|
Hi everyone, this has been such an enjoyable experience. The enthusiasm you all showed in wanting to get to know and learn about us and our culture was really great. Saying thank you doesn't even speak to how wonderful and appreciative i am for having this experience. thank you for everything. Alissa Miller
Dear fellow students, I really enjoyed being able to talk to you guys about life and comparing and contrasting. It was a really eye opening experience to see for real instead of hearing about things or reading them in a book. I hope you got just as much out of this as we all did. Brandy Pech
I would say that this type of experience is the type that students such as ourselves need in order to understand why anthropology is such an incredibly area of study. Using to Skype to talk with these students from across the globe combined the fun and awkwardness of meeting new people, with the intellectual challenge of learning about and attempting understand a different culture. In short, it put faces to a subject, which made this unforgettable. Jeremy DeCarvalho
The school to school program has been an amazing experience to end my high school career. Compared to what I knew before this class, I have learned so much about the culture in Kenya, and more specifically Kisumu. It has really opened my eyes to really just how lucky we are. People have always said that to me, and its not that I didn't believe them, its just that I've never actually seen the way the rest of the world lives (other than western Europe and Costa Rica). It makes me want to do something about it, and the other thing I really liked although it wasn't exactly part of the school to school program was the Kiva micro lending. As I said above, the school to school program has made me want to help out, and Kiva is a great easy way to help out anywhere in the world. I'm really glad I was able to be a part of this program before I graduate. Bevan Waite
Our brief interactions with the Kisumu Day kids was a really fun and interesting experience. I learned a lot about everyday life and culture from the kids and am forever grateful for the insight. All of them were just so sweet and friendly and it made me very happy to see how excited they were to talk to us, because I know we were all very excited to talk to them as well. They gave a lot of thought to their questions for us and patiently answered all of ours. What I loved most about the Kisumu Day students was their enthusiasm for everything they did, you could tell they really put their hearts into it. But not only the students were working hard to make our Skype calls and other activities possible. Lois was also extremely kind and was a huge part of the program, she made it happen. I want to thank all of our Kisumu friends for all of the memories and fun times! Lauren van Burnt
I really enjoyed talking to all of you throughout the year! I learned a lot and i am really glad that we were able to talk on facebook and in class. For me, the experience has been amazing and very eye opening to what life is like on the other side of the world. I hope that we all stay in touch on the computer! It was really great talking to all of you and learning about your ways of life! Thank you so much! Talk to you soon! Terra
This exchange has been so much fun. I never
thought that I could say I have actually communicated with students
living so far away. If I ever make it to Kenya, I know that I will have
friends to look up and visit. I hope that just because the school year
is ending it does not mean that I will stop talking to everyone.
Facebook and Skype should help with that! Please keep i touch! -Jenny
Rabago
Information that I have learned about Kenya has
taught me how different
The School-2-School program has been a very
interesting experience for me. It's really cool that I can go on
facebook and talk to students in Kisumu, Kenya to find out about life
there. It really showed me a lot about other cultures, and I learned a
lot about how different things are in Kenya. I don't travel much, so the
School-2-School program was most of the interaction I've ever had with
people of a very different culture. I wish I could be here in later
years when the program is more developed, but I'm still glad that I was
here for the first year at least. I also hope to continue sharing
experiences with the students via facebook for years to come, and I look
forward to learning more about all of the boys and the lives they have.
They have given me a lot of perspective about the life I have, and I
hope to continue seeing things differently as a result of out
interactions.
The video chats and facebook messaging
conversations that I have had with all of the boys in Kisumu, Kenya have
been so rewarding and unique. When we first started talking to each
other I would tell my friends and adults I knew about it and everyone
was super jealous. Since how often can an American student say "in class
to do I made friends with some kids in Kenya!" Before we talked to each
other I thought we were going to be so different and that it would be a
difficult task to hold a conversation, but I was surprised in a good
way. All of the boys spoke amazingly well in English, were very outgoing
and friendly, and dedicated to the program. I learned so much about life
in Kenya and would now love to go there someday. If any of the boys were
to come to California I would definitely be their host and love it! I
know this is only the start of the program and in years to come
hopefully it will continue and be even more successful then this year.
