Visiting Kenyan Dignitaries

In 2010, the country of Kenya (eastern Africa) wrote a new constitution to restructure its government for the sake of efficiency. Despite Swahili and English as common economic and political languages, this country of 580,367 square kilometers experiences significant cultural, ethnic, and linguistic diversity. Since gaining independence from the United Kingdom in 1963, Kenya has experienced less cultural conflict than many other African countries. Yet, a country with such diversity of peoples often had difficulty of fully meeting the needs of such a diverse population. Thus, the new constitution created a system of federalism (similar to the United States) in which the national government would share power and responsibilities with 47 county governments (comparable to the 50 U.S. states).

With not having had a background in federalism, various international leaders, including my friend Jerry Regier, have been invited by the Kenyan government to lead seminars the political ethics involved within democratic federalism. Kenyan leaders have also made a variety of study tours within the United States. One such study tour has brought a delegation of Kenyan Governors to Oklahoma.

Tonight, I had the opportunity attend a reception held at Express Ranch (home of Bob Funk) and sponsored by Water4 in honor of this Kenyan delegation. It was an honor to meet:

Wycliffe Oparanya Ambesta, Governor of Kakamega

Peter Munya, Governor of Meru

Mohamad Ahmed Abdulahi, Governor of Wajir

Joshua Irungu Wakahora, Governor of Laikipia

Rutto Isaac Kiprono, Governor of Bomet

Johnathan Mueke, Deputy Governor of Nairobi

Evelyne Aruasa, Deputy Governor of Narok

and their associates holding other governmental offices

This delegation arrived Sunday evening. They then spent Monday touring agricultural sights and the Water4 production facilities. Today they met with several Oklahoma government officials at the Capitol and will meet with others, including Lt. Governor Todd Lamb, tomorrow. Jerry Regier has facilitated their visit to Oklahoma and is already planning a return trip to Kenya in hopes of taking some other Oklahoma leaders with him.

Personally, it was great to visit in-depth with a couple of these delegates and share my own experiences of having visited Kenya in 2001 and 2002. I've been invited back...so perhaps that can happen sooner than later.

pavilion at Express Ranch

His Excellency Wycliffe Oparanya Ambetsa,
Governor of Kakamega & Delegation Head,
presents formal greetings on behalf of the delegations

Doors and Windows

There is a saying something to the effect of "Sometimes when God closes a door, He opens a window."

The Door:
In February I applied for a five-week summer institute/study tour of China through the Fullbright-Hayes program funded by the U.S. State Department. I've had a couple of other teacher friends participate in previous versions of this program, along with other Fullbright-Hayes seminars in other countries, and it was highly recommended. A friend who went last summer received her acceptance in late March of last year; when March came and went and April was nearly over I began wondering what was going on. Contact with the program's organizers communicated that there was a delay in letting people know about acceptance into the program but that it would be coming. I had not applied for any other programs, including domestic teacher professional development, in that I didn't want to have to turn something down if accepted into multiple programs. Finally, in mid-June, I received a letter letting me know I had not been accepted into the China program. While the information provided information to help make a future application stronger, it did seem as if a door was closed into an international trip for Summer 2014.

The Window:
Through my church, I attend a Sunday evening Bible study and fellowship group. Although we are on a summer break, we did meet last night for dinner. In our discussion. I mentioned that my summer plans were now wide open and if anyone had any trip suggestions to let me know; this was fairly "tongue-in-cheek" and several laughed or smiled. Before leaving we made some prayer requests until we were to meet again. One of my friends, Jerry Regier, asked for prayer as he traveled to Switzerland for an international conference. He has been heavily involved in government work and consulting, especially on an international level, and currently works for Water4, an NGO seeking to equip areas within developing countries with the means to hand-drill their own fresh water wells. At the Geneva Institute for Leadership and Public Policy, organized by Global Hope Network International and held at the UN's building in Geneva, Jerry will be speaking engaging development and growth through public policy, including a session called "Rule of Law and Nation Building."

It was humorous that as Jerry is making his prayer request faces/eyes from several in the group start darting back and forth between Jerry and me. As if those looks sparked something, Jerry says "hey David, you should go with me!" We spoke for a few minutes after we dismissed. He then emailed me some information last night and we had another conversation by phone. The conference looks like it will have some great connections with the AP Human Geography class I teach and visiting Geneva sounds just awesome. So, as of my purchase of airline tickets today, a window has opened!!!

