SEAVURIA

St. Johns students welcomed us with a wonderful display of talent, including dancing, singing and poetry readings. In their classroom (see photo below), MaryMargaret (a.k.a. Manosi – means blessing in Swahili) used an iPad to show the participating SeaVuria students pictures of Seattle. At first the SeaVuria students were only girls, but boys were added later. During our afternoon together, the students learned about what is required to evaluate the quality of water and how Seattle and Vuria students will collaborate virtually via the internet. St. Johns students also learned about how an electrochlorinator (SE200 from Cascade Design Inc.) works to produce hypochlorite (OCl-), as well as, the chemistry involved.

After our in-class presentation were organized students to go to their water source or conduct interviews. Jamie and I participated in helping to film interviews of students. The students shared information related, but not limited to: name, age, school, hobbies, water quality at their school and home, what they want to be when they grow up, and questions they have for their partner students in Seattle. The SeaVuria teacher at St. Johns, Linus, also helped us organize and motivate the students around water quality.

One major concern that was expressed to us about students at St. Johns is that there is a struggle with drug and alcohol abuse. The hope is that engaging students more in relevant science topics is a better engagement in their learning, an appreciation for environmental factors affecting their health, and new motivations.

On a positive note, the Water Minister walked to the school’s water source with MaryMargaret, Tami and students, and is available to support the SeaVuria students on their water quality projects. This provides these students a wonderful opportunity to obtain a broad understanding of water quality concerns and solutions.

Today we ventured to Dalmas Moka. It was quite a journey over a very bumpy road. It was not quite as far as Kitumbi but coming to the end of a very busy week, the trip was not short! The school sits on a beautiful hilltop with a spectacular view of Mt. Kilimanjaro. The setting and scenery are incredible, however the facilities are rugged. The bathroom is by far the worst-a rudimentary pit toilet-one for the entire school. There is a nice view from the pit latrine which might be of some value.
Facilities and furniture are minimal and very utilitarian. Dalmas Moko is a day school that serves the local children of the area. It is a mixed gender school with about 200 students running from Form one through Form four. The principal enjoys talking to groups and was quite gregarious although his recall of the names of his staff members left some room for improvement.
Upon our arrival, we were treated to a local dance-the Dalmas Moko version of a line dance with the rhythm provided by a plastic bucket. It was actually one of the better drums we have seen! From there we enjoyed tea in the science lab before filming or heading out to find the water source for the school. Jamie and Jeff did their magic with the video and the students while MaryMargaret and I set out for another hike. Although they have piped water to the school their water source is quiet a distance from the school and required that we drive part way. The road was lined with primary students heading home for lunch and they were so excited to see “mzunga” (white people).
After a bumpy twenty minute ride we arrived at the base of the source. From there it was another nice hike up to the water. As we talked to the students, we had a short encounter with Safari ants which initiated some quick movements and rearranging. As we finished up, we learned that the water source actually started further up the mountain. We gave three boys some data collection equipment and sent them up the hill. They were astonishing to watch run up and then back down the hill!
It was a hot but very beautiful day. The students were interested although the area is rife with teen pregnancy and alcohol abuse. As Father Lagho talked with them about alcohol use, they readily admitted that alcohol consumption was part of their life. Education is primary to getting them out of that mindset and on the road to a sustainable future.

Bura girl’s school is located in a small region called Bura. It is a small single gender boarding school of 700 students and has been given national status due to its high performance. Students are selected based on their primary school test scores and only the top girls are offered admission. We first met in a Science classroom that had a smart board indicating a clear distinction from the other schools. It was significantly better equipped and cleaner.

Steven Makutu was our host who is the SeaVuria teacher at Bura. He is also in charge of the regional Kenyan Science conference. We could tell right away the difference in engagement between the girls at Bura compared to the rest. It didn’t take long to get them to raise their hand, ask questions, and share information about their school and the relationship with water. For Jeff and Jamie, this was a relief after some cumbersome days of filming. It didn’t take very much coaxing for the girls to eloquently share facts and ask great questions for the students in Seattle.

