Mail from Ngurunit

Nearly two years after ESHA's trip to Kenya, there are still some meaningful postscripts. Here's one:

The Pike School's communication with Ngurunit Primary School was answered in the fall with 23 pages of letters and captioned photos as well as disposable cameras containing additional shots. The correspondence included a description of the Ngurunit school, typical schedule and routines, favorite studies -- and even a few book recommendations.

The package made its way from northern Kenya to the U.S. in the hands of Kathleen Colson of the BOMA Project, who then shipped it from Vermont to Massachusetts. Muddy Waters received the package and shared its contents in a series of three school assemblies at Pike.

How nice to see this project come full circle -- and three cheers for all the individuals who made it possible!

Claudia

Books for Kenya

We learned recently of a project supporting schools in northern Kenya taking place at Norwood School, one of the five schools Steven Labarakwe visited during the April 2011 program organized by ESHA. We offer  Norwood and Sue Gail Spring our congratulations and best wishes for their next steps. Here are the details:
 
When Steven Labarakwe walked into Norwood School's well-stocked Middle School Library last spring, he commented wistfully that his students have very few textbooks and no other books or libraries available to them. That conversation started the Books for Kenya initiative to get books in the hands of the students of northern Kenya. A couple of years ago, friends opened the first library in northern Tanzania with books donated primarily by the World Bank Book Project. Thanks to a Norwood grant, the Lower School Librarian and I were able to spend a couple of weeks helping set up the Mwika Community Library, so I had seen firsthand the impact that books from WBBP can have on a community. I promised Steven that I would ask if the Project could also help his students.

Sue Gail Spring logs book contributions
(Photo: Young Kimaro)

The World Bank Book Project collects books from schools and libraries around the Washington, DC area and then sorts, boxes, and ships them abroad based on a qualifying system that takes about 3 years to complete. I asked my friends at the WBBP if there was any way to get at least some books to the underserved students of northern Kenya faster than that. The Project agreed to pack about 50 boxes of books for northern Kenya as long as I paid the shipping costs – not insignificant to such a remote area. Thanks to many generous friends and a successful social-hour fundraiser, the funds have now been raised and the 50 boxes of books are being packed. In a couple of weeks, geography, history, mathematics, reference, and other non-fiction books will be on their way.

Steven decided that it would better serve his students to provide some books to several schools rather than to create one formal library. He has selected a teacher in each school to be responsible for the books. While it will take some time for them to reach their destination, in a few months Steven will be able to send us photos of smiling children with books in hand.

Next for Books for Kenya: raise money for Steven to purchase the Kenyan published textbooks that are so critical to prepare students for the all-important national exams. Each textbook costs about $6 U.S. Currently textbooks are shared by several students, but I hope that by the start of the next school year, many more textbooks will be available to the deserving students of northern Kenya.

-- Sue Gail Spring, Librarian, Norwood School

Wangari Maathai Revisited

We received with sadness today the news of the death of Wangari Maathai, founder of the Green Belt Movement, author, and the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize.


Our post of July 2010 reflected on Maathai's book, Unbowed, her work in Kenya, and her global influence on environmental activism.

Claudia

Book image: http://greenbeltmovement.org/w.php?id=56

Update from Steven Labarakwe

The head teacher in Ngurunit is working well on the photo project with Pike School. The children are working with the disposable cameras and are excited, too. We hope to have a complete package by August.

The famine is also affecting the people here in our village.

Steven

Photo: In Ngurunit, Steven Labarakwe thanks the moran and young elder for performing a traditional Samburu dance for ESHA guests, 8/06/11 (Photo credit: Claudia Daggett)

Online & service learning crossing school, geographic, and cultural boundaries

St. Gregory College Preparatory School in Tuscon, AZ, offers an online course in East African studies for high school students, from St. Gregory and elsewhere, that culminates in a service learning experience based in Naro Moru, north of Nairobi and south of Nanyuki.

After learning about Kenya history, geography, culture, and language while based in their home schools in the U.S., students travel to Kenya as a group and spend 12 days assisting and teaching in a local primary school. This is an interesting model of online and service learning that crosses school, geographic, and cultural boundaries in inspiring ways. Kudos to St. Gregory School and to teacher Fred Roberts!

Readers may enjoy following the East African Studies students' experience described in periodic posts in the Tucson Citizen. Here's the first: Teaching in Kenya: American teens learn the ropes, tucsoncitizen.com, 6/10/11.

Claudia

Photo: Excerpt of National Geographic map of Africa (Claudia Daggett)

From a Sixth Grade Perspective

"On Monday, April 4, 2011, Steven Labarakwe visited The Woods Academy. Steven is a teacher and school superintendent from northern Kenya. He grew up as a nomadic tribesman.

Steven had an amazing start..."

This is a very brief excerpt from Darren Danaie's school news article about the visit of Steven Labarakwe to The Woods Academy, sponsored by ESHA. Read more and enjoy a sixth grader's perspective at www.woodsacademy.org.

Darren Danaie with Mary Worch, Head of School (Photo: The Woods Academy)

Student responses from Green Acres School

Students from Green Acres School in Rockville, MD, had the following to say in response to their time with Kenyan educator Steven Labarakwe:

“It was a unique educational opportunity for us -- especially when he told us specifics about the transportation in his country.” (It took Steven two days to travel from his village to the airport.)

