My Time at Kiwimbi

By: Henry Ingrey

This past summer I was able to volunteer in Amagoro, Kenya through Kiwimbi at their Library and Community Learning Center, and at a couple of schools in the area. Mathematics has always been one of my favorite subjects and this was a great opportunity for me to share my passion with other students. While in Kenya I taught form fours (grade 12 students) and a couple of classes at a local middle school. The math topics were ranging from multiplication to simple integrals and derivatives. The majority of the time I worked at St. Thomas Amagoro Girls Secondary School, starting the day at 6:30 am and normally staying until around 4:00 in the afternoon after teaching three to four classes each day with the form fours and often stepping into another math class to observe the other teachers or to assist with the lessons. I was working with a team of four teaching assistants from Kiwimbi which allowed me to learn as I went. I learned different techniques for solving math problems that differed from what I had been taught.

Listening to and spending time with the Kiwimbi teaching assistants them helped me to learn more about Kenya and its people. I am really grateful for having had the opportunity to travel and work in a different country in a place and with a culture that was new to me. The people that I interacted with during the two months that I was there were very welcoming and hospitable, there is a true sense of community in Amagoro that I sense is often missing in the US.

Teaching can be one of the most rewarding experiences as you can watch your students learn and grow each day. This experience taught me a lot about who I am and showed me a new perspective on life through experiencing another culture.