Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Writing Something Worthwhile

As a part of our class we have been assigned a journal to write in as we go through the class and this experience. We handed our journals in during the last class period and frankly, I know mine has fallen short.
You can barely see Darla's hand journaling, but everyone must be in deep thought about the trip and the journey they will take. :)
 I used to journal all of the time, but lately I can always find something more important to do during that time. My goal for the day/week is to write more in my journal about my fears, apprehensions, excitements and goals for my trip to Africa.

I also have trouble simply writing down ideas for my media portion of the trip in my journal. Writing down goals for that is a good thing to do, but I need to put more in my journal about how I can relate that to my life and this journey to Chogoria we are all on.

We will see how my goal goes! I hope to start today and continue journaling about this experience as we go. I am also making a goal to journal more generally more often. This goal might start with a new blog I am toying with creating.

Look forward to a post about some of the music I am learning and will  be teaching to the rest of the class. Should be lots of fun!

Saturday, March 24, 2012

So, what is Kenya really like?

Last week we got a chance to visit with the group that went to Kenya last year. This was my personal favorite class so far because it was very informative as to what we would actually be doing.

Though, the group said they had a lot to share about the trip up Mount Kenya, which we have actually chosen not to experience. (We chose to spend more time working with the Faraja Project that weekend instead. This puts us in direct contact with people we can help AND it saves money. It was an almost unanimous decision. Abby wasn't quite sure. ;) )

Even though they didnt get a chance to talk about their trip up the mountain, they did have lots to say about other things.

What most of them had to say was that we should get used to being stared at. Here, in the United States, most of us are used to seeing different types of people in different places. There, they only see caucasions when they pass through on mission trips like this. They (apparently) will point at us and say "Muzungo" or white person. (correction may be added, I can't remember if this is the actual word) They also might touch us, especially if we give them permission to touch our skin and hair. Murika Bauer went and worked in the schools mostly.She talked about how you could tell how much the kids wanted to touch her, and as soon as she gave them permission they touched her skin and hair. One girl asked her if she went to America if her hair would turn long and blonde like Murika's.

Each of them gave us some insight into what we may be doing with our respected jobs. Working in the office in groups called "merry-go-rounds" ( I hope to get Morgan or Jaycie, who will be working with Village Hopecore, to write more about this.)

Others will be in the schools. Murika talked about her experience with the teachers just leaving her in the classroom as soon as she arrived. They didn't have any time to ask about how things ran in that school or see where the kids were in their books. The girls in the school were given a classroom and put in charge of that classroom all day. She also joked about how well behaved the kids are compared to American classrooms.

We've heard the story many times in class about a morning assembly at the primary school. All of the students stood in straight lines in their uniforms, perfectly quiet, looking up at their administrator. He told all of the students how important it was to be disciplined when the teachers from America were there because, "In America, the students are very disciplined." Can you imagine putting American elementary students in straight lines outside and expecting them to be quiet?

On a journalism tract, the students told me I would have lots of fun, but they asked me to make sure I told others stories as well. Good point! Remember to tell everyone's stories. Got it.

This was such a fun hour of class. Hearing about experiences that we will be very close too experiencing was so helpful.

Thanks for coming Chogoria class of 2011!

Saturday, March 10, 2012

Chogoria

Chogoria, Kenya is our destination this May and this evening I have spent some time learning about this place on Wikipedia and the interweb.

(I stole this photo from Ronnie, the journalism student before me.  Check out her blog: 
http://triptokenya.posterous.com/)

Chogira is actually HUGE! Chogoria has over 28,000 people in it. That is much more than I was expecting.

Chogoria is 140 miles away from Nairobi. Chris informed us that this relatively short journey will actually take up to three hours. Something about giant speed bumps?

Chogoria was created around the Clive Irvine Hospital. Some of our fellow travelers will be working in that hospital, including Cindy Ault who is very excited to check out some diseases.

Chogoria is an education hub. It houses public primary boarding schools, girls schools and secondary schools as well as private establishments. The town also has the Clive Irvine Nursing College.

Isn't all of that stuff neat? Chogoria is going to be a very neat place to visit and I can't wait to have that experience. :)

Look forward to a post about our last class where we sampled Kenyan foods and heard from Dr. Coyle who was very informed on Kenyan wildlife. All this time, I had never thought of Kenyan wildlife. How could I forget!