I have supported several German classes at a local school in Kisumu, the St. John Chrisostom Kudho Secondary School. As a volunteer and native speaker it was a true honour to support German classes. In fact when I arrived at this school, it was the first (but not last) time that I had a conversation with Kenyans in German. I was really impressed and also amazed.

I even got promoted to (German) teacher by the principal, for the time of my availability. This has granted the same privileges as other (regular) teachers hold: to enter the compound as a teacher (not as a visitor), to enter the staff room and to have shared lunch with the other teachers.

It all began with a new partnership that “Better Me” (My organisation) was about to establish. As said in another post, “Better Me” is constantly growing by extending its network and range of projects. One of those is the “St. John Chrisostom Kudho Secondary School” (from now on “Kudho School”).

We went there to run a kick off a new project, to advice the learners with regards to keep up motivation and eagerness. One of our team members, Kelvin, has mentioned there is also a German class and he wanted to introduce them to me. I had the chance to talk to some of students and their teacher. It was a class of 10 gals who are learning German in their final year at this school, comparable to Abitur in Germany. Basically their were at a stage prior to university. It was so amazing to talk to them in German. All of us were happy to speak German at this moment and they spoke (German) well. It was such a positive surprise.

Actually, we came to this place for another reason, it was planned to support the students at Kudho as part of our “YUMP” program („Youth Unleashed Mentorship Programme“). That is a kind of a workshop or open discussion. I was supposed to have a quick chat with the German class before joining the others of our team for the actual task we came for. However, we (the German class, the teacher and me) got stuck in a longer and very nice conversation. Later the others of my team approached me once they were done, to tell me that the time is over and that they have missed me for their actual task. 😅

Well, at the same time the teacher (Richard) and me agreed to initiate support for the (German) classes and it was me who did have the great pleasure to be the first German to support these (German) classes at this school.

It turned out to be a completely new type of activity for my organisation, Better Me. We’re now going to advertise this and to recruit more German citizens as volunteers who can support at this school. It was me who had the pleasure to initiate a “job description”, now published on our website.

There are not many opportunities to learn German in Kenya – but apparently it’s a famous language there. Rather than any other common language (apart of English). German language skills are considered as a chance to apply for an apprenticeship or for university in Germany. It was a pleasure and honour, to support these classes. Especially those who will face final exams by the end of the year 2024. A Kenyan school year lasts from January to November.

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Following the Kenyan school system, classes will be distinguished depending on age. From “Form 1” (young) to “Form 4” (older), I have supported “Form 1” most of the times. These boys and girls in form 1 did have their very first German classes, and I must say they were very eager to learn and they have managed several topics very fast. From the alphabet (including German Umlauts) to numbers until 100 and some other basics and pitfalls.

Form 3 got special grammar support. For instance, to compose sentences and the German difference between “als” and “wenn”. I am not going to explain this rule right here however as a native speaker it is easy to speak but it is something different to explain such things properly to non-Germans. Any preparation was very interesting. As a native speaker I had to find proper sources to explain it the right way. Luckily there are UK based universities offering German as a study as well as learning materials online.

The trick is, apart of finding the most helpful learning material, to practice. And to do so I encouraged them to use samples from their daily living. First in English, then translate to German. A better way to learn this. And they got it. No matter what the topic was, from Alphabet to numbers to grammar.

Kenyan students pay a high respect for the teachers. Maybe even a bit more if it is a Western person (volunteer). Not sure, but can be. That can be to ask wether to leave/enter the room, to ask a question.

Although the ice is broken when hanging around on the school yard, students are somewhat shyer or more serious during the class. At times I had to listen very thoroughly to understand them if talking to me. But with the time it has improved. I could establish more interactions and to encourage students to join me on the whiteboard to practice new learnings.

Overall, I had the impression that students were very grateful for anything that they got taught. Exactly the same impressions I got at the St. Williams school where we went for the life skills sessions. It was a great experience which would help for future tasks at other schools.

I will never forget this time. It was such a joy and also it was serious as I guided these learners to improve their skills first hand. I am proud of it.

During this time I have build a special bond with this class of form 4. With the gals as well as with Richard, the teacher, with whom I got along swimmingly. Eventually I have promised to come back by October 2024, to support them and run a good preparation for their final exams in terms of German language. It was a very friendly working together that I definitely wanted to continue.