The end of Term One

“Our deepest calling is to grow into our own authentic self-hood, whether or not it conforms to some image of who we ought to be. As we do so, we will not only find the joy that every human being seeks -- we will also find our path of authentic service in the world.”

- Parker J. Palmer 

I learn every day. Since I have arrived in Kenya I have learned about myself on a personal level, I have learned about myself on a professional level, and I have learned about the completely new environment and culture that I live in. Each morning I wake up, I know that the new day ahead of me will be filled with learning of all sorts.

This week marks both the end of my third month and the completion of my first term teaching in Kenya. The months before I left, friends and family would ask, how long are you planning on staying in Kenya? My repeated response would be, my hope is to stay a whole year but I am committing to at least one term. It is now the end of my first term and now when asked Teacher Hope, how long are you staying? All I can manage to respond is at least a year. One thing is for sure, I can’t imagine leaving Kenya anytime soon and I am loving every minute of my stay here.

Before I left, most people told me that there would be a period of time that I would be overly uncomfortable and homesick (most said a period of at least three plus months) and that there would be many challenges that I would face on my journey. Lucky for me, my discomfort was limited and lasted less than a month and my biggest challenge was faced near the beginning of my journey. This is not to say that more challenges won’t come, but I know that I have a large support system both here and at home to help me if needed.

I feel at home here in Kenya. I walk through the village comfortably with the people and environment around me. The majority of the people living in the village know who I am—usually, I am known as Teacher Hope. I have inherited many family members—mothers, grandmothers, fathers, aunties, uncles, brothers, sisters, and a countless amount of cousins. Slowly but surely I am learning words and phrases from both languages—Kikuyu and Kiswahili. Although I do not teach as often at Mitahato Primary School as I did at first, I still enjoy the time I do spend there. My favorite place to be in the village is at Gathirimu Girl’s School. I walk into the gates comfortable every day, greet the guards, and confidently walk to teach my girls. Life is good here in Kenya and I am grateful for all of the memories and stories that have already been created and those that are to come.

Recently, while at Gathirimu, a few form two girls from the Journalism Club walked up to me and asked to interview me for the school magazine. I walked with them to answer their questions and they told me that I had received the award for “Coolest Teacher” One of their questions was “What are you going to do to keep the title as Coolest Teacher?” All I could do was smile and laugh. It was fun to talk with the students and help them as they were learning how to interview. I am excited to see the magazine and honored that the students enjoy my company as much as I enjoy theirs.

Since I have finished my first term here, I thought I would write a few “Top Three Moments” for different elements of my life here—the different elements being; teaching, my Kenyan family, and culture.

Teaching-->Top Moments: I have countless amazing moments with the high school students. These moments are some of my favorites and they are more “all-encompassing” than specific moments. 

1. After School Visits: There have been so many fun and positive visits/moments while being with the girls after school that it is hard to narrow it down to just one. Some that stand out to me include: the few times that Morris has joined me to chat with the girls (as 14-16 year olds, they are all in love with him), laughing so much I almost cried with my form one (Freshman) girls, playing volleyball in the field, answering endless questions about America and my family, playing basketball at the lower courts, sharing pictures, etc., etc., etc... 
2. First Lesson: I taught my first ever high school lesson to form one girls in Life Skills. I remember being so nervous—shaking and sweating—while I introduced myself to one hundred new students. I allowed them to ask any questions they had about me, America, my family, etc. It worked really well as an icebreaker and soon I was relaxed and in a comfortable frame of teaching. I had even mentioned, within the mix of answering questions, that this was my first time ever teaching a high school class. Their response was a giant applause—I was both surprised and flattered. This was a moment that I will never forget. 
3. Saturday Trips: I was given the chance on two occasions to travel with the girls for special trips that they had earned. For one of the trips we travel with the prefects five hours north to a game park that we figured out was closed only after we arrived there. Even with this set back, we continued on and found a picnic sight with horseback riding, a beautiful creak, a pond with boat riding, plenty of open grass area, a rock climbing wall, and a playground—the girls and teachers all thoroughly enjoyed the trip. The second trip was with Form Two Tana. They were awarded a trip of their choice because they scored the best on their exams for three terms in a row. They personally invited me on this trip to the Ngong Hills. This is a beautiful area with seven huge hills for hiking. While hiking you can see a large area of Kenya, including Nairobi and its surrounding areas. I loved this hiking adventure and I was able to get to know these girls more throughout our journey. 

    

Family-->Top Moments: My Kenyan family has made my time here amazing. Nothing would be possible without these people. They have welcomed me and accepted me as a part of their family and not just a visitor or “foreigner”. I am very blessed and grateful to have these people in my life.

