School starts here in about a week so I thought I’d tell you a bit of my frustrations with, hmmm…the system here in Kenya? I guess that’s a good way of putting it.
First is communication – hard to communicate with the students getting ready for secondary when most of their guardians don’t own a cell phone. That means contacting either a neighbor or other family member to have the student contact us. This is usually done by “flashing” us, meaning call us, let it ring once and we return the call. We would prefer having the student text message us telling us which of the several students we work with is trying to call us back but that costs the texter shilling and most are not willing to allow the student to use their credit on the phone for that purpose.
Second is the payment of fees – This requires a trip to the bank. Now I have pretty much refused to step foot in the bank because of the queue and Kenyans lack of observing personal space (yes I know this is a cultural thing but I’m just not ready for people sandwiching me in the bank line) so either Chuck goes or we send someone else. Not so much a hassle but having an online system would really be nice 🙂
Third is the continually rising expenses at school – we (actually Chuck) had budgeted according to what the schools had given us at the beginning of the year in terms of fees to be paid for Term 1, 2 and 3. When going through the fee structures given to each secondary student this term we found costs had gone up. Approximately 30,000/ksh more needed to be paid. After looking at what that included it was maddening…bus payments (not a bus to pick up the students because most are boarding at school, but a bus that can be a “trophy” for the school and rented out or used when the students go on a field trip, which is another cost), motivation fees to send teachers on holiday to motivate them and to purchase incentive gifts for students doing a good job, sports fees, PTA and more.
Fourth is the acceptance of mediocrity – when grades were announced for the Form 4’s (12th graders) I saw students and teachers dancing and celebrating the highest ranked student in Kenya – this student received a B+. We continue to encourage the students and are praying for their education but we have also worked with a few who just don’t seem to be motivated. I am expecting the students to take responsibility for their learning and when they don’t it saddens me.
Seems it’s just another term here in Kenya with the same frustrations as last term but we are learning more and more how to handle each situation (frustration) a bit better and it sure helps to remember that God has it ALL under control.