I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think - Socrates

  Last Thursday,  January 26,  I attended my first Window to Kenya class. I actually missed the first evening of real class so I was about a week behind in discussion. Don't worry about me though, I read everything and I think I am caught up.
 Reading, you ask?  Why yes, we have to read in this class.

The first book we are reading is this guide to Kenya from Lonely Planet. It's a pretty standard guide with maps and descriptions inside. Inside this book, I learned that Chogoria has a hair salon called LA Hair Salon. Pretty neat, huh?!

The second book we are reading is Imperial Reckoning. This book is a detailed account of the British conflicts and conquests in Kenya. It's pretty graphic, but it opens ones eyes to the injustice suffered in Kenya. This book has, so far, really opened all of our minds to the reality of what these people have gone through. We discuss this book quite a bit in class.

The third book we are reading is "I Laugh So I Won't Cry." This book is so good. Personal accounts and interviews with Kenya women. Already we have gotten into some heavy discussion about the women and their roles in society.

Last Wednesday we did an activity where we split the group in two and one side was the elder group and the other side was the youth.
We answered questions about women and their place in the family and society as well as whether education was a good thing or not.
Elders think education is a good thing, but that it brings trouble into the communities. Many of the ideas the elders have about modern technology and values are contradicting.