Hey there my name is Arlie. I am a 2-year-old female domestic short haired/mix. I'm a beautiful girl who is looking for a loving home. So come and visit me at the SPCA to see if I'm the right cat for you!
In our final installment of our interview with Mbaka Oromo Principal William Kabbis, we talked about his impressions of America and Lansing in particular, about the Internet, and his interaction with lansing school children during his visit here. Kabbis spent two weeks in Lansing visiting our schools and meeting people here who have contributed to the reconstruction of his school in Kenya. (Click here for Part 1 of this interview. Click here for Part 2).
LS: I saw your schedule and you
are doing a lot. Are you they taking
you sightseeing?
WK: They are taking me to
people I am talking to. They are also
taking me to see beautiful scenery.
I am learning a
lot. By talking to you I am learning a
lot. By seeing those things I am
learning a lot. I am learning from the
questions you are asking me. I am not
just answering them. Every day, by the
end of the day I am a different person than I was when I woke up.
LS: Have they taken you to
stores?
WK: Last week (Lansing elementary school music teacher) Mrs. Menges took
me to Wegmans. A very big and amazing
mall -- I've never seen (something like it) in my life. Never have I imagined it exists!
LS: It's so big you would think
it's a mall, but it's just one store!
WK: Ah! It's too big!
LS: It's unbelievable to me,
too.
WK: Recently Mrs. Maureen
Stanhope took me to another mall. It
has shops inside it. It has
foodstuffs. It has clothing. It has shoes. It also has book shops.
LS: Before you came I was
thinking that you probably don't have stores like that in Kenya.
WK: What you call malls we call
supermarkets. They are normally
small. They are not as big as what I am
seeing here. When I was taken to the
one you call Pyramid it shocked me. And
Mrs. Stanhope told be that by American standards it's not big. So I was wondering what big is big?!
LS: My wife comes from
Minneapolis and the biggest one is there -- I think it is the biggest one in
the world. There is another big one in
Syracuse not too far from here. It is
several stories high. I have to admit
that personally I don't like these huge stores.
William Kabbiss addresses school board members (Left to right)
Richard Thayler, Glenn Swanson, Glenn Cobb
WK: Being here has been a very
interesting thing, and for my school and for my school community. As I leave this place everybody will want to
hear from me. My family is waiting to
hear from me. My students and teachers
at school are waiting to hear from me.
Members of my education board are also excited to hear from me. So are the parents. I will share this visit with them.
LS: Have you taken pictures?
WK: I have taken many pictures
almost everywhere. They will also
facilitate my narrations (when I get home).
LS: Do you have the Internet at
home?
WK: Yes, we have Internet.
LS: Has the Internet been
brought into the school?
WK: No, it's not there. It is basically in towns. The school is in the rural part of the
country.
LS: Do you think that Internet
is coming soon?
WK: No, not really soon. It is expensive to have it.
LS: The reason I ask you this
question is that I have two kids in Lansing High School. Last night they were doing something during
the day, so they came home kind of late.
They said, 'I have to do homework and I need the computer.' They're looking things up on Google search
and typing on the computer.
When I went to school we
didn't have computers like this -- they weren't invented. If I wanted to do what they do I had to go
to the library. I don't know if they
are learning better. But they have
better access.
WK: Yes, better access. Your school is advantaged to have (what it
has). I told your students that they
are very lucky to be in America and to be in their school. Because those facilities are not even owned
by universities in Kenya. A few
universities have them, and there are too few.
They must be shared amongst students.
I was telling your
elementary students that even high school students in Kenya have not seen what
a computer looks like. When Chris
Barrett came to our school he brought a laptop computers. Not even the teachers had seen one and seen
what a laptop computer looks like. The
teachers were excited to see it and how it operated magically.
LS: (Laughs) Well it is kind of
magic.
WK: (Laughs) It's an experience
that we don't have. Even at the
(Lansing) elementary school I was told, 'These are our computers.' I went to the middle school and was told,
'This is our computer room.' I was
being shown libraries that have got more books than meet the eye. For us if you have a library it will be
difficult because our libraries don't have books. You get a few books for reference -- not for taking away.
In Kenya we lack reading
materials. People are not exposed to
reading. Newspapers are one of the few
things that can be easily accessed, but newspapers are very expensive. If they have news you feel like you should
read it. But the 40 shillings you would
use to buy a newspaper, you would rather buy food for your children, so people
don't even see newspapers as important.
There is a certain class of
people, the so-called 'haves' that have access to these things... or government
institutions. We have people who use
government funds to buy them. That's
the system.
So I told your students
they are lucky to have those materials and they should make good use of them to
be better people. I showed them our
situation in the classrooms -- they were amazed. Some even went as far as asking me questions.
They asked whether people
who learn in such conditions can pass exams.
I told them, 'Yes. Some students
get 100%. Some get over 90% on their
tests. This is a testimony that if you
give them the environment you have here they would always get 100% in
everything. Because to me you have
everything and you have no reason to fail to get 100% in your schools.'
Your children are lucky.
LS: What is your favorite part
of being the Head Teacher, and what is your favorite part of this trip?
WK: My favorite part of being
the Head Teacher is accessing my leadership in assistance of the less
fortunate.
My favorite part of this
trip is the education part of it. What
I've seen in the Lansing schools has amazed me. The kind of facilities I have seen there, having been in many
institutions in Kenya. Even the
so-called private, prestigious institutions there don't have what I've
seen. So to me it's a big lesson.
Hey there my name is Arlie. I am a 2-year-old female domestic short haired/mix. I'm a beautiful girl who is looking for a loving home. So come and visit me at the SPCA to see if I'm the right cat for you!
In our final installment of our interview with Mbaka Oromo Principal William Kabbis, we talked about his impressions of America and Lansing in particular, about the Internet, and his interaction with lansing school children during his visit here. Kabbis spent two weeks in Lansing visiting our schools and meeting people here who have contributed to the reconstruction of his school in Kenya. (
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