The possibilities of a program like this are endless for both schools
involved and both will benefit greatly. I hope we can all keep in tough
via the internet, skype, and facebook.
What I liked about the Kisumu Day High School kids was that they seemed so genuinely interested in us, and our culture. They were all so eager to learn about us, and we were able to tell them directly what our culture was like. Being able to communicate with them face to face was almost unreal, and now because of facebook, we'll be able to develop friendships for years to come. I never thought that I'd get the chance to learn about a culture on the other side of the world so easily, without even leaving the classroom. My favorite part of this experience was making the top ten lists, and comparing ours to theirs because it really gave you a sense of what they're into and how different and similar we are. It was truly an enriching experience, and I never thought I'd be given this opportunity to meet such amazing, and awesome kids all the way in Kenya. I hope to remain friends with them, and learn more about them and their culture. I want to thank them for all the things they went through, such as staying late after school just to talk to us, and giving us a glimpse into their lives. Thank you everyone, it was an awesome experience! Kate Ward
Information about other countries often comes from the media - tv news clamoring to cover disasters, movies making stuff up, and biased newspapers. The chance to hear what a country is like from a person actually living there is wonderful, and although some bias is obviously involved, still provides a more accurate picture of life in other places. Some countries are more presented than others - it is easy to find someone living in France, Korea, or Mexico online than someone living in most African countries. While most of the conversations were just chats, the little cultural differences still appeared. However, dispite the nuances, it turns out that us here in Los Gatos and the students in Kisumu are very similar - celebrating birthdays, hanging out with friends, and complaining about lunch food. If I ever get the chance to visit Kenya, I am definitely going to Kisumu. -Dominique
This experience has been very eye opening, I really wish that this would continue after I leave high school. This has been one of the higher point of my high school education. My favorite part was about the different types of food, from what they eat at school to what they eat at home. I am very happy that I was able to be part of this experience. deanna sgarlato
The students to students program has really opened my eyes to conditions around the world. The kids at Kisumu Day live lives we can not even understand, and through the Students to Students program I now have a better understanding of the world I live in. I realize how lucky I am to live where I do and have the life I have, because I know around the world most people are not as fortunate as I am. I have discovered how similar teenagers around the world are. We all have fun loving attitudes and get along very well. I have greatly enjoyed my experience getting to know the kids, and I feel so good knowing how intensely we have affected their lives. Sam Bowers
The schools to schools program this year has been extremely interesting. I'm glad I could be a part of the first year of the program, but I kinda wish I could take this class again in a couple years when the program is in full swing and when we're communicating more often and more efficiently with the Kisumu boys. I really appreciate how enthusiastic the Kisumu students were about talking to us and about being involved in the program. Thanks for all the great conversations over Facebook as well as Skype. I learned a lot! I wish all the Kisumu students the best for their future. Kelly Hoose
Speaking with the students in Kenya is by all means a unique experience. It's not everyday you have the ability to speak with people half way across the world. It's a great way to learn about a different culture, other than what we are accustomed to and we don't have to read it out of a book. We can ask the students whatever we want to know and they gladly talk to us about their culture. For both schools, this a step forward in having new ways to teach and learn in classrooms. Ryan Knapp
the program with Kisumu Day High School has been really enriching. I've learned so much about the culture at their school and it has opened up my mind to different ways of doing things. I especially liked the food section of the activities as well as the top 10 lists because it allowed students to express ideas, concerns, and hobbies relevant to their lives. The video chatting sessions in class have also been really fun because it allowed students to chat face to face with people they would not have gotten to know in day to day life. Miles Lucey
The school to school program has been a wonderful experience for me. Meeting all of the Kisumu boys was such a blast. I hope that when I visit Homa's class in a few years I will be able to see a more developed program. Hopefully in the future I hope that I will be able to go visit Kenya through my college. Thank you for being a part of this program, you all have touched my life on some way. Good luck in all of your future endeavors. Megan Long
|