A Growing Partnership

It was truly a delight to reconnect with good friend, Steven Labarakwe, on his visit to schools in the Washington, DC area. I had the good fortune of going on a school visit with him and watching his transformation from blue jeans and fleece to his native garb. The children were entranced and the visit was a real gift to them.

Before my trip, I asked students in grades 1, 2 and 5 to create some materials that Steven could take back to Kenya to share with students in his schools. The goal was to tell them what it is like to go to school in Andover, MA at The Pike School. They wrote, drew, and took pictures and created a book of materials.

I gave Steven those books and several disposable cameras to take back. He told me he would give them to a principal he respects very much. The students in Ngurunit could learn about us and then create their own presentation of their educational lives to share with us. It is our fondest hope that this will be the start of a wonderful relationship that will benefit all the children involved.

Muddy


Photo: Muddy Waters and Steven Labarakwe
(Photo credit: Claudia Daggett)

Fan Mail from Grade 2, The Woods Academy

Green Acres School Visit

If you are one of those educators who loves the energy and enthusiasm of middle school students, then you probably cannot imagine a finer way to begin the day than with a middle school assembly. How exciting for us to begin our visit at Green Acres School with an opportunity to bring the stories of life with the Samburu to their fifth through eighth grades. After watching Steven begin most of our presentations with a brief traditional dance and chant and listening to the gasps and other expressions of awe and wonderment, I almost could not contain my excitement that the Green Acres teacher and photographer caught him in mid-air.

I think this picture could serve as a metaphor for the day. It stems from the kind of excitement we felt at being in a day-long celebration. From the youngest to the oldest children, the attention and enthusiasm remained palpable throughout. The market proved, yet again, to be an enormous hit with the first grade. We could have dressed up and continued learning about Samburu culture for a very long time. We ended the day with an assembly for the kindergatren through fourth graders which, despite what prevailing wisdom might say, just kept the excitement flowing. One of the teachers remarked to us afterward that she had not seen the students remain so enraptured.

For me, reflecting on the experience of the visits at all of the schools during this last week and a half, the best moments have come as we walk the hallways and sidewalks. Almost without fail, a student will greet Steven, shyly or exuberantly, as if he were the most special person in the world. It becomes clear, in that moment, what an impact the visits have had in the lives of children.

Laurel

Photos:

"Map," Laurel Seid
"Dance," Victor Stekoll
"Hands," Laurel Seid

Beauvoir Visit

The sun shone brightly on the Cathedral Close as we visited Beauvoir, the National Cathedral Elementary School. More often than not during the last week and a half, the spring weather here in Washington has rallied to match northern Kenyan weather for the day. The sun and warmth provide an excellent setting as Steven weaves his stories about life with the nomadic Samburu living in a dry, hot environment.

The Beauvoir community welcomed Steven yesterday with great warmth. The students at all grade levels asked excellent questions, including ones about religion and money that we had yet to be asked. The lunch meeting with members of the faculty Social Studies Committee enabled those teachers working most closely with the Global Studies program to muse about on-going connections. We ended the day with a tour of the National Cathedral and grounds, including the excellent view of Washington, DC from the 7th floor.

With only one more ESHA school to visit, Steven and I both have expressed our amazement at how quickly the time has passed and how excellent the reception has been for this man far from home.

Laurel

Photos: Laurel Seid

Harbor School Visit

Although it was far too brief, it was great fun to visit DC and reunite with Steven, Laurel, and Claudia. A highlight of the trip for me was our trip to The Harbor School. We were warmly welcomed by Head of School, Val Wise. I helped Steven with his transformation from jeans and fleece to the traditional dress of northern Kenya. He met with kindergartners and first graders, and they were equally enthralled with his presentation.

After Steven told them about life in Kenya as he explained his PowerPoint presentation, the children were able to try on a variety of authentic bracelets and necklaces and be wrapped in kangas. The hands-on experience was a wonderful way to engage the children. It was really exciting to watch the children at Harbor learn about another culture in another part of the world.

Muddy

Photos: Claudia Daggett

A Full Day of Exchanges: Norwood School Visit

Steven Labarakwe's third day of visits to Washington, DC area ESHA-member schools took Laurel and him to Norwood School in Bethesda. There, in addition to making a presentation for second graders, Steven had the opportunity to discuss curriculum and school issues with Norwood administrators and participate in an evening meeting with leaders from several schools.

I joined the evening session to facilitate the discussion, which allowed representatives from schools hosting Steven's visit to share their expectations for the program and, for some, to compare and contrast the experience to what was anticipated. Particularly interesting for many of us was hearing Steven's perceptions of his first three school visits and his first week in the United States. When asked, Steven outlined the most critical needs in northern Kenya: water (in a region that has seen no rainfall for a full year); education, particularly textbooks and trained teachers, and infrastructure. An underlying theme throughout the evening, as you might guess, was the importance of giving elementary school students experiences to develop a sense of belonging to a world larger than their own immediate communities.

