The summer of 2024 saw a group of nine students from different U.S. universities embark on a Service Learning experience to Kenya organized by ASEC. For 21 days the students interacted and provided donation items and different types of service at six sites- Dorothea Rescue Center, Dorothea Health Center, Our Lady of Assumption Mission School, St. Martin’s School Kibagare, Cottolengo Children Center, Langata Women’s Prison. Isabella Schmeltzer was one of the participants, a junior in Early education at Chestnut Hill college, who described her engagement with the children and shared her experience on being able to utilize her teaching skills with the Kenyan community.
Seeing a poster about the mission trip in an elevator at the Chestnut Hill College, spiked her interest however, being preoccupied with other tasks Isabella missed the application deadline by 5 days. Driven to be a part of the service, she took the chance, applied and got accepted to go to Kenya.
Despite a language barrier, Isabella was able to make a connection with the girls and children she interacted with during the trip. She spent a lot of her time at the Our Lady of Assumption Mission School where she communicated and taught a lot of western education techniques to the older children in higher grades as well as kindergarten students. The students as well as the teachers were very receptive to the new methods as the teacher continued to set-up the different skills centers even after Isabella had left. Describing the teaching style and technique, she mentioned that in Kenya children are taught differently; more teacher-oriented rather than student-oriented.
Being an elementary education major, Isabella had plenty of opportunities to connect her field of study to the experiences during this trip. She was able to sit in some classes such as Swahili language which she found very interesting and simultaneously teach a few classes in mathematics and english. In speaking about her experience about education and students while there, she said, “ the students were incredible, so respectful, so willing to learn. And there was such a culture shock from seeing the students in Kenya versus the students in the U.S. because here you try to get them to focus on their math, and they're talking with their friends, and they're on their phones. In Kenya, they're looking right at you.” Students are well-behaved and seem to value learning very much.
Isabella felt very welcomed and safe through the trip. She described the people in the community as very kind, receptive and they went above and beyond to meet the participants' needs. When asked about what advice she would give to the future participants, Isabella mentioned, “Be open to learning. Don't be very set in your ways. Recognize and disassemble your own biases that you might have because as a teacher I know that everyone has internal biases.”
She was very grateful to the Catholic sisters as they made them feel welcomed and like family. Isabella had an enlightening experience about religion and Catholic sisters in Africa. The church and people's relationship with religion was very different than she had experienced, she said that in Kenya, “the sisters, the people, even children are so in touch with their religion. They grew up like that. They love God. They love going to church and their church services. You're dancing. You're moving around. It's just very joyous. And you can sense that from the sisters.” She had a shifted view on faith and her religion.
Lastly, Isabella expressed her gratitude for being given the opportunity to participate in this trip and she was more than willing to give presentations or share her experiences during the service learning trip, if needed.
