To truly and totally recount the experiences of my internship with the Rabuor Village Project (RVP) in Rabour, Kenya and the innumerable effects it has had on me would be the work of a lifetime. Yet as the hot African sun has now set on my time there, I know a reflection on the past few months will help me begin the process of reflecting on this life changing experience.
      The Rabuor Nursery School quickly became the place I felt most at home. After just a few visits, I knew it was where I wanted to spend my mornings. Once I started going to the nursery school on a daily basis, the teachers were wonderful at both making me feel welcome and keeping me busy. I worked with Mrs. Were and the sixty-student Baby class. I would lead the children in reading the ABC, number, weather, and shape charts at the beginning of class while Mrs. Were made sure they were all participating and paying attention. This would also give her time to take care of any administrative work she had to do, like recording school fee payments, as she was also the headmistress.
      Though the children, ages 2-7, primarily speak the local language, Luo, their lessons emphasize learning English, as it is the language in which the primary and secondary school exams are given. To teach the children English they use memorization and recitation of poems, songs, and prayers. Even some of the older children in the “baby” class are able to recite on command.
We took a 45 minute break around 10:15 when the children were given a bowl of food and allowed to play. For many of them, this meal is the most nutritious they will eat all day. Then, as the children finished eating, we would play with them and watch the creative ways in which they would entertain themselves with little more than rocks, sticks, and leaves. Some of their favorites included building huts with excess bricks that were lying around the school yard, or making propellers out of a leaf and a stick and running around like a group of airplanes.
     The classroom was so different from American classrooms I had been in! The most glaringly obvious difference is that caning is still regularly used. While on principle I am against it, the results it achieved were impressive. In a classroom of sixty 2-4 year olds, disturbances were very rare and the students followed direction quickly and without complaint.
     Another huge difference from American schools is the inclusion of religion in school, at every level. Every day at the nursery school started and ended with a prayer. Even at Kuoyo Secondary School the students take mandatory Christian education classes. I personally am a religious person, and I respect cultural differences, but this has been a very difficult difference for me to come to terms with. Having state run schools teaching state standardized religion is completely contrary to the American idea of religion being a personal issue. In talking with some of the Rabuor Youth Group members about the separation of church and state I discovered that this idea is as foreign to them as the combination of church and state is to us. But, I must say that seeing the children stand hands together and eyes closed as they prayed was very sweet.
     At times seeing the effects of poverty and disease in the village was overwhelming, and yet, through the various efforts of the Rabuor Village Project there is a new hope glimmering. I feel very honored to have been a part of that hope. The life so many of these people live is more difficult than most people in the Western world can even begin to comprehend, but this difficulty does not define them. They are strong, proud, loving, and have true faith and trust in God. They are working together to strengthen their community and better their lives. I learned more from them than I could ever begin to put into words, and for this gift they have given me I am eternally grateful.
     Being an active member of the daily routines at the nursery school has absolutely solidified my decision to become a primary school teacher. Being around the children everyday filled me with energy and joy. For me, watching their progress as I showed them how to successfully join the dots, match the numbers, or stay in the lines while coloring was so rewarding. It made me want the next day to come that much faster so I could do it all again. Leaving those children was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do.