As I reported last week, women teachers came to school last Tuesday to inspect girls' bags as they entered school. All went well although a teachers strike had been called. They were talking about returning on Wednesday to see what was happening. There were several teachers around Wednesday morning, but since then teachers employed by the Teachers' Service Commission (government employees) haven't been seen.
Our Board of Governors (similar to a local school board) hires and pays the salaries of teachers that haven't yet been accepted by TCS in order to keep our class size at 50 students. They are all young people that have graduated from university and are licensed to teach. However, it takes about 3 years before they are accepted into the government system to become members of TSC, basically because of bureaucracy and corruption.
Those BOG teachers and myself have been teaching since Thursday. I have heard the voices of several of the TSC teachers so they have been on the compound, but they have not been in their offices or in class. Saturday I asked one of the BOG teachers if he thought the TSC teachers were honoring the strike because they thought it was the right thing to do or because they had been intimidated. He replied that he seen a text message sent by one of the teachers' unions that threatened bodily harm if teachers broke the strike. (Most of the TSC teachers did teach during last year's strike until we were chased away by union officials.)
Who knows how long this situation will continue. The Industrial Court ruled on Friday that the strike was legal. Friday the Secretaries of Labour, Education and Treasury met with the two teachers' unions. They have reached agreement on 38 out of 39 issues. The one issue still unresolved is basic salary. The unions are asking for harmonization (equality) of salaries of all public servants. Unfortunately, many people in government jobs (many of whom are uneducated) receive far higher salaries than teachers, some up to 100 or even 200 times more.
There was an ugly article in toady's paper coming from the Secretary of Education. He was quoted as saying the reason union officials wanted hired basic salaries for teachers is because that would increase the amount of money coming into the unions and therefore affect their salaries.
The unions and TCS are summoned to appear in court on Wednesday to resolve matters. However, it's a common occurrence for a party not to appear in court when summoned claiming unforeseen circumstances.
John's school, Weaver Bird, hires their own teachers so they don't have any TSC employees. Therefore, they are teaching classes. The unions have threatened to close down the better private schools also. I don't think they will have the ability to do that.
Meanwhile, the 366 girls that have reported to St. Monica's continue to work in their classes independently using notes from last year's students and materials they have.
Let's pray the strike will come to an end soon.
Sunday, January 11, 2015
Thursday, January 8, 2015
Seatbelt First
I had a first today. I often give fellow teachers a ride if I see them going to or coming from school. This afternoon I picked up two of them in the school driveway. The back door of my car was stuck so I had to unfasten my seat belt to get it open. As they were getting into the car, I was refastening my seat belt. To my amazement, they both fastened theirs! I've never seen a Kenyan put on a seat belt.
Tuesday, January 6, 2015
Students Return to School
The headlines in today's Daily Nation: Schools paralysed as teachers demand fresh salary talks with Labour minister and >Teachers keep off class as strike starts
Today is the day students across the country are supposed to return to school. However, the teachers are on strike. It is a confusing situation. Parents are unsure whether or not to send their children to school.
I got a text yesterday afternoon telling me to report to school this afternoon to inspect belongings as the girls report to school. I wasn't for sure whether I should go or not.
The teachers' unions use force to ensure all teachers are striking. Last year during a strike, St. Monica's teachers were teaching although we weren't supposed to be. One day I was in the classroom when a man appeared at my classroom door. I naively thought he must be a parent. After I finished what I was saying I went over to see what he wanted. He politely informed me that teachers were on strike and no one was to be teaching. He was a union official. I got by with it because I'm white. The rest of the teachers saw the union officials and ran away from the school so they wouldn't get beaten.
I called a fellow teacher this morning and she said she was going. So I went. I didn't know what to expect. Everything was fine. By the time I left school, 200 out of 600 girls had reported. I'm sure the small number was due to parents not knowing if it was safe to send their children and if they would even be allowed to stay at school.
Several girls called ahead and got permission to come in their home clothes. (Students must be in full school uniform. No home clothes are allowed.) There was fighting among people due to the strike in their home area and they were afraid to dress in the school uniforms for fear they would be harassed and not allowed to take public transport.
After talking to several teachers today, it looks like most of us are going to report to school around 10:00 tomorrow morning. The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) hires all government teachers. They have ordered that a roll call of teachers be taken every day so they know who is on duty. However, the unions are threatening violence for anyone caught teaching.
