dessine-moi un mouton!: "how we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives"

i realized i hadn't put up any pictures from akiba...so, i a little bit about the school where i've been teaching art (and whatever else is needed) for the past month. it's located in the slum kangemi. the school day goes from 7 to 4. first thing in the morning prayers are said and memorized verses recited. then the kids-- 3 years old through high school (though i think some of the highschoolers are older than i am)--disperse to their classes. we have several breaks throughout the day for tea, mandazis (fried bread--like a doughnut but triangular), impromptu dancing, and later, lunch (usually a grit-like food called ugali). the classrooms are austere, tables, chalk board, no light, and a few heavily worn books.
the kids are well behaved, but i wonder how much they are learning. many of the teachers seem to lack any passion for teaching and the turnover is high, as they leave when better pay comes along. also it is hard to get anything done because so many subjects (some days 11) are taught each in a half-hour period. somehow kids get to secondary school barely even knowing how to read. all the international and wealthy kenyan kids go to british or american run schools because the government run schools are shit. there is just such a deeply entrenched standard of mediocrity here. the kids don't have--aren't given--the confidence that they can rise above there current standing in life and do more. imagine international: coming soon.

lower school assembly

redrover

teacher's lounge

anne

anne againe

twins

so sad

joseph, what a stud.

cha lucy joins in.

amos (reminds me of davis)

8th grade boys

picassos

my real joy though, has come from the afternoons i spent at light and power in the slum gatina. it is a group of about 10 young men who make paper bags for different shops. the slums are strewn with plastic bags, so they are trying to help the environment by promoting recycled paper. mainly i was just a cog in their assembly line of cutting, folding, silkscreening and gluing...but really that is what i love. it had an origami-like therapeutic quality. but they laughed at me when i would have to take a break, my hands red and chapped. the guys are amazingly driven and ambitious. light and power has recently instated a matching program where the boys can save for school and the anglican church will match what they save. as they walked me to the matatu at the end of each day,i got a chance to talk to the guys about their aspirations and faith and thoughts on how to improve kenya . many of them are muslims, but bishar said to me one day, "you know, we really worship the same god and in the end we will go to the same place, maybe just on different highways." perhaps this offends some people, but in a place where christians and muslims don't always get along, this magnanimity is refreshing. he also told me that to the youth here, education is everything. he said they don't want handouts. he also paraphrased the famous "eat for a lifetime" quote saying, "you teach me to fish, i'll fish everyday. you give me fish, what will i do when you leave."
also, i have become close to the next door neighbors who play in the l & p "yard". rose is one of the people bigc has been able to help to restart her roadside stand selling chips. i have completely fallen in love with her daughter lynette, who is my constant companion at the center. she will be the hardest to say goodbye to of anyone i've met here.