We started the morning at Ngami Secondary school. It is close enough to the convent to walk but Solomon was gracious enough to drive us. Ngami opened in 1982 but slumbered for a year after the opening year. “Slumbering” happens when a school’s performance isn’t up to par. Upon awakening the school has continued to improve in performance.
We were met by the principal, Patience, who talked about the history of the school and what some of the challenges are for the students. One of the main issues impeding the student’s education involves conflicts with animals. The main animal of conflict is the wild elephant. Apparently the elephants prevent students from getting to school safely.
Patience explained that the science scores have traditionally been low however Biology is much improved this year. Chemistry is also showing some improvement. From Patience’s office, we took tea in the science lab with the rest of the staff. As with the other schools, there is a 30 minute tea break in the morning and in the afternoon as well as an hour and a half for lunch.

The science lab was a large room with cement counter around the perimeter. There were several sinks and Bunsen burner jets around the counter. The supply room was well equipped with glassware and everything was very well organized. They even had a “fume hood” and a lab tech.
We were introduced to the 40 students chosen for SeaVuria as soon as tea was over. They started in small groups of 4-5 students and determined what their goals for this program would involve. They were curious about a number of things and had some great insight into water issues in their area. They are also very curious about how Seattle gets its water clean.
Jeff and Jamie took half outside to video while MM and I took the other half out for a trek to the school’s water source down the driveway, through the town, and past a small field. The water was in a holding chamber designed to allow the sediment to settle out. There was also a pump house to move the water to the school ensuring that students at Ngami don’t have to fetch water every day. Although this water has two chambers to allow sediment to settle out, it has no filtration system. So the water for this school is completely untreated.
Back at the school we did a short chemistry lesson with the SE200. I asked the students if they believed they could purify their water with a bit of salt. Involving the students was fun although one young man did the unthinkable when asked how we would know that we were really using salt-he tasted it! Not a scientific practice to be encouraged! One young man was extremely curious about how he could prove that the SE200 really makes chlorine. He was very excited to learn that that his teacher was going to bring back the tools to do just this.
As we left, the students suggested that their teacher be sent to Seattle to learn. Even better they suggested would be if they could come to Seattle!

We arrived at St. Mary’s as we have arrived everywhere in Kenya so far late. As with our other Kenyan encounters, our tardiness doesn’t seem to impact the warmth and sincerity of the greeting we are accorded. The principal who ushered us into his office and gave us an overview of the school welcomed us. Like the other schools, it appears that their success if measured by their performance on the Kenyan National exams. Each teacher was listed with his or her scores in a spreadsheet. A grade of C or better is considered successful. There is no grade inflation in Kenya!
We introduced ourselves to the staff and to the SeaVuria students and quickly split into two groups. Jamie and Jeff took one group and worked on filming their stories-who they were and where they got their water. MM and I took the other group and tromped out to find the water source for the school. It was a hike-up a steep rock and through a field. The water is polluted but it is running and better looking than that in Kitumbi. We gave the boys our two cameras and asked them to film the proceedings. This is the first school that we have been to that is one gender only. In the other three schools, the boys have been reluctant to speak up or interact. Here, without the girls, they were much more open and verbal. With the cameras in hand, there was a great deal of talking and animation. When asked about the problems of their water source, they were very articulate and extremely well educated. They talked about pit latrines, animal waste, and fertilizers using nitrates, sulfates, and phosphates. MM showed them how to use the App on the android cell phone and they were very quick to pick up the process.
Once we managed to navigate safely back down the hillside, we walked back to the school to see a short presentation. They did three different tribal dances and they were amazing. The girls at Kitumbi said that boys don’t dance because they can’t move their hips but that is not what we saw today at St. Mary’s.
St Mary’s is the second school out of the 4 visited so far that has running water.
We were given a short tour of the science lab, which is very well equipped by Kenyan standards compared to what we have seen in the past two days. They even have a lab assistant to help set up the labs and practical’s. Khadijah, the young teacher, has done a brilliant job with very few resources. Her lab is well set up and her boys are well educated. The day finished with an overview of the project, an invitation to learn and a demonstration of the SE200. They had lots of questions and some great suggestions. Most notably the fact that the average Kenyan does not have a car or a motor bikes so a battery is not a common source of power. They had some suggestions for David on ways to improve the SE200.
We finished a great day with some inspiring music courtesy of Solomon, our driver. He generously taught us words and music and laughed at our attempts to imitate his pronunciation. Despite our difficulties with pronunciation, we are prepared to preform a song in Swahili tomorrow at dinner! Lala salama….

