Insulting some one's intellegence is a decietful blow. A person's intellegence is a huge part of someone. I would go so far as to say its what makes a person. Throughout my life, I've been insecure about my knowledge so maybe this just resonates with me more.
Last Thursday, my team and I went to a primary school to help out. We split up into partners and went in expecting to tell Bible stories, sing, and have fun with the kids. My partner Casey and I volunteered to help out with the 3rd grade. Our spirits were high until we walked into the classroom. Casey greeted the teacher with, "Hi" and the welcome was not warm. The teacher just stared at us grimly as she wrote on the blackboard. I interjected and explained that we didn't want to interrupt, we're just here to help. She told us to work the math problems that were on the board and go around and check the childrens' papers. Not exactly what I had in mind. As I checked the kids' work, I immediately realized how smart they all were. There were only a few that seemed to really be struggling.
Then came time to call people out.
The teacher began to go through the problems out loud and asking the kids for their answers in front of the entire class. They started to struggle. One girl was asked to spell "triangle" and she was not successful. The teacher coldly said, "You're in the third grade and you can't spell triangle? You're joking." My heart sunk and I could feel the girl's embarassment as I recalled a time when I was in a similar situation. The woman called on a boy for another problem and he couldn't do it even though it had been correct in his work book. She told him, "If you can't figure this out I'm going to step on your head." These kids didn't wince and it became adament that they had become immune to this treatment.
As you can decipher, the education system is much different than the U.S. I'm not bashing culture here but this teacher's heart needs to be softened. I have a conviction that the Lord wants us to show her love.
It makes no sense that the kids know what they're doing, but can't explain it in front of her. She even expressed that. I wanted to tell her, "It's because you're terrifying." However, I will show her love the way the Lord wants me to. I understand education is vigorous in Kenya and far more valuable, but underminding someone, even a child of how much they know is not the way to make people learn.
Please pray for this teacher, pray for those children, pray for African education and remember to never question a person's knowledge.
-Louanne
