My school started a new policy this term where they were not going to cane students. You'll have to forgive me for scoffing when I heard this. I was impressed that the policy lasted an entire week. Then, yesterday one of the teachers felt that it needed to be reinstated
over a serious infraction. Two of the students had lost the button on their trousers. Sadly, three solid whacks didn't make the button appear. I'm impressed that the teachers lasted a week, although it's possible (probable) that there were some beatings that I missed while I was in class.
...le plus qu'ils restent.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
That's not actually true
Ok, I know I still need to write up last week and over the weekend
(bunch of things happened), but that won't be up until next week or
so. Same goes for Books 9.0.
(bunch of things happened), but that won't be up until next week or
so. Same goes for Books 9.0.
One of my jobs at the school is deciding the school timetable. I've
tried to consider the requests of the teachers and I've also tried to
keep it logical (previously, students would start each day with a
different lesson and might have the same subject three times in the
same day or two classes trying to use the lab at the same time).
Students have been happy with the regularity that comes with my
timetables and the other teachers are mostly happy with how it works
for them. However, every now and then, one teacher will make a request
and I have to restrain myself from just turning to them and saying
"What a load of crap!" Some of them include: we can't have math
lessons after lunch, since the ministry says that students learn math
best in the morning; I can't teach English in the afternoon since
students won't pay attention after lunch; you should move one of my
biology lessons so that I don't have to be at school at 8 every day.
The schoolboard has asked me to make sure that someone is trained to
do this after I leave. I just told them that there is no trick, it
just takes some patience to ensure that everything is balanced for
both students and teachers.
Today I had to do one of the most difficult things in the Kenyan
classroom. I had to explain to my students that their textbook is
wrong. For most students, they have to take everything that the book
says as absolute truth, since they don't have any secondary source
material. Besides, since it is written by the government, that
increases their faith (don't get me started on this point). However,
when the book says things like "Sodium hydrogen carbonate is an
example of an acidic salt, since it has an extra hydrogen ion," I felt
I had to take a stand. When I told the students that this wasn't
actually true, they were pretty skeptical. Then, I took some baking
powder (cue that music for The More You Know) and tested it with some
red litmus paper. It turned blue (meaning the compound is a base, not
an acid) and I think I saw some students shaken to their very
foundations by the treachery of their books. Fortunately, they
recovered with laughter when they saw me shaking calcium carbonate
vigorously in water for some time to show them that it won't dissolve.
Then, there comes those lies we tell ourselves. I like to pretend that
I know how to manage a lab. After feeling a tad under the weather
yesterday, I decided to ask my friend Pete (good thing I hung out with
the chemical engineering majors in college) if the chemical fumes that
I have been inhaling are as harmless as I like to pretend they are.
They are not. I definitely need to fashion some kind of mask so that I
don't keep doing this (I take precautions to minimize risk, but they
seem to be inadequate). Also, I need to figure out how people will
manage the lab once I'm gone.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Nairobi, niko na moyo mseto
Paris, je t’aime has a much nicer ring to it, but for Nairobi, I have a mixed heart. Brace yourself, this is a pretty long post.
After 8 long hours of matatus and buses and matatus on Thursday, I made it to Nairobi and headed over to the Kenya Continental, which is where volunteers stay when they’re on Peace Corps business here (including medical work). I checked in to find three other volunteers at the hotel (I had just missed Nick who had been there the night before and had just returned to his site). I called Peace Corps and they told me that I could take it easy and then come in tomorrow, so I was glad to recuperate a bit. My friend "Beth" is here with limited mobility, so she had to stay in bed, but Kelly (math/science education from the group before me) and Jason (new public health volunteer) brought me to the mall (actually there are several malls in Westlands, which is a rather posh area of Nairobi, and they are all within walking distance of the hotel). We stopped first at the bookstore, and I had to stop myself from buying more than three books. Then, we went to Nakumatt (it‘s kinda like being at Wal-Mart, but a little smaller) and picked up a few things to bring back to the hotel (it‘s really hard to find Oreos outside of Nairobi) and I grabbed some candy to bring back for my students. Jason bought himself an electric hair trimmer, and it was later pointed out that he does not actually have electricity at his site. Every time we would hear it buzzing for the rest of my stay (surprisingly often, I might add), we would chuckle a bit.
When I was leaving school on Wednesday, I told some of my students that I would not be coming the next day because I had to go and see a doctor. They all expressed their condolences and some suggested that I bring them some kind of present (usually in candy form) from my trip (I didn‘t mention Nairobi, since I was worried the suggestions would increase). Then one of them stopped to make sure that I was leaving lesson notes so that they could keep working while I was away (already submitted), and I was glad to see that work ethic. Then one of my students said that I was only allowed to bring candy if I was healthy so that we could celebrate; if I was sick, then I just needed to get better. My students are really wonderful.
Anyway, we made it back to the hotel to see Beth who managed to sit up halfway when we got back. We settled on carrying out dinner from Java House, which is good comfort food. Kelly and I ran over and placed the order. While we waited, we were bombarded with previews for G.I. Joe and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. (I loved that book growing up!) We swapped stories about our schools and how overwhelming everything gets at times (Kelly‘s area somehow manages to get less rain than mine, but there is a little more water, since there is a river nearby, but water is just a big nightmare in general) while we waited for our food and then we carried it back to the hotel. Our supper was delicious (complete with a chocolate-banana milkshake), and we all hung out for a while to raise our spirits. We went to bed very full.
On Friday, Kelly, Jason and I grabbed an early breakfast at the hotel before walking to the Peace Corps office. When we were five minutes away from the office, Medical called me and asked if I was at the hotel, since they had sent a driver to pick me up. I hadn’t realized that I qualified for chauffeur service, so I apologized and explained that I was already at the office. I went in and greeted medical to talk a bit and find out how everything was going to work. Mary explained to me that she had booked me in Nairobi until Monday (I won‘t miss school, since it‘s a national holiday) so that I wouldn’t feel rushed and then we talked a bit. Poor Mary is the only Medical staff member right now (Sylvia is on vacation), so she is watching the four of us at the Continental, plus there was another situation earlier week and she has to keep tabs on the other 60 healthy volunteers in the country to make sure that they stay that way. Before leaving her office, I stepped on the scale and found that my weight has stayed steady at around 160, which is sounding pretty healthy, I think. Then I went to say hi to staff in the office, and I sought out Louis (he manages Peace Corps‘s Small Enterprise Development program and is a really remarkable guy) to see if he had my bio-gas DVDs. Louis and I are incapable of having a short conversation, so while we were discussing solar technologies, another staff member came in to collect Louis for their staff meeting and I realized that I wouldn’t be able to greet other staff members (Joseph was on leave, so I wouldn‘t have been able to see him, and Enos had traveled to visit possible sites for the next volunteers, so we missed each other this time, but I was disappointed that I didn‘t get to say hi to Antony, Tim or introduce myself to the new Country Director). I hung around the office for another 20 minutes and used the computer before heading off to my appointment.