Participating in the evening discussion session gave me the additional pleasure of a reunion with my fellow Kenya travelers -- a rendezvous with Steven and Laurel at Norwood, with Muddy joining us later in the evening and for the next day's program.

Claudia

Photos:
"Second graders model kangas," Quanti Davis
"Steven and Norwood mural," Laurel Seid

Off to Baltimore: Calvert School Visit

Like a true pastoralist, Steven traveled from Bethesda to Baltimore to spend another energizing day, this time with the students and faculty at Calvert School. He even wove an anecdote about the difference between traveling on paved or tarmac roads with typical travel in Kenya. The village market on the reading rug in the library turned out to be a great hit with the youngest students.

Steven had an opportunity to read a brief excerpt from Pinduli (Cannon, J. Harcourt Children's Books, 2004), a story chosen by the teachers about a small hyena in the African savannah. Steven had not read aloud to students in this way before as it is not part of the teaching tradition in Kenya. He enjoyed it, and we gained another title for our East African bibliography!

After speaking with a group of well-prepared and curious girls, Steven spoke in the beautiful Calvert School theater on a grand stage where the projected pictures of Ngurunit, its people and animals became larger than life! Thank you, Calvert School!

We even managed to fit in a brief stop at the National Aquarium at the end of the day -- quite mind-boggling for Steven as he expressed that Samburu people have little knowledge of the sea and its creatures.

Laurel

Photo: Laurel Seid

School Visits Begin: The Woods Academy

Steven Labarakwe and his trusty handler received the warmest of welcomes at The Woods Academy in Bethesda yesterday. After several days of gloomy and chilly weather, the sun arrived and the day became like a Samburu summer -- perfect for a presentation about this beautiful culture!

Steven began the day with a large-group presentation to fifth through eighth graders and their teachers. This presentation started with a traditional dance of the moran, the young warriors of Samburu culture. Steven then wove storytelling and audience participation to accompany the slides filled with larger-than-life colorful pictures of the Samburu people and the Ndoto Hills landscape.

We then moved to small-group presentations in the library with younger students in which we recreated a village market. The students were able to wrap in the traditional kikoys and kangas and wear the beautiful beaded necklaces and bracelets.

We thoroughly enjoyed lunch with the members of the student government and wrapped up the day with a tour of the school.

Thanks, The Woods Academy!

Laurel

Photos: Laurel Seid

Steven Adds His Voice

We are thrilled to add a new voice to our blog -- that of our host in Kenya and now guest in the U.S., Steven Labarakwe:

Here I come, America. Finally the long awaited moment arrived, the Seid-Brown family invited me into their home wholeheartedly in Bethesda, Maryland. I got a nice room, and I got settled.

On Saturday, I went with Laurel to serve at the Food and Friends organization. I felt like I was distributing relief food in northern Kenya to the needy persons, the only difference was that the food was a well-balanced diet. Anyways, I enjoyed the work with these different people from different parts of the Washington, DC area.

Laurel, together with her older son, took me sight-seeing into the city of Washington, and I was amazed by how the many presidents of America were honoured via monuments and the writings on the walls of monuments.

I could feel the change of temperatures, and I armed myself with enough warm clothes from the Brown family. I am looking foward to seeing sun, schools, new experiences, Claudia, Muddy and Princey.

Steven Labarakwe

Editor's note: "Princey" is Steven's good-natured nickname for Jamie Waters, as the young man in our group of travelers.

(Photo: Laurel Seid)

First Days in the U.S. for our Kenyan Guest

While Steven waited in the plane on the tarmac at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi, his good friend, Joseph Lekuton, phoned to tell me to be sure to take good care of Steven during his visit. Joseph explained that, on this trip, it would be enough to make sure that Steven came away with an understanding of and appreciation for American culture. So, after waiting in eager anticipation for Steven's arrival, I can hardly believe that he is here and has so quickly and easily become part of our family and our life.

For our part, we are trying to balance being our "normal" selves with our excitement to show him many things. On the normal side of things, he sits at the table with us at our family dinners, smiles at the antics of our 17-year-old son, and, even has run errands with us to the grocery. He joined me at my regular Saturday morning volunteer service gig and even happily went to their Saturday morning orientation for new volunteers. He saw a movie last night at the movie theater with us and laughed right along at the funny bits. He joined the boys last night on the couch for the NCAA semi-finals and read about the games in this morning's Washington Post as if he had always been following March Madness. On the unusual side of things, we wanted to take advantage of the blossoming cherry trees and the events so we dragged him downtown, along with the hundreds of thousands of other people doing the same thing.

I don't really know if we are usual or unusual, typical or atypical of an American family. I do know we enjoy having guests and Steven seems to be doing well, especially as we sit beside each other now typing away at our blogs, each on our laptops, at the dining table.

Laurel

(Photos: Laurel Seid)