The other day, we visited Humwend Principal Francis Akulu’s home for tea. After a bumpy ride in the back of his truck to an authentic rural Kenyan home, we were greeted with open arms and smiling faces. His family’s welcoming was no different from the one we receive each time we visit Humwend – full of gratefulness for the generosity of Canadians towards the Kenyan education system. Read more…
SEED in Canada VS. Overseas
July 4th, 2010One of the more difficult things to accomplish in the internship is maintaining a balance between meeting the identified needs of the community and our own limited capacity. Being here makes the needs so real, so visceral – think of how much just a little bit of money for this could improve this situation, could make so and so’s life so much better, and all for just a little bit of money, why not, why shouldn’t we commit? How hard could it be? Read more…
High school in Zambia
July 4th, 2010While primary education is supposed to be universal and free in Zambia, this promise stops at high school, grade 8. Students write their grade 7 exams, and based on their exam score, are selected (or not selected) by secondary schools. Upon enrollment, they need to pay school fees which are approximately 3 times more expensive than primary school fees. Read more…
Lessons from orphanages
July 4th, 2010When most people think of orphanages, the gloomy scenes of Oliver Twist probably appear. In Zambia, where an entire generation has lost their parents due to HIV/AIDS, there are many orphanages and (hopefully) none of them are Dickensian. Read more…
The Politics of Education in Kenya
July 3rd, 2010This past week in Mombasa, the annual head teacher’s conference was taking place to discuss education funding in Kenya.
The government has outlined ‘Vision 2030,’ which is an action plan aimed to improve development within Kenya. Part of the vision is an improvement of educational services and the standard of education. Read more…
One of Those Days
June 23rd, 2010I recently bought a book of Bemba Bantu proverbs (the Bemba people are a group of people from northern Zambia) and I’m finding lots of words of wisdom inside. The book has written each proverb first in the Bemba language, then its meaning in Bemba, then the direct translation and meaning in English.
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Mombasa Raha: Na Penda Kenya
June 23rd, 2010Five days have passed and we have been fully immersed in Kenyan culture. We have experienced the cities, the rural villages and the slums, as well as spent an afternoon drinking palm wine with the local Rastafarians of Mkwapa Village, Mombasa.
A typical day in rural Kenya
June 16th, 2010I wake at the crack of dawn to the sounds of birds and roosters. I peel back my mosquito net, down some water, and assume samasthiti. Most of my days begin with yoga asana and/or meditation, which prepares me well for my day. After a breakfast of tea, cereal, and eggs, I set out on my trek to Humwend or Lifunga. On this particular day, it is the former. I walk down a hill, cross a river, and back up, passing one market and a few pedestrians on the way. An hour later, I have reached Humwend Secondary School, where classes have already been running for 3 hours. Read more…
An Education in AIDS
June 16th, 2010After realizing that health, including diet and diseases like AIDS, is having a huge impact on our sponsored students, I decided it was time to give myself an education.
What’s the difference between “being HIV-positive” and “having AIDS”? If a person has HIV or is HIV-positive, it means that he or she is infected with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus. This virus weakens the person’s immune system, leaving him or her vulnerable to infection or cancer. “Having AIDS” then means that the person’s CD4 (a type of white blood cell that helps fight infection) count has dropped below 200 cells per cubic millimetre Read more…
My First Nyanja
June 12th, 2010While English is Zambia’s official language, people here also speak at least one other Zambian language. In most cases around here, that’s Nyanja. Read more…
