Privilege

“The time has come,” said the Masai Warrior. “You all must get on the bus,” I did not know this at the time, but after the next few hours, my life would change forever.

I am in Africa with my family, on a trip of a lifetime. We are in the Masai Mara, Kenya. As we are traveling through the African plains, I am thinking “Why do we have to go to the school? I am supposed to be on vacation!”
As we are driving down the dirt roads, the school comes into sight. I can’t believe my eyes. The school we see is tiny. Jackson, our Masai warrior guide, tell us “They fit 45 students to a classroom and they sit 3 to a desk.”
I am shocked. The classroom looks like it can fit 15 people maximum and the desks are made out of wood and are decomposing. My mom seems curious about what the school is made out of because it doesn’t look like “normal” mud.
“What is the school made out?” asks my mom.
“ The school is made out of mud sticks and cow dung which means when it rains the walls get washed away leaving gaps.” replies Jackson.
I am observing the classroom and can see that there are not a lot of school supplies like paper and pencils. Some children would have to draw on the ground with sticks. My school has very spacious classrooms and has an average 24 students per class. Each student gets their own desk made out of metal and MDF. The school is built out of bricks, cement and is tested for earthquakes, so it is as safe as possible. Each class also has there own projector and each student has their own device for school work.

Jackson is telling our group that getting to school in the Masai Mara is a big struggle because parents do not have any cars for transportation so most children will walk.
“The average walk time to school for a child is 2 hours.” said the Masai Warrior
Now that seems like a long time for us to walk but they have to walk the 2 hours on the uneven rocky ground. The walk is also hazardous because of wild animals around like elephants, lions, and wildebeest. I realize how lucky I am to have public transportation that can take me to school. If I walked, it really isn’t that far and I would have good runners to do it in. Also, I don’t have to worry too much about wild animals we only have to keep a lookout for bears and our wild teachers.

After stopping I see a teacher from the school approaching.
“Not all of the children of the Masai Mara get to go to school. A lot of the children that live in the Masai Mara have to work with their families,” said the teacher.
As I look around at the houses around the school I witness the children getting buckets of water for food and crops, feeding and tending to the animals, working in the garden and helping fix the little wood and cow dung hut they live in. “For the children that do go to school most will only be at the school until they are grade 8 because after grade 8 you must pay for schooling which most families can’t afford,” said Jackson
“The students that do have the privilege to go to school past grade 8 understood and how big of a privilege it was to go to school and they were constantly studying,” said the teacher.
I realize in Canada, we have free public schools up to grade 12. Since it is the law that every child must be enrolled in some education, I did not understand how big of a privilege it is to go to school.

As we near the end of our trip my perspective on school and life is changing dramatically. I used to not care too much for school but now I realize how much schools means and the importance of studying. The trip also taught me that the harder you work in school now, will get you farther in the future. I also realized not to take anything for granted anymore because some of the children there may never have the chance to get a formal education. I appreciate you Mrs Thomasen!

Something I can work on is not telling the story but showing the story.

Something I did very well at was I had a good purpose.