1. Moments at Morris’: When I have breaks in between lessons I walk down to Morris’s family’s house and spend time with him, Mama Morris, Cucu, brother John, and Cousin John. I always enjoy my time here and I feel very welcomed each visit. It has been here that I have learned the most about simplicity and the way of life in Kenya.
2. Moments with Mary: I can’t even come close to explaining all of my favorite moments with Mary. There is no way I can imagine my life here without her. She makes me laugh and smile all of the time. She is both a mother and a sister to me. I am more than blessed to have her in my life. Some of my favorite moments include our walks around the village and relaxing in the evening—always laughing and teasing each other. She is a blast to be around and always teaching me.
3. Joe and Mary’s Visit: For a week Mary, Joe, and their niece Nicole came to visit from America (although they are originally from Kenya). During their visit I was able to play with Nicole (she’s a preschooler) and chat with Mary every day. On the Saturday of their visit, there was a big family celebration of their one year wedding anniversary. It was very fun to play with the kids all morning while the women cooked and the men set up the tent and slaughtered the goats. I enjoyed the company of everyone and the evening was filled with lots of food and laughter from everyone around.

  

Culture-->Favorites: I have learned a great amount about the culture in Kenya—more specifically Kikuyu culture—in the last few months. I really love learning everything I can about the culture. Observation and asking questions are the most common ways I learn. I have many favorites but I am only going to list the top three.

1. Cooking: Cooking is a huge part of the culture here. From what I have seen, the majority of the day for women is spent cooking. Cooking is done over a fire and there are variations of dishes that are typically made. I have loved all food that I have eaten here. Some of the main dishes include: ugali, githeri, cabbage, potatoes, rice, and chapatis. Another part of the culture of cooking is the hospitality that goes along with it. Every time there are visitors, they are greeted with tea and food. Although I have not cooked traditional food here yet, I plan on doing so soon—I learn every day by watching Mary and others cook.
2. Language: From what I have learned, there are hundreds of different languages in Kenya. Most people living in Kenya know at least two languages—Kiswahili and their mother tongue (Kikuyu is a dominant tribe). If you have gone through all of high school then you have also learned English—your third language. There is a language that the youth also use called Shang. I love that the students I teacher are all at least trilingual. I talk to them all of the time about how lucky they are to have learned so many languages at such a young age. Although I often don’t understand when others are talking around me, I find it interesting to listen and observe. Often times this is how I pick up certain words and begin to learn.
3. Greetings: I know I have shared about this previously in posts but I will mention it again. Whether it is walking around the village, entering a new household, or walking into school, I am greeted by everyone. This is not just a special thing that only happens to me. Kenyans are very welcoming in their culture; even babies are taught to shake hands with those they meet on the street, in a matatu, or at home. I really love the welcoming atmosphere that all the greetings create.

As I have mentioned countless times, I love Kenya and my life here. I especially love spending time with the girls I teach and the family I am surrounded by. I have recently learned that I will be teaching Form 1, 2, 3, and 4 PE, Form 1, 2, and 3 Life Skills, and I will also be teaching a few classes English grammar. I am very excited for these new additions and my hope is that my schedule will be very full for the next term. As far as the primary school goes, I will be continuing my PenPal Program. The next classes I will be working with will be class 4 and class 7. This program takes place after I have taught the high school girls. After school I will be starting to coach the girl’s basketball team. My hope is to also be involved in a few of the clubs that the school has to offer—journalism, environmental, Red Cross, etc. The girls have also insisted that I do a PenPal club with them as well. As you can see I will be very busy in the coming term. I am eager to continue teaching and learning with my students.

As for now, I have about a month and a half off of school. This is the largest break that the students have in Kenya. In January the students start the new school year on about the second week. This coming week I will be staying in Banana with Mary’s family to help prepare for Peterson and Winnie’s wedding. I am both eager and tense for this wedding. I know it will be a fun celebration—I am just nervous for the unknown. After this I will be spending a lot of time relaxing and traveling around Kenya; adventuring and exploring around new places while meeting more family members. The month of December is very busy and filled with activities. I am very excited and eager to see what will come.

During the school break I will not be able to receive letters from the address that I previously gave. Instead I will give the address for the ACK church that receives mail all year round. I do not currently have this address but I will write in on my next post. The next post will be about the wedding and all of the adventures in Banana. As for now, enjoy your Thanksgiving and know that I am missing you all back home.

November here we come!

November 2^nd

Can anyone else believe that it is already November?! I cannot believe how fast time has gone by. It feels like just the other day I was leaving my family in the airport and now I am living life in Kaimbu district just as if it were my own home—which by now it is another home to me. Many things have happened in the last few weeks. Life has been very busy with visitors, events, and the normal day to day tasks.

