My Education Rant

The Leaving Exam. I lived in Idweli, Tanzania, for nine months. During that time the kids took what is called a leaving exam, which determines whether or not they continue on to secondary school. Of 54 kids who took the test during the time I was there, only two passed. There are no do-overs. Sadly, this is not uncommon. All over Africa, kids are getting substandard educations, or none at all.

Two Languages. In many countries, Tanzania for one, university is taught in English. But the national language is Swahili. In most rural villages, parents speak little or no English. Consequently, most of the village kids speak little or no English. They learn English only in school, and it's not enough to prepare them for secondary school classes, which are taught in English.

Like anywhere, any decent job requires an education, so in essence these kids can never do as well as they hope. It's hard not to get angry, when you see kids getting ripped off and denied their chance at the future they want.

So I Teach. I never went to Africa wanting to teach. I wanted to have a clinic and learn to deliver babies. But one thing I know about being a volunteer, it doesn't matter what you want to do, or what your "passion" is. It's about what they want. People know— much better than you or me. Fortunately, the clinic is in my head. I held clinic under a tree once, and it was fine.

If you ask kids in Africa what they want, invariably they will say, "I want an education." So I teach.