Indable is one of my former Tirrim
Secondary School English students with whom I always had a wonderful working
relationship and good rapport. His English is delightfully advanced as well,
which allowed him to communicate very well with me, sharing details about
Rendille culture, acting as my translator, and even writing out his
autobiography for me to read!
Indable is now in the midst of the
ambiguous year following graduation from secondary school. During this year the
Form Four graduates must wait around for months for their national exam results
to come in. Many of these students use this time to take computer or driving
classes in more modern towns, while some choose instead to stay around home
doing odd jobs. Indable was originally planning to attend a Christian discipleship
program with another AIM missionary in a Northern
Kenya town, but when that fell through, he was offered a position
as the Class 4 and 5 English teacher at Tirrim
Primary School
I walked up to the primary school this
morning to observe my protégé at work. (Just kidding! I only taught the kid for
a year…) I was immediately impressed with Indable’s classroom management skills!
His students were so calm, attentive, and respectful, which is a shocker if you’ve
been in hearing distance of a Kenyan primary school classroom. Indable was also
very attune to involving his pupils in the lesson, inviting them up to the
board to put quotation marks around direct speech and asking them to stand and
give a sentence that used an adverb of manner. I was so proud of “my” student
now working with his own. He is not only in an honorable position, but he is
doing honorable work in that position.
I asked Indable later what he now thinks
about being a teacher instead of a student and he said, “Madame, it is very
different,” with a slightly exasperated smile on his face. Good man. J
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