A Challenging Day

Today was a particularly challenging day at school.

The day began with diarrhea. Two of my students were feeling sick and soiled themselves in class. We spent the start of the class assuaging tears and cleaning up. Although the children drink clean water at school, they don’t necessarily get clean water at home. This means that diarrheal disease is a common illness that afflicts our students. In order to prevent this, we are implementing a clean water education program for our students and their families.

The topic of the week was “houses” and today we learned about the different rooms found in a house. I had prepared some photos of different rooms such as a bedroom and a bathroom etc. to facilitate discussion in class. The kids really struggled with identifying these rooms. To them, home was a 3m x 3m mud hut, where the same room was used as a bedroom, a sitting room, a kitchen and a bathroom. The kids found the concept of having rooms that each served a different purpose very difficult to grasp. 

Home is a mud hut in Kibera

As our kids are handpicked from the most disadvantaged backgrounds, there are often problems at home. A child often becomes unresponsive or temperamental when this happens. Today, it was Nida’s turn. Nida is usually one of the happiest kids, always running around with a huge smile and a ready hug. But today, she walked past me without even saying hello. I called out her name, she turned to look at me, and then she turned away. For the entire recess, she walked in circles in the playground all by herself. She walked like a weary old woman with many burdens. Whenever this happens with a student, we call the family to check on things at home. If necessary, we get the caretaker to come to school for a meeting. Nida’s grandmother was called today.

During the last class of the day, we had a surprise visitor. A mouse decided to dash into our classroom and pandemonium ensued. I’m sorry to report that I was probably the first to scream and run out the door. Teacher Nancy finally managed to kill the rodent by smashing it with a bottle, while Freddie, one of the oldest boys in the class decided to hold the dead mouse by its tail and parade it around. I was torn between being amused and completely horrified. (The mouse was disposed of safely and Freddie was made to wash his hands very very thoroughly).

Teacher! Look at what I caught! 

By the time I got home, I was exhausted. I am collapsed on my couch as I write this. It is days like these when my admiration for Catherine and the teachers at the school quadruples. They are truly amazing fountains of strength, love and endless patience. To be at school day after day, year after year, to teach, care and love the children really takes extraordinary resilience and heart. 

*Names have been changed to protect privacy.

The difference a year makes!

Time flies and it’s already been more than a week since I’ve been at Shine Academy. I am getting to know the 25 kids of the new Baby Class very well – I can now remember all their names. They are just the most adorable children, so full of smiles and laughter despite their disadvantaged backgrounds. Most of all, they are eager to learn and absolutely love going to school.

25 new faces of the 2012 Baby Class

In addition to the 25 kids of the new baby class, it was great to see the 50 familiar faces of the Nursery and Pre-unit class. What was striking was to see that these older kids have really blossomed.

The Pre-Unit class, which is made up of the oldest kids (6-7 year olds) are now speaking English fluently (they speak Swahili at home). They are also a lot more confident and independent in their thinking. They don’t hesitate to point out if something is amiss or doesn’t sound right. This includes my poor attempts at Swahili. Last year they were just beginning to learn their alphabet and this year they can read and write in sentences. 

Familiar faces of Pre-Unit Class

What has really warmed my heart is the difference in the behavior of some of the more “troubled” children. For example, six-year-old Alice, was one of the worst behaved children at school last year. She refused to listen to instructions and threw frequent temper tantrums. Prior to starting at Shine Academy, Alice was sexually abused by a male relative. This was the source of much of her anxiety and misbehavior.

This year, to my delight, she has made amazing progress. Alice is engaged in her learning and much better behaved in class. Combined with her natural precociousness, she is now near the top of her class.  Her transformation in one year has been remarkable. What school had done to instigate this change was to work with Alice’s mother (via counseling and living assistance) over the past 12 months to create a more stable and safe home environment. As a result, Alice has flourished. 

Alice is just but one example for the amazing impact that Shine Academy is having on the kids and their families. The progress that these kids have made over the past year has made me even more hopeful and optimistic about their future.

The kids have really flourished

*Names have been changed to protect privacy. 

First Day Back at Shine Academy

Today is my second day back in Kenya and my first day back at the Shine Academy. In some ways, I felt like I have never left.

