Today we had an amazing day, although it did not necessarily start that way. We'd cancelled today's class, as the Kiberan youth seemed to need a break, and the Canadian team definitely needed a break. Unfortunately (or so it seemed at the start of the day), we'd agreed to have students from US International University (USIU) visit class, and then we would go to their university for lunch, and to talk about possible collaboration. Since we weren't having class, they couldn't come to observe our project, but we (somewhat reluctantly) agreed to meet at one, and go over to USIU, have lunch with the students, and talk about how we might work together. Reluctantly, because it meant that we weren't really having the day off.
At one, we were gathered at our meeting spot, but there was no one from USIU to get us. We ended up waiting almost 40 minutes for the bus to arrive. By this time, the students who had missed breakfast were pretty cranky. Even I was feeling tired--it was a warm, sunny day and all of a sudden, having to go to a meeting did not feel like fun. Finally, nearly 40 minutes late, the bus arrived to get us. Meanwhile, as we waited, the UBC Team begged me to offer to host the lunch at the hotel so they could eat lunch immediately and not have to get on a bus. I suggested this to the USUI faculty adviser, who immediately declared that we couldn't do
that--we had to go over to USIU. The UBC Team, to their credit, pulled themselves together enough to get on the bus.
The faculty member and I rode in his car, so we weren't with the students. It was about a 20-25 minute drive to the university. By the time we arrived, to watch the students exit the bus, we saw endless chatter--Kenyan and Canadian students talking as if they'd known each
other forever. It was so heartwarming.
We went right to the cafeteria for lunch. Afterwards, the students met, while I met with the faculty adviser and the associate dean. Bear in mind--this was Saturday!!! The students, the faculty adviser, and the dean had all come in to meet us--as our schedule doesn't permit meetings during the week. At the dean's office, the faculty adviser looked out the window to see the students scattered on the lawn, sitting talking to each other about our project and theirs (they do work on developing business plans as well). He was amused--noting that he'd told his students to take my students to a conference room, but instead they all camped on the lawn. He took pictures of them, he was so impressed with how they were getting along.
I had a very successful meeting with the associate dean and the faculty adviser, and we sketched out a number of ways we could collaborate. Part of my mission in Kenya is to make university connections at the faculty and student levels. We also need to figure out a way to have the Kiberan youth that we've been teaching be followed up. As faculty members, we had
a great meeting, and found many points of possible collaboration.
At the end of our meeting, the faculty adviser and I went out to see the students--they were engrossed in sharing with each other their respective projects, and their dreams for how to work together. I wanted to burst into tears as I listened to them talk to each other. On the outside, they look so different--the Black students from Kenya, and the multicultural
students from Canada (we have three Caucasians, two Asian Canadians, and one Ismaeli student whose family is from Tanzania). On the inside, they were so close together. Their faculty adviser noticed the same thing. He started snapping more pictures of them--wanting to record a moment when two diverse cultures came together, so easily, so quickly, looking for ways to collaborate more closely in the future. We could barely pry them apart, to get them onto the bus to return us back to where we are staying. For once, I had all the patience in the world--my heart swelled with pride at the way the students had gotten along, and I would have gladly watched them interact for the rest of the afternoon.
Tonight, at dinner, the UBC Team said they had the best meeting today. They'd forgotten their initial reluctance to have the meeting, and now were talking about how much they wanted to work together with their new friends, to help young, disadvantaged people of Kenya learn how to write business plans.
If only students were asked to solve more of the problems of the world.
Posted by Nancy Langton
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