knowledge is power.

blessed hands secondary school.
teaching week MOJA.
may 17 - may 21.

this week, with kyle and lorna, I taught a form four class at blessed hands secondary school. they were amazing. unlike nakuru, where we trained last year, the students were very vocal and opinionated. they were not afraid to ask questions during our sessions, both for clarification purposes and to keep us on our toes. it was encouraging and refreshing as rather than just readily accepting our teachings, they internalized the information and formulated questions that displayed they really understood the material.

during the HIV kit, they asked questions regarding transmission in very unique situations that I’d never even considered. requesting the details about how HIV positive parents can give birth to an HIV negative child. inquiring about the mutation of the HIV virus, and the possibility of it becoming resistant to the various anti-retroviral treatments available. and acknowledging and dismissing the various stigmas and stereotypes that surround those individuals who are infected with the virus.

one anonymous question, in particular, that we received in the middle of the week demonstrated that the students were combining the information we taught in the various kits, in order to make responsible and positive life choices. to preface the question, I’ll share some of the topics that we teach about in life skills on the first day and gender and relationships on day two.

the life skills kit aims to give students a clear understanding of how to be successful communicators, how to express their interests assertively and how to respond effectively to peer pressure. through a variety of skits and relatable examples, we hope that the students gain an understanding of how these skills are relevant to their experiences and are able to apply these skills in the future. in the gender and relationships kit, we empower the students to determine their boundaries in their relationships and to assertively communicate these limits. in all relationships, we stress that each person can set their own relationship boundaries, and individuals must respect their own and other’s boundaries.

the question asked,

“you taught us that one way of responding to peer pressure is by saying “no” and at the same time you told us that for one to have a good communication, one should not be aggressive. I think if someone asked me to have sex with him, I would say “no”, that means that I will have been aggressive, since I’ll have stood up for my own interests without considering his. How should I respond, I am confused?”

this question demonstrated that the student really understood the material and internalized it to the point that he/she even questioned it. the anonymous questions asked at the end of each day are one of my favourite aspects of teaching. we encourage students, both at the beginning and end of our training, to always ask questions. and to keep asking questions even when they graduate from form four, because by asking questions they gain information. with this information, they are able to make informed, responsible decisions in their lives. as well, by asking questions, they gain knowledge. and knowledge is power.