My official job title is ‘projects assistant’, a fancier term and (more accurate one) for intern. Monday-Friday I come into our office, a building in the middle of a primary school that use to be a house, and help out with various tasks. In addition to updating the CoKF website and blog, I assist with and lead various other projects. Below are some of the project highlights over the past three months.
College Application workshop
CoKF sponsors 21 high school students from Kibera every year, sending the brightest students from the slums to some of the best schools in Kenya. For the 2011 application process, we have already received over 400 applications from local 8th graders, only ten of which will receive the scholarship.
My first project upon arrival in Kibera was to lead our high school scholars in a college application workshop. Through out the four days of meetings, the students went over how to apply to both Kenyan and American schools, receiving financial aid, and interview skills. Each student wrote at least four drafts of an essay answering the question ‘Who are you?’ through a story. Many essays tended to include events from the 2007 election violence; being accepted into the CoKF scholars program; or basic tales of life in Kibera.
A moment I’ll never forget from the workshop was one of our icebreakers, ‘If you had a super power, what would it be and why?’ After Drew and I gave our respective answers of ability to fly and invisibility, Zainab, one of the Juniors, answered “I wish I could go back in time so that I could stop discrimination from ever beginning.” The answer left us speechless. At that point, I realized these scholars were seriously something else, giving me even more determination to help them find a school abroad.
Ayany Primary School Computer Class
Another CoKF project is KiberaOnline, a project determined to help the youth of Kibera become computer literate.
Over the summer a volunteer group from DC raised enough money to set up a computer lab in Ayany Primary School, the fourth computer lab CoKF has set up in Kibera. In August I worked with the technician and the school to make sure all fifteen computers were up and running in time for the third trimester.
For five weeks in September and October, Drew and I went to Ayany twice a day every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday to teach an introductory computer course to the teachers of Ayany, most of whom had never touched a computer in their life. When I first learned of the project, I immediately emailed my grade school computer teacher to ask for advice- I’ve taught sailing and I’ve taught dance, but computers take a completely different set of skills.
Thanks to the resources she sent me, we started off with the basics- computer terminology, a language I definitely took for granted growing up. Words like ‘click’, ‘drag’, ‘menu’, ‘open’ are as familiar to me as ‘stand up’ or ‘mailbox’, but were completely foreign to our class. We then moved on to basic mouse skills, using the program Paint to practice clicking, double clicking, and saving. We used Notepad to introduce typing and basic formatting, and eventually graduated to Word to learn complex formatting and inserting pictures/word art. In August I loaded a math game and a grammar game onto every computer, and taught the teachers how to get around the game, so once they’re ready, they can take their own classes to the lab. We finished the class with Excel, making recording grades, finding averages, and figuring out the top of the class a bit easier.
Although I would deem the class an overall success, the experience really made me think about education in Kibera, and development in general. On the second day, I asked the class to type “Hello, my name is teacher so-and-so”. I glanced at one of the computers and saw she had began the sentence with ‘hallo’. As I went to correct her, I glanced at the computer next to her, who had spelled it ‘helo’. I did a quick survey of the class, and out of our fifteen lunchtime students, only one spelled hello correctly.
Although English is none of their first languages, they do teach class in it. If I were teaching students, I could find it excusable. But I was teaching teachers, some even being English teachers, teachers responsible for the education of over 1,000 students. And I could find it excusable if it were a word like ‘gnat’, but hello is one of the most common words in the English language. That day it all of a sudden felt silly to be teaching how to insert WordArt.
By the end of the class though, I realized there’s a lot more to development than how to properly spell. Technology is such a powerful tool, from everything from developing simple motor skills to communicating with the outside world. This project was definitely the most eye-opening one of my experience.
End the Violence! Music Festival
For the past year, the Children of Kibera Foundation has been hard at work planning the second annual Kibera Music Festival that took place October 1st and 2nd. With thirteen secondary schools participating, ten local organizations tabling, over 1,000 guests attending, the festival was deemed a success.
Besides the students, many local artists and organizations came out to perform, including the Kibera Preforming Arts, JackyZebraz and the Conquerors. Even a group of Red Rose students preformed a traditional dance and a choreography to 'Waka Waka'. Groups were also invited to pass out information about their organizations. Carolina for Kibera, another NGO, conducted HIV testing for free!
My actual role in the event was minor. Pre-festival I helped make phone calls to encourage important guests to attend, as well as find judges, performers, and tablers (why yes, it was like Hilltop Madness). On the days of, I worked as stage manager, making sure all groups knew when to go on (and get off). The highlight of the event was seeing schools receiving their prizes on Saturday. Obviously contests like these are rare, and it was so great to see the kids so excited to win something. Second highlight was having so many friends turn up for the show- shout out to Aron, Ilana, Leah, Inslee, and Nick for attending (and double shout out if you read my blog…)
Dance Class
A few weeks ago I was on the phone with my 10-year-old sister, she asked “So Brendan, in Africa, for like work, are you teaching dance?”
Well yes, I am. Granted, that’s not all I’m doing, but it is one of my favorite parts. CoKF third large project is the Red Rose Children Centre, a primary school with over 100 students. Teachers’ salaries, class resources, and fifty of the students’ tuition are funded by CoKF. As mentioned before, our office is located in the middle school campus, meaning daily interactions with classes four, five, and six.
Once a week a take my laptop into the courtyard and invite the students to partake in our hip-hop dance class. We started off with Hoe Down Throw Down, a Miley Cyrus country line-dance with some modern twists. Then, in preparation for the music festival, we started 'Waka Waka', a world cup anthem on this part of the world. Watch the video below for the final performance!
Friday PE Class
A few weeks ago, donated soccer uniforms and cleats were passed out to some of the students in classes four, five and six. And by some, I mean all the boys. Needless to say, I’ve been keeping a better eye on the Friday PE classes.
Red Rose Library
One of the new rooms in the middle school campus is a library, and it has been my job to check in all donated books and to create a system and timetable for the classes to have the opportunity to use the books. Earlier this week I checked in the 700th book, a fact that excited me just as much as it did the kids. I can easily say the library is the hardest part of my internship. Not because alphabetizing fiction by author A-Z is challenging, but because it is difficult to not pick up a new novel every time I’m in the room. And by difficult I mean impossible. I’ve read at least a dozen children’s novels since the opening of the library, including Tuck Everlasting, Wayside School is Falling Down, and at least ten Encyclopedia Brown’s. If any donor is reading this, I thank you. So do the students, but me too.
