School Systems

Soooo, I started this entry a while ago and have decided that I should finish it!

Lately, I've been reflecting on how different it must be to grow up in schools here in Tanzania compared to the US. One day, I was teaching music class to Class VI and I was trying to teach them about proper breathing technique when singing. I had them put their hands on their stomachs so they could feel the in and out motion of their diaphragm as opposed to the up and down motion of their shoulders. Some of them weren't getting it and I was seriously thinking about making them lay down on the floor with their exercise books on their stomachs. But, I simply can't bring myself to do that. Here, the floors are concrete and are forever covered in a layer of red dirt (which of course would stain their clothes). Yes, the floors in US schools are dirty too, but not nearly like here. Back home there are janitors to clean and mop the classrooms. Here students "sweep" the classrooms every day and they never get mopped. There is no electricity in the school and the windows are like chicken wire with open holes to naturally "cool" the rooms. Classroom resources are non-existent as is any form of playground equipment.

Here, children have to grow up so quickly in so many ways. If a child falls down, no one picks them up and comforts them until they stop crying. They simply have to brush it off and keep going. First graders through seventh graders must travel far distances to school, sometimes involving public transportation, sometimes not. But, there are no school buses that go around to each child's house. Sometimes they are alone and sometimes they are in groups, but either way, there is no parent supervision. In the US, many parents don't even like their dear children to ride the schools buses that are provided by the government. Instead, they physically use gas and time to cater to their children and drive them to school. All of these things just seem so silly now.  Do we really have to hold our childrens' hands through everything? Now I'm certainly am not saying that we should make our first graders walk miles to school, but shouldn't we consider a better way of doing things here? 

It just seems to me that the children back home have almost no responsibility and the children here have too much. But then, how do we find the happy medium between these two cultures? How do we in America take care of our children without baby-ing them and using up excess and unnecessary resources? I know at times it must be tempting to just go ahead and do what we've always done because we have the time and the means, but who are we really benefiting in the end?

Well I hope this has given you something to think about and I also hope you have a great week!!

May the Lord Bless You and Keep You,
~Christine