So, after all this, I should probably explain why I’m here. Four years at MIT definitely built up a pretty high tolerance for stress and putting high demands on myself. Still, I had a few warning signs that I might need to talk to someone about some things, so I asked to come to Nairobi to sort a few things out. I talked to a nice British woman for about an hour and we discussed some strategies and things that I should work on so that I don’t burn myself out. We talked about coping mechanisms and healthy outlets, but all in all, it was a pretty short conversation, so we scheduled a follow-up appointment for October. I went back to the waiting room and called the Peace Corps driver to pick me up and take me back across Nairobi (office is only open for a half-day on Fridays, so I didn‘t get to see the rest of the staff). The traffic was pretty nasty on the way to the office (sorry, in true British fashion, I was at a “surgery“), so it took the driver an hour to come back and pick me up. I noted all the British people (and a few Germans) who came to the surgery and how few Kenyans there were. While I waited, I thought a bit about the conversation and talked to mi amigo Daniel until the driver pulled up.
I had the driver drop me off about half-way to the hotel so that I could meet up with Kelly for lunch. I had run into Tori randomly when I arrived on Thursday and we all agreed to meet for lunch, so that was nice. We ate at the Java House (you might start to notice a theme) and had a wonderful time and I had to say good-bye to Tori again, since her flight was the following evening. Then I went with Kelly to the hospital for her appointment (makes sense, since the bulk of the appointment is usually in the waiting room anyway). She had to wait when we arrived to get a short note from one doctor (that took 40 minutes) and bring it to another doctor (there was a mistake in scheduling her appointment, so that took another 30 minutes) who read the note in under one minute and said that it would be okay for her to return to her school (she was pretty sick of Nairobi after the amount of time she had been here) and then she was done. Then we had to wait an hour for the driver (Friday afternoon Nairobi traffic is hell) who was given the wrong location at the hospital by the Peace Corps office, so then we had to go find him. So that day was not exactly a model of efficiency.
Then we went back to the hotel and spent the rest of the day with Beth and Jason. Kelly needed to do a little shopping before going back to site, so we ran to the mall and made a few other stops, but we were still pretty full from lunch, so we stopped at an Indian restaurant near the hotel and brought back some naan and called that dinner. When we placed the order, the waitress looked at us and said “But aren’t you going to order food???” and we replied nearly in unison “bread is food!” Then we went back to the hotel and ate together complete with Oreos for dessert (we never made it to them the night before). Kelly and Jason went to bed pretty early (Kelly had to pack and was leaving early for her bus in the morning), so I stayed and talked to Beth for a while longer before talking to my parents and then crashing. Beth had left the hospital, but since she wasn’t really mobile and just stayed in her simply furnished room all day, it really felt like she was still in the hospital, but without all the doctors (just a big bag of Tylenol).
On Saturday, I woke up a little after Kelly had left (I had had a lot of trouble falling asleep, and wound up sleeping from 3 am to 7 am), and Jason and I grabbed breakfast before heading to the Peace Corps office to take care of a few things on the computer. Another volunteer had come to visit Beth, so she got to have company all morning. Jason and I talked a lot all morning and got to know one another (I don‘t have that opportunity very often with the volunteers who stay in the Western part of the country). We came back to the hotel to meet Beth and two other volunteers to have sushi for lunch. It was a fun lunch, in spite of the fact that the conversation wandered from AIDS to concentration camps and lots of other cheerful subjects in between. The waiter moved incredibly slowly, and Beth had to leave lunch a bit early, since she had already been sitting up for an hour and needed to lie back down. After lunch we left Beth and Jason to nap, and I went to the mall.
After shopping around a little bit (I picked up another gift for my students: a couple of chemistry review books for their exams), I found a computer store and bought a small laptop. $450, or two months of Peace Corps salary. It’s a nice little machine (I‘m using it right now to type this) and I’m planning to Linux-ify it next weekend (it‘s a Windows machine and viruses are incredibly rampant here) and get it set up with a modem. I’m not sure if this will make me more productive (it‘s going to be pretty useful for things like writing exams, working on this AIDS hotline and a few other projects) or less productive (I have that pesky addiction to webcomics), but it’s nice to have this.
I stopped at a Nakumatt (I gave up on counting the number of Nakumatts and Java Houses in Westlands, but there are a lot) and found that they had Coca-cola with high-fructose syrup (i.e. American style, instead of using sugar like the rest of the world), plus it came in a can, so that was fantastic. As I walked back to the hotel, I called Mary to tell her a bit about my appointment (and to have her straighten out things with the hotel, which thought that I was checking out that morning) and the follow-up. And then I found out that I can open a whole new can of worms. Apparently at the staff meeting, she announced to the staff that I was reconsidering my decision to leave Peace Corps (I had told her as much on Friday) and she reported to me that the staff was very supportive. It wasn’t until after the call ended that I realized that I had not actually talked with the staff about my plans to leave Peace Corps (that was also why I never mentioned it on here before now), so I don’t know what kind of position this will put me in. I had told Mary about my plans in August and made sure that it was in confidence, but I guess the fact that I came to Nairobi changes confidentiality? Or something? Anyway, my cards are on the table. I had previously committed myself to leaving Peace Corps for causes related to stress at school as well as other stresses in Kenya unrelated to my community (I hope that is sufficiently vague) and now I am trying to work some things out before I commit myself to anything.
Then I arrived back to the hotel and talked to Beth and Jason a bit longer (Jason is 26 and apparently had guessed that I was older than him. For those of you keeping score at home, I‘m 23.) before taking orders for dinner and heading over to (any guesses?) Java House. I’m pretty sure we’re just addicted to the milkshakes there, but the food is pretty good too (you can actually eat lettuce without worrying about intestinal parasites). I waited for the food alone this time and while I sat there, I read the script for David Ives’ scene called Sure Thing (an absolutely hilarious scene, and I discovered the prescience of one of the lines in the script). We all turned in early, since Beth looked pretty tired and Jason was packing to return to site. Unfortunately, I was completely unable to sleep, so I tinkered with my computer a bit and wrote some emails on my phone (I‘m way behind on emails right now, actually) before I finally managed to fall asleep around 4:30.
And then I woke up at 7 am. Yuck. I said good-bye to Jason as he went for his bus and ate breakfast with Beth. She had an appointment at the hospital that morning, so she packed all of her bags (last time she went for an appointment at the hospital, they admitted her without warning and she had to stay for a week) and we talked while we waited for her taxi. I got a call from Louis saying that he was in the parking lot with my DVDs. I went out to see him and found him there in a T-shirt and jeans (it‘s so rare that we see Peace Corps staff that informally) and talked for a few minutes. Then Louis realized that Beth’s taxi was sitting there, so I went to collect Beth, and he went back home. Before Beth got in the cab, I told her that she wasn’t allowed to get readmitted to the hospital.
I ran to the mall to see if the cyber was open, but apparently it stays closed on Sundays. I walked over to the supermarket and bought some apples and Nutella for our lunch and a liter and a half of Pepsi (if I‘m going to start sleeping on my college hours, I should probably consume caffeine like I did when I was there). Right as I got back to the hotel, I got a one-word text message (those are always the worst) from Beth that said “readmitted”. I was disappointed with her for not listening to me, but then, I guess she wasn’t really in a condition to fight off all the nurses. I grabbed a taxi to the hospital and while I waited, I called Medical to request an extra day here (that means that my students will miss a day of lessons L, but otherwise, Beth will be completely alone in the hospital), which they granted. I found Beth in her hospital bed and not terribly thrilled to be there. I gave her the apples and the Nutella as well as my copy of Arabian Nights in case she wanted to read and she gave me her key so that I could go back to the hotel and collect her belongings and check her out of her room. They had some flowers at the reception, and so I asked and they let me take some for her and asked me to send their condolences.