Tami and Kitumbi girls going to the water source

It was so much fun to be back at Kitumbi today. It was where I was given my name Manosi last year. The students remembered and seem genuinely excited to begin the project again this year. We were entertained by the traditional dance from the primarily girl group. This year that had painted their faces and even their legs and had created a headpiece from the large grass reeds. Great dance, very entertaining. They were followed by a Kenyan rapper and his support on the drums. As it turns out, this rapper was an 8th grade drop out that the kids invited for our visit. He was very entertaining and asked me to make a donation to improve his drums.

Kitumbi HS

All of the form 3 students will participate in the program this year so we decided to split the group in 2. Jamie and Jeff stayed back and worked with the students to tell the story of their school and their lives. The filming was successful once we gave the cameras to the kids and let them tell their stories to each other.

Tami and I went to the water source. It was very interesting to learn that the water container really belonged to the school and the school allowed the neighbors to use it free of charge. The water source was not very clean and one of the ponds was nearly dry, leaving behind a copper colored residue. I took the time to explain the project on site as to what data we would collect and how we would collect and share that data. I did this by interviewing the students to help them share with us the details of what they knew about their water. We learned that they fertilize their crops and the runoff reached their water as did the fecal wastes of their cows. After much probing, the student were able help construct the details of the water testing and analysis. I share with them the android ap and they seemed excited. We then hiked up bolders to see the source from a higher vantage point in Gangow forest. It was very interesting to see the cistern storage and that the source was a wetland. I think this will be a great project site.

The walk back was delightful. Three girls stayed back so we could talk to each other. They were very animated and asked so many questions about our lives. They shared their background too. When we arrived back, I explained the project further and David, Jeff and Tami demonstrated the SE200.

The girls brought down blue paint made of chalk and water to paint my face before we went. We were off to St. Mary’s ….

Views from Mlamba

The day was planned in a way that it was difficult for all of us to see both schools so Tami and I left to go to Mlamba.  When we arrived our cheerful Annah greeted us.  We went directly to the principal’s office, Simon who is Sister Marianna’s brother.  He explained that even though their school is very new, it is ill equipped with teaching supplies and basic furniture needs. He then shared their plight with water.  Every student needs to bring a jerry can filled with water to his or her school and place it in a tank.  The top of the tank has a rice sack over the opening to filter the water.  They do not tread the water with chemicals.  Tami and I tried to get the students to tell their water story, which was like pulling teeth.  But once we took them away from their classmates, they became quite animated and showed us all about the source, how they carried the water, where it is stored and how it is used.  The kids were great and we were able to capture the story.

Jamie and Jeff helped to interview the students and capture their personal stories.

Gathered to discuss water issues

Students at Mlamba are required to fetch water every day for school use

David was with us so he demonstrated the SE200.  He did a great job and the kids were most interested.  They all came up to waft the fluid in the SE200 and were quite impressed when we told them that they just made enough chlorine for 200 liters.  Peter, their Chemistry teacher was fantastic at engaging the students in a lesson on electrolysis.

It was a full but most productive day.  We came back to download our videos and discussed how we could do our day more efficiently tomorrow.

