We are in Tanzania! We have come from Nairobi and another town in Kenya near the border where we helped out at a high school for orphans and other students who are in poor living conditions. On Monday we assisted the teachers with teaching the high school students. Ryan, Malisa, and I taught a lesson in 10th grade chemistry about periodic trends and specifically about atomic radius. Then we moved on to 11th grade math and the students constructed tangent lines to a circle, bisecting angels, etc. Then I also helped teach 11th grade physics about work and energy.
The students at the school were incredible. When we were teaching we had the students full attention, even though I stumbled to remember what we had learned in high school chemistry, and the students really were appreciative of us coming to their school. The students were also so appreciative of their education and how important it is to them. The students I ran in to work really hard to succeed, getting up at 4:30 in the morning to get ready for school chores that start at 5, and they know that getting into university is very difficult because here in Kenya you have to score really well in order to get in to university. The dedication the students have for school and the discipline they have was encouraging. It was also challenging to re-evaluate all the opportunities that I have been given in America and not to take them for granted. I really enjoyed the opportunity to assist the teachers and to meet and be influenced by the students.