I made it back to the hospital, but it was not during visiting hours. They know Beth pretty well at this point, so they didn’t even bother me as I went to her room. I caught her just before lunch and I stayed with her until just after dinner. I tried to find a deck of cards, so we could pass the time that way, but a lot of shops were closed since it was Sunday, so I just had to rely on conversation. We talked a lot and I tried especially hard to distract her every time the doctors or nurses came to poke her again (I don‘t envy human pin-cushions). We talked about the fact that the doctors take her blood just about every day to feed the vampire who is staying down the hall. We talked about family and friends in America (we sat next to each other on the plane when we first came to Kenya and talked about that a lot, and I found myself remembering snippets of that conversation as we talked). We talked about life in the hospital (Peace Corps staff does not really visit volunteers in the hospital, so it comes down to hoping that other volunteers will make the trek to Nairobi and visit). And we talked a bit about primates. The doctors came and gave her some pretty strong medicine just before dinner, and I was a little disappointed that she remained rather coherent and didn’t start speaking gibberish, but the meds were knocking her out and visiting hours were coming to an end, so I called a taxi.
I found the hospital vending machine and bought an apple Fanta (first time I‘ve seen that flavor, but I don‘t think that apple was meant to be a soda). My taxi driver was rather talkative, which was nice because I didn’t feel like saying much. She steered the conversation towards Christianity pretty quickly (which is very common here), which allowed her to segue to faith healing. She explained how her shoulder ailment had been cured by prayer (Pentecostal, by the sound of it). Then she started telling me about how prayer will even cure AIDS and doctors don’t actually know what they’re doing. I was pretty relieved when she dropped me off at the hotel. Then I walked down the road to the Indian hotel and had a really amazing meal there (I hadn‘t actually eaten aside from a banana, an apple and some pineapple juice for breakfast, but during dinner Beth gave me her Jell-o). I made it back to the hotel and realized that I hadn’t eaten at Java House the entire day. I managed to throw on my pajamas, but I didn’t climb under the blanket or the mosquito net before falling asleep just after 9 pm. I woke up a bit after 3 am feeling a bit chilly and rather itchy (Nairobi mosquitoes can be pretty fierce) and not feeling the least bit tired.
Today is my last day in Nairobi, so it will probably include a quick trip to Java House and maybe Nakumatt as well (Peace Corps office closes for all American and Kenyan holidays, so the office is closed today for Eid, so I can‘t head there), but the bulk of the day will be spent in the hospital. When I arrived in Nairobi, I learned that for a time, the number of volunteers who were in for medical was staying pretty consistent at 4. Now I am alone at the Kenya Continental and when I leave tomorrow, Beth will be alone at the hospital (except Beth is actually going to leave tomorrow and go back to site, since she‘ll make a miraculous recovery today). I only spent a few days here; most people were here for longer, and I can definitely understand their impatience to get back to site (the increased weight and paleness and diminished bank account are among the physical reasons). Okay, well that’s certainly a lot to read, so I’ll do the other two things that I have thoroughly enjoyed doing in Nairobi that do not happen very often at site: take a shower and put on clean clothes.
Happy last day of winter (well, I'm in the southern hemisphere, but this ain't a typical winter) and Eid Mubarak.
After 8 long hours of matatus and buses and matatus on Thursday, I made it to Nairobi and headed over to the Kenya Continental, which is where volunteers stay when they’re on Peace Corps business here (including medical work). I checked in to find three other volunteers at the hotel (I had just missed Nick who had been there the night before and had just returned to his site). I called Peace Corps and they told me that I could take it easy and then come in tomorrow, so I was glad to recuperate a bit. My friend "Beth" is here with limited mobility, so she had to stay in bed, but Kelly (math/science education from the group before me) and Jason (new public health volunteer) brought me to the mall (actually there are several malls in Westlands, which is a rather posh area of Nairobi, and they are all within walking distance of the hotel). We stopped first at the bookstore, and I had to stop myself from buying more than three books. Then, we went to Nakumatt (it‘s kinda like being at Wal-Mart, but a little smaller) and picked up a few things to bring back to the hotel (it‘s really hard to find Oreos outside of Nairobi) and I grabbed some candy to bring back for my students. Jason bought himself an electric hair trimmer, and it was later pointed out that he does not actually have electricity at his site. Every time we would hear it buzzing for the rest of my stay (surprisingly often, I might add), we would chuckle a bit.
When I was leaving school on Wednesday, I told some of my students that I would not be coming the next day because I had to go and see a doctor. They all expressed their condolences and some suggested that I bring them some kind of present (usually in candy form) from my trip (I didn‘t mention Nairobi, since I was worried the suggestions would increase). Then one of them stopped to make sure that I was leaving lesson notes so that they could keep working while I was away (already submitted), and I was glad to see that work ethic. Then one of my students said that I was only allowed to bring candy if I was healthy so that we could celebrate; if I was sick, then I just needed to get better. My students are really wonderful.
Anyway, we made it back to the hotel to see Beth who managed to sit up halfway when we got back. We settled on carrying out dinner from Java House, which is good comfort food. Kelly and I ran over and placed the order. While we waited, we were bombarded with previews for G.I. Joe and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. (I loved that book growing up!) We swapped stories about our schools and how overwhelming everything gets at times (Kelly‘s area somehow manages to get less rain than mine, but there is a little more water, since there is a river nearby, but water is just a big nightmare in general) while we waited for our food and then we carried it back to the hotel. Our supper was delicious (complete with a chocolate-banana milkshake), and we all hung out for a while to raise our spirits. We went to bed very full.
On Friday, Kelly, Jason and I grabbed an early breakfast at the hotel before walking to the Peace Corps office. When we were five minutes away from the office, Medical called me and asked if I was at the hotel, since they had sent a driver to pick me up. I hadn’t realized that I qualified for chauffeur service, so I apologized and explained that I was already at the office. I went in and greeted medical to talk a bit and find out how everything was going to work. Mary explained to me that she had booked me in Nairobi until Monday (I won‘t miss school, since it‘s a national holiday) so that I wouldn’t feel rushed and then we talked a bit. Poor Mary is the only Medical staff member right now (Sylvia is on vacation), so she is watching the four of us at the Continental, plus there was another situation earlier week and she has to keep tabs on the other 60 healthy volunteers in the country to make sure that they stay that way. Before leaving her office, I stepped on the scale and found that my weight has stayed steady at around 160, which is sounding pretty healthy, I think. Then I went to say hi to staff in the office, and I sought out Louis (he manages Peace Corps‘s Small Enterprise Development program and is a really remarkable guy) to see if he had my bio-gas DVDs. Louis and I are incapable of having a short conversation, so while we were discussing solar technologies, another staff member came in to collect Louis for their staff meeting and I realized that I wouldn’t be able to greet other staff members (Joseph was on leave, so I wouldn‘t have been able to see him, and Enos had traveled to visit possible sites for the next volunteers, so we missed each other this time, but I was disappointed that I didn‘t get to say hi to Antony, Tim or introduce myself to the new Country Director). I hung around the office for another 20 minutes and used the computer before heading off to my appointment.
