Volunteering in Kikuyu... part 4

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New Day, New Learnings….

On this day I took the children of my classroom for a nature walk to gather some sticks and leaves to make our daily art project.

Getting them on a line was harder than the whole of the activity! I remember when Miss Rachel and myself wanted our kids to walk beautifully in a quiet line. I think that if she saw this line she would have been proud of our kids back then!

As we went outside the line totally disappeared and kids went left and right.

Literally around the corner from the classroom... line, GONE!

As we walked we were joined by other students and so many ended up collecting leaves with us.

Teacher Laura and her kids!

Rachael with a handful of leaves!

We then returned to our classroom and did a rubbing leaves activity that was 60% successful! The rubbings didn't quite look like leaves but the children had a great time rubbing the paper with the home made crayons I made them this weekend with a bucket full of old crayons I found in the school. Thanks to Lucy for letting me use her oven!!!

Lucy making crayons!

Ready for the oven

Ta-Daaaa!

Wisdom rubbing some leaves!

After the rubbing the children glued sticks and leaves into a paper to create some art… it was fun but messy!

Haha... It got a little sticky!

Then I went to visit another classroom where the teacher had told me she wanted me to observe some children.

The day before I had told her I would go to her classroom and asked her not to point out the kids to me. I even added that I don't like it when the children know who I am observing because it it sets them apart and in a way labels them! She even went "oh! Ok"

So that day I showed up and she was holding a big stick and as she saw me come in, she immediately put it away and proceeded to call out 3 kids to stand up and to go to me... I was like "WTF?!?! Did she even listen to me yesterday?" It was not cool! The three kids came to me and I said hi and that they could go sit down and told her I didn't need them to come to me. I think she thought I was going to take them, fix them, and bring them back “cured!”

What happened next was... maddening, sad, and ultimately very telling of their teaching method and training.

The teacher was on a mission to show me how behind these kids were so she started doing numbers, she said one and wrote it in the air with her finger, and asked the kids that I needed to notice to come and write it on the board. The first two easily wrote one as it is only a line and then came Helen!

Helen was asked to write number 2 but instead she copied the number 1 the previous boys had done. The teacher asked her again, this time with a harsher tone of voice… Helen couldn't... the whole class laughed! And the teacher send her back to sit down! It broke my heart!

I knew I had to do something, I knew that Helen deserved more than laughs from her peers and an angry teacher!

What Helen needed was somebody who understood that she needs an activity that is to her level and could modify the activity to her. How is a little girl who has a disability and can't even recognize numbers come to the board and be expected to write a number without her even having a visual?

I literally jumped in and said to the teacher "let me help you" and wrote number two on the board and asked Helen to come next to me, I held her index finger next to mine and together we traced number two on top of the chalk! We did it together twice, I looked at her, I smiled, and thanked her for doing the activity with me.

Helping Helen

I then kept doing the same with the whole class in order not to make it a "Helen thing" and the kids loved it.

After that the teacher got out modeling clay and asked them to make 1-10 with the clay! And guess what?!? Helen couldn't do it! And the teacher said "see!" I immediately ran to my classroom, cut some paper, took some beans and ran back to her classroom.

I said "Helen needs other activities, she has to have materials that make her succeed and not fail, that's the only way she will learn!”

I then put a piece of paper with a number one in front of Helen and showed her how to put beans on top, she was able to do both numbers.

Then I had a better idea and made the numbers out of clay and showed her how to put the beans on top. Helen was successful, Helen smiled, Helen even touched her neighbor and showed her what she had done!

I was so proud of her!

Helen putting beans on the clay!

The teacher stood next to me, by then she had tears in her eyes and said "we've been wasting all these years with her... we just didn't know!”

I kept working with Helen and then I heard "Teacher Maria!" So I looked up and the teacher said "look, I'm learning" and she had taught what I showed Helen to another one of the "problem" kids and he was being successful!

After the activities I talked to her more about how putting those kids on the spot and failing in front of the class affect their self esteem and makes them not want to participate. I could see on her face that she had never realized that what she is doing to those kids was wrong and ultimately hurtful for their education.

Before I left she said "not everything should be pen and paper, we are just not trained to think any other way. Why haven't you been here the whole year?"

I knew that volunteering would be a good experience and that there was a lot I could do for them but as I met many of the teachers I felt like things were not going to change much.

I have given materials with the donations I received hoping for the best, really having good faith that the teachers would utilize them and not take them home. Now that I see how deep the necessity is when it comes to academic and training it's hard to leave and feel like I haven't made much of a long term difference!

As teachers we have the power to change lives, to use our profession as a tool to make kids lives better! I hope I have at least planted a little seed in the teachers to become a little more aware of the child's need and to see education from a child based perspective.

It’s almost the end.

Two more days volunteering!

On this day I did “food we eat” and brought a poster and introduced some of the food in the poster which are not exactly what people eat in Kenya but new vocabulary for the children!

After reading a book (unrelated to food) I gave fruit and veggie cards to all the children sitting in the circle. When I mentioned one fruit or vegetable the children with that card had to walk around the circle and show it to their peers.

