From Nairobi to North Carolina: A Kenyan Teacher's Journey

From Nairobi to North Carolina: A Kenyan Teacher's Journey

One day in May 2015, James Gitau Mwangi was reading in the library at the American Reference¹ Center in Nairobi. He did not know that a conversation he overheard² there would change his life.

The American Reference Center's Assistant Director, Nashon Akello, was calling English teachers to come to a webinar. Mwangi offered to attend the webinar. He told Akello, "I’m an English teacher!" Soon he was sitting with a group of Kenyan English teachers. They were watching two American teachers give an online teleconference.

The webinar was organized by the U.S. Embassy³ in cooperation with VOA Learning English. Called "Writing for the Internet," the course explained how to write factual stories in a simple style of journalism⁴, like the stories here on Learning English. The teachers at the webinar were invited to write a story for a contest. The winning stories would be published on VOA's website and on the U.S. Embassy's site.

While at the U.S. Embassy, the teachers heard about other programs of the U.S. Department of State. One was the Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant Program. Open to young teachers of English with a college degree, the program sends teachers to teach their home language and culture to American students in universities. At the same time, they learn language teaching methods that will improve their English teaching skills when they return home.

Mwangi says the program was interesting to his fellow teachers.

"But you need to be under 30 years. So, most of my friends were like, 'you go -- go and do it! Because - it's a great thing but we can't do it.' So, I applied⁵, I followed through the process - it was very hard - but I was so happy when they called me back in August, the same year. They told me, 'you have to do a TOEFL' (Test of English as a Foreign Language) … We had to wait almost a year again for them to get back to us."

Mwangi went back to teaching and directing the Mavens Education & Chess Centre. He started the school with fellow teacher Tom Amwai. At first, they did not have space to have all of the students at the same time. "We started with an adult education center, and a reading area, and a library. During the holidays, we invite other students from other schools for holiday tuition⁶."

Mwangi wrote a story about how students must deal with the terrible traffic in Nairobi. Then, he entered it in the writing contest. He was surprised to hear that his story was chosen as the first-place winner. You can read it in Learning English's Dispatch⁷ from Kenya section.

When Mwangi saw the article online, he noticed that there were comments from people all over the world.

"That's when it hit me - like, this is big, because when someone from Vietnam, someone from places like Madagascar talk to you, that was really refreshing⁸."

He came back to the embassy to get the award and started connecting with the other teachers who attended the webinar.

"We had a very fantastic ceremony. I was given my certificate. We talked about having an association for English teachers."

Mwangi was inspired by the course to keep writing in English, although he had started with little confidence in his writing.

"I continued writing after that - I never believed in myself in terms of writing - it's ironical⁹ because you're an English teacher; you're teaching students to write. But you, when you're asked to write, it's not easy, but you keep on telling your students, 'You're supposed to write like that.' So, I decided¹⁰ to learn through the process the way I did it before."

In September 2015, Mwangi wrote his second story for VOA, on the teachers' strike in Kenya.

"I remember it was during September we had a teachers' strike. It was taking a toll¹¹ on the student who were really suffering. And then again, we talked with Ms. Jill and I worked with her on an article that later on was published. It was talking about the strike."

When Mwangi found out he had received a Fulbright grant, he had to make a hard choice: leave the school for a year, or stay in Kenya. His business partner, Amwai, encouraged him to go to teach in the U.S.

While Mwangi is away, Amwai is using his experience as a chess champion to teach students how to play the game and enter chess competitions.

"Now we've introduced something that is helping¹² us in terms of the revenue¹³, which is a chess center. We have so many students who are playing chess - they come after classes. We have a lot of champions ... chess has been proven to be one of the best mind games that students can use."

During his winter vacation from Bennett College, Mwangi is touring universities like Harvard University in Massachusetts. He will return to Kenya at the end of the school year in May. He plans to use his experience to improve his school.

"I want to go back with all of these things that I have and experience and just build that…I want to go back and build the school now. I hope when I go back that dream will come to life."

VOA Learning English gave another webinar in May of 2016, on the topic of "Writing Science in Plain English." The wining essays from that contest are also in the Dispatch from Kenya section.

Teachers who want to learn more about the Fulbright programs can visit their website, Exchanges.state.gov.

Words in This Story

teleconference – n. the use of telephones and video equipment to have a meeting with people who are in different places

cooperation - n. a situation in which people work together to do something

journalism - n. the activity or job of collecting, writing, and editing¹⁴ news stories for newspapers, magazines, television, or radio

style - n. a particular way in which something is done, created, or performed

inspire - v. to make (someone) want to do something or to give (someone) an idea about what to do or create

competition - n. the act or process of trying to get or win something (such as a prize or a higher level of success) that someone else is also trying to get or win

1 reference   

n.提到，说到，暗示，查看，查阅

参考例句：

• We spent days going through all related reference material.我们花了好多天功夫查阅所有有关的参考资料。
• I like to have my reference books within my reach.我喜欢把参考书放到伸手可取的地方。

2 overheard   

adj. 串音的, 偶而听到的 动词overhear的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• We talked quietly so as not to be overheard. 我们低声交谈，以免别人听到。
• I told Lucy the news under my breath, but Joyce overheard me. 我低声地把这个消息告诉露西，可还是被乔伊斯听到了。

3 embassy   

n.大使馆，大使及其随员

参考例句：

• Large crowd demonstrated outside the British Embassy.很多群众在英国大使馆外面示威。
• He's a U.S. diplomat assigned to the embassy in London.他是美国驻伦敦大使馆的一名外交官。

4 journalism   

n.新闻工作，报业

参考例句：

• He's a teacher but he does some journalism on the side.他是教师，可还兼职做一些新闻工作。
• He had an aptitude for journalism.他有从事新闻工作的才能。

5 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

6 tuition   

n.（某一学科的）教学，讲授，指导，学费

参考例句：

• Students can apply for individual tuition.学生可以申请个别指导。
• Is this money enough for the tuition fee?这些钱交学费够吗？

7 dispatch   

vt.派遣；n.急件，快信，新闻报道，派遣

参考例句：

• We must ask someone to carry a dispatch from Rome to London.我们得派人把急件由罗马送往伦敦。
• I'll advise you of the dispatch of the goods.我会通知你们货物的发运情况。

8 refreshing   

adj.使精神振作的，使人清爽的，使人喜欢的

参考例句：

• I find it'so refreshing to work with young people in this department.我发现和这一部门的青年一起工作令人精神振奋。
• The water was cold and wonderfully refreshing.水很涼，特别解乏提神。

9 ironical   

adj.讽刺的，冷嘲的

参考例句：

• That is a summary and ironical end.那是一个具有概括性和讽刺意味的结局。
• From his general demeanour I didn't get the impression that he was being ironical.从他整体的行为来看，我不觉得他是在讲反话。

10 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

11 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

12 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

13 revenue   

n.总收入，财政收入，税收；税务局

参考例句：

• The country diminished the revenue by reducing tax.这个国家通过减税而使税收减少了。
• A government's revenue and expenditure should be balanced.政府的财政收入和支出要平衡。

14 editing   

adj.编辑的

参考例句：

• The processing of data in random order,not subject to preliminary editing or sorting.未经预先编辑或分类，以任意次序对数据进行的处理的做法。