From the moment the school gate opened, I was greeted by shouts of “Teacher Kun” and almost crushed under a swarm of kids trying to give me a hug.

The older kids that were in Nursery Class are now in the Pre-unit Class. I was treated to a spontaneous rendition of “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” - which I taught them last year. It was heartening to hear them sing it again, even though their version was missing the line “up above the sky so high”. I’m not entirely sure how a whole line got lost, but my lack of singing abilities is probably a contributing factor.

One thing that stood out was that the older kids were not only bigger, but also markedly more confident and individualistic. It was also great to see their impressive progress in reading, writing and arithmetic.

There were also 25 new faces to meet – the new baby class of this year. It will be a challenge to learn all their names. It took me about 3 weeks last time around with 50 kids, hopefully it won't take me as long this time round!

I’ll be here for about 3 weeks until the school term ends. It’s a really great feeling to be back. 

First day back for Teacher Kun

Back to Kenya

I am sitting in airport waiting for my plane to Nairobi via Doha. It's been almost a year since I was last in Kenya and I can't wait to see the kids at Shine Academy again.

I'm looking forward to seeing their big bright smiles and to be surrounded by laughter and shouts of "Teacher Kun".

The older kids' English must have improved over the past year and I can't wait to to converse with them and learn more about them.

The thing I anticipate the most is to meet the new baby class of 2012. These twenty-five kids have been selected from the worst family backgrounds. They were given the precious opportunity to go to school and shine by generous donors from Hong Kong and Australia. I'm so excited to meet each child and learn his or her name.

I don't think I have ever been this excited to go to school. Can't wait till Monday!

15squarestreet for the Shine Academy

On Friday, 30th September 2011, more than a hundred of the most awesome people in Hong Kong gathered at 15 Square Street to have a drink and support the kids of the Shine Academy. The venue was the Swedish design shop 15squarestreet, located on (funnily enough) 15 Square Street in the old neighbourhood of Sheung Wan. 

Despite the deluge left by Typhoon Nesat the previous day and the intermittent rain throughout the night, we had a fantastic turnout. 

The total amount raised was HKD 11,096. What an amazing result!

The event was made possible by the generous support of Alexis Holm and David Ericsson of 15squarestreet. A special thanks to Diana Wang for helping with the logistics. 

Last but not least, a huge thank you to all those that turned up to support the event. Thank you for giving generously so that a new class of 25 kids can start school at the Shine Academy next year.

Exhibit of photos taken during my time with the Shine Academy

The children of the Shine Academy appreciate your thirst.

Please feel free to return the favour! 

Our first donor, with Diana (right)

We had a great turnout, with the party spilling on to the street

Having a drink for a good cause against the Hong Kong nightscape

***

Check out the following radio interview with Catherine Whiting of Impoverished Children, where she provides a great overview of her work in Kibera and what motivates her to dedicate her life to this cause.

Catherine is one of the most resolute, dedicated, passionate and fearless people I know, and I think this comes across within the first few minutes of the interview.

From Cessnock to Slums - ABC New South Wales

"Catherine, who's originally from Cessnock, has been working in the slum for three years and says she'll be there for life."

Food for thought

Everyday at Shine Academy, right before lunch time, the kids undergo a curious transformation. It goes something like this: a bunch of rowdy, noisy, high-spirited children become quiet, docile and manageable in a flash.  

As soon as Teacher Sheila or Teacher Winnie give the command "wash your hands and line up", the kids stop playing, diligently wash their hands in a large plastic basin in the school yard, and form a line in front of the classroom door. They then file quietly into the classroom and sit down in three neat rows, usually without any pushing or jostling. They wait patiently and silently for the teachers to hand them their plate of food and a metal spoon, and then give thanks for their lunch.

Never in my life, have I seen three year olds eat with such careful precision. During the time I was there, there was never any food left uneaten on the plate. There were never any grains dropped on the floor. I never heard a child complain about the food. There were no such thing as picky eaters. 

Lunch was a solemn occasion. I later learned why. The Shine Academy provides the kids with two meals a day (breakfast and lunch) and two fruit snacks, and sometimes that was all they got to eat that day. Dinner was never guaranteed at home.

