A Child's Take on Kenya

I found a child's work on the playground at the Woodman's school. On it a child had colored a map of Africa and hi-lighted the country of Kenya. I was thrilled! The kids are learning about Africa! Then I read what what this child had learned and my heart sank.

Kenya
I leared that in kenya girls shave there head bald! Men grow there hair long. Kenyans drink cow blood for vitamens. Over 300 babys get abandoned a day. Some were found in trash cans, some in sewers, and by a school yard.

I was stunned.

What about some of the earliest humans being found in Kenya? What about Mount Kenya -the second highest peak in Africa? What about the numerous ethnic groups in Kenya? What about the fact that men's and women's winner of the Boston marathon this year were both from Kenya? What about the GDP of Kenya being the largest in East and Central Africa? (And, yeah I get that kids don't understand GDP, but they do understand the concept of a market.)

On a personal level, I felt kicked my in the gut. I felt an overwhelming desire to protect the Woodman. Really, what's he to think?

And children can be so cruel. It is not hard to envision one of Wood's classmates (or any child) making the leap from a child was left in the sewer in Kenya to all orphans from Africa are from the sewers therefore the Woodman must be from the sewer.

I would love to chalk this up to being one child's take away but I made a point to stop and read some of the other childrens work that was posted on the wall. Sadly it was more of the same.

I'm sure it's a fine line. You could probably teach a child all of the wonderful things about a country such as Kenya and the thing that would make the biggest impression would still be "Kenyans drink cows blood". I am not sure what the answer is and while I still applaud the attempt to include Kenya (no doubt in a nod to our current president), I think we have a ways to go.

Happy Friday!