Introducing Learning Centers

Happy Monday everyone! Today was our second to last day of working at the school. The teachers have already started a countdown to our departure :( I guess that makes me feel good that they appreciated our being here, but it is still sad that we couldn't work here a little longer and more in depth with them to show them more strategies. But this post will not dwell on those thoughts.

Today we incorporated learning centers into our lessons. We started with P6 and P7, dividing them into groups of seven or eight, and rotating them through seven centers for about an hour. Then we divided P5 into groups (it's the largest class), and lastly P3 and P4. 

The centers mostly revolved around math and reading. For example, one center had the kids finding other words within the word RAINBOW. Another center had students adding the numbers on a card with the number on a die. At my center, the students washed their hands because they were headed to a center with new books and we wanted to emphasize the importance of caring for new books. Since hand washing doesn't take too long, we also played a counting game. Some of the older kids understand the game, but I had to modify it a lot for the younger ones who didn't speak much English. 

Halfway through our first center, though, several SUVs pulled into the school yard. A few minutes later, the drums kicked in and the village people came out of the bush and gathered around the trucks. I was later told the mayor of Naigobya had agreed with some international investors to plumb water from the bore hole (well) at the school to the whole town. But the mayor did not communicate that to the village people, or ask for their input about the whole endeavor. So the village people were not happy and essentially chased the investors away. 

I guess from a reflective point of view, I am conflicted about this event. On one hand, having plumbing in the village and in each of the huts, or even one spigot for each cluster of huts, is a major improvement to their conditions now. The women will not have to walk as far to get the water and it will be more readily available for them to use. It might even reduce the prevalence of communicable diseases if they are able to wash their hands more often without feeling they need to conserve so much. 

But at the same time, we've been asking ourselves, 'who are these people that believe they have more power over a community to come in and make such changes without even asking?' You see, the bore hole actually belongs to the school and the school is private, but the leaders of the school allow the community to use it. So the investors would have to seek permission from the school before trying and they didn't. From an outsiders perspective, it just felt like, "here we are, we're going to do what we want and you're going to let us." At what is their motive? Why is an international company investing here? Plus the community members will probably have to pay to have water in their homes and none of them can afford it, and where is that money going? It's just... Hm. :/ 

The rest of the day was grand. David, Theresa's husband, who has planted several mango trees and tomato plants, has also built a solar oven for the school this afternoon! We finally found a box big enough for dimensions in the directions I brought with us. So pray for sunshine so they can see it in action! Perhaps tea water boiled by the sun tomorrow?! 

Blessings to all! See most of you soon.