Learning About Education in Kenya

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Learning About Education in Kenya

By Max Nicholson and Abby Sharpe

Today we had the opportunity to visit the Fleischer Foundation, a nonprofit which has the goal of positively impacting the personal development of underprivileged children through mentorship and education. Specifically, the Fleisher Foundation sponsors several students each year to attend high school and college. In Kenya, only education up until eighth grade is subsidized by the government, so families are responsible to pay for upper level education tuition out of pocket.

During our visit, we had the opportunity to meet the students in the scholarship program. The Fleischer students gave us a presentation on Kenyan society, covering various topics from customs to government. By having one-on-one conversations with the students, we were able to garner a greater understanding of what education in Kenya looks like. Students talked about their upbringings and shared about their future career aspirations. We also learned that all students are required to take a national exam after eighth grade to determine if they can qualify to receive a high school education. Directly following, Professor Wimer led a conversation on high context versus low context culture, which is the difference between implicit and explicit cultures, and provided examples seen within Kenya and the United States.

In the afternoon, we headed to the African Lifestyle Hub, which is a brand that focuses on local artisans and sustainable products. We were able to meet the company owner, Ewelina Katarzyna, and hear about her inspiration behind the business. Katarzyna also discussed the difficult barriers to entry for small businesses in Kenya and emphasized the importance of relationship building.

We spent the night at Embark, a restaurant in Nairobi run by our partner, Dennis. Dennis is a skilled chef who prepared us with a multi-course meal to introduce us to modern Kenyan cuisine. He demonstrated his thorough skill by preparing vegetarian courses along with traditional meat dishes. For example, he started out with “eggplant four ways,” which shows a deep understanding of the flavor profiles and how they can be manipulated within a dish. After this introduction, he shared many local meats with us such as duck, tilapia, and Nile perch. Tilapia is especially abundant locally within lakes and rivers, and is therefore a staple in many traditional dishes. Each dish had an impressive level of depth and was garnished perfectly.

Today’s experience allowed us to gain a deeper understanding of elements within Kenyan culture and how it contributes to the community present within the nation.

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