So, after all this, I should probably explain why I’m here. Four years at MIT definitely built up a pretty high tolerance for stress and putting high demands on myself. Still, I had a few warning signs that I might need to talk to someone about some things, so I asked to come to Nairobi to sort a few things out. I talked to a nice British woman for about an hour and we discussed some strategies and things that I should work on so that I don’t burn myself out. We talked about coping mechanisms and healthy outlets, but all in all, it was a pretty short conversation, so we scheduled a follow-up appointment for October. I went back to the waiting room and called the Peace Corps driver to pick me up and take me back across Nairobi (office is only open for a half-day on Fridays, so I didn‘t get to see the rest of the staff). The traffic was pretty nasty on the way to the office (sorry, in true British fashion, I was at a “surgery“), so it took the driver an hour to come back and pick me up. I noted all the British people (and a few Germans) who came to the surgery and how few Kenyans there were. While I waited, I thought a bit about the conversation and talked to mi amigo Daniel until the driver pulled up.
I had the driver drop me off about half-way to the hotel so that I could meet up with Kelly for lunch. I had run into Tori randomly when I arrived on Thursday and we all agreed to meet for lunch, so that was nice. We ate at the Java House (you might start to notice a theme) and had a wonderful time and I had to say good-bye to Tori again, since her flight was the following evening. Then I went with Kelly to the hospital for her appointment (makes sense, since the bulk of the appointment is usually in the waiting room anyway). She had to wait when we arrived to get a short note from one doctor (that took 40 minutes) and bring it to another doctor (there was a mistake in scheduling her appointment, so that took another 30 minutes) who read the note in under one minute and said that it would be okay for her to return to her school (she was pretty sick of Nairobi after the amount of time she had been here) and then she was done. Then we had to wait an hour for the driver (Friday afternoon Nairobi traffic is hell) who was given the wrong location at the hospital by the Peace Corps office, so then we had to go find him. So that day was not exactly a model of efficiency.
Then we went back to the hotel and spent the rest of the day with Beth and Jason. Kelly needed to do a little shopping before going back to site, so we ran to the mall and made a few other stops, but we were still pretty full from lunch, so we stopped at an Indian restaurant near the hotel and brought back some naan and called that dinner. When we placed the order, the waitress looked at us and said “But aren’t you going to order food???” and we replied nearly in unison “bread is food!” Then we went back to the hotel and ate together complete with Oreos for dessert (we never made it to them the night before). Kelly and Jason went to bed pretty early (Kelly had to pack and was leaving early for her bus in the morning), so I stayed and talked to Beth for a while longer before talking to my parents and then crashing. Beth had left the hospital, but since she wasn’t really mobile and just stayed in her simply furnished room all day, it really felt like she was still in the hospital, but without all the doctors (just a big bag of Tylenol).
On Saturday, I woke up a little after Kelly had left (I had had a lot of trouble falling asleep, and wound up sleeping from 3 am to 7 am), and Jason and I grabbed breakfast before heading to the Peace Corps office to take care of a few things on the computer. Another volunteer had come to visit Beth, so she got to have company all morning. Jason and I talked a lot all morning and got to know one another (I don‘t have that opportunity very often with the volunteers who stay in the Western part of the country). We came back to the hotel to meet Beth and two other volunteers to have sushi for lunch. It was a fun lunch, in spite of the fact that the conversation wandered from AIDS to concentration camps and lots of other cheerful subjects in between. The waiter moved incredibly slowly, and Beth had to leave lunch a bit early, since she had already been sitting up for an hour and needed to lie back down. After lunch we left Beth and Jason to nap, and I went to the mall.
After shopping around a little bit (I picked up another gift for my students: a couple of chemistry review books for their exams), I found a computer store and bought a small laptop. $450, or two months of Peace Corps salary. It’s a nice little machine (I‘m using it right now to type this) and I’m planning to Linux-ify it next weekend (it‘s a Windows machine and viruses are incredibly rampant here) and get it set up with a modem. I’m not sure if this will make me more productive (it‘s going to be pretty useful for things like writing exams, working on this AIDS hotline and a few other projects) or less productive (I have that pesky addiction to webcomics), but it’s nice to have this.
I stopped at a Nakumatt (I gave up on counting the number of Nakumatts and Java Houses in Westlands, but there are a lot) and found that they had Coca-cola with high-fructose syrup (i.e. American style, instead of using sugar like the rest of the world), plus it came in a can, so that was fantastic. As I walked back to the hotel, I called Mary to tell her a bit about my appointment (and to have her straighten out things with the hotel, which thought that I was checking out that morning) and the follow-up. And then I found out that I can open a whole new can of worms. Apparently at the staff meeting, she announced to the staff that I was reconsidering my decision to leave Peace Corps (I had told her as much on Friday) and she reported to me that the staff was very supportive. It wasn’t until after the call ended that I realized that I had not actually talked with the staff about my plans to leave Peace Corps (that was also why I never mentioned it on here before now), so I don’t know what kind of position this will put me in. I had told Mary about my plans in August and made sure that it was in confidence, but I guess the fact that I came to Nairobi changes confidentiality? Or something? Anyway, my cards are on the table. I had previously committed myself to leaving Peace Corps for causes related to stress at school as well as other stresses in Kenya unrelated to my community (I hope that is sufficiently vague) and now I am trying to work some things out before I commit myself to anything.
Then I arrived back to the hotel and talked to Beth and Jason a bit longer (Jason is 26 and apparently had guessed that I was older than him. For those of you keeping score at home, I‘m 23.) before taking orders for dinner and heading over to (any guesses?) Java House. I’m pretty sure we’re just addicted to the milkshakes there, but the food is pretty good too (you can actually eat lettuce without worrying about intestinal parasites). I waited for the food alone this time and while I sat there, I read the script for David Ives’ scene called Sure Thing (an absolutely hilarious scene, and I discovered the prescience of one of the lines in the script). We all turned in early, since Beth looked pretty tired and Jason was packing to return to site. Unfortunately, I was completely unable to sleep, so I tinkered with my computer a bit and wrote some emails on my phone (I‘m way behind on emails right now, actually) before I finally managed to fall asleep around 4:30.
And then I woke up at 7 am. Yuck. I said good-bye to Jason as he went for his bus and ate breakfast with Beth. She had an appointment at the hospital that morning, so she packed all of her bags (last time she went for an appointment at the hospital, they admitted her without warning and she had to stay for a week) and we talked while we waited for her taxi. I got a call from Louis saying that he was in the parking lot with my DVDs. I went out to see him and found him there in a T-shirt and jeans (it‘s so rare that we see Peace Corps staff that informally) and talked for a few minutes. Then Louis realized that Beth’s taxi was sitting there, so I went to collect Beth, and he went back home. Before Beth got in the cab, I told her that she wasn’t allowed to get readmitted to the hospital.
I ran to the mall to see if the cyber was open, but apparently it stays closed on Sundays. I walked over to the supermarket and bought some apples and Nutella for our lunch and a liter and a half of Pepsi (if I‘m going to start sleeping on my college hours, I should probably consume caffeine like I did when I was there). Right as I got back to the hotel, I got a one-word text message (those are always the worst) from Beth that said “readmitted”. I was disappointed with her for not listening to me, but then, I guess she wasn’t really in a condition to fight off all the nurses. I grabbed a taxi to the hospital and while I waited, I called Medical to request an extra day here (that means that my students will miss a day of lessons L, but otherwise, Beth will be completely alone in the hospital), which they granted. I found Beth in her hospital bed and not terribly thrilled to be there. I gave her the apples and the Nutella as well as my copy of Arabian Nights in case she wanted to read and she gave me her key so that I could go back to the hotel and collect her belongings and check her out of her room. They had some flowers at the reception, and so I asked and they let me take some for her and asked me to send their condolences.
