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Africa is Amazing

For me, working in Africa is a special privilege. Not only am I close to ‘home’, but also, I am able to fulfill a soul-deep desire to improve the chances of girls and women to live in more nurturing world. And while helping a few girls at a time might seem almost insignificant because of the sheer need globally, for us at Valvisions Foundation, watching our girls flourish and blossom under our care is incredibly gratifying. The Kenya girls are now in their third year of secondary school; three years ago, they arrived in Nakuru after a long, dusty bus ride from their distant village of Nginyang. We met them at the bus stop and saw shy, awkward teenagers who could barely make eye contact or speak English. Almost all our efforts to be friendly were rebuffed or met with barely imperceptible hostility. It was a challenge to maintain a positive outlook in the face of such obvious distrust. How were we going to reach these girls; to be able to communicate that we were not merely sponsors with ‘school fees and school supplies’, who were fulfilling functional objectives? Because for us, putting girls through school is more of a transformative journey for each of them. We identify with all of our girls at an individual level; we celebrate and nurture their talents, we embrace and address their shortcomings. We think of what we offer as soul-healing, an experience that will bring about a fundamentally positive change in the way each girl perceives her place in a world which she has the power to create. Three years later, with our girls only one year away from completing high school (a huge milestone!), we can finally see with pride, the fruits of our gentle labor. The changes which matter to us are many: no longer strangers to each other, we have bonded like guardians with their children. We give and receive affection and respect. Communication is a busy highway, in both directions words of encouragement and affirmation are spoken and listened to; eye contact and spontaneous laughter no longer strangers in our midst. On a functional level, we have supported dozens of girls in their pursuit of a higher education. That in itself is a worthy contribution. Yet what sets us apart is how we translate our successes: these girls born into a repressive community that practices FGM, whose inherent...

Teaching a Second Language

We focus a lot on speaking English at the holiday house in Uganda. When the girls arrived last holiday, they learned the rules of the house, the most important of which, after personal safety and hygiene, was for them to use English at all times but most especially with each other and in the presence of visitors to the house. This was all for a good cause because, ultimately, the English language may be the single most important factor in whether our students succeed at school and at their chosen careers. Like everybody else in Uganda and most of Africa, our students belong to a specific tribe, and along with other cultural legacies, their tribe – the Sebei – speaks a unique dialect. For many people, this ‘language’ is the first they learn from their parents and other people they interact with as children. It is only later, when they start formal education that the girls will be exposed to other languages. In Uganda the official language of instruction in schools is English. This is also the language used in all aspects of professional and social life. For the first fourteen years of their lives, our students were exposed almost exclusively to their local language; even at their primary schools, it was used more often than English. As a result, they joined high school last year with such limited fluency in English that they are now facing severe challenges at school. They need to master English in order to perform well in the arts as well as the sciences – the vast curriculum covers up to fourteen subjects including Mathematics, Chemistry, Physics, Biology as well as Literature, geography, history, commerce, agriculture, music, Art and Christian Religious Education (CRE). The English language is also taught and examined as a subject, as is, ironically, French! Therefore, fluency in English -reading, writing, and comprehension – is critical. In order to compete with other students at a national and international level, our girls need all the help they can get to overcome their discomfort with using English. Apart from obvious problem areas like grammatical errors and a limited vocabulary, we noticed that they are very shy and nervous when they have to speak out aloud; we have also noticed the girls giggle and make fun of each other whenever one of them makes a mistake. By default, they speak to each other constantly...

Uganda Holiday House

Imagine being sixteen and never having been to the movies. Imagine being a teenager and never having had the chance to own a pair of jeans. Imagine being a girl and never having gone shopping for a pretty dress. For our students in Uganda, all this was a part of their reality, until they recently spent three weeks in Kampala on a VF-sponsored holiday program. Instead of heading to their family homesteads in rural Kween (a district in Eastern Uganda), a townhouse in the suburb of Kireka became their home. Instead of rooming with their siblings, each of the girls had a bunk bed to herself in what was essentially a three-week long sleepover with her friends. The girls were extremely excited at the prospect of experiencing city life for the first time. On the first day in the house, they raced up and down the stairs exploring the bedrooms, the living room area with its imposing flat screen TV and, of course, the kitchen which was well stocked to take care of ravenous, calorie-hungry teenagers. They quickly learned how to turn on the TV; none of the girls has ever had a TV in their house. They had never seen a gas stove, and they were taught to approach the use of one with caution and attention to safety. But best of all, the girls had abundant electricity and running water available at the touch of a hand. All day, and all night, these two things that are so common place – but have always been unavailable to many – were present to make their lives easier. It was truly incredible for all of them. Ask the girls to describe a day in their lives at home in Kween, and they all say everyday starts with a precarious journey to the river to fetch water for family use. According to their accounts, the river runs through a forest that harbors men and boys who routinely waylay, abduct and sexually assault girls before melting back into the forest. It is this menacing environment that the girls wake up to every day. They speak of it lightly, with that curious matter-of-fact attitude many teenagers seem to possess, but how can that be? They also tell of endless chores, in the house and on the small-holder farms which provide their families with food and extra income. As teenage girls, they have...