Now like with most people I know, I have never experienced what real hunger feels like. But these kids have. I don't mean the kind of hunger you feel when you skip a meal or two. I mean a powerless and hopeless kind of hunger, when you don't know when your next meal is going to be and you cannot do anything about it. When you grow up with real hunger, you learn to eat everything that's been offered to you. You learn not to waste any morsels of precious food. And you learn that by the time you are three years old. 

The lunch menu at Shine Academy rotates through the basic Kenyan staples - beans and maize stew, rice, potato with carrots and cabbage, ugali (a bit like polenta) and sukuma wiki (a local preparation of bitter greens). Twice a week the kids would get minced beef. The kids loved beef days!  And Mondays were always the toughest days. Some of the kids wouldn't have eaten at all over the weekend. They would come to school ravenous and lethargic, and their concentration really suffered. It was heart wrenching to hear the kids complain of stomach pains, and not have the energy to play because they were hungry. Fridays were also hard. School finished early at 2pm, and the kids would linger at the school gates, delaying the inevitable walk home to face two days of potentially going without food (amongst other challenges in their home environments).

But in the grand scheme of things, these kids are still the lucky ones. The Shine Academy provides its students with two nutritionally balanced meals, clean water and fruit (check this out!) every day at school. I don't think it's far fetched to say that without the school's support, some of these kids might not be alive today.

Lunch time at the Shine Academy

***

There is a famine going on in East Africa, caused by the worst drought in 60 years, and 29,000 children in the region have already perished as a result of the crisis. 

The situation in Kibera is not as severe as that in the refugee camps of Eastern Kenya. However, due to the regional food shortage, prices of staple foods in Kibera have increased threefold in the last year. This has forced already poor and malnourished children (and their parents) to live on even more meagre rations. This is the main reason why our kids are starving at night and on weekends. 

To help out, over the school holidays Catherine and Javier organized a food handout for each student's family consisting of a dozen kilograms of rice, maize and beans to alleviate some of the burden. It costs only two thousand US dollars to feed fifty families for a month in Kibera. A little money goes a long way. 

Although one can engage in a long philosophical argument about the benefits and detriments of giving food handouts, the reality of the matter is that without it, the kids and their families risk severe malnourishment. And especially for our kids, receiving a regular meal and clean water supports their strong cognitive and physical development at a very critical point in their young lives.

How you can help. 

Twinkle Twinkle

By the end of the first day, I was exhausted. After pretending to be nearly every farm animal known in existence (I did confuse them a little with braying like a donkey) and running countless laps around the school yard, I collapsed onto a rough wooden plank that served as a bench next to the school gate.

The kids soon settled in a little semi-circle around me. Two curious girls climbed on to the bench on the either side of me to run their fingers through my hair. Two cheeky boys sat at my feet and tried to untie my shoe laces. A couple of kids tried to roll back my sleeves and the cuffs of cargo pants to touch my relatively light-coloured skin. The little ones were happy to hold on to my hand (I was holding about 3 little hands in each hand at this stage) or wrap their skinny little arms around my legs. This was accompanied by a chorus of "Teacher Kun, Teacher Kun", lots of screaming, giggles and various attempts at making farm animal noises.

To be honest, as endearing as it was, it was also a little overwhelming. I felt like I was going to be smothered under a pile of kids. And I couldn't exactly just stand up and shake them off me. So I did the only thing I could think of. I started to sing. Twinkle Twinkle Little Star was the first song that came into my head.

To my amazement, the kids became utterly still and silent. They were completely mesmerized by the song's melody. I realized that it was probably the first time they've heard this song. (How could this be? I wondered at the time). The school yard was silent except for the sound of my voice.  

Now, a confession: I'm a terrible singer. I'm completely tone deaf and tend to mangle lyrics. I’m the last person you would want to go to karaoke with. But the kids didn’t mind that one bit!

I followed with a second rendition, this time at a slower pace and with hand gestures of twinkling stars and diamonds in the sky. Dozens of dirty little hands with frayed sleeves followed with dancing fingers. By the third time, some kids started to join me in singing the first line of the song. After the fifth time, they got the second line and the last line. From that day on, they requested to sing "Twinkle Twinkle" at every recess. 

The kids loved to sing. 

The little stars of the Shine Academy... like them on facebook!