PTA Student Project Award 2006

Vicky with some of her pupils

Vicky Green

Having visited Kenya with my family two years ago, I jumped at the opportunity to return in my gap year. As you might expect, however, the experience I had out there volunteering was vastly different to the average tourist’s experience!

Twenty six ‘gappers’ flew from Heathrow at the beginning of May, all British except for one Frenchman and an Australian. On arrival in Nairobi, we were whisked up to Lake Naivasha for our induction weekend: perhaps whisked is not quite the right word, Kenyan road conditions are hardly conducive to swift journeys! But there’s no hurry in Africa… We stayed on the shores of the lake for four days to acclimatise ourselves, bonding with the other AVs (Africa Venturers) and practising our teaching skills on each other. We were given talks on culture, history and safety, and spent the last day on safari before “Scary Monday”, as we were told it would be, when we would go to our schools.

I was placed, with two other volunteers, in a school called The Crane Academy, a mixed primary and all girls secondary school, close to Kitale, a large town in Western Kenya. Nine AVs were placed in this town, with the rest of the group within a few hours’ matatu ride (matatus are 14 seater minibuses that usually carry at least 20 passengers and sundry farm animals - I once had a goat shoot out from between my legs). Our accommodation was basic, but perfectly habitable by Kenyan standards, with electricity (sometimes) and running water (very rarely, and we’re convinced our cohabiters, the rats and the bats, indulged in some nocturnal swimming in the water tank). The walk to school should have taken about 10 minutes, but was invariably longer, as everyone we passed wanted to greet the ‘wazungu’ (white people); the Kenyans are so friendly and welcoming.

Our teaching at the school got off to a bit of a stilted start: term did not start on time, as the children were not allowed to return to school until they had raised the necessary fees, which meant new students would appear in class on a daily basis! Equally, some disappeared halfway through the term, either because of lack of fees or to harvest maize. Those that were at school worked incredibly hard, making notes or doing exercises even when there was no teacher present. The secondary girls begin their day at 4am and do not finish preps until 9.30pm. Their willingness to learn is very humbling - education is the only chance they get in life, and parents will sacrifice everything for it.

We were given our timetables for the term (eventually, communication is not very efficient within the school!) - I was to teach primary English, Art and P.E. and secondary French. Having said Crane was a privately funded school, and a good one by Kenyan standards, there were very few resources, which made Art lessons very interesting! We brought scissors, glue, stickers and colouring pencils with us, and they were pounced upon by the children - getting them to share was often a bit of an issue… PE lessons were even more chaotic, with about three footballs between the entire primary section, and cows wandering all over the football pitch. Nevertheless, as term progressed, we realised organisation was not really necessary, as long as we were enthusiastic. Organisation and punctuality are both concepts that have not quite been grasped in Kenya, and I have become much more laidback as a result!

English and French were the subjects I enjoyed teaching the most. The spoken English of most of the children was pretty good, although there were some shocking gaps in their knowledge and their written English would often be interspersed with literally translated Swahili phrases, or indeed Swahili. For example, one class had been taught that the plural of ‘house’ was ‘hice’.

The French teacher decided to go AWOL about a week after we arrived, so I was left in charge, which was great, as I got to do some more challenging teaching, which I found more rewarding than the primary teaching. I have newfound respect for all of my teachers, planning a whole term’s work is exhausting, and lessons never went quite according to plan! Trying to explain things like the present subjunctive is a lot harder than I thought it would be, particularly when the girls had problems understanding my English accent, let alone my French one.

Towards the end of the term, we organised a football tournament for the top two years of the secondary school, and bought football kit and new footballs with some of our donation money. The tournament was probably the most rewarding thing we did at the school, as it brought out a school spirit we hadn’t seen before. The ages of the boys in the top year ranged from 12-17, as they are not allowed to progress to secondary school until they have passed their KCPE. Many of them started school late, as education has only recently become widely available. Friends of mine in other schools were teaching pupils who were four or five years older than them. Discipline was often an issue, and although I did not agree with the amount of caning that went on in the school, I had to accept it was part of life, and concede that it was the most effective form of punishment in their society. Nothing else carried any gravitas, and the children did not fear caning at school - they were more concerned about how their parents would execute punishment when they got home.

The remainder of our donation money was spent on books for the primary school and laboratory equipment for the secondary girls - essentials like glass beakers, clamps and some chemicals. We also donated some money towards the two school trips we went on. The first was to a Coca Cola bottling factory, which the younger children loved. It was very interesting, but we were a little concerned about the lack of health and safety awareness, as the children were allowed to wander round the factory amongst broken glass and all sorts. At the end of the morning we were all force fed sodas, which made me and the other two volunteers feel pretty ill! We tried to explain to the teacher how bad fizzy drinks are for teeth, and he responded with “No, no, that’s not true, it must be just white people that it affects”.

Our second trip was to Lakes Baringo, Bogoria and Nakuru. Like the first trip, we piled about 25 children and five teachers into the school van (again, a 14 seater) for a seven hour journey. Lake Baringo was the first stop, where we literally got out of the van, looked at the lake and then got back into the van. We then went on to Lake Bogoria, to see the natural hot springs. My fellow volunteers and I decided to pay for all the children to go swimming in a naturally warm sulphur pool at a hotel on the lake, which was incredible. Most of them had never swum before, but they all behaved themselves, and it was a once in a lifetime opportunity for most of them.

We travelled around Kenya most weekends, meeting up with all of the other AVs and visiting some of the national parks and other places of interest. At half term we travelled to Uganda, where we had an amazing day white water rafting down the River Nile, and some crazy fools went bungee jumping. Most enjoyable to watch! We also spent quite a few weekends in Kitale. For the weekend following my birthday, we decided to go and watch ‘Miss Kitale’. Three days before the event, my friends informed me that, for my birthday present, they had entered me for the competition… I took part lightheartedly, although I was terrified on the day as the other girls in it were all professional models. It eventually started at about 11.30pm and by 4am it was over, and I had won! I maintain it was because I was the only white participant, and things are very corrupt out there. All part of the African experience!!

Following our three month teaching placement, we had three weeks of free travel, when I visited Mombasa and Zanzibar, followed by a safari at Lake Nakuru and in the Masai Mara, with all 26 volunteers, before flying home together at the end of August. They told us that the culture shock coming home would be worse than the one going out there, which is certainly true! I miss the school, all of our new friends and Kenya so much, but hope to return one day to visit. Meanwhile, university awaits, and I feel more prepared, having just been thrown into a foreign atmosphere, for the challenges and experiences that are in store for me there.