I made it back to the hospital, but it was not during visiting hours. They know Beth pretty well at this point, so they didn’t even bother me as I went to her room. I caught her just before lunch and I stayed with her until just after dinner. I tried to find a deck of cards, so we could pass the time that way, but a lot of shops were closed since it was Sunday, so I just had to rely on conversation. We talked a lot and I tried especially hard to distract her every time the doctors or nurses came to poke her again (I don‘t envy human pin-cushions). We talked about the fact that the doctors take her blood just about every day to feed the vampire who is staying down the hall. We talked about family and friends in America (we sat next to each other on the plane when we first came to Kenya and talked about that a lot, and I found myself remembering snippets of that conversation as we talked). We talked about life in the hospital (Peace Corps staff does not really visit volunteers in the hospital, so it comes down to hoping that other volunteers will make the trek to Nairobi and visit). And we talked a bit about primates. The doctors came and gave her some pretty strong medicine just before dinner, and I was a little disappointed that she remained rather coherent and didn’t start speaking gibberish, but the meds were knocking her out and visiting hours were coming to an end, so I called a taxi.
I found the hospital vending machine and bought an apple Fanta (first time I‘ve seen that flavor, but I don‘t think that apple was meant to be a soda). My taxi driver was rather talkative, which was nice because I didn’t feel like saying much. She steered the conversation towards Christianity pretty quickly (which is very common here), which allowed her to segue to faith healing. She explained how her shoulder ailment had been cured by prayer (Pentecostal, by the sound of it). Then she started telling me about how prayer will even cure AIDS and doctors don’t actually know what they’re doing. I was pretty relieved when she dropped me off at the hotel. Then I walked down the road to the Indian hotel and had a really amazing meal there (I hadn‘t actually eaten aside from a banana, an apple and some pineapple juice for breakfast, but during dinner Beth gave me her Jell-o). I made it back to the hotel and realized that I hadn’t eaten at Java House the entire day. I managed to throw on my pajamas, but I didn’t climb under the blanket or the mosquito net before falling asleep just after 9 pm. I woke up a bit after 3 am feeling a bit chilly and rather itchy (Nairobi mosquitoes can be pretty fierce) and not feeling the least bit tired.
Today is my last day in Nairobi, so it will probably include a quick trip to Java House and maybe Nakumatt as well (Peace Corps office closes for all American and Kenyan holidays, so the office is closed today for Eid, so I can‘t head there), but the bulk of the day will be spent in the hospital. When I arrived in Nairobi, I learned that for a time, the number of volunteers who were in for medical was staying pretty consistent at 4. Now I am alone at the Kenya Continental and when I leave tomorrow, Beth will be alone at the hospital (except Beth is actually going to leave tomorrow and go back to site, since she‘ll make a miraculous recovery today). I only spent a few days here; most people were here for longer, and I can definitely understand their impatience to get back to site (the increased weight and paleness and diminished bank account are among the physical reasons). Okay, well that’s certainly a lot to read, so I’ll do the other two things that I have thoroughly enjoyed doing in Nairobi that do not happen very often at site: take a shower and put on clean clothes.
Happy last day of winter (well, I'm in the southern hemisphere, but this ain't a typical winter) and Eid Mubarak.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
So it goes
Yes, the title is a Kurt Vonnegut reference
Over the weekend, I went to visit another volunteer named Greg (one of the new health volunteers) who is only a couple of hours away from me. We had fun making burritos (I even brought cheese so they were closer to authentic). My responsibility was the guacamole, and I have to say that we found some choice produce in his market. Delicious! Greg invited some German volunteers who work around his town as well as some of his Kenyan friends. We had a good time, and it was fun getting to know the Germans. One of them has a similar problem to me, where he will talk shop anywhere, anytime (ask anyone who lived in my dorm in college and had to suffer through me talking business during study breaks). It was a lot funnier since he works on bio-gas (turning organic waste into fuel), so he was standing in the kitchen talking about manure while we were cooking. Ummmmm, yeah. All in all, it was a good opportunity to recharge the batteries a bit.
At school on Monday, things were a little better. Nearly half of the students did not show up to school today in protest of the water policy. Just over a quarter were in class and one third stood outside the gate in protest (I know the fractions don't add up right, but I didn't want to start using twelfths or anything like that). I don't have lessons on Monday morning, so I went out to talk to the students who were protesting. I tried to coax them to at least come in for the lessons (they would not be allowed to eat lunch as punishment for not bringing 5 liters of water, but I still wanted them to learn a bit), but it was to no avail. They asked if they were going to be punished. I told them "I hope not. But you probably will be no matter when you come back. So at least if you come back now you won't miss lessons." Then some of them showed me that they had some of their notebooks so they could study a little bit while they waited outside, and as cars drove past, they would see that there are problems at the school. I told them that I supported them that that was entirely reasonable, as long as they actually planned to study and not stand around doing each other's hair and things like that (which is what a few of the girls were doing with their free time). Then I saw some students put their ties around their head and start bleating and chasing goats. I tried to talk with them about civil disobedience (hard to teach in ten minutes) and let them do their own thing since I had to return to class. Sadly, I think the mob mentality won.
Fortunately, some students went to find the chairman of the board of governors (think superintendent) and present their grievances, so I was grateful for that bit of productivity. It was especially useful since this was the man who had shut off the school's water in the first place and then promptly started avoiding all contact with the school. It was agreed that the headmaster would meet with the parents at the school on Tuesday and the chairman would be there as well. The headmaster refused to listen to the complaints of the students ("power distance" is a big buzzword here) such as that the water they brought last week was used to mop the school compound in spite of the drought and that the students were paying school fees and not even getting food. At least the ball got rolling a little bit.
I went back to my office to continue grading exams and planning lessons. In the afternoon, I had to announce to the students that I would no longer be teaching agriculture, since it was putting too much stress onto me. The staff suggested that since I was there I should also tell them that the Kiswahili teacher was gone so they would no longer have those lessons either. We were fortunate to have a reasoned discussion, but the students were understandably disappointed by the news. The rest of the day was generally uneventful, and I was glad to be able to head out a bit early.
Yesterday was the meeting, but since I had a much busier day, I focused on my lessons and started working on normalizing things at school a bit for the students. I witnessed an incredibly savage beating for one of the students. Though he misbehaves a lot, I wasn't sure what the cause of this beating was. The best guess I could come up with was that he didn't have cigarettes in his pocket, so the teacher was especially furious that he couldn't bust him for that (the reason given for the punishment was "rudeness"). The cane wound up splintering into lots of little pieces, and I was amazed that the student could walk after the beating, but he did not give the teacher any satisfaction by letting his anger take hold of him. It was an impressive display. The thing that made it worse was that the mother was there and felt that this was the appropriate way for the teacher to handle the situation. I felt too sick to eat lunch after that.
In the afternoon, we found out that some of the education higher-ups would be coming, so most of the rest of the day was spent putting together paperwork so the school wouldn't be admonished while still trying to make it seem like the lessons weren't being neglected. At least all the teachers were being productive simultaneously. I don't see that very often. One of the parents came up to me to say that she intended to report that only three of the teachers actually teach the students (there are seven on staff). It's even more dismaying since one of the three happens to be somewhat sadistic (see the above paragraph), but I will say that that teacher does try to help the students do well on their exams. The inspection took a little while, but since we had to stay at school a bit later, they were nice enough to give us a lift across the village to where the teachers stay.
