Because It Seems So Unfair

These kids break my heart. Some are almost as old as I am, but our lives have been so different that it makes me want to cry. I do not know for certain why, and I hate that I feel this way—I should not—I have no right—it isn’t appropriate. I will admit that at least part of the reason why I tear up is out of pity, and pity is not something I should be feeling for these people who are so much stronger than I am.

Yet pity I do feel—and oh! Such a pity!—for these kids. Not to receive the education they deserve, not to be given the chances they need not to be able to become what they can be! They have dreams and hopes and ambitions just like any other children in the world, and the only reason why most of them cannot achieve these dreams is because they were born here, in this abysmal poverty, instead of in a Global North country or a well-off family. The kids in Muhuru Bay—or, indeed, in any destitute corner of the world— are no less intelligent than the kids anywhere else. They are, for the most part, simply less educated. For no fault of their own.

Sherryl said that she started WISER because of moral outrage. She was so angry at the unfairness of the situation here that she had to do something about it, and so she found the money to build WISER. But she also said that there is a difference between building a building and building a school, and seeing the education system here has made me realise how very, very true this is. These kids are all enrolled in school, yes, but are they really learning? How often do they actually attend, and when they do, for how long are they actually in class, with a teacher? Do they have books to look at, people to turn to if there is something they don’t understand? And the teachers—how qualified are they? Most are severely underpaid, and many of the ones at private schools are Form 4 graduates who have not gone to teacher training college. Some of the English that they use is improper, or at least awkward to my Westernised ears. I hesitate before I underline some of the clumsy phrases in their compositions, because if this is the way that the adults speak, then how are the kids supposed to know any better?

No, it is not the buildings which make the school, it is the people. Sherryl has put together a very dedicated team at WISER, albeit at a cost. None of the teachers are from around Muhuru Bay, all were educated beyond university, and several hail from Nairobi or other sizeable cities. Most of them are truly lovely, lovely people (like Teacher Violet, who just seems really nice, for lack of a more suitable word).They also receive considerable salaries for agreeing to come and live here. Unfortunately, the primary school teachers do not have the same incentive.

The money, the money! It is not a problem that can be solved solely with money, but more of that stuff would certainly help!