to supply a stamp on an envelope with an official form inside, or the form at all, girls who shirked their yardwork duties. etc. etc. I'm not the best at interpreting the reasons behind each of these sessions but it occurs every day without fail.

I can't pass judgement on such a practice: right or wrong. The cultural context is rooted deep in the past and I don't know enough nor do I presume to know how to raise young people from childhood to the responsibility of adulthood. What I do see is that the punishment seems so commonplace, that the teachers, and girls alike make a show of it. Even when the sticks break apart from striking with such force, there is some laughter at the flinches of the cowering recipient.

I've already made it clear to the staff that I will not beat the girls, but that I may think of some alternative means of discipline (although I was never much disciplined by others and fail to see the value in it most of the time). I am scheduled to be a Teacher on Duty this coming week, so we will see what works out. I fear that I am too easy going and thus will not be able to recognize when girls are in the wrong. Fortunately or unfortunately, I doubt I will ever find it in me to punish a girl for having a broken zipper on her skirt, an untucked-in shirt or for being late to class. Since most of the time that girls are late for morning classes it's because they were getting the "kiboko" (whips were once made of hippo hide).

Meanwhile, the eager minds of teenage girls have me reeling, and I hardly know what to do with myself. Apart from teaching 27 40-minute periods a week. I've set up the 14 computers that work so the girls can use them three nights a week to study physics. Soon I may start a pen-pal project with the Form IIIA class who all asked me if they could get "marafiki wa kimarekani". At some point in the future I really want to pursue the media literacy club that I've alluded to in emails or previous posts. Perhaps after our (Amber, Kavisa and myself) June girls leadership and life skills conference that we are planning for the month of June. It's a long time coming, and there is so much potential.

I've noticed a lot in the three weeks at Kayuki girls. First, we are miserably understaffed. There are five science teachers for about 570 enrolled students. At a recent building capacity meeting, the mkuu highlighted the goal of improving the level of education at the school, but then said that the teachers should reduce the use of lecture lessons by half. I had to mention that step one should be to recruit more teachers period. It's the condition of the system here where if you become a teacher, you get money to continue education at the university level. This unfortunately sucks teachers away from secondary schools at a prodigious rate. Kayuki is hurting now after losing 19 instructors last year of whom most returned to college to get their diploma. I only hope that after becoming more educated, a large number return to the classroom. However, the ways things are it doesn't seem that this is the case. Because you can become a teacher after leaving form four without getting high marks on the standard exam: a large number of new teachers here never wanted to be teachers in the first place. Therefore when they work up the means to continue education they gladly seem to be moving on. The result is a vacuum of school personel that leaves us where we are.

Not at all to be discouraged however. I'm excited to be here and very happy with my working arrangements. My co-workers are interesting and helpful. I look forward to working well together. As the time has gone fleetingly thus far I can only imagine that two years from now will come about no later than this summer and I will returning to the United States in no time at all, wondering how bad the reverse culture shock will be. My thanks to everyone for the birthday wishes.

Kiswahili phrase of the week: ubao unanigonga-->literally, "the wood is banging me" it's slang for "I'm hungry".