On the Sunday after our Mombasa trip the majority of the family went to the town of Banana for Peterson (Mary’s brother) and Winnie’s pre-wedding. A pre-wedding is a way for the bride and groom to raise money from their family and friends to help support the wedding financially. For this event there was a panel of people that were designated as ‘guests of honor’—their job was to collect as many donations as possible for the cause. They collected this money both before the event and during the event. During the pre-wedding there was a DJ/announcer that led different activities and speeches to make sponsoring the wedding a fun and eventful time. There was one activity that involved having the bride and groom stand in front of everyone and anyone that wanted could come up and pin cash onto them—for example onto their clothes, shoes, hair, etc. It was a fun to watch and much of the spectators couldn’t help but laugh. The event, like most events in Kenya, also involved delicious traditional food and tea. Like always, it was enjoyable to spend time with family and friends—I especially loved seeing Mary’s mom, nieces/nephews, and her brother/sisters.

The weekend that followed the pre-wedding was the first weekend that I spent in the village in a long while. It was pleasant to relax, walk around, and enjoy church on Sunday. I even got a sunburn from walking around the village on Saturday. Little things, like walking around the village on a weekend, are some of my favorite things to do here. It’s so pleasant to meet and greet old and new faces. No matter where I walk around the village, every person I pass comes to greet me—the kids especially love running up to shake my hand. Not only do I enjoy the people I see along the way, but I also really love exploring and seeing new places within the environment. I love when I get to learn new routes and paths to get to places like the church, the school, the market, etc. Learning about the environment—the landscape, trees, flowers, birds, etc.—is exciting and I feel like I could spend several days exploring the area.

This past week has been one of the busiest in a while. Joe and his wife Mary are cousins to the family and came to visit at CuCu’s for the week. They are originally from Kenya but they both live in Oregon and came to visit family and friends throughout Kenya for a month. The two of them also came with their four year old niece Nicole. I loved having her around for the week—I was able to play with her often, read her stories, and watch movies with her. Her presence in the house reminded me of teaching preschool like I used to do back home before I left. It was also really nice to be able to chat with Mary and Joe about anything and everything. Mary and Joe recently got married (a year ago) and Mary was meeting many of Joe’s family members for the first time. On Saturday we hosted an event to introduce Mary to all of the family members that she had not met yet. It was an exciting and busy weekend with all of the guests. The compound was filled with bodies from Friday evening to Sunday afternoon. There was great company and a bunch of food—chapatis (my favorite), goat meat, rice, beans, vegetables, fruits, tea, etc. It was a lot of fun to meet new friends and family and greet those that I have already met several times before. By Sunday evening the house was completely empty of all of the visitors. It was nice to have the evening to relax and get ready for the coming week.

I continue to see the girls at Gathirimu every day that I am in the village. If I am free on the weekend I still go to visit with them. Because it is a boarding school, the girls are there so much that they often get bored. Not only is it fun for them to have me visit, but I enjoy their company as well. Most of the time I am teaching at the high school everyone is all smiles and laughs. It is such an easy going environment that I cannot get enough of it. I love teaching the girls Life Skills, playing games and singing during PE, and just simply hanging out with them. Like I have mentioned before, there are many girls that ask to talk with me on a one-on-one basis. I am very thankful for these girls’ courage to find me and talk with me. Many times their stories are hard to hear but I know that they need my support. Some of the girls have lived very challenging lives—their stories break my heart and I always wish I could do more for them. I know that my support and presence helps them a lot. There are a few girls that I am really close with and they have written me letters calling me an angel. It is hard to even comprehend such statements. There is a reason I am here in Kenya and there is a reason I am with these girls from Gathirimu. Not only do they need me but I need them. It’s a perfect match and I’m very thankful that I am able to spend time with them.

As for the primary school, I have not been going there as often as I was before. I am primarily there to teach and implement the Pen Pal Program. Class three and class eight have been working hard to create letters for schools in Oregon. They are eager to learn more about America and hear from their buddies. I have sent both of these classes’ letters to the designated schools. The teachers involved on both sides are very excited to partake in the learning. Since the school year is coming to the end for the students at Mitahato, I will not start implementing the program in other classes until the new year. Also, once the new year begins I will create a new schedule for myself and hopefully create more involvement for myself in the primary school setting.

As a whole, everything is going really well. I am happy, smiling, and loving my new environment. The people are great, the food is great (too great), and the surroundings are great. I enjoy learning each new day and I look forward to the time to come. My next big goal is to buckle down and really learn Kiswahili and Kikuyu. It has been over two month and I should know more than I do now. I will let you all know how my progression and learning comes! Maybe I’ll even add some of the languages into my postings! 

Until next time…