pencils
Some time ago I sent out a letter to all the kids at the elementary school where I teach two mornings a week. It was a very formal fundraising letter explaining that I am giving up my summer holiday and working for free to help the poor starving children of Kenya. If the children wished to help they could contribute a small gift or donation towards the cause. I asked a friend to translate it into Japanese for me.
Somewhere in the middle, the translation became skewed, or more likely, my understanding of Japanese culture wigged out. I was hoping that maybe 10% of the kids would buy a small packet of funky Japanese pencils - they’re usually sold in boxes of 10 over here – and the parents might kick in $10. That would go nicely towards the exorbitantly expensive airfare and i could take an extra bag of stuff over for the kids.
I think we’re about to have a marked impact upon the economy of Western Kenya. I could quite easily set up my own stationary store. Apparently pens and pencils are significant units of currency in Kenya. I’ve heard stories of kids being given pens by foreigners and the dad going off to the local shop with it to trade for food or alcohol. I think the value of the pencil is about to drop sharply. Similar to after WWII when Germans were carting wheelbarrows of cash around. At least the kids will have something to write with. I must have several thousand pencils alone. I planned to count them all and make an inventory of everything, but time is not a luxury I can afford right now!
I forgot that Japan is a gift giving culture. Kind of stupid, really, when I get given something at least once a week. This week my student Shou gave me a box of cakes for giving him lifts home after class, one of my student’s mum’s (is my apostrophe usage correct there???) and my landlady brought over a chunk of watermelon for me. Oh – and i spent four hours this morning sorting through an entire corridor full of gifts for Kenyan kids.
I'M TRAVELLING BY PLANE, NOT CAMEL, GUYS.
One of the teachers asked how I was going to send everything and seemed quite shocked when I said I didn’t know. I further mentioned I am quite broke at the moment and won’t be making any cash next month. I was kind of hoping the school or the teachers might get together and kick in towards postage costs. No luck. It seems everyone thinks I will be working with UNICEF or some equally big mob despite my repeated attempts to explain grass-roots.
Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending upon how you look at it, some of the parents gave me all their kids old stuff. Old toys, old faded clothes, old scrubby used crayons, even half used exercise books. I figured with the huge amount of new stuff that was donated, the Kenyan kids aren’t going to miss it, and a lot of stuff wasn’t even worth the postage cost.
Trying to explain tactfully to the principle that I really appreciate everyone’s efforts, but that Kenya isn’t Japan’s garbage dump, was tricky to say the least. Luckily he understood and our big secret is that he is going to store stuff at his house until my next trip overseas. I’m still not quite sure how figurative this storage will be, but as long as I don’t have to deal with it, that’s fine!
At the end of the day I have three large boxes to take to the post office tomorrow morning, and a huge grip to take on the plane with me. My regular pack will also be half full of exercise books.
In cash, I raised about $40. Not enough to send even one box!!!
Not to sound ungrateful however, a huge thank you to everyone who contributed in whatever way. I'll be taking some really funky stuff over that could never be found in Kenya. Plus, most of it's going to arrive after we've all left and been forgotten about. A nice little bonus.
Thank you again everyone.
Somewhere in the middle, the translation became skewed, or more likely, my understanding of Japanese culture wigged out. I was hoping that maybe 10% of the kids would buy a small packet of funky Japanese pencils - they’re usually sold in boxes of 10 over here – and the parents might kick in $10. That would go nicely towards the exorbitantly expensive airfare and i could take an extra bag of stuff over for the kids.
I think we’re about to have a marked impact upon the economy of Western Kenya. I could quite easily set up my own stationary store. Apparently pens and pencils are significant units of currency in Kenya. I’ve heard stories of kids being given pens by foreigners and the dad going off to the local shop with it to trade for food or alcohol. I think the value of the pencil is about to drop sharply. Similar to after WWII when Germans were carting wheelbarrows of cash around. At least the kids will have something to write with. I must have several thousand pencils alone. I planned to count them all and make an inventory of everything, but time is not a luxury I can afford right now!
I forgot that Japan is a gift giving culture. Kind of stupid, really, when I get given something at least once a week. This week my student Shou gave me a box of cakes for giving him lifts home after class, one of my student’s mum’s (is my apostrophe usage correct there???) and my landlady brought over a chunk of watermelon for me. Oh – and i spent four hours this morning sorting through an entire corridor full of gifts for Kenyan kids.
I'M TRAVELLING BY PLANE, NOT CAMEL, GUYS.
One of the teachers asked how I was going to send everything and seemed quite shocked when I said I didn’t know. I further mentioned I am quite broke at the moment and won’t be making any cash next month. I was kind of hoping the school or the teachers might get together and kick in towards postage costs. No luck. It seems everyone thinks I will be working with UNICEF or some equally big mob despite my repeated attempts to explain grass-roots.
Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending upon how you look at it, some of the parents gave me all their kids old stuff. Old toys, old faded clothes, old scrubby used crayons, even half used exercise books. I figured with the huge amount of new stuff that was donated, the Kenyan kids aren’t going to miss it, and a lot of stuff wasn’t even worth the postage cost.
Trying to explain tactfully to the principle that I really appreciate everyone’s efforts, but that Kenya isn’t Japan’s garbage dump, was tricky to say the least. Luckily he understood and our big secret is that he is going to store stuff at his house until my next trip overseas. I’m still not quite sure how figurative this storage will be, but as long as I don’t have to deal with it, that’s fine!
At the end of the day I have three large boxes to take to the post office tomorrow morning, and a huge grip to take on the plane with me. My regular pack will also be half full of exercise books.
In cash, I raised about $40. Not enough to send even one box!!!
Not to sound ungrateful however, a huge thank you to everyone who contributed in whatever way. I'll be taking some really funky stuff over that could never be found in Kenya. Plus, most of it's going to arrive after we've all left and been forgotten about. A nice little bonus.
Thank you again everyone.
posted by Kirstie at 10:42 pm
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home