This week we have been having mid-term examinations, which is a nice break from the usual routine, at least until it comes time to grading. I had a very nice day yesterday visiting with my newly wed teacher and his wife. They have a very nice apartment in Maua town, complete with electricity and running water. I didn't peek inside of the bathroom, but I suspect that they even have a shower.
That day their new furniture was being delivered, and when I arrived they had only one sofa and a computer. The furniture did not draw my attention, but what was unavoidable was listening to, and subsequentally watching, the video playing on the computer. It was some sort of pop band made up of singing boys with bleached hair. I guess they are called, “West Life,” but they might as well have been the Backstreet Boys or New Kids On the Block. These videos are so popular here. Well correction, there are like three of these videos that are popular here. They are played in the nice matatus, in the restaurants, and the privacy of peoples own homes it seems. Each of these videos features music that is unchanging from song to song and they are only an hour long, unless played on repeat, which always happens. For me, all I can think about while listening to them is the rate of brain decay during the experience, but for the people who play them, they must represent something more. I haven't brought up the subject yet, but I imagine it has something to due with the rapid changes that are taking place in Kenya. I certainly cannot imagine what it must be like for the 60 year olds who have lived through the Mau Mau revolution, through the years of Moi, and now walk around in villages that still do not have electricity, but where each person has their own cell phone. The experience of growing up with dirt floors and an economy with a daily event horizon contrasted with now having running water and a microwave must implant some values that differ from my own. I find it helpful to remember this when I don't understand someone's decision. It is not that they are Kenyan and I am American. It is not that Kenyans are unable to learn or appreciate mathematics, or that Americans are unable to relax and enjoy the moment. It is just that we have grown up so differently.
Then again, some things are the same. Later that day, I returned to school and found very many teachers still around a few hours after all of the teachers have usually departed. They told me that the form 4's had gone out on a field trip to watch a traveling play, but that they hadn't returned on time. When they did return, a few of the students were so drunk that when told to enter their classroom, they ran into the wall instead of making it through the door. There were even a few girls that were drunk, which is totally unacceptable in the culture here. Thankfully our BOG teachers (remember, they just finished secondary school and get hired by the schools directly to act as assistant teachers) had all decided to help control and monitor the students until the principal arrived. The principal was thoroughly upset for being called to school at 7:30pm, and upon arrival gave the two drunkest students a thorough slapping before leading them to the local police station.
I haven't figured out what to make of this situation yet. This is the sort of situation that happens in America also. What is maybe different are the techniques used for mitigating it. I think that power is less overtly forceful in America. The cops are ready to tackle someone, but they prefer to cuff you, put you in the drunk tank, and give you a fine in the morning. I think that the fate of these students was to get beaten a little while they were drunk, put in a cell at the police post, and then caned again in the morning.
In addition, I think that they will both be kicked out of school. I don't know exactly how I feel about this. On the one hand, that behavior is unacceptable and in conjunction with their previous offenses, they have shown that they have not fully reformed. Whether or not our school is capable of helping them reform I am not sure. Furthermore, what I want to think about a little bit is whether Kenya is better off to have them loitering outside of school, or causing trouble in school. They will disrupt people both places, but I tend to think that I will fear these boys more now that they are not trying to work towards a goal. I fear that their lives will involve more drinking and other deviant behaviors. At the same time, it is not fair for them to pull others down.
What makes the situation more regrettable is that one of the two was generally nice to me, and was one of 7 students in my form 3 physics class. He had shown me that he was capable of performing in physics and I wish that he had shown that he was also capable of making better choices.
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