4.30 class

Well, for one, am amazed at how my students think, this is always a constant reminder of the expertise the students body of MITS posses. Darlene has put together a curriculum, to try and help the skills students learn the importance of budgeting, goal setting and generally putting money to good use. The class began on a light note, as my students shared cases in their lives that they have had money, used it both wisely and unwisely. I was trying to implement to them the need of having a budget in their lives. What became a shock to them was to realize how they had been budgeting all this time even while on the streets. They shared with me that back in the days when they were still on the streets, what actually mattered to them when you had money.
They had to wake up really early, got look for 'stuff' (kusaka), you can find to sell for a fee, steal from garages. The first thing one would think of buying is 'glue' what they call 'biere', then maybe spent the rest of the money on movie watching. Once in a while they would buy clothes, but this was not a priority. Having dirty clothes is a strategy for begging money and also to scare people. Food was never in the budget because they would find food in garbage dumps (jombi), so food was not a problem. But what struck me the most was they saved money, I mean they had plans for the coming future, emergencies like taking a friend to the hospital, the older guys planned to get national Ids, put money aside to go home (those that came form th outskirts of Nairobi) putting a bet in a game of gambling, and thinking of how much bhang (marijuana)-glue one will get in large amounts. But the thing is they budgeted, now all we have to do is teach them to budget for more important things once they start receiving a salary. Put their money to good use, to serve their needs and not be careless once they get salaries. Money is evil, but still a precious commodity to have, handling it well will make life smoother and efficient.
Then we had a class about goal setting, this again was really thought through, I have to admit that through their goals, I have reset my curriculum and methods of teaching my skills students. They wrote goals so well thought out, you would think a 40yrs old person wrote them. Their zeal and interest in computers reminds me of when I used to wreck my dad's computer when I was young, I was a disaster waiting to happen. Sometimes i want to teach everything at once,because of the excitement, then again I feel am giving them too much Intel. But its good for, because I can see the excitement in their eyes, their questions.
One of the goals written by the students was: To spread the Gospel through computer skills. Now, maybe he read my mind, but that is one of my goals in life...
This class couldn't have come at a better time!