From there they all sat down and all children got their set of cards and worked on matching the cards.Some children got 3 pairs, some others got 5 pairs. I made sure to mention to teacher Laura that not all children are at the same level and that one has to adjust accordingly. Also, as a Montessori teacher you always want children to succeed so it is very important that before an activity is given to a child, the teacher needs to make sure that the activity is complete, meaning that all the cards have a match, or that the figurines match the letter sounds etc.

Andrian matching whole and half fruits!

Some of the children were more advanced than others so I was able to show them how to turn the cards upside down and try to take turns with a partner to find a match.

After doing the activity with my students I went back to Helen’s classroom and put a couple of cards in my pocket. The teacher had said that Helen can’t recall anything so I wanted to test if that was true. I first introduced 2 matching set of cards and Helen was able to match, then moved to 3 pairs, and finally 4 pairs. She was slower than many of her peers would have been but she did it at the end. She also had some cards upside down but I made sure the teacher saw that I didn't correct her, as long as she was recalling and matching it didn't really matter if the fruit was upside down!

I find that in order to be a successful teacher one has to be patient and also think outside the box. It is easy for me to say this but I also understand that the system they are running in Kenya is not one that allows for much outside the box thinking. The classroom has one teacher and 22 children! Of course many of them would fall through the cracks! Of course one teacher alone can’t give specialized attention to 22 children on a daily basis! It must be really hard!

My last day Volunteering…

My last day volunteering at Gathiru primary school was good but also sad, and I left with a heavy heart but grateful that I was able to help.

The day started by reading not one but two books to my classroom and then we made some cow masks that were a lot of fun!

Cow mask making:

The sample!

Teacher Laura

After masks it was photo shoot time! Teacher Laura wanted my picture with every single one of the kids! It didn't occur to me that it would be picture day and I could have looked better but they don't mind! Throughout my weeks volunteering it was nice how the teachers just grabbed my phone and started taking pictures so I could get some pictures of myself in action!

During lunch time teacher Laura said to go to the staff room since most teachers were there and I could say goodbye so I did!

Little did I know that they were waiting for me with a gift!!

The principal gave a speech and thanked me for choosing their school and making a difference. He went on to say some of the things the other teachers have learned from me such as writing lower on the board so kids can touch, using materials that allow children to learn from experience rather than just the pen and paper method, he also mentioned our nature walk and the inclusion of art. He told the other teachers about my "half day training seminar to the lower school teachers" (it was like an hour and a half!) and how much gain they got about how to teach and manage the classroom.

He also said that he admired my big heart, kindness, and my humbleness! He mentioned that I got to school every day riding the matatus and that I had no problem being comfortable in the Kenyan lifestyle.

He thanked me for showing them how to be grateful and how that one Monday I got treats for the staff and I brighten up their day and the staff have started to do the same for one another.

After the speech he said he had an assembly and since I took the time to introduce myself to the whole school now they would gather to say "adiós" to me!

While kids gathered I went to his office and we chatted. I mentioned that the teachers should be more aware of learning differences in the classroom and that resources are needed for those who are behind in order to help them succeed academically. Wouldn’t it be nice if parents could be able to volunteer and help out in the classroom?

When I got out of his office literally the whole school was there.

Two male teachers were there screaming at the children and holding sticks. One started hitting kids and saying "shut your mouth!" So I looked at him and said "you need to be kind!" So he put the stick down.

The principal gave a speech and asked the kids to wave goodbye. I said I wanted to say something and quickly said that if there was one thing I wanted them to remember was to be kind to one another, to treat each other with respect, and by them being kind the world would become a better place.

Of course that was more towards the teachers to plant a little seed about being kind to the children.

From assembly I went back to my classroom to give the children cake and then visited 6 classrooms to give them some soccer balls.

After I returned to my classroom the 6 teachers I've worked with had presents for me! ❤️

They gave me two Kenyan bracelets, one said "MARIA" of course, and the other one "Andirea"... bless their hearts!

Teacher laura had another gift for me... a Masai shuka! Such amazing gifts!

I love teacher Laura!

Wearing my new Shuka!

After school the director wanted to give me yet another ride! haha but teacher Laura said she wanted to escort me to kikuyu so she rode in a matatu for an hour just to be with me a little longer, she said "I don't know where I'll get to see you again!"

Bye Bye Kamangu!

In the matte with 3 teachers!

Bye bye teacher Laura :(

This experience has been BY FAR the best one of my travels, it has touched others, I've brought happiness to children, I've planted a little seed into some teachers with very different teaching styles than me. I can't thank enough all of the ones who helped me help the school, they all very much appreciate it!

Teacher laura didn’t have enough words to thanks me and my friends, she even said "tell them I love them even though I don't know them!"

I will for sure cherish these memories and my time at Gathiru forever! I will miss being called "Cha! Cha! Cha Maria" every other second, or listening to Jane say "A me nigonga" (she hit me! haha) or when the kids would say: "Ni memaliza!" when they were done with an activity, or hearing them say "Mwisho" (the end) when I finished reading a book. I will miss getting hugs, or grabbing Vitalis' chubby cheeks, but for sure I will my now friend Teacher Laura!

Ann, who came crying after assembly to give me a hug!

About Post Author

Andrea

Hi! It's me... Andrea! In 2016 I decided to drop everything and take a year to enrich my life and travel around the world. It turns out the world is just too big for 12 months! Still on the road and sharing my experience as a solo female traveler around the globe!