Reflection: Mwakawiwi was a wonderful experience for the SeaVuria team.  The students have a wonderful computer lab connected to the internet that provided the students and opportunity to research water quality issues while we were filming the “stories” of other students.  In the videos we captures, the students talk about who they are (e.g. age, grade, favorite subject and hobbies), as well as, information about their water, and questions for their Seattle SeaVuria partners.  The students also taught Jamie how to play netball.

Mwakawiwi was established as a technical school in 1985, but is not a secondary school with one stream of 201 students.  Currently, the school is provided with 10 teachers, employed by the government.  Subjects taught include English, Swahili, biology, physics, chemistry, physics, history, government, Christian religious studies and geography.  Mwakawiwi has more boy than girls and is a Catholic-sponsored school.  According to our discussions with teachers and administrators in Kenya, before independence education was provided by either the government or faith organizations.  After independence around 1968-69, nationalization of schools began.  This fueled disagreements, but has ultimately resulted in some schools being “sponsored” (managed) by the Catholic Church.

In terms of students, Mwakawiwi has secondary students in Form 1-4 (see Table below):

Empowering Youth with a Global Perspective of Global Issues engages students from Seattle area schools with schools in rural Kenya to discuss the issue of “Who has the right to clean water?”  Science teachers from Seattle and Kenya (KE) have collaborated to design water lessons to give students the underpinnings of scientific knowledge to approach this important issue.  Students in both areas communicate their ideas, share local data collected, study innovative solutions and develop a call to action.  The target audiences are high school aged students, with a focus on girls.  In the Seattle area, schools include Cleveland High School, Mercer Island High School, Glacier Peak High School and others.  In KE the partnering schools are in a poor rural region.  The goal of the project is to engage students in authentic science curriculum, enhanced through technology and to empower youth, especially young women, as global citizens.  Our partnership with Cascade Design, developers of the SE200, water chlorination system will expose our students to engineering of an innovative design to solve a global problem.  Interaction with female scientists will serve as a source of inspiration to our girls to see themselves as the scientists and problem solvers of tomorrow.

SeaVuria conducted and assessed a pilot program last school year. The pilot was deemed successful and the cooperating teachers dedicated themselves to work on phase 2 of the partnership selecting world water issues as the unit topic. MM Welch, SeaVuria ED, and Laura McLaughlin of Cascade Design (CDI) began discussions on how to work collaboratively on a unit of study that embedded engineering design and the SE 200 electrochlorinator, developed by CDI, into the science principles focused on during the unit. Teachers in Kenya were asked to study their Science Standards and give input on how the study of water quality and water purification methodologies might fit into their curriculum. On November 11, 2011, eight teachers from the Seattle area were hosted by CDI to brainstorm possible topics, engaging laboratory experiments and Internet resources to embed in our unit. We focused on how to use the SE 200 to engage students in the issues of humanitarian and disaster relief. CDI scientist and engineers collaborated with teachers during the session. Teachers made a commitment to teach the unit in their Chemistry, Biology or Environmental Science classes in the spring of 2012. MM Welch continues to revise and enrich the unit consulting with several collaborators, including scientist and engineers at CDI. Through this carefully designed unit we intend to engage students in STEM topics with the hook of social justice during the spring of 2012, empowering youth as global citizens. A small cohort of Seattle teachers plans to travel to KE in March, hosted by our KE partners and Angela Mumo to collaborate with KE colleagues to put the finishing touches on the unit.  Lessons learned from this unit will teach us how to disseminate this project widely for the 2012/2013 school year.

For Students:

• Develop global competencies
• Create a global citizenry of empathetic youth
• Increase awareness of science, technology, math(STEM) careers needed in the STEM workforce
• Encourage girls to participate in STEM
• Demonstrate analytical reasoning skills needed for STEM careers
• Improve attitudes toward STEM learning.

Methods and Innovation:  Students across the globe collaborate, conduct experiments and share stories to learn about the realities of global issues. Though the design of their “call to action,” students will demonstrate reasoning skills and show enthusiasm for the power of science in solving global problems.

