Teaching in Kenya by Gussie Gordon

As part of this trip, we brought a laptop for the headmaster of the school. He had only ever seen a computer at a cyber café in Muhoroni town. When one goes to a cyber café, there are people to help you do everything you need. People like Tom, the headmaster received assistance to send emails or write documents at the cyber so he never really learned how to use a computer. One of my main jobs on this trip was to train the headmaster how to use his new computer. Susan and I taught Tom how to check his email, how to google things, how to create word documents and how to find documents when completed. The process was very difficult because I go on the computer every day so it is very normal for me. I expect everyone to be like that, but I realized I am so lucky to have grown up around technology and not everyone has had that chance. Tom had trouble typing words as well. He would plunk out each key slowly with one hand. In order for Tom to understand, Susan and I had to speak very slowly and use simple words. After teaching him the basics we gradually moved on to more difficult things like how to connect the printer and the disc drive. Towards the end we even found a great website where people can print out worksheets for each subject and each grade level. I noticed that the grade levels in the US are two or three grade levels ahead of grades in the village. For example to find a worksheet for 6th grade in Kenya, I would have to click on 3rd or 4th grade on the website. Tom seemed a little overwhelmed to be introduced to the e-readers and the computer all in one week, but he is very excited to have a way to communicate with us about the project and to have resources to improve the classes.

We concluded the day with a delicious dinner and the movie Tower Heist. Since the movie was watched on my iPad it was very quiet so Zev had a brilliant idea to place the iPad in a big tin bowl so that the sound was projected. With this funny method we all shared some good laughs especially when Susan took pictures of Dani and me staring into a big bowl. That night I fell right asleep and woke up the next morning ready to work.

Krazy Koru! by Gussie Gordon

WOW! Hey this is Gussie Gordon and I have been given the incredible opportunity to teach in a school called Mnara Primary School in Koru, Kenya. It is about a five minute drive from the Ouko’s home.

I have loved staying with the Ouko famly and getting to know them. After ten minutes you feel like family. Every night we have all shared laughs and eat all different  types of traditional Kenyan food as well as some food my mom cooked for everyone.

Although the nights have been fun, we have had an amazing time working in the school together. As some of you might know we brought tons of school supplies and sporting goods with us for the kids here. Over the past few days we have been using the materials and putting our projects into action. The first day we taught at the school, we worked with the first grade teaching them about the human body. We traced their bodies and taught them the parts of the body. We also sang the song head shoulders, knees and toes.

The classrooms in the school are dark and small. They are made out of cement and only have a couple of windows. In each classroom there is an old blackboard with one piece of chalk. There is only one teacher for an average of 60 kids per class. Most of the kids have torn clothes and no shoes to wear. When we walked into the school they all stared at our family like we were aliens because they had never seen white children. They all tried to touch me as if white skin feels different from black skin.

The following day we taught in the second and fifth grade classrooms. In the second grade we played addition bingo with the kids and our little game left the teachers baffled at all of the amazing teaching resources out there. The kids did very well at the game and proved to know their math facts. All of the kids in the school are very smart and talented, but they don’t often get the opportunity to show it. In the fifth grade classroom we filled out “about me” posters consisting of questions like your favorite place, what you want to be when you grow up, your favorite food and about your family. I was so inspired by these kids’ hopes and dreams. Many of them want to be pilots, teachers and doctors when they grow up. The funniest answer to what you want to be when you grow up came from a little boy who wants to be a tourist!

On Friday we started one of our biggest projects which was to create a mural with the sixth and seventh grade. The theme for the mural was learning, reading and what they want to be when they grow up. All of the kids wrote stories and drew pictures about what learning means to them and then we transferred these ideas onto a huge canvas using paints, markers, stickers, felt pieces and buttons. We also started a project with eighth grade where all of the children received hardcover blank books and they decorated and wrote about themselves in the book. I was so excited to do both of these projects because they help all of the kids get to know each other and be creative. They are both unfinished but will be completed on Monday.

On Saturday the kids have class but this Saturday we did something extra special with the kids. We brought all of the sports equipment and we taught the kids baseball, kickball and dodge ball (we also played soccer which they already know). The kids caught on and had a great time. The only thing was they absolutely kicked our butts at soccer. All of us made excuses why we didn’t win, but we were no match for these kids.

Today has been a relaxing day for all of us because there is no school on Sundays. Today we all chatted, read books and went on walks. Tomorrow we will be doing a really fun project! We are doing tie die with the fourth grade class and finishing the mural and journals. I have had an incredible and eye opening experience that I will never ever forget!

Peace Out,

Gussie Gordon

Weird Eats? I Think Not! by Gussie Gordon

Today was our first day in Kenya after two days of hectic travel. As many of you might know from my mom’s previous blog there was a lot of craziness. Last night after waiting in the airport all day we boarded our overnight nine hour flight to Nairobi, Kenya. Just to be clear the Virgin Atlantic Lounge at Heathrow airport is not a half bad way to spend the day. We arrived at Jomo Kenyatta, the airport in Nairobi at 8:00 this morning. We were kindly greeted by Susan Ouko, her husband and her aunt. Susan is the daughter of the former foreign minister of Kenya and a member of the family my mom stayed with 20 years ago in Kenya. We will be staying with them later on in the trip. After we got to our hotel we ate some food and took a shower. Eating food other than airplane food felt really good.
After our shower we took a trip to a bead making factory called Kazuri which means small and beautiful in Swahili. This factory was started in 1975 by a woman named Susan Wood who was the wife of the founder of flying doctors. Her mission was to help single women find work and support their families. Today there are women and men working hard at the factory molding, designing and hand painting each bead sold in the shop. Not only do the beads possess beautiful and intricate designs, but I like the fact that when I buy this jewelry I know that someone put time and effort into creating something beautiful for someone else and that by buying the jewelry I am helping these workers.

After the bead factory we drove straight to a restaurant called the Carnivore where we met up with the rest of the Ouko family. The Carnivore serves the most unusual meats I have ever eaten let alone seen in my entire life. At this restaurant there is no menu. The waiters and waitresses come around with every type of meat you could imagine. You can decide if you want to try the meat or not. They had chicken, steak, lamb chops, turkey and many other meats but the most unusual meats were ostrich meatballs, chicken gizzard, crocodile and OX BALLS!!! Yes that’s right ox testicles! I ate the ostrich meatballs and the crocodile and they were surprisingly delicious but I wimped out on the chicken gizzard and ox testicles. All of the meats were cooked in a big fire pit with the meat on spears hanging over the fire. Dinner was definitely one of the most interesting experiences I have ever had!

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P.S Tomorrow we are on our way to the village to help the kids!

Peace out,

Gussie Gordon