Doing Dagoretti

So first of all, I back dated the crap out of my last post because there isn’t any internet at Dagoretti. Nothing wrong with that, it just meant that I wasn’t able to post when the post came to its natural end. 

Anyway, we left off with Sr. Anna taking me to Dagoretti which is about 15 minutes outside of central Nairobi without traffic and an eternity with it. Luckily, we avoided most severe traffic (but I wouldn’t have wanted to be going into the city – that road was backed up like crazy.)

Found some cows

Slums on the outskirts of Nairobi

I was introduced to Sr. Vero who welcomed me and gently ushered me upstairs to my quarters and told me to rest for a bit. Sr. Anna added that they usually start evening prayer at 5:45ish and that I was welcome to join.

Dagoretti!

My bed! (with a mosquito net above)

The sisters' quarters

Found her! 

After evening prayer, I was served a lovely dinner on this lovely placemat!

Awwwww

Now, onto the interesting stuff!

(Not to say this other stuff isn’t interesting stuff. It’s just not the following interesting stuff.)

The next day (Wednesday for those who, like me, have been losing track of the days), Sr. Anna walked me over to the school behind the convent just in time for the before school assembly. There’s not a ton of kids, but the purpose of this school is to actually get kids up to speed so that they can go to normal school. So for the younger kids this can mean learning their letters and basic maths. For the older kids, it is a bit more advanced, but that is because they are attempting to catch up to kids their age in normal school.

So the thing is, I was supposed to work with Teresa (wonderfully kind woman) as a kind of teaching assistant for the younger kids. The thing was, the older kids’ teacher…well, he didn’t show up. Therefore, only twenty minutes into my teaching career, I was asked if I could please fill in as the teacher (sole teacher!) for the older kids, ages 11 through 15. And what did I say?

Of course!

I mean, the teacher didn’t show up! What are you going to do in that situation?

On the plus side, the kids were able to somewhat help me out by letting me know what they had been going over. (I say somewhat because I’m pretty sure they told me they needed to work on things in English that were easier than what they had actually been learning. Eh, c’est la vie.) We did some geometry (ALL THE ANGLES) and sorting by alphabetical order (surprisingly difficult) before break, during which I played a number of clapping games and embarrassed myself at jump rope (I was wearing a skirt, okay?).

Teachers and students during assembly

Play ALL THE GAMES!

After break, things…a polite way of putting it would be ‘dissolved into chaos.’

It was creative arts time, right? So I asked them to do some drawings of Paulina, the previous volunteer. One of the boys, Simon, went and retrieved some coloring pencils from another classroom and war effectively began. Boys were throwing pencils, physically fighting over certain colors, desks were being moved, sticks were being found, a ball mysteriously found its way into the room –

Yeah, I totally lost control of the class.

Luckily this happened right as we were approaching lunch so when we went outside, I was able to grab Teresa and basically inform her that I had no idea why some of the boys were yelling at each other but that I figured she, as a speaker of Kiswahili, probably had a better chance of figuring it out than I did. She agreed and shooed me off to lunch with the sisters where I was able to take a quick breath and welcome a visiting sister who was at Dagoretti for the afternoon.

Teresa took over the afternoon lesson for English, and I watched as she interacted with kids. I don’t quite have a handle on it, but there is a very different teaching style at the school in Dagoretti than I am used to. There’s a lot more laughter from the teachers, kind of joining in when students make fun of each other or making fun of students themselves, but they can turn a switch and suddenly be much more strict or discipline a student that is acting out. I don’t understand a lot of the cultural context yet, so it’ll be interesting to see how my understanding develops during my time in Kenya.

After class finished, I was able to take some time to prepare lessons for the next day (using school books Teresa generously lent to me) and relax a bit before evening prayer. Since we had a guest, we actually started praying the rosary in the kitchen, with me leading as the sisters continued to make dinner, before moving over to the chapel for actual evening prayer. We had a nice dinner and I helped clean up before heading up to bed.

On Thursday, I mentally prepared myself for another crash and burn (despite having prepared lessons – actual lessons), but was presently surprised to find a face popping through the door about ten minutes into the start of my math lesson. Joseph, the prodigal teacher, had returned!

Hey, Joseph

Nice of you to show up

Though I still did my math lesson for the two hours that I originally planned. I put together a sort of review of things the kids should know as they go to interview and see if they are at a high enough level to switch to normal school. It basically started as a pop quiz and then turned into a teaching moment whenever one of the students didn’t know how to do the problems. Joseph was actually super helpful because he could help students that were struggling with a lot of the concepts while I checked over the work of the kids that had a better grasp of the problems.

During break, I was attacked by small children who I then carried around like handbags. Seriously, once they found out I could carry two or three at a time, they latched on like monkeys and refused to let me go. It was both adorable and terrifying.

After break, Joseph led a science lesson about light until lunch and then after lunch (which was basically pot roast, it made me so happy) we split a lesson about the different types of mountains. In case anyone is wondering, I am not an artist. Therefore, drawing the tectonic activity that leads to block mountains was a little difficult and led to a lot of well-hidden embarrassment.

The next day Joseph abandoned me and made me teach the two-hour English lesson in the morning while he got the easy job of supervising movie time after break. 

Watching the Karate Kid

Jerk. After school, Teresa asked me to say some things to the students (even though the little ones can’t really understand a lot of English yet). I told them that they were all so smart and that I knew if they continued to study hard, they could get ready for senior school and become whatever they wanted to be. As I said this, I was thinking of one of the boys in my class, James. He told me that he wants to be an engineer so that he can build airplanes that are everything proof. He tries so hard in class, I can’t help but think that if he really wants to, he can do that and more. He, and the rest of the kids from Dagoretti, will be in my prayers as they continue on.

That evening, the sisters took me to mass (in Kiswahili!) and we said our last evening prayer together before having my last dinner in Dagoretti.

Sr. Anna kindly forcing a banana on Sr. Vero

Sr. Vero lighting things on fire

From left to right: Sr. Anna, Sr. Eleanor, Sr. Lucy, and Sr. Vero

Interesting Stories of the Week:

• Not only is there a school at Dagoretti, they also have technical classes! My favorite was the knitting room, because they make adorable and awesome sweaters for small babies.

So. Cute!

• Also, the Mama Margaret project out of Dagoretti takes orders and has some amazing things. The beadwork is incredible. Make contact with them if you want anything handcrafted and gorgeous! 

I’ve now arrived in Mukuyu, and as I now have Wifi, I should be able to update more frequently! 

Until then,

Kwaheri!