For High School Teachers:

• Increase STEM content knowledge
• Increase awareness of STEM careers
• Enhanced problem-based and analytical-reasoning instructional skills
• Enhanced proficiency in curriculum development and pedagogy
• Increased use of powerful, authentic, formative assessment strategies
• Increased job satisfaction through cooperation in a Professional Learning Community (PLC)
• Develop an awareness of educational issues across the globe.

Methods and Innovation: Teachers will appreciate the power of collaborating with their peers locally and abroad to develop engaging lessons and strong assessment strategies to engage students in relevant global issues.

For STEM partner organizations, scientists:

• Increase interaction with and support for KE and Sea HS teachers and students through active and enthusiastic participation in the PLC and partnership.
• To appreciate the power of their role in the education of youth.

Methods and Innovation: Scientists and engineers will serve as partners consulting with teachers to develop lessons as a member of the PLC.  Through their interactions with students and teachers they will share ideas about careers and content and thus see the impact and power of their partnership in the lives of the students and teachers.

21^st century students must experience globally-oriented learning, as theirs’ is a global society. Our youth are our promise for tomorrow, but their socio-economic status limits their prospects to engage globally. Yet, their participation is essential. The Governors’ Global Competitiveness Council declared, “WA State must improve and strengthen its educational system to be competitive on a global basis. Education is a fundamental investment that can yield significant returns for citizenry, economy, and global standing.” Global perspective is achieved when students personally collaborate with global partners in a meaningful project. Student learning is enhanced through relationship building and authenticity. Students are aware of the importance of global competencies and are curious about the greater world around them. They are excited to prepare for global STEM careers and need opportunities to engage with specialists who practice and have a vision for these possibilities. Our project engages students’ in meaningful curriculum about important world issues, mentored by professionals tackling these issues with initiative, and students are inspired to make their world a better place.

Tomorrow, May 24, all 11 Seattle teams will present their SEAVURIA projects at the NWABR BioExpo.  We are so excited!

This has been a very exciting last couple of months.

The students in Taita gathered data from their community.  They provided video interviews and stories from the community illustrating the direct impact of the global health issues.  Taita teachers journeyed to Voi, a 90 minute drive, to post this information at an internet cafe.

The students in Seattle completed their research, collaborated with their scientist mentors and drew the elements of the project together in a final PowerPoint presentation.

Those PowerPoints were mailed on thumb drives to Taita but never arrived.  Finally after some good advice from colleagues I posted all PP presentations to DropBox.  Stephen, faithful and true, traveled to Voi to download these documents.  Five presentations took 5 hours and he had to send a colleague the next day to retrieve the remaining 6.  He also downloaded all of the attached research papers written by the Seattle students.

After careful review of the projects, Stephen and I saw the value of sending all 42 Taita students and their 8 teachers along with Sr. Monica to Lamu Island for the Kenyan Science Congress if we could find the resources of $2500 US dollars.  This project has been blessed because donations in the amount of $2300 had been deposited with NWABR.  Theresa donated $100, and I put in the rest.  Stephen made all of the arrangements to hire a bus, pay for fees, food and lodging and the Taita teams were on their way.

SEAVURIA kids from Taita travel to Kenyan Science Congress

Many photos and videos will follow!  Here are quotes from some of the Taita partners:

Sr. Monica “My Manosi,
I am just lost for words! At the beginning I thought it was only for
the teachers and students involved in the SeaVuria project, which was
quite ok with me. And then it turned out that they were going to
include me, to accompany the team! Manosi, I cannot thank you and your
collaborators enough. My prayers do accompany you and I am sure this
generous God of ours will reward you in abundance. We had a wonderful
trip- an all day journey. Our presence at the Congress offered our
students the exposure, an opportunity to interact with others, to
exhibit, to broaden their minds, and to learn. We arrived back last
night at 9.00pm, exhausted but very content.
Stephen has been great, soft spoken but determined. I salute him! I am
sure he will tell you more using the scientific language and terms,
that will give you the real picture.
With all my love,
Sr. M.

