Link This |
Email this |
Blog This |
Comments (4)
The Mzungu Boy Lives On!!! Yes!
September 16, 2008
Want some hot-off-the-press news? I am hoping to teach in Kenya next summer! (photo courtesy of Batians View website)
Here's how it all happened.
The September issue of School Library Journal magazine featured my article, A Wiki Gives a Worthy Book New Life. In the article, I explain how some books have a plethora of lesson plans available online, while others do not. If you teach, you'll definitely appreciate how a wiki can save a great book.
Anyway, here's an email I received in response to my article - with permission granted to post it here.
Greetings,
I am a high school teacher in Tucson, Arizona, and a fellow teacher put the article you wrote about the Wiki and The Mzungu Boy. I lived in Kenya, very near Nanyuki, for 13 years and now my wife and I run an experiential education center there. We have others who run the program while we are in the US. My son was born in Kenya and each summer we return. He and his Kenyan buddies romp through the forest all day and spend every minute together. I haven't read The Mzungu Boy, but I will soon.
I also teach a class called East African Studies and in May I take a group of seniors to Kenya and they teach in six of the government schools near our facility. And I am in the process of setting up a pen pal system between our middle school and one of the primary schools in Kenya. It is a tremendous experience for the Americans and the Kenyan students and teachers.
I just wanted to introduce myself and thank you for introducing me to the book and the Wiki.
Kwa heri, [means goodbye]
Fred Roberts
PS. For information about our program in Kenya visit www.batiansview.com (Batian’s View Experiential Education Center offers team building and leadership courses for schools, non-profits and corporations.)
Isn't this cool!? Fred wrote back and shared how he is buying several copies of The Mzungu Boy for his students, and he also told me all about teaching in Kenya. Isn't the power of the Web and connecting with people fierce these days?
So after receiving this, I thought - hey - I want to do that too. As a matter of fact, I've always wanted to teach abroad. My only hope is that my kids can join me. Stay tuned. Summer is just around the corner.
Posted by Amy Bowllan on September 16, 2008 | Comments (4)