This video is from last year's institute:

Chichen Itza, not Chicken Pizza

Every time I head the name of the Mayan city of Chichen Itza my mind kept thinking about Chicken Pizza and I'd get hungry...anyway...

Built earlier than the coastal city of Tulum, Chichen Itza is another prominent Mayan city.  Its central location allowed it to become one of the most significant economic, political, and religious centers within the height of the Mayan civilization/empire.  Artifacts founded within the complex indicate an extensive trade network encompassing most of Central America (not simply eastern Mexico).

map of Chichen Itza from its wikipedia.org page

Castillo

Castillo

Platforma de Venus

top of stairs at Plataforma de Venus

Cenote Segrado (alleged location of human sacrifices)

Templo de los Guerreros

idol at top of stairs in Templo de los Guerreros

Columnata Oeste

blocked tunnel at Columnata Norte

Mercado

side wall of Plataforma Aguilas y Tigres

Juego de Pelota

Chichen Itza (not Chicken Pizza)

Tulum in Full Bloom

Tulum, located just south of Cancun and the Riviera Maya, is a pre-Colombian walled city from the Maya civilization.  It's coastal location made it an ideal location for both land and sea based trade within the larger Yucatan Peninsula, especially for obsidian (volcanic glass or "lava rock").  It is believed, based upon murals and structures at the site, that Tulum was a central location for the worship of the Mayan "Diving" or Descending God.

map of Tulum from its wikipedia.org page

north west gate

 

the surrounding wall

  

Temple of the Frescos

 

the main (west) gate

El Castillo

the Great Platform

turtle egg nests

north east gate

stairs to the beach

view of the Caribbean Sea

Mommie to Be

This morning our study tour schedulers had determined that we would be free to explore on our own and at our leisure.  We would then all reconnect at the hotel to be transported back to Korea University for our final two lectures.

But this morning's story starts LONG before we even arrived in Korea.  One of our teachers from Chicago, Lyn, and her husband, Tom, began the process for an international adoption over a year ago.  Eventually they learned that they were paired with a boy in Seoul.  The process for adopting from Korea is a lengthy process to help insure accountability of all parties along the way.  Lyn and Tom have, through their state-side agency, been in contact with the agency in Seoul.  Pictures of their son-to-be have been exchanged.  All of this pre-dates even the application process for this study tour.

A few weeks prior to our trip, something came up about possibly meeting her son at some point when Lyn might have time.  Arrangements would have to be explored with the Seoul agency to see if schedules would even match up.  Once our final "tentative" schedule was made Lyn was able to communicate when she would have the best opportunity.  It was not until the day before we left when she and Tom received confirmation that an appointment for the morning of July 5th was set.

Lyn and I, along with a couple of other teachers made fast friends earlier on in the trip and Lyn mentioned this opportunity.  I had mentioned that by luck of life I was with friends in Kenya when they formally began the process to adopt two precious children there and was able to take their first "family picture".  Lyn then invited me and the other two to go with her: 1) to help be some form of emotional support for her because, in her words, she was going to be a "hot mess" and 2) to help take pictures and video for her to take back to Tom and their families.  A couple of days later, after learning that he had previously adopted two Korean children through this very same Seoul-based agency, Lyn asked Professor Peterson to join us as well; his fluency in Korean would also help for translation.

So this morning, the five of us loaded into a couple of taxis and headed off to the Seoul agency for Lyn to meet her son in person.  What an amazing time!!  Lyn was able to meet and visit with her son's foster mom (who has already fostered three other children in preparation for an international adoption).  Further, through the wifi connections at the agency, Tom was also able to meet his son through the wonders of "FaceTime" (as were Lyn's parents and sister).  There was not a dry eye during the whole encounter.  It was truly a special hour or so.

It will still be almost a year before the whole process is completed and Lyn and Tom are able to bring their son back to the United States.  While Lyn and Tom have settled on a name for him (which includes his current Korean name) I am not mentioning it here as they have not communicated it to their family and I don't want them to hear about it from me <grin>.

Learning...and...Teaching

The Learning

This morning our group headed off to Korea University for the first three sessions of our lecture series while here in Seoul.  Various professors from both KU as well as other colleges/universities in Korea and the U.S. are sharing their expertise on a variety of Korean social, political, and economic issues.  Today our lectures where over "Language", "Economy", and "Education" in Korea.

