The River Between

I just had the coolest teaching experience I have ever had. We were asked to teach Form 4 Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s The River Between during their night class from 8 to 9:30 pm. I had read this book last spring in Caroline Elkins’s course Africa and Africans. It was basically an “Introduction to African Studies” course, but it was so much more than that to me. It spurred my interest to study African history in college and resulted in my doing research for Professor Elkins this semester for her upcoming book.

The River Between deals with male and female circumcision in traditional African religion as well as the coming of colonialism and Christianity to central Kenya. I was worried about discussing some of the highly charged topics. Once the students got over how loud (and sometimes fast I speak), and I adjusted my ears to many of the students’ soft-spoken nature, we had deep talks about circumcision, the idea of purity, and colonialism. It was fascinating hearing the Form 4 males (ages 14 to 18), speaking about female genital mutliation and even a bit about the spread of HIV/AIDS. They spoke intelligently and asked deep questions back. Never have I been able to apply my studies so well in such an appropriate setting. I could not believe how late their lessons go until. I then found out that they wake up every morning at 4:30 am for their lesson starting at 5 am. They only have an hour break from 6 to 7 am to do their chores, a lunch break, and a dinner break. Other than that, the students in Form 4 and Standard 8, in which they are trying to get into university and secondary school respectively, work all day. I am truly inspired by their hard work.

Highway Academy Secondary School Photo