From Ann Mwakio:  ”hi manosi
we in mwakiwiwi  we are very grateful for your support so far. the
students appreciated the powerpoint slides and the information as a
whole. this project has really acted as an eye opener to them and they
are now seeing the world differently in their academics.
they are even looking forward to more activities and carry out more
projects and researches.
in their call to action they have planned to present the information
to the mwakiwiwi community in mid june during the school prize giving
day
thank you very much and may god give you the strength you need.
bye.

From Annah Mwatika  ”Hi Manosi!(tb research group).we’re so greatful for sponsoring our
science congress team.God Bless you. For our patnering students,they
sh’d have confidence during their presentation tomorrow and also they
sh’d present the same during school’s parents’ day”

From Stephen Mutuku: ” ….thanks for everything you did to facilitate our trip.  It was both  learning experience and a lot of fun. Our school was position 2 out of 131 schools that participated.  We have six girls who are proceeding for nationals from Bura. Two of the girls are members of SeaVuria (i.e Honorina T. and Cynthia M.).  They were making rubber from Euphorbia escalatina. We acknowledge each and every one who made it a success. God bless all.”

A blessing of the SEAVURIA project has been the opportunity to work with my science colleagues again.  They are remarkable educators, knowledgeable, passionate, generous, and always with a focus on what is best for kids.  I have called upon many of them to give me guidance, advice and perspective.  Since returning from Kenya, I have been focusing on how to make this project sustainable and where to concentrate my focus to insure its sustainability.  These new and long-time colleagues have offered help in the following ways.

• The teachers who represent the Seattle sided of Seavuria are compassionate, hard working, dedicated and excellent problem solvers.  First hand knowledge of the on-the-ground realities of our Vuria partners, required some quick problem solving.  Meeting with Jamie, Jeff, Connie, Cindy, and Christal, we were able to make adjustment to our protocols and instill the patience to insure the success of the SEAVURIA pilot.
• Brian is amazing.  He has such a breadth of knowledge of technology resources and helps me stay grounded on the need for a web presence.  He has been a patient teacher and a champion for the Seavuria project.  Brian keeps this project in the 21^st century.
• Jeanne remains a true and loyal friend.  She is a remarkable professional with a great sense of focus.  Jeanne’s advice to me this time about how to trust that this project will be funded and it is the right thing to do was, “Sometimes you just need to jump out of the airplane and trust that the parachute will open. “  I hope I find the courage to do just that.
• Theresa has been the grant angel.  She has shared resources, showed me the path and has patiently spent hours with me to help me to help me learn the methods to writing and procuring grants.  Our common passion for global health education has created a relationship of mutual respect and friendship.
• Meeting with my friend Nancy is always helpful.  Nancy is especially helpful in networking and sharing resources.  I will rely on Nancy as we begin to develop the professional development needs for our teacher partners in Kenya.  And continue to look to her for advice on people resources.
• Then there are those inspirational visionaries who walk the talk. Who see a need and put their heart and soul into making a difference.  Two of those women I have had the pleasure to meet recently are Julie Bolz of Anyi Education International and Wendy Kopp, Teach for America Founder.
  • Julie left her lucrative law practice to serve the children of Afghanistan by building schools and staffing them so the Afghan girls could realize opportunities provided through education
  • Wendy Kopp is a champion for underserved kids in the US. She has an amazing perspective of what is needed to insure ALL kids the opportunity for an education.

Now it is time to be brave, time to find the resources to make this project sustainable.  We have bright students, extra-ordinary teacher partners and willing communities.  It is incumbent upon me to find funding to continue this good work and grow our project.

Bura Girls School Teams Feb 7

HI, thank you so much for your visit. It was a pleasure meeting you and we had so much fun. We learnt so much about using the Internet for research not forgetting about Google docs. By the way we just received the other day may God bless you abundantly. We have finished our continuous assessment test and we be breaking for our mid-term tomorrow. Currently we are working on our projects through local research. We will try our best to see to its success. Say hi to your family.