Kargi Primary School

The children at Kargi Primary School

The next day we were in Kargi we were asked to help out in the Kargi Primary School. Little did we know what we were getting ourselves into. We arrived at the school with Barry (one of the mission interns in Kargi). We met the other teachers and devised a plan.  They told us that we were going to tell the class a story and that it couldn’t be a bible story…so the five of us gathered up and began to pick our brains, trying to remember all the stories we were told as little kids. We came up with the well-known fables, “The Three Pigs” and “Goldilocks and the Three Bears.”

Hannah and I went with Stella, Paige and Kelsey with Barry and Tyler was on his own to fend for himself haha. Stella informed Hannah and I as we were walking over to the classroom that she teaches English for class four.  Class four could have children anywhere from the ages of 10 to 16. Though their Primary School is set up similarly to ours in that they have K-8 and after class 8, they move on to Secondary School (if they pass the national standardized test). However, their school system differs in MANY ways, but one specific thing is that the children can enter school at any age and if they cannot pass one grade they could be stuck in that grade for several years (which is why there are sixteen year olds in the fourth grade!).

Stella had over 120 kids in her English classroom! The children were stacked on top of each other, seating several at a desk and even a few on the floor in the front of the classroom so they could see the what was written on the board. Stella handled her classroom very well. They seemed to respect and listen to her well. Though once Hannah and I entered the room, it caused a bit of disruption. Once they calmed down we introduced ourselves and begin telling our stories. We were very animated, acting out the characters of the Big Bad Wolf and Goldilocks. The children loved it! They laughed and clapped in unison for us. After we completed our stories we had nothing left to say…the teacher looked at us like we were supposed to complete the lesson for that day and she informed us that we had 80 minutes left to do whatever we wanted! Hannah and I looked at each other puzzled. So we continued, flying by the seat of our pants. We were relieved when we heard the sound of the bell, alerting that it was the end of class. We finished up and as we left, the children immediately swarmed us. They looked as us as if we were aliens and all of them wanted to touch us. The grabbed our hands, arms, anything they could get their hands on, and examined our skin so intently. Since half of them were my size and bigger, I could not escape the crowd of children surrounding me. Until a little boy (he must have seen I was in distress haha) grabbed my hand, shouting things in Swahili and began to move the children out of the way. I was free at last!

This experience was extremely eye opening. For as long as I can remember I have desired to work on the mission field and potentially live overseas one day. The reason I chose the profession of education was so that one day I would be able to utilize this skill in another country. Saying, “I want to move to Africa and be a teacher” takes on such a new light to me than it did before this experience. Not that I see it in a negative light by any means. I’m thankful that I have experienced the reality of it, instead of some fantasy made up in my mind.

"In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living from the gospel...for though I am free from all, I have made myself a servent to all, that I might win more of them."
1 Corinthians 9:14,19