Graduation Day

It can sometimes be frustrating to have classes and Monday was one of them. Organizers of the EMPOWER classes get a page of organizing rules in both English and Kiswahili. They also get a list of requirements for the potential participants. Then on the first day of class, the participants get a copy of the sheet, again in English and Kiswahili. We make a big deal of saying that they should have already seen this sheet, but that will go over it to make sure they're in agreement. They're a number of things in it, but one of them is that they must be able to read and write in either English or Kiswahili. The point is made that they can not take the exam orally, etc. etc. Sounds simple enough right.

Well, on Saturday, after our 5th 4 hour class, one of the men came to us and said that he would not be able to take the test on Monday because he was illiterate. The good news, in a way, was that he had recently learned he was positive and wanted to come to the class so that he could learn how to take better care of himself. It was nice that he came and also that he was honest with us.

We decided that we would make a special certificate of Attendance for him rather than a certificate of Completion. It was quite similar, but didn't list the name of the class on it. It just read something like completed an HIV/AIDS program of ICODEI. It then said "Through knowledge we can all learn to live healthier lives." This way, he gets something for coming but it doesn't in anyway disclose his status.

So Monday comes around and we pass out the exams. Only one person said they needed the exam in Kiswahili. We always tell them that we really don't care which version they choose, but if they choose English then they need to understand it enough to read the questions without it being explained to them in Kiswahili AND they need to write their responses in English. Seems simple enough.

But, back to the woman who needed it in Kiswahili. I'm watching them all take their tests and see that she is just sitting there with her paper and occasionally looking around the room. I finally ask Mary the translator to talk to her. Come to find out that she is not only illiterate, but that she really can't even understand much Kiswahili. She pretty much only understands Luhya. So, here she has sat for 20 hours, not even understanding much of what we have said. It makes you want to say "What the _____ (insert your own level of profanity) have you been thinking this whole time

Mary tried to see if she at least understood some of the basics that we had discussed. No such luck. She was able to say that blood transmitted HIV, but couldn't name any other fluids. There's only 3 others so it's pretty bad. You just wonder why she choose to sit there for the whole time. Uggh! Such is life! We were quite close to the farm so I did run back and make an Attendance certificate for her.

So, of the 15 people who were able to sit for the exam, we had 9 that passed. Some of them passed with flying colors whereas others were pretty shabby. The 4 that failed, probably failed because of taking it in English. It was clear from there few correct answers that English was an issue. We're doing a make up on Thursday and they have to take it in Kiswahili. I think that they want to show us that they understand English, but in doing so just mess up. I don't care how they get the information they learn back to their community, but just that they do it.