Today was normal. That was refreshing. Several of the students still haven't returned to school. The ones who have weren't allowed to come to lessons, since they needed to spend 6 hours of the school day cleaning the entire compound as part of their punishment (disobeying orders from a teacher) at least they should be back in class tomorrow. I gave my lessons and everything seemed a lot better. We're getting into a much better groove now. I handed over my second year math lessons to the new deputy and I added some chemistry lessons to my workload. Giving up math has been difficult, since I was jumping around the textbook a bit (when I started teaching them, I found out that they hadn't actually learned a single topic since they started secondary school, but I didn't have time to start from first year topics, so I started choosing second year topics that would allow me to review and/or teach them topics from first year as well) so now the deputy is working to figure out which topics they know. Currently, I'm giving them some extra lessons during the lunch hour to bridge the gap a bit.
After school a truck came to fill the school water tanks. I was overjoyed to see it. I had to stay a bit late, but I just used the time to continue grading exams. I went out to check on the filling and discovered that the hose was leaking a bit, so a lot of water was being wasted. No one seemed interested in this, so I ran and grabbed a plastic container to place underneath. The people were surprisingly impressed, and the trees were especially happy to get a drink of water for the first time in ages. Only one student saw it, but I think he made a mental note about finding a use for every drop of water. Maybe I'm hoping too much, but I think there was a lesson in there.
Tomorrow I'm travelling to Nairobi all day. I spent the evening writing lesson notes so that my students will be busy even if I'm not in the classroom. (The idea of a substitute teacher is completely alien; instead, one student will write the notes on the board and everyone can copy them down. Sadly, some teachers use this method even when they're at school.) I imagine it will be a bit hard for my third years to learn organic chemistry this way, but at least the time won't be wasted and I can move a bit faster when I come back on Tuesday (Monday is a national holiday to celebrate Eid-al-fitr or Idd-ul-fitr or many other spellings for the festivities at the end of Ramadan; don't mind the fact that there are less than ten muslim students at our school). I'm excited to get to Nairobi and shower.
Also, I've started making status updates on facebook. This is a new thing for me, but I like it so far. At the same time, my mother has started making status updates on facebook. Feel free to keep up with us a little bit there too.
Over the weekend, I went to visit another volunteer named Greg (one of the new health volunteers) who is only a couple of hours away from me. We had fun making burritos (I even brought cheese so they were closer to authentic). My responsibility was the guacamole, and I have to say that we found some choice produce in his market. Delicious! Greg invited some German volunteers who work around his town as well as some of his Kenyan friends. We had a good time, and it was fun getting to know the Germans. One of them has a similar problem to me, where he will talk shop anywhere, anytime (ask anyone who lived in my dorm in college and had to suffer through me talking business during study breaks). It was a lot funnier since he works on bio-gas (turning organic waste into fuel), so he was standing in the kitchen talking about manure while we were cooking. Ummmmm, yeah. All in all, it was a good opportunity to recharge the batteries a bit.
At school on Monday, things were a little better. Nearly half of the students did not show up to school today in protest of the water policy. Just over a quarter were in class and one third stood outside the gate in protest (I know the fractions don't add up right, but I didn't want to start using twelfths or anything like that). I don't have lessons on Monday morning, so I went out to talk to the students who were protesting. I tried to coax them to at least come in for the lessons (they would not be allowed to eat lunch as punishment for not bringing 5 liters of water, but I still wanted them to learn a bit), but it was to no avail. They asked if they were going to be punished. I told them "I hope not. But you probably will be no matter when you come back. So at least if you come back now you won't miss lessons." Then some of them showed me that they had some of their notebooks so they could study a little bit while they waited outside, and as cars drove past, they would see that there are problems at the school. I told them that I supported them that that was entirely reasonable, as long as they actually planned to study and not stand around doing each other's hair and things like that (which is what a few of the girls were doing with their free time). Then I saw some students put their ties around their head and start bleating and chasing goats. I tried to talk with them about civil disobedience (hard to teach in ten minutes) and let them do their own thing since I had to return to class. Sadly, I think the mob mentality won.
Fortunately, some students went to find the chairman of the board of governors (think superintendent) and present their grievances, so I was grateful for that bit of productivity. It was especially useful since this was the man who had shut off the school's water in the first place and then promptly started avoiding all contact with the school. It was agreed that the headmaster would meet with the parents at the school on Tuesday and the chairman would be there as well. The headmaster refused to listen to the complaints of the students ("power distance" is a big buzzword here) such as that the water they brought last week was used to mop the school compound in spite of the drought and that the students were paying school fees and not even getting food. At least the ball got rolling a little bit.
I went back to my office to continue grading exams and planning lessons. In the afternoon, I had to announce to the students that I would no longer be teaching agriculture, since it was putting too much stress onto me. The staff suggested that since I was there I should also tell them that the Kiswahili teacher was gone so they would no longer have those lessons either. We were fortunate to have a reasoned discussion, but the students were understandably disappointed by the news. The rest of the day was generally uneventful, and I was glad to be able to head out a bit early.
Yesterday was the meeting, but since I had a much busier day, I focused on my lessons and started working on normalizing things at school a bit for the students. I witnessed an incredibly savage beating for one of the students. Though he misbehaves a lot, I wasn't sure what the cause of this beating was. The best guess I could come up with was that he didn't have cigarettes in his pocket, so the teacher was especially furious that he couldn't bust him for that (the reason given for the punishment was "rudeness"). The cane wound up splintering into lots of little pieces, and I was amazed that the student could walk after the beating, but he did not give the teacher any satisfaction by letting his anger take hold of him. It was an impressive display. The thing that made it worse was that the mother was there and felt that this was the appropriate way for the teacher to handle the situation. I felt too sick to eat lunch after that.
In the afternoon, we found out that some of the education higher-ups would be coming, so most of the rest of the day was spent putting together paperwork so the school wouldn't be admonished while still trying to make it seem like the lessons weren't being neglected. At least all the teachers were being productive simultaneously. I don't see that very often. One of the parents came up to me to say that she intended to report that only three of the teachers actually teach the students (there are seven on staff). It's even more dismaying since one of the three happens to be somewhat sadistic (see the above paragraph), but I will say that that teacher does try to help the students do well on their exams. The inspection took a little while, but since we had to stay at school a bit later, they were nice enough to give us a lift across the village to where the teachers stay.
Today was normal. That was refreshing. Several of the students still haven't returned to school. The ones who have weren't allowed to come to lessons, since they needed to spend 6 hours of the school day cleaning the entire compound as part of their punishment (disobeying orders from a teacher) at least they should be back in class tomorrow. I gave my lessons and everything seemed a lot better. We're getting into a much better groove now. I handed over my second year math lessons to the new deputy and I added some chemistry lessons to my workload. Giving up math has been difficult, since I was jumping around the textbook a bit (when I started teaching them, I found out that they hadn't actually learned a single topic since they started secondary school, but I didn't have time to start from first year topics, so I started choosing second year topics that would allow me to review and/or teach them topics from first year as well) so now the deputy is working to figure out which topics they know. Currently, I'm giving them some extra lessons during the lunch hour to bridge the gap a bit.