Making Choices

Should culture be harmful, and if so, can an individual make the choice not to participate in this culture and still remain a part of it? This was the key issue at the first Choice Club meetings held at our three high schools: Shiners High school in Nakuru Kenya, Gayaza High School and Mount Of Olives Kakiri in Kampala, Uganda. The students wanted to establish whether it is possible or even acceptable for a woman to make a unilateral decision not to participate in harmful cultural practices such as FGM (Female Genital Mutilation). The answer at the Gayaza High School meeting was almost unanimous; nearly all the girls were vehement in their desire to refuse to be cut. They expressed that even though it is generally unacceptable for women to fail to ‘obey their culture,’ in the case of FGM, ‘disobedience’ is necessary because the practice is medically harmful, unnecessary and can result in death. One student, however, said she might have to listen to what her mother tells her to do and be obedient even at such a great risk to her health. This is because girls who are ‘properly’ raised must obey their parents; she would trust that her mother knows best and would not knowingly put her daughter’s life in danger. Another student offered the thought that since every woman is allowed to make a choice, women who choose FGM should also have their choices respected. The question that seemed to linger after this statement was voiced was ‘was this really a choice, after all?’ What followed was a lively debate that has become the hallmark of our Choice Club meetings. The Choice Club in each school was established as a forum for candid discussion of all issues that pertain to the welfare and progress of women. All our members are aware that we must remain respectful of each other’s opinions and disagreements are solved amicably and rationally. In this case, we focused the debate on the universal rights of women and scientific evidence available on the practice of FGM. The students acknowledged that while it is a fundamental right for every woman to participate in her culture, it should not infringe on her well-being. They also reviewed with greater scrutiny the practice of FGM and agreed the harm far more than outweighed any benefits, and that in fact, there are no benefits to a woman...

Back to School

The new school year began in Uganda on February 2nd 2015, and our scholars were amongst thousands of high school students traveling from distant places back to school. Our Uganda girls arrived at the Valvisions Foundation office in Kampala early that morning, after the usual six-hour bus ride from their homes in Kapchorwa district. Not even the long journey could put a damper on their mood; they were all excited to be going back to school. The holiday was great, they said, but after more than eight weeks at home, they were eager for something different. At Valvisions Foundation, we are always relieved and thrilled when our girls return from the long December holiday without incident, as this can be a highly risky time for girls who live in communities that still practice Female Genital Mutilation/cutting (FGM). It is during these long school holidays that a girl may be cut, or even married off, simply because she has a more prolonged presence in her village at this time. As a boarding school, Mount of Olives College Kakiri (MOCK) is a safe place for our girls to be for the next three months of the first term, and the rest of the school year. They were welcomed back to school by the principal of MOCK, Ms. Regina Laboke. Ms. Laboke has over 30 years of experience in education, most of which have been spent on educating teenage girls at various establishments in Uganda. According to Ms. Laboke, the girls sponsored by Valvisions Foundation add a unique flavor to the school, because they are a physical representation of their community and therefore, provide everyone else with a chance to learn more about their distinctive culture. Most people tend to associate the Sebei tribe – to which our girls belong – with only one ‘negative’ aspect, that of FGM. And yet, the Sebei, like other African tribes, obviously have a multi-faceted heritage, one that is also rich in music and folklore amongst other things. For example, the people of the mountainous region from which they come, are incredibly athletic, most famously for winning international medals in long distance marathons. This has been attributed to the fact that they are exposed to hard terrain and thin mountain air from childhood. This is one of the reasons the Principal of MOCK has taken our girls under her wing; she has already noticed that several...

Kenya Farming with Teenagers

For many high school teenagers in urban areas in East Africa, the idea of being a farmer or spending any time farming is less than agreeable; in fact if you ask them, they say farming is not ‘cool”. Growing up in a technology-driven environment with a focus on flashy gadgets like cell phones and tablets, there is undoubtedly more pressure to be considered ‘cool’ and hip, especially during the school holidays when teenagers would rather spend all their time and what resources they have on fun events like concerts, movies, or hanging out at the mall. Our holiday house in Kinangop, Naivasha, has eight teenage girls enjoying a much-needed rest and relaxation period after a grueling school year. Our girls have all graduated successfully into Form 3, though school is still weeks away in January. Right now, they are spending long days relaxing in front of the TV, reading novels and romping outside in the breathtakingly fresh air of the Rift Valley. But they have also embarked on a truly remarkable project; each of the girls recently tilled a small allocation on the farm and planted a vegetable. Alexine planted onions, Vivian planted Kale, Sandra planted cabbages, Irene planted potatoes, and Cecilia planted spinach. Vemiah planted Napier grass to feed the cows on the farm, while Helidah planted peas and finally, Janet planted carrots. The project was designed by VF coordinator, Grace Wandia, as a way to encourage our young women to contribute to their own welfare and learn important life lessons. Because despite the push towards education and professional jobs, the reality for most people in Africa, is that they have to maintain a close relationship with the land in order to achieve food and financial security. However, many young people no longer have a positive attitude towards farming even though after graduation, the difficulty of finding a job may eventually force them to return to rural areas to farm for a living. But our girls took to the project with incredible enthusiasm. They worked together, helping each other out with the preparation of the land and the sowing of the seeds. As the rains progress, they will spend more time on their allocations weeding and tending their crops in various ways to ensure a bountiful harvest. Come April, says Ms. Wandia, when the girls are home for the Easter Holiday, they will be able to enjoy the...

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