Language: The Korean alphabet, better known as Hangeul, was created in the mid-1400s under the leadership of King Sejung.  The Korean people had been heavily influenced by the Chinese for centuries, and while they spoke a distinct language the Chinese alphabet had been used for the written version of Korean.  Sejung felt that the Chinese characters were too complicated for the common people and wanted something more simple in hopes that they could learn to read.  It is estimated that today there are 79 million speakers of Korean world-wide: 60% in South Korea, 31% in North Korea, and 9% elsewhere (China, Russia, USA, etc.).

David = 데이비드 (pronounced: deibideu)

Oklahoma = 오클라호마 (pronounced: okeullahoma

Professor Mikyung Chang

Economy: A very intriguing discussion regarding South Korea's economic development growth.  In the aftermath of the Korean War South Korea was the poorest country in Southeast Asia (even below North Korea).  Due to multiple five-year plans and lots of regulations from a strong "dictatorial" government the economy rapidly developed.  As of 2012, South Korea joined an economic group which their media calls the "20-50 Club", those countries who have an annual per capita income of $20,000 or more AND a population of at least 50 million people.  There are currently only seven total countries that meet both qualifications: Japan (joined in 1987), USA (1988), France (1990), Italy (1990), Germany (1991), UK (1996), and South Korea (2012).  One interesting point raised was that the government understood that the fertility rate (average number of children born per woman) is linked to economic development and thus a policy was enacted to discourage couples from having more than two children each: any government based economic incentives, like health insurance, was denied to the 3rd or subsequent child.  However, significant concerns developed in the 1990s with the economic advancement combined with declining population growth that there would eventually not be enough workers paying taxes so as to help finance government-based elder care programs (like our Social Security) so now there are cash bonus plus the other benefits if couple will have more than two children--it is too early to tell how much long-term success will come from these programs.

Professor Innwon Park

Education:  Following a brief video created by the Korean Ministry of Education, the discussion noted that Korean education was much of the driving force behind the economic growth.  The government wanted to profit from its human capital so it tried to provide the best quality education possible.  So much in Korean society has been linked with the "best" education that many parents place a large amount of pressure on their students to earn the highest possible grades and national standardized test scores.  So important is this quest for high grades, many families hire tutors for their children's after school hours.  It was "claimed" that the most influential indicator of a couple's marital happiness is(are) the score(s) of their child(ren) on standardized tests.  With her blessing, the discussion ventured away from the presenters pre-planned PowerPoint presentation to a discussion on the importance of educational systems which place so much emphasis on standardized test scores, an issue of concern to many educators and parents within the United States.

Professor Mimi Bong

The Teaching

Following the morning of being "students" and our special lunch meeting at Korea University, we traveled across Seoul to Goyang Foreign Language High School.  As we entered the meeting hall we were welcomed by thunderous applause from the pre-selected student guides for the afternoon.  Word of greeting were given by the school's principal and two student leaders.  GFLHS is a private Christian school in which most of the students live on campus due to the distance from their families' homes.  The nearly 1400 students are involved in school-related studies (classes and co-curricular activities) from 7:00 AM to 11:00 PM Monday through Friday and until 1:00 PM on Saturdays (yes, that's 18 hours of school per day!!!).

washing up after PE class

The students then broke up into small groups to accompany pairs of teachers from our team on a campus tour which would concluded at their home room class.  Once at the classrooms we were able to spend about 15 minutes on a lesson we had previously prepared (originally we were told 25 minute lessons...but hey, things change, right?).  I quickly passed out some bookmarks of Sequoya and Clara Luper I had taken as gifts and briefly explained each person's significance in Oklahoma's history.  It was cool to be able to connect Sequoya's Cherokee story with that of King Sejung and the Korean alphabet.

lesson handouts and Sequoya bookmark 

I then passed out the handouts I had made for my lesson/discussion on "Natural Disasters and Community Response".  Due to the time changes, I wasn't able to provide the time for individual writing and small group discussions for which I had planned.  I was able to, however, briefly discuss the recent May 20 tornado in Moore and SW Oklahoma City and show them pictures of the tornado with Southmoore in the foreground as well as before/after pictures of the overall tornado path and Plaza Towers Elementary School.  Students enjoyed the fact that my handouts included pictures of the front pages of two Korean newspapers with headlines/pictures of the tornado event.  I then drew their attention to recent natural disasters in Korea and we briefly discussed how a community might react in the aftermath...one young lady had a great word for it: "help!".

my student guides for the afternoon

We then headed back to the hotel to be dropped off for dinner and running around on our own.  It was great to do some remote road roaming today in the forums of each a student and a teacher.