Chris' Story

Chris  having fun with students from North Highridge Primary

When my friend Peggy, the fearless leader and founder of PACE, invited me to come to Kenya, I was elated. I almost immediately said yes but thoughts of my undergraduate thesis made me hesitate. I let some time fly by until Peggy contacted me again and asked me for a reply and this time I had ready an emphatic YES! Over the month of January, Peggy provided me with the grounds to do all the touristy things in Kenya like go on a safari and drink lots of Kenyan tea, but most importantly she also opened up to me the world of PACE.

I must admit that my first day at North Highridge Primary School was filled with ups and downs. The welcoming atmosphere at the school made me feel secure in my volunteering. I was impressed by the vigour of the students and their willingness to learn. All the children were well behaved and provided much joy when they would call me by name and answer my questions. On the converse, I was very nervous about the world I had just entered. The children had more enthusiasm for learning than I had ever known beforehand. In my home state of Michigan in the center of the United States, most children don’t come to school super excited to learn day after day for one reason or another, and the overwhelming fear that I couldn’t promote more excitement for learning than the children had already enveloped me. After all, isn’t an educator’s job to leave the pupils more excited about a subject after a lesson than they were before?

So, I took a night to think over my day. My eureka moment hit me when I thought back to all the volunteering I had done in the past. My memories comforted me as I remembered the students’ eyes when I spoke to them. I suddenly realized that my doubts about myself served no purpose in their world. All I had to do was impart the knowledge I had gained from those wiser than me and everything would work out. I simply needed to stand before the students, guide their thoughts to completion, and absorb the positive energy from their grins. I’m glad I came to that conclusion early on in my stay!

The students’ positivity and zest for learning only made me a stronger educator than before. I honestly believe I gained more from the students than they did from me. I gained acceptance from my students on two fronts: as a foreigner and as a new educating presence in their classroom. I am proud to have contributed three weeks of my life to PACE. I learnt a lot about educating the youth in Kenya and I made some new friends along the way. Thank you, PACE!
(Chris, USA)