Posted by Pamela on Friday, July 29th, 2011 , Posted in Blog, News , Comments Off
Exams – The girls are just one day away from the end of Term 2 exams – marking the end of Daraja’s eighth term! They will be heading home in one week; the Form 1 and 2 girls will be away until the beginning of September but the Form 1 students will come back early for extra tuition to help them prepare for next year’s KCSE exam.
Gitwa and Jamaica between finals. Have you ever seen two happier exam-takers?
Welcome back! – Jason’s mom and dad, Karen and Jack Doherty, arrived on campus yesterday afternoon. The students were writing exams when they pulled in but there was no shortage of hugs once everyone was reunited!
HIV/AIDS education – Volunteer Maggie Gaughran will be wrapping up the girls’ HIV/AIDS and family planning lessons this week. She has been training the girls to become leaders in HIV/AIDS awareness in their communities and to be comfortable sharing this important information with their peers – just in time for their term break at home.
Posted by Pamela on Wednesday, July 27th, 2011 , Posted in Blog, News , 1 Comment »
Final exams for this year’s second term are underway. Most of the girls approach their term finals, which cover everything they’ve learned since the beginning of their high school studies, with relaxed optimism. But if you mention the exam that the Form 3 girls will be writing next autumn, the girls respond with the unusual combination of nervousness, exasperation and confidence.
At the end of high school, Kenyan students are required to sit for a final exam that covers all four years of secondary school – the KCSE (Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education) exam. It is an enormous cumulative test that is delivered over an exhausting stretch of almost one month. The grade a student gets on this test determines if she can attend university, and what kind of university she can attend.
To be considered for university with government subsidies, a student needs to achieve a B average. Students with lower scores may be admitted to universities, but will be on the hook for the entire tuition cost. The reality is, however, that if a student achieves a lower score and can afford the entire tuition, a student with a higher score who cannot afford school fees is likely to be bumped.
Carol, a Form 3 Daraja student
Despite its competitiveness, many students are unprepared for the exam when they finish high school. According to the Standard, a Kenyan newspaper, only 27 per cent of students achieved high enough scores last year to be considered for university admission. This could be a reflection of the quality of education the students receive, the result of the stresses of home life and poverty – many students are not able to attend classes, write mocks, or even sit for the exam for lack of fees, or a combination of factors.
The Form 3 girls will be the first Daraja group to take the KCSE; students and faculty are preparing to ensure the success of Daraja’s first graduating class. Carol, one of the Form 3 students, said the exam is so crucial she feels like she should start studying for it now. “If I do well on the KCSE then I stand a better chance of getting in to university. Then I can get a good job and help my community.”
Posted by Pamela on Sunday, July 24th, 2011 , Posted in Blog, News , Comments Off
Volunteers – Steve Gaughran (father to Maggie, who’s leading the HIV/AIDS lessons) and mother-son duo Eliza and Chase Paré arrived last weekend to spend their summer holidays at Daraja.
Steve is working on a playground for the Daraja staff and teachers’ kids; 25 small children live on campus so it will be a welcome addition that will get a lot of use.
Eliza and Chase are pitching in all over campus: chopping vegetables in the kitchen, working with the girls on study skills, and Eliza is leading some WISH classes.
Talent show – The students took a break from studying for their final exams last night for the Daraja Talent Show, which volunteer Sarah Montgomery helped put together. On the line-up were several singing routines, as well as skits, creative writing and dances. Caroline and Marylene took first prize for a poem they performed. It was a great night of talent and relaxing!
WISH – In this week’s Women of Integrity, Strength and Hope classes Form 1 created signs to represent their personal values. They decorated the signs with stickers, letters and photographs brought by Eliza Paré. Some of the values the girls included were persistence, honesty, mindfulness and creativity. The Form 3 girls talked about how to make and keep a budget while they are at home. Form 2 worked on interview skills as they’re getting ready to go home for the break and interview more people in their communities for the oral history project.
Posted by Pamela on Wednesday, July 20th, 2011 , Posted in Blog, News , Comments Off
By Colleen and Karen Lafferty
Our main project focused on working with fellow English teachers at Daraja to help them prepare students for the K.C.S.E., the crucial, cumulative exam that Kenyan students take at the end of high school. In our time on campus we noted many similarities and differences between the teachers at Daraja and our schools back home.