After school a truck came to fill the school water tanks. I was overjoyed to see it. I had to stay a bit late, but I just used the time to continue grading exams. I went out to check on the filling and discovered that the hose was leaking a bit, so a lot of water was being wasted. No one seemed interested in this, so I ran and grabbed a plastic container to place underneath. The people were surprisingly impressed, and the trees were especially happy to get a drink of water for the first time in ages. Only one student saw it, but I think he made a mental note about finding a use for every drop of water. Maybe I'm hoping too much, but I think there was a lesson in there.
Tomorrow I'm travelling to Nairobi all day. I spent the evening writing lesson notes so that my students will be busy even if I'm not in the classroom. (The idea of a substitute teacher is completely alien; instead, one student will write the notes on the board and everyone can copy them down. Sadly, some teachers use this method even when they're at school.) I imagine it will be a bit hard for my third years to learn organic chemistry this way, but at least the time won't be wasted and I can move a bit faster when I come back on Tuesday (Monday is a national holiday to celebrate Eid-al-fitr or Idd-ul-fitr or many other spellings for the festivities at the end of Ramadan; don't mind the fact that there are less than ten muslim students at our school). I'm excited to get to Nairobi and shower.
Also, I've started making status updates on facebook. This is a new thing for me, but I like it so far. At the same time, my mother has started making status updates on facebook. Feel free to keep up with us a little bit there too.
Friday, September 11, 2009
My week did not improve
I think 4 students were expelled today. Their crime? They didn't bring
5 liters of water for the school today. There was a pretty nasty scene
in the office, and I was completely powerless to help them. A group in
the community has turned off the school's water supply (see Monday's
post for more on this) and the teachers are pretty furious about this
(they all take their water from the school, which may or may not be
legit).
5 liters of water for the school today. There was a pretty nasty scene
in the office, and I was completely powerless to help them. A group in
the community has turned off the school's water supply (see Monday's
post for more on this) and the teachers are pretty furious about this
(they all take their water from the school, which may or may not be
legit).
Yesterday, one of the teachers decided that the students would each be
responsible for bringing 5 liters of water for the school, regardless
of their circumstances. This morning, there was a large group of
students standing outside the gate when I arrived who were not allowed
to enter until they found the water (the water situation is pretty
desperate in the area). I was trying to take some excerpts from
Obama's speech to students earlier this week, since I knew that they
would find it pretty inspirational and were having a pretty lousy
week. As i prepared to deliver these words, the only other teacher who
had arrived announced to the students that all the teachers were
indifferent to their situation and didn't care if they failed their
exams and berated them a bit. I made a cursory glance at the part of
the speech about the responsibility of teachers to inspire students
before folding the paper and putting it in my pocket. Maybe next week.
I knew I couldn't openly oppose the other teacher in front of the
students, but as soon as he left, I visited all of the classes and
reminded them that I wanted to see them succeed. I talked about how
hard the week had been and how glad I was with the way that they had
handled everything. I reminded them that next week is a new week and
that we need to make sure to put this week in the past and make next
week positive. Several students were not actually present for this pep
talk, since they were looking for water.
Mercifully, the exams started for all of the students who had brought
water (I will probably be the only teacher to allow make up exams). I
tried to take my mind off of things by setting the school's timetable
for the term, unwittingly sitting next to the office where everything
was about to unfold. Right after the first exams of the day ended,
several students were hauled into the office for returning home and
then bringing the water (the assumption was that these students were
attempting to subvert authority since they presumably had copious
amounts of water that they were hoarding). The beatings were all
pretty fierce (remember, girls get caned on their hands, even though
it means they will barely manage to hold a pen for their subsequent
exams) and the students were not allowed to get a word in edgewise
(apparently, trying to explain their circumstances was tantamount to
talking back to teachers). The students who tried to explain
themselves were shoved with a lot of force and then outright expelled.
It didn't help that the other teachers had decided that some students
were troublemakers from the first day they set foot at the school. The
only teacher who was not violent showed her approval by smiling and
sometimes laughing during all this.
I tried to file a plea for mercy on behalf of the students, but the
other teachers just laughed me off. I tried to point out the
unfairness of the policy and they told me that this was their way of
fighting back against the community over water and then they ended the
discussion. I tried to muster energy for another pep talk with the
students, but I have to admit that it was pretty pathetic.
The day dragged on, but I tried to at least put my third years on
track by running a chemistry demonstration and giving them a math
assignment. I was overjoyed when the bell rang for the students to
leave for the day.
I don't know if I was actually on duty this week. I had the keys for
the school and was running a lot of things since I am in charge of
exams, however since I was taking care of lots of different things all
week, I'm guessing they'll try to tell me that I didn't actually get
my week out of the way. That will be unfortunate.
Then, there was the other matter from this week. Apparently the
administration told the swahili teacher that they were looking to
replace her. Although she filled a large void, they decided that they
wanted someone with a slightly different skill set. (She teaches
history as a second subject and we already have a history teacher on
staff. This should not matter, since the swahili lesson load is enough
for her to shoulder.) She has already found a new job and now the
students will not have another swahili lesson until we get a new
teacher (this will probably not be a fast process, since we requested
an agriculture teacher and Christian Religious Education teacher back
in January and are still waiting).
On the plus side, I spoke with Peace Corps Medical today, and they can
always brighten anyone's day. Sometimes, I don't know where I would be
without them.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Going for the record books
Wow. Everyone always told my training group that we were very mild compared with a lot of other Peace Corps training groups. That is why it is so surprising that we have just had the 5th person (although the count should really be at 6) from our group administratively separated (sent home for not following the rules). I don't know what the record is, but we may have a chance of getting there.
I won't give the details, although seeing as this person is listed on the blogs on my sidebar, I imagine you can find out. I do not know the entire story, although I will say that Peace Corps is losing a talented, hard-working and energetic volunteer who was working like crazy to use his skills to help people who need it most. Most of the horror stories that we hear about volunteers being sent home involve prolific alcohol, drugs and/or sex. They never told us the horror stories about people being sent home over bureaucratic issues.
The count is now 33 (we were 42 when we arrived in Nairobi). In math/science education we are 8 of the original 13 (and now we've lost all of our members with post-graduate degrees).
:-( doesn't even begin to express how I feel right now.
-----
ADDENDUM: (written on 17 October 2009) I spoke with the country director about my choice of words and I want to clarify a bit. I am not faulting Peace Corps or the volunteer over what transpired; I only hope that lessons will be learned by all parties involved. You can read about his experience here
I won't give the details, although seeing as this person is listed on the blogs on my sidebar, I imagine you can find out. I do not know the entire story, although I will say that Peace Corps is losing a talented, hard-working and energetic volunteer who was working like crazy to use his skills to help people who need it most. Most of the horror stories that we hear about volunteers being sent home involve prolific alcohol, drugs and/or sex. They never told us the horror stories about people being sent home over bureaucratic issues.
The count is now 33 (we were 42 when we arrived in Nairobi). In math/science education we are 8 of the original 13 (and now we've lost all of our members with post-graduate degrees).
:-( doesn't even begin to express how I feel right now.
-----
ADDENDUM: (written on 17 October 2009) I spoke with the country director about my choice of words and I want to clarify a bit. I am not faulting Peace Corps or the volunteer over what transpired; I only hope that lessons will be learned by all parties involved. You can read about his experience here
Monday, September 7, 2009
Today we'll all observe ramadan!
While most of my friends in America had the day off for Labor Day,
most of the volunteers in schools here in Kenya were starting the
third term. My school term did not start off well by any stretch of
the imagination.
most of the volunteers in schools here in Kenya were starting the
third term. My school term did not start off well by any stretch of
the imagination.
