We knew it would be difficult long before we got there. We were told that Mfangano Island, near Mbita, Kenya, was “the furthest you can go and still be on Earth.” Even in Mbita, a comparative metropolis, conditions were pretty rough in the schools. The Teachers Without Borders – Canada team visited ten schools the first week we were there. None of them had electricity. … Continue reading Why Integrate?

Here’s a quiz. Look at these five pictures. Which one was not taken at a school? The first time we visited a school in South Africa, we couldn’t help but notice the security in place. The school was surrounded by an eight-foot fence topped by razor wire. We drove through the gate and pulled up to the school and parked. When we got out, we … Continue reading Security

Admittedly, this post has little (if anything) to do with education or technology. But many people have asked to see some (not all, please!) of my photos from the trip to Africa this summer. My darling bride has collected these as her favorites. They make up about 5% of the total, most of which will eventually end up on Flickr. http://www.flickr.com/apps/slideshow/show.swf?v=71649 Apologies for not telling … Continue reading The Best Photos

What did you learn this summer? I’m going to be reflecting on this for quite a while. But here’s my first attempt at documenting the things I’ve learned (or re-learned) in my Teachers Without Borders – Canada experience this summer. We’re working on common problems. When asked what the major challenges are facing effective technology integration and use in schools, teachers in both South Africa … Continue reading First Five Lessons

I’ve been trying to think of a good way to answer The Question for the last week or so. As I get closer to home, I know that I have to come up with an answer soon. The question, of course, is this: “How was your trip?” How much time do you have? I’m not sure I can boil six weeks into a couple sentences. … Continue reading The Question

On our way from Mbita to Gilgil yesterday, we took a little detour to Kogelo for a little visit with Mama Sarah. We didn’t know what to expect. We thought we were just going to visit the town, maybe take a few photos of signs saying “this is the place, blah blah blah.” It wasn’t like that at all. We drove up to the homestead … Continue reading Mama Sarah

For the first week in Mbita, I kept asking myself (and others), “what are we doing here?” We’re supposed to be teaching technology integration — helping teachers use technology effectively to complete projects and improve learning in other curricular areas. But as we made our school visits, it became increasingly clear that they’re not ready for that. Of the ten schools we visited, none had … Continue reading A Drop in the Ocean

It’s no secret that Kenyan roads are a bit difficult to navigate. I can’t speak to the cities too much — we’ve done most of our traveling in rural areas. But you really have to pay attention when driving in Kenya. The roads themselves are generally dirt or dirt mixed with stone. In many places, there are concrete culverts under the road to allow water … Continue reading Road Construction

I knew, before arriving in Kenya, that there were differences in education between boys and girls. Most girls don’t complete school. Of the few that do, practically none pursue higher education. Of the 51,000 students enrolled in the Suba district last year, 134 enrolled in university this year. Assuming an equal distribution of students among the grades (which is not at all the case because … Continue reading Educating the Girl Child

We spent a few days this week on safari in Kenya. Masai Mara is an amazing place. It’s the northern part of the Serengeti, encompassing 600 square miles of grassland. Each year, millions of animals migrate to the area from the Serengeti plains, and it’s a wonderful place to see the big animals. On the mara, you get the distinct feeling that you’re on the … Continue reading Social Networking on the Mara

Last night, Terry asked us each what our top two moments from South Africa are. After three weeks here, there are many. I’m sure I’ll be boring friends and family with stories from South Africa for many years to come. But this has not just been a vacation. The best moments were those that an ordinary tourist wouldn’t have seen. The township tour probably had … Continue reading Top Two

As we wind down our stay in Cape Town, we’re visiting teachers in the schools and working with them individually to try to take the next steps after the workshops. I haven’t really blogged much about the actual workshops. We started with five days of sessions for teachers at Liwa Primary School in the Phillipi township. The teachers represented 20 different schools, with at least … Continue reading It's Not About the Tools