Today the largest teachers' union is meeting with the Secretary of Labour. Technically, they don't have any right to be talking to them. The people they are negotiating with is the TSC who determines their contracts. The next meeting between the unions and the TSC isn't until Friday. Meanwhile, the Kenya National Association of Parents has received a court order blocking the strike.
Meanwhile, those students who are at school will continue to stay for now. Tomorrow girls will be doing thorough cleaning of the dorms and classrooms so no teaching would be going on anyway.
We pray the strike will end soon.
Today is the day students across the country are supposed to return to school. However, the teachers are on strike. It is a confusing situation. Parents are unsure whether or not to send their children to school.
I got a text yesterday afternoon telling me to report to school this afternoon to inspect belongings as the girls report to school. I wasn't for sure whether I should go or not.
The teachers' unions use force to ensure all teachers are striking. Last year during a strike, St. Monica's teachers were teaching although we weren't supposed to be. One day I was in the classroom when a man appeared at my classroom door. I naively thought he must be a parent. After I finished what I was saying I went over to see what he wanted. He politely informed me that teachers were on strike and no one was to be teaching. He was a union official. I got by with it because I'm white. The rest of the teachers saw the union officials and ran away from the school so they wouldn't get beaten.
I called a fellow teacher this morning and she said she was going. So I went. I didn't know what to expect. Everything was fine. By the time I left school, 200 out of 600 girls had reported. I'm sure the small number was due to parents not knowing if it was safe to send their children and if they would even be allowed to stay at school.
Several girls called ahead and got permission to come in their home clothes. (Students must be in full school uniform. No home clothes are allowed.) There was fighting among people due to the strike in their home area and they were afraid to dress in the school uniforms for fear they would be harassed and not allowed to take public transport.
After talking to several teachers today, it looks like most of us are going to report to school around 10:00 tomorrow morning. The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) hires all government teachers. They have ordered that a roll call of teachers be taken every day so they know who is on duty. However, the unions are threatening violence for anyone caught teaching.
Today the largest teachers' union is meeting with the Secretary of Labour. Technically, they don't have any right to be talking to them. The people they are negotiating with is the TSC who determines their contracts. The next meeting between the unions and the TSC isn't until Friday. Meanwhile, the Kenya National Association of Parents has received a court order blocking the strike.
Meanwhile, those students who are at school will continue to stay for now. Tomorrow girls will be doing thorough cleaning of the dorms and classrooms so no teaching would be going on anyway.
We pray the strike will end soon.
Saturday, January 3, 2015
Prayer Day for Form Four Students
Before the Kenya Comprehensive of Secondary Student exam is taken, a Prayer Day is held. Parents and well wishes are invited to attend. A mass is said for student success and the rest of the day is spend with students visiting with their families. We held mass in our unfinished dining hall. It was packed. I'm guessing there were 800+ people attending for our 154 candidates.
Students are dancing into the dining hall for mass.
Charity is our class prefect. She is in charge of student discipline, record keeping and any other tasks the teachers would like her to complete. Each prefect spoke for a few minutes encouraging fellow students to do well on the exam.
I was asked to speak on behalf of the Form Four class teachers.
Parents bring new items for the students to use when taking the exam: pens, rulers, clipboards, geometric sets, etc. The priest blesses them at the end of mass.
Afterwards, parents and students share the food they have brought enjoying the company of one another.
Afterwards, parents and students share the food they have brought enjoying the company of one another.
How Did you Spend your New Year's Eve?
On New Year's Day we needed to go to a nearby mall in Nairobi to book our bus tickets for the return trip to Kitale. We were chatting with the taxi driver and asked if he saw in the new year. His answer wasn't a typical American response.
"Yes, I saw the new year in at church. We were giving thanks for all the blessings we received in 2014."
I wonder what percentage of Kenyan bring in the new year in the same way? Several students has commented that they spent New Year's Eve at church. I had thought that perhaps it was a special celebration for the youth. Perhaps it is more widespread than I had thought.
"Yes, I saw the new year in at church. We were giving thanks for all the blessings we received in 2014."
I wonder what percentage of Kenyan bring in the new year in the same way? Several students has commented that they spent New Year's Eve at church. I had thought that perhaps it was a special celebration for the youth. Perhaps it is more widespread than I had thought.