I arrived at school expecting lower attendance for the first day,
since the schedule tends to be pretty amorphous on the first day. I
was a bit dismayed when I discovered that all the other teachers were
not at school, so it was only the headmaster and myself as well as
non-teaching staff (secretary, bursar and cook). Still, I made sure to
remind the students in the morning that their exams were starting
tomorrow, so they knew that they should be studying. I spent my first
two lessons reviewing math for my third years since that is their
first exam. Then, I went to the staff room during the break and found
it no less desolate. The secretary immediately approached me, since
she still hadn't received exams from several people and suggested that
we start exams Wednesday instead. I cleared the plan with the
headmaster and then informed the students who were overjoyed.
The rest of the morning went off without event, and when the bell rang
for lunch, I stalled for a few minutes before making my way back to
the staff room for lunch. As I walked past the students, I knew
something was wrong. By the time I reached the office, the bursar
informed me that there was no water, so nothing could be cooked for
anyone. I still am not sure why the cook did not announce this before
lunch, but iko maisha (swahili for That's life). I checked the tanks
to be sure, and there was not a single drop. The students told me they
were hungry, and I just told them "Me too."
I went to the headmaster's office and he agreed that it was a problem
and suggested that we dismiss the students 30 minutes early at the end
of the day to make up for the meal. I tried to push him to release
them earlier, but to no avail. Then he stayed in his office and left
me to inform the students.
I tried to make it as much of a sales-pitch as possible. "Wow, won't
it be cool, today we can all experience ramadan!" The students were
not convinced and continued to rail against me (isn't it great to be
the messenger?) although my Muslim students were backing me up and
seemed very excited to share their culture (of course, we all knew it
wasn't a proper fast, but I didn't have a whole lot of options for
putting a positive spin on it). Mercifully, the headmaster came out
eventually. I warned the students not to make threats or appear
confrontational, but simply to present solutions in a reasoned manner.
It worked and the headmaster agreed to dismiss them an hour and a half
early.
Still, there remained a bit over an hour and a lot of hungry students.
I took it upon myself to give motivational speeches to each class. I
used lots of metaphors and encouraged them to make the best of the
situation. It was exhausting. The 4th years were pretty angry about
the whole situation, and I eventually gave up on trying to help them
to accept it. The 3rd and 2nd years were more willing to make the best
of things, although it took some convincing and some grumblers
remained. I wound up not having enough time or strength to talk to the
first years, but they seemed more willing to make an effort anyway.
I am just glad that the school day is over. I hope the students at
least feel stronger after this experience. They were really troopers
today.
Sunday, September 6, 2009
A lot of small things
I had to say good-bye to Tori this week, which was sad. I felt
especially bad, since I wasn't able to go to her going away party. She
was a wonderful neighbor, but she has finished her two years and will
be back in the states soon. When I went to say bye, the first thing
that I did was cut my hand on her barbed wire fence. I made the classy
entrance of "Hi! Do you have any band-aids?" Well, good-bye is never
fun. She is leaving her puppy in Voi, so I will still visit her to
remind me of Tori.
especially bad, since I wasn't able to go to her going away party. She
was a wonderful neighbor, but she has finished her two years and will
be back in the states soon. When I went to say bye, the first thing
that I did was cut my hand on her barbed wire fence. I made the classy
entrance of "Hi! Do you have any band-aids?" Well, good-bye is never
fun. She is leaving her puppy in Voi, so I will still visit her to
remind me of Tori.
The second week of tuition was rather uneventful. I was on hand in
case any of the teachers decided to bail at the last minute, but they
all conducted their lessons to one degree or another. I did another
chemistry lab, which went off completely without a hitch (well, one of
the chemicals had decomposed while in storage for some indeterminate
amount of time and didn't give the correct results, but the students
still managed to make the correct inference from what they saw), and I
was really proud of the students. I didn't have enough burners for the
students to tackle that lab, so I used another free lesson to teach
them a bit more about heating substances. I may have inhaled some
fumes that were not so healthy, so I was glad I didn't have any other
responsibilities during the week.
I was also robbed indirectly this week. One of the other teachers had
borrowed my camera and he was pickpocketed on the bus. And now I have
a better excuse for not posting more pictures. He was very honest with
me and felt really bad about the whole situation and even offered to
buy me another camera. I think we'll work something out where he buys
a camera for the school, since I'm actually feeling rather liberated
to live without a camera right now. There was another unfortunate
incident with my electronics and another teacher at my school, but I
still need to sort that one out.
My sunburn has mostly gone away, which is good since I think it
lowered my energy a bit this week. I put aloe on it the other day, and
that actually made it hurt much, much more. I still can't explain that
one.
I have another prospective charcoal client. Fortunately, this one is
within 40 miles of me, so I may be able to work on it a bit sooner.
I went to see Nick this weekend. His family had just visited for a
good chunk of the month, but sadly I missed meeting them. We swapped
lots of stories about our adventures in August while we looked at some
of the rock formations and water falls near his house. There were lots
of bugs (we were mostly concerned with the ones destroying crops and
the ants that started crawling in our clothes and biting us). We ate
some chicken sausages with ketchup and mustard, which were amazing
(make that really amazing) and split a box of wine. After that, we
just sat around writing exams for the start of the term. (Yikes! that
is just around the corner.)
Back at home, I am down to my last 20 liters of water and I'm not sure
when I'll be able to purchase more. (It's a really bad drought in the
area right now.) Fortunately, I grabbed a nice wasn bucket bath at
Nick's site (what a great host!), which was wonderful. For my water, I
decided that some of the laundry could not be put off, so I made sure
to push that water as far as I could. For dinner, I decided that I
could spare enough water to cook ramen noodles so long as I poured off
the excess water for use in washing dishes. I hope the rains come
soon. Fortunately, I have trained my body to rehydrate using only soda
(at least that is easier to buy). Let me assure you that this gift
only comes after years of training.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Books 8.0
***** The Collected Short Stories by Jeffrey Archer. Wow. This may be one of the best books I've read since arriving in Kenya. The collection contains 36 short stories, almost all of which are extraordinary. I liked his style of giving enough detail to make the reader feel like part of the story without straying too far from the narrative. A bit of the British culture was lost on me, especially the Oxford and Cambridge references. Some of the stories had magnificently executed twists at the end while others were simply captivating. Though not my favorite, I would recommend reading Christina Rosenthal for a start, or perhaps One Man's Meat (a long forgotten short story I read in English Lit 7 years ago). I imagine they can be found online.
*** The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester. I guess I enjoyed the narrative of this book, although I wasn't a big fan of how Winchester told the story. Some of the points he made about the history of the dictionary (a main subject of the book is the compilation of the Oxford English Dictionary) were interesting, several of his points seemed to be far too speculative. There certainly was a lot of interesting information in the story, and the characters were highly compelling, but there was something that bothered me throughout that I couldn't put my finger on.
*** The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester. I guess I enjoyed the narrative of this book, although I wasn't a big fan of how Winchester told the story. Some of the points he made about the history of the dictionary (a main subject of the book is the compilation of the Oxford English Dictionary) were interesting, several of his points seemed to be far too speculative. There certainly was a lot of interesting information in the story, and the characters were highly compelling, but there was something that bothered me throughout that I couldn't put my finger on.
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