Classes and Skills

Monday and Tuesday of the second week in Kenya all of us were able to take part in teaching the literacy kids classes and we were able to go with the older kids to skills. In literacy the kids learn Science, Math, English, Computers, Social Studies, Library, Bible and Swahili. In skills classes the older kids are in one of the following: Salon, Catering, Woodwork, Sewing, Computers, and Mechanic. Jeremy, Candace and Laura were going to skills first and Shannon, LeShae and I were teaching classes first. We didn’t realize till later that we spilt the group in non-teachers and all teachers, it worked well though.

Monday Shannon, LeShae and I were in the learning center teaching classes. I started off teaching advanced English, LeShae started in beginner English and Shannon started in the Library. We then rotated through random classes teaching. Shannon did library and Bible the whole time, LeShae did English, Bible and Science and I did English, Math, and science. The whole time us three were teaching, Laura, Jeremy and Candace were at the skills classes. After we finished teaching we ate and then LeShae and me were told to teach the fast tract English class, that was so much fun to me. Fast tract class is a 2-hour class that is available for the kids that learn faster than some others and that are working to take their national exam. These kids are SO smart! They were writing better than some people do in America, me included. After LeShae and I finished the fast tract we went to the boys compound and met up with Shannon, Laura, Jeremy and Candace and ate dinner and hung out.

On Tuesday Shannon, LeShae and I all went to skills while Candace, Laura and Jeremy all went to teach classes. We started off the day with an early breakfast and then an awesome chapel! These Kenyans know how to get up and sing and praise God, it was such a blessing to be a part of it. When we arrived at skills LeShae and Shannon were pulled to Salon with a bunch of girls to be customers while I headed to woodshop. While in woodshop we sanded two tables and then me and a boy named Rashid painted them with two coats of white. While I was having fun in woodshop Shannon and LeShae were havin an adventure in salon. It started off as these two girls were giving both Shannon and LeShae pedicures and they said, “It feels really good!”  Well the next thing that happens is I walk in and see both of them getting their hair done. The thing is that both girls decided to wash, blow-dry and style the aggies hair, but it was not what they thought it was. When they began styling Shannon and LeShae’ hair they put a thing called Hair Food in. Hair Food is pure hair grease and it is thick. When their hair was styled the girls put handful after handful in. Our team did not see them until we met up for lunch. (at this time there hair was dry) We sat down and saw LeShae and Shannon and it looked like they had just gotten out of the shower. It was so funny but so awful! That day they washed their hair three times and it still wasn’t out. LeShae started cheering when her hair was finally getting tangled after she washed her hair.  That night though we were invited to go to Irene and Robins house to play games. (Irene and Robin are a couple that live at Made in the Streets and Irene teaches English and Robin teaches in the woodshop skill.) We ended up playing Life Choices. It was a game that you had to share a lot of personal stuff like “What is a story about one of your uncles” or “describe your perfect day.” It was really fun! Shannon ended up winning and when someone wins everyone else has to say something positive about that person. It was really fun to all go around and said what we like about Shannon. Overall Tuesday was a day of adventure and excitement.

Monday and Tuesday was very special to me because since I do want to become a teacher. Teaching and having a classroom to myself for the first time was kinda scary and nerve racking. I was nervous but after I did it felt good to connect with those kids on a different level. My favorite part of Monday was teaching the fast tract class. Those kids were so smart and they were so eager to learn! We were learning about how to write a formal letter, a friendly letter and a comparison paper. Their formal letters were very good and when they wrote their friendly letters we wrote the names of all us Aggies on the board and said they could write any of the Aggies or just a friend from MITS. All of them wrote an aggie but one and their was 18 kids. It was so cool to read those letters and just see the love of those kids. The Lord just kept blessing me through these two days by showing me how talented these kids are and just how incredible and powerful His power is that he is able to turn someone life totally around and do it honoring Himself! Tuesday my favorite part was the skills. I was able to hang out in the woodshop a lot and it reminded me of my industrial tech teacher in high school and made me thankful for all the things he taught me in that class. Also during woodshop I had the chance to talk to a lot of the kids in there and they told me how Christ was working in their lives and just their life stories. It was heartbreaking and I was so honored because that was just seeing God face to face, He was very evident in every kid I talked to! Overall the teaching days were a success and I was blessed not only to teach the kids but learn from them as well (: 

In His Name, 
Kori or as the Kenyans say "Koe"