Sunday, July 20, 2014
Typical Student Questions
Friday afternoon I taught a coworker’s class as he was sick. Perhaps taught is the wrong word to use. I always like to answer questions before I begin the day’s lesson. As this was the first time I had been in this particular class, I asked if they had any questions, not just English questions.
Here are some of their typical questions:
How many children do you have? This is a question that is not discussed in normal Kenyan society. I think perhaps it is due to superstition. You don’t want the evil spirits to know about your blessings. If they know, they might cause harm. If you know someone well, they know about your family, but it is not common when introducing yourself to give private information like this.
The next question is always, “How many grandchildren do you have?” An important part of African culture is the continuity of family lineage. Having children is a mark of adulthood and extremely important as a measure of your worth. Childless women are a disgrace. It is a man’s duty to abandon a barren woman in order to beget children. They can’t begin to imagine that our daughters’ lack of children doesn’t bother us. It doesn’t matter that they have successful careers that are extremely satisfying.
“What is your traditional food?” The main staple of their diet are corn and beans. They don’t have the variety in diet that we do. Every day they eat ugali with sukumawiki (chard) or githeri (cooked corn and beans). It is a special treat to have rice which isn’t considered heavy or starchy enough to be filling. Other special treats are chapati (similar to tortillas), meat of any type, chips (French fries). The school diet is: hot black tea and 2 slices of bread for midmorning tea, lunch depending on the day ugali or githeri, and supper is ugali. They don’t have variety. They do get one small piece of beef (beef cube) in their stew on Saturday evenings. When the girls go out for school trips, they love to get soda and white bread for their meals, sometimes samosas. They don’t think we eat nearly enough.
Circumcision is an important rite of passage. It marks acceptance into adulthood. The entire community celebrates the circumcision of those old enough. They can’t understand that we don’t have a similar practice to mark the transition of a child into adulthood. Thank heavens, female circumcision is a dying tradition in most places in Kenya. People don’t talk openly about it.
They also can’t believe we don't pay dowry to marry. Here a man’s family pays a dowry to the wife’s family. It is a symbol of her worth. It is a sign of respect to her parents for raising her. The dowry might include animals such as cows and goats, luggage, fabric, food staples and an amount of cash. It is usually a large amount that takes several years to pay off. Simon, one of our teachers, is probably in his early 40s. They have two children that I know of but probably more. He has paid off the dowry for his wife and is going to have his marriage blessed in the Catholic church in two weeks. It is a big celebration that the entire school staff is looking forward to.
A later question is “Do people in your country practice witchcraft?” It is quietly practiced here. They do believe that people can curse you. It’s not as bad in Kenya as in Tanzania where it is rampart. Anything bad that happens is usually attributed to a curse someone has placed on you, especially the death of a young person.
Things they can’t believe:
We don’t send our students to boarding school.
We don’t teach Christian Religious Education in our schools.
The majority of people know how to drive.
We don’t have a national identification card.
We can survive in the winter. (Keep in mind they don’t have heat in their homes.)
It's interesting that they shake their head at our culture, while we shake our head at theirs. I always pray that I am learning the best from their culture as they learn something good from our culture.
Here are some of their typical questions:
How many children do you have? This is a question that is not discussed in normal Kenyan society. I think perhaps it is due to superstition. You don’t want the evil spirits to know about your blessings. If they know, they might cause harm. If you know someone well, they know about your family, but it is not common when introducing yourself to give private information like this.
The next question is always, “How many grandchildren do you have?” An important part of African culture is the continuity of family lineage. Having children is a mark of adulthood and extremely important as a measure of your worth. Childless women are a disgrace. It is a man’s duty to abandon a barren woman in order to beget children. They can’t begin to imagine that our daughters’ lack of children doesn’t bother us. It doesn’t matter that they have successful careers that are extremely satisfying.
“What is your traditional food?” The main staple of their diet are corn and beans. They don’t have the variety in diet that we do. Every day they eat ugali with sukumawiki (chard) or githeri (cooked corn and beans). It is a special treat to have rice which isn’t considered heavy or starchy enough to be filling. Other special treats are chapati (similar to tortillas), meat of any type, chips (French fries). The school diet is: hot black tea and 2 slices of bread for midmorning tea, lunch depending on the day ugali or githeri, and supper is ugali. They don’t have variety. They do get one small piece of beef (beef cube) in their stew on Saturday evenings. When the girls go out for school trips, they love to get soda and white bread for their meals, sometimes samosas. They don’t think we eat nearly enough.
