YCS Rally

Saturday, I took some of the Weaver Bird students to an YCS (Young Christian/Catholic Students) diocese youth rally. These students had never been to a youth rally before. I decided that if I wanted to improve YCS at Weaver Bird, students needed to go to a rally to visit with other students from the diocese. So I paid for transport and the meal as many could not afford. I was able to get another YCS sponsor to go with us

The patron got a matatu (van) to take us to the rally which was about 30 miles away in a small village. Since he got only one matatu, I went with the girls on the first trip. We load 20 in a van that in Kansas would hold 14 people. To say the least it was crowded. Funny thing was that we were stopped by police at a check point. I was not worried because they stop all matatus. The policeman motioned for me to fasten my seatbelt. Wouldn’t you know I didn’t have mine fastened because I couldn’t! So I faked it. Of course the girls wanted to listen to music as we drove. I had to turn off my hearing aide because it was so loud!

The meeting started 30 minutes late which was not bad. We started with opening prayer. Next was introduction of patrons (adult leaders) for each school, followed by introduction of youth YCS officers. Then came the main speaker. He was a priest who seemed to give very good ideas to the students to improve themselves as students. I really don’t know what he said as he spoke in Swahili and I could only understand about 10%. I asked a student who said it would be hard to translate but said the speech was good. But the diocese youth leader said he would get me an English translation. The speech lasted over an hour which really is short by Kenyan standards.

While the adult leaders went to a classroom to vote on new leaders, students had entertainment. This meant that various schools had student groups sing, read poems

or do other things. I have to admit my favorite was a student from a rural school who did break dancing. He was joined after a few minutes with others. I was more than impressed by their moves and everyone gave them a very big clap for their efforts. The Weaver Bird students were very nervous, but I highly encouraged them to sing a couple of songs. I felt that they needed to contribute like the other schools.

Next on the schedule was lunch. I had learned from previous experiences that lunch meant bread (yes, a part of a loaf of bread) and a container of milk. I had gone to town on Friday evening and bought the items so we would not be delayed in arriving at the rally.

I was surprised to see that we were actually on schedule. The final item on the agenda was mass. Now the big problem, the priest was not there. In fact he was over an hour late. Finally the priest arrived and after about a half hour mass began. I was very impressed with the involvement of the students. The liturgical dancers having representatives from all schools escorted the priest as he entered. Mass ended at 5:20 instead of 3:40 as planned. The bad thing was that some schools had to leave early so they could make sure their students arrived home before dark.

I traveled with the girls back to Weaver Bird. They seemed to have a great experience. I learned they were very nervous singing for entertainment but felt good about their performance. That is a huge milestone for the group. But overall I think the day was a success in motivating the 500 plus students in their Christian faith.
 
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Valentine's Day

Yesterday there wasn't a single red or pink flower left on any plant in the compound of St. Monica's. Why? It was Valentine's Day. When I arrived for my 6:30 am class I was greeted with a bouquet of flowers on the teacher's table. Gazing out at the girls, they had flowers on their desks, in their hair or behind their ears. It made quite a sight. Instead of viewing a sea of faces above gray sweaters, there were splotches of reds scattered throughout the classroom. As I was teaching at one point I started laughing because it was such an unusual sight.

Sometimes during these warm afternoons if the lesson allows, I'll take my girls out to sit in the shade to hold class. Form IIs were having small group discussions. You can see that Rose is holding a small bouquet of flowers as they talk.

Most of the women teachers did wear red yesterday. It appears that Valentine's Day is starting to be celebrated by middle class Kenyans. The newspapers are full of advertisements for Valentine's Day gifts, but our fellow teachers don't celebrate it like we do. I'm guessing it is because they don't have discretionary income. This year with an inflation rate of 20% many people are struggling to feed their families and afford school fees.

Form Is Reporting to School

Friday was the big day for the incoming Form Is (freshmen). The secondary school that students attend is determined not by the area in which their parents reside but by the scores they obtain on the Kenya Comprehensive Primary Examination taken in November. These scores are printed for everyone in the nation to see in the newspapers. The top scorers are selected to attend national school that are the best in the country. They are the cream-of-the-crop students that get to attend the most fully furnished schools in the country with huge libraries, science labs, computer centers, etc. Many of these national school are private schools. This year there are 96 national schools that will be able to take 10,500 students.

Once the top 10,500 students are assigned to their secondary school, the next level of students are selected to attend provincial schools like St. Anthony's and St. Monica's. Instead of scoring 400+ points on the KCPE these students score between 320 and 400 points. These days selection is done by computers. Our principal and three teachers went to a meeting two weeks ago to receive the list of 179 girls invited to attend St. Monica's. In order to meet new requirements, 30% of the students must come from outside the geographical area of the school. The idea behind this requirement is to mix the populations, to introduce students to people outside of their tribe and ethnic group, to help build cohesiveness between Kenyan people.

Friday was reporting day for the Form Is. The older students were in class but the teachers were all helping with the new students. The received a letter of invitation from our school. Within that letter were the official documents needed to enroll from the school, a list of required supplies and other important information including school fees. This year the fees for St. Monica's was slightly over $500. In addition each girl needed to bring a trunk of her belongings including a mattress, bedding, bucket for washing, plate, spoon, cup, toilet paper, soap, personal hygiene items, socks, a dictionary, atlas, etc. These supplies probably cost about another $150.

When they arrived on campus the first person they had to see was Mr. Oduri. He had the unpleasant task of confirming that their fees were paid. Of the $500 fees required they must have paid $450. If not, they were not allowed to stay or enter school. It was so heartbreaking to watch families leaving because they didn't have enough money. We will hold the spots for these girls until Monday morning. If their families are able to raise the money by then they will still be able to come to St. Monica's. If not, their position will be given to another girl. I understand there are over 400 names on a waiting list of girls hoping yet to be allowed admission to St. Monica's. Their only chance is if some of these 179 girls on the original list aren't able to attend.

There will be a long line of people at school tomorrow. I sure hope several of them are those that were turned away on Friday. I can't imagine how humiliated I would be if I wasn't able to financially afford to send my daughter to a good school.