“He was very observant about America and had many ideas about improving Kenya.” (Steven spoke about his country’s need for water, education, teacher training, and infrastructure.)

“People [in the U.S.] don’t know much about his country. His sharing about his life makes me want to be an advocate for Kenya."

Many photos and a description of Steven's April 13 visit to Green Acres are featured in the school photo gallery and the school newsletter, "The Green Line."

Claudia

Photo: Laurel Seid

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)

Ayuda En Todas Partes: Another Answer to the Desire to Help

Last week, in preparation for Steven Labarakwe's visit to ESHA member schools in the Washington, DC area, we offered information on a nonprofit organization providing school supplies and textbooks in northern Kenya. This week, we offer a second charity to consider for those desiring to provide financial assistance to schools in Steven' Labarakwe's region.

Ayuda En Todas Partes means “help in all directions." A foundation in that name was established in March 2003 to offer concrete help to people in developing countries. The Ayuda En Todas Partes Foundation's primary focus is realizing small-scale construction projects, each using Dutch volunteers over a two- to three-week period, to improve the living conditions of the local community and offer opportunities for building a better future.

In northern Kenya, with Steven Labarakwe as coordinator, Ayuda has focused on the building of primary schools in Samburu villages. In 2007, three classrooms, a teacher's office, a kitchen, toilets, and sports fields were constructed in Ngurunit. Similar projects were constructed in Farakoren in 2008 and Mpagas in 2009. In 2010, Ayuda returned to Ngurunit to add two classrooms and a girls' dormitory. This year, the foundation intends to return to Mpagas to construct additional classrooms. In addition to its building projects, Ayuda has funded mosquito nets for Farakoren families, fees for teacher college for students from the area, an agriculture project at the Ngurunit school, micro-credit for women's groups, and a well in Mpagas.

Ayuda is an officially-registered charity in The Netherlands. For more information about Ayuda, see http://www.ayuda-en-todas-partes.nl/ (in Dutch) or email Rob Ypmea at ayuda-info@ayuda-en-todas-partes.nl.

This information comes from direct email correspondence with Ayuda En Todas Partes at Steven's recommendation. Ayuda is mentioned elsewhere in the ESHA's Kenya Experience blog in "School Visits Prompt School Thoughts," October 10, 2010.

Claudia

Photo: Steven Labarakwe gives ESHA guests a tour of the Mpagas Primary School (Photo credit: Claudia Daggett)

KURA: One Answer to the Desire to Help

As we prepare for Steven Labarakwe's visit to ESHA member schools in the Washington, DC area, it seems important to anticipate the desire to help that is inspired, inevitably, when audiences hear about conditions in northern Kenya. With that in mind, this week we offer information on the Boma Project's new program, KURA -- Kids Uniting for Rural Africa.

KURA's purpose is to effectively improve the quality of education in the Laisamis District by providing textbooks and school supplies to primary and middle schools there. The Boma Project offers some background here:

Laisamis District in northern Kenya is one of the poorest areas in Kenya where 74% to 97% of the people survive on less than $1 per day. According to the Kenya Human Rights Commission: “Schools are insufficient, with enrollment of 25% of children in primary school against a national average of over 99%. Literacy and completion rates are also the lowest in the country."

The vast majority of the schools have no textbooks or supplies. A typical classroom, if there is a building, would have desks and chairs as well as a few pencils and pieces of paper that the children all share.

Photo: One of the better classrooms in Laisamis. Children share desks, textbooks and pencils. (Courtesy of the Boma Project; Kathleen Colson, photographer)
















Photo: A classroom under the tree in Lengima, northern Kenya. This school has no supplies or textbooks. (Courtesy of the Boma Project; David duChemin, photographer)

A typical KURA package, at $500, includes:

• pens
• pencils
• pencil sharpeners
• geometrical sets
• storybooks
• rulers
• graph books
• English dictionary
• Swahili dictionary
• composition books
• sanitary towels
• exercise books – ruled, squared and drawing
• crayons

A package of 35 textbooks for a grade 1 and 2 classroom, at $750, provides learning materials in English, Swahili, math and science.

Gifts to KURA are tax-deductible through Boma, which is a U.S.-based 501(c)3 organization. For more information about the Boma Project, see www.bomaproject.org or contact Kathleen Colson, Executive Director, at (802)236-3018 or kathleen@bomaproject.org.

Other ESHA's Kenya Experience blog posts about the Boma Project include: For the Answers, Look to Those in Need, November 7, 2010, and Prosperity with Dignity, November 14, 2010.

Claudia

We are pleased to announce...

A Meeting with Steven Labarakwe
Educator from Northern Kenya

Thursday, April 7, 2011
6:00-7:00 p.m.
Norwood School
8821 River Road
Bethesda, MD
RSVP by March 31 to info@elementaryschoolheads.org

We hope ESHA members and their school-leadership colleagues will join us to meet Steven Labarakwe, education officer for the Laisamis District in northern Kenya, and participate in discussion about global citizenship and meaningful global partnerships at the elementary school level. This event includes leaders from the six DC-area ESHA-member schools that Steven will be visiting and all other ESHA members interested in participating.

Claudia

Illustration: Nina, Cambridge Montessori School (MA)