Circumcision is an important rite of passage. It marks acceptance into adulthood. The entire community celebrates the circumcision of those old enough. They can’t understand that we don’t have a similar practice to mark the transition of a child into adulthood. Thank heavens, female circumcision is a dying tradition in most places in Kenya. People don’t talk openly about it.
They also can’t believe we don't pay dowry to marry. Here a man’s family pays a dowry to the wife’s family. It is a symbol of her worth. It is a sign of respect to her parents for raising her. The dowry might include animals such as cows and goats, luggage, fabric, food staples and an amount of cash. It is usually a large amount that takes several years to pay off. Simon, one of our teachers, is probably in his early 40s. They have two children that I know of but probably more. He has paid off the dowry for his wife and is going to have his marriage blessed in the Catholic church in two weeks. It is a big celebration that the entire school staff is looking forward to.
A later question is “Do people in your country practice witchcraft?” It is quietly practiced here. They do believe that people can curse you. It’s not as bad in Kenya as in Tanzania where it is rampart. Anything bad that happens is usually attributed to a curse someone has placed on you, especially the death of a young person.
Things they can’t believe:
We don’t send our students to boarding school.
We don’t teach Christian Religious Education in our schools.
The majority of people know how to drive.
We don’t have a national identification card.
We can survive in the winter. (Keep in mind they don’t have heat in their homes.)
It's interesting that they shake their head at our culture, while we shake our head at theirs. I always pray that I am learning the best from their culture as they learn something good from our culture.
Sunday, January 26, 2014
Kenyan English
As a teacher of English, not English teacher, I find the usage of words so interesting in Kenya. Here are some more examples of Kenyan English.
One of the young teachers on staff had hurt his arm over the weekend. As I was shaking his hand in the morning greeting, he said, “My arm is shouting.”
A student was describing an argument between her sister and her, “She was flinging harsh words at me.”
“You’re phone was crying,” was how I was greeting upon my return to the staff room after class. Translation, your phone was ringing.
I give fellow teachers a ride when I am leaving school. They think our car is so nice. One of them commented, “I am feeling the car,” meaning it is such a nice, comfortable ride.
During the rainy season the roads can be very slippery as they are dirt and dusty. When that dust gets wet, it almost feels like you are driving in snow or ice. I was nervous thinking I might end up in the ditch when a rider commented, “Your car is dancing.”
When faced with many options they will say, “I’m spoilt for choice.”
There was some confusion as to whether the entire bill was paid. I was told, “You are a clean lady. You don’t owe anything.”
Both students and teachers like to sit in the sun during the morning break. They call it basking. I was surprised one morning when I was told that I was swimming in the sun as I was standing in the sunlight waiting for class to start.
When asked if students are ready for an exam they usually answer, "Somehowly." There is no such word in the Oxford dictionary. I won't allow them to use it in my presence
One of the young teachers on staff had hurt his arm over the weekend. As I was shaking his hand in the morning greeting, he said, “My arm is shouting.”
A student was describing an argument between her sister and her, “She was flinging harsh words at me.”
“You’re phone was crying,” was how I was greeting upon my return to the staff room after class. Translation, your phone was ringing.
I give fellow teachers a ride when I am leaving school. They think our car is so nice. One of them commented, “I am feeling the car,” meaning it is such a nice, comfortable ride.
During the rainy season the roads can be very slippery as they are dirt and dusty. When that dust gets wet, it almost feels like you are driving in snow or ice. I was nervous thinking I might end up in the ditch when a rider commented, “Your car is dancing.”
When faced with many options they will say, “I’m spoilt for choice.”
There was some confusion as to whether the entire bill was paid. I was told, “You are a clean lady. You don’t owe anything.”
Both students and teachers like to sit in the sun during the morning break. They call it basking. I was surprised one morning when I was told that I was swimming in the sun as I was standing in the sunlight waiting for class to start.
When asked if students are ready for an exam they usually answer, "Somehowly." There is no such word in the Oxford dictionary. I won't allow them to use it in my presence
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