Like dedicated teachers in the U.S., those at Daraja work long hours in the interest of their students. We saw them chatting with the girls before class, staying late during study hall at night, and engaging with students throughout the day. They know which girls excel in which classes, who is having a rough day, and whom to congratulate for making a great play in the last football tournament.
The rapport the teachers at Daraja have with their students extends the “normal” student-teacher relationship, though. Given that the teachers live on campus, eat meals with the girls, and are available for help well beyond the confines of an eight-hour work day means that the teachers and students work more like a family.
That was evident in the faculty’s relationships as well – what we experienced was a real community of teachers. At Daraja it’s routine for teachers to invite colleagues to attend their classes, or simply to invite themselves! As we were teaching English lessons with Carol, Charles sat in to listen – Carol popped in to Mary’s class as well. When we conducted a Friday-night symposium with Carol on The River Between, a required novel for the K.C.S.E., both Peris and Charles sat in. This is often discussed as a good idea in American schools but teachers rarely follow through.
In the end, good teaching is good teaching wherever it happens. When teachers show passion for their subject matter and care about their students, success happens. We loved being part of the Daraja learning community for a brief time and left hoping to bring some of the Daraja spirit back to San Diego with us.
Colleen and Karen Lafferty are both English teachers from San Diego, California. Colleen teaches at Steele Canyon Charter High School and Karen at Westview High School. They were on campus working with Daraja students and teachers for two weeks.
Posted by Pamela on Monday, July 18th, 2011 , Posted in Blog, News , Comments Off
Nelson Mandela celebrates his 93rd birthday today, July 18. To recognize his special day, people all over the world are dedicating 67 minutes – one minute for every year Mr. Mandela worked for human rights – to do work for someone else, either in their communities or for a charity. Today the Daraja girls walked to the nearest village, Naibor, to do a 67-minute garbage clean up for the neighbors.
In Naibor, the girls were joined by students from a nearby primary school and a few adults to pick up plastic, candy wrappers, cloth, papers and even batteries that had become part of the Naibor landscape. In addition to the students hunched over picking up trash, other girls were raking behind acacia trees and sweeping paths clean of debris.
Despite their busy schedule and exams just around the corner, the girls were happy to spend a bit of time off-campus, helping out in their community – Brenda in Form 2 even got to spend some time with family members who live in Naibor.
Please visit the Daraja page on Facebook to see more photos from the clean up.
Posted by Pamela on Friday, July 15th, 2011 , Posted in Blog , Comments Off
With final exams just over a week away, the girls are working hard during their classes and study hall time to prepare, but still taking some time to enjoy some extracurriculars as well. Here’s what happened on campus this week:
Mpala Research Centre – A group of Form 3 students, along with biology teacher Mr. Charles, went on a field trip to a nearby wildlife foundation on the weekend. Mpala researcher, Katherine, visited campus a few weeks ago and asked to have a few girls go to the centre to help with research on ant communities in acacia trees. Monicah, Mary K., Everlyne, Florence, Maureen and Pauline got to learn first-hand about field research.
HIV/AIDS education – Most of the girls have learned about HIV/AIDS and family planning before, but volunteer Maggie Gaughran is taking a different approach to these lessons. She wants the girls to become leaders in HIV/AIDS education so they can teach others in their communities about disease transmission, prevention and treatment. Maggie’s classes are fun and comfortable; the girls are happy discussing ideas with the large group and Maggie provides a question box for anonymous inquiries.
Lisayo in action
Sports – The Daraja table tennis team was proud to go out and represent the school at a tournament last week. They all played exceptionally well but were unable to clinch one of the top spots to proceed. Coach Joseph is pleased with the girls’ performance and looks forward to helping them develop their skills in coming terms.
Lisayo had tears in her eyes when the Daraja football team voted her best player and best teammate of this term. Coach Martin presented Lisayo, who’s a very quiet and reserved student, with a medal to recognize her achievement. She said the acknowledgment made her feel “very, very happy.” The team will be reorganized after the final exams to get ready for next term.
WISH – In this week’s Women of Integrity, Strength and Hope classes the Form 3 girls discussed caring for the bedroom, including cleanliness, design, heat and ventilation. The Form 1 girls learned how to “break the silence” – Victoria encouraged them to think about times when they are silenced, or feel uncomfortable speaking, and reminded them that they have the right to speak out at school and in their communities. The Form 2 students continued work on their oral history project.
