Crossroaders Simon Muendo Ngumbi, Connie Gerwing and Beth Muendo share their 40 year story of collaboration for One World.
A Kenyan in Canada
In 1980, Simon Muendo Ngumbi, a young teacher living in Kenya, started a one of a kind experience in Canada with the support of his Boy Scout leader who was involved with Crossroads International exchange program. Simon lived with Ian and Alice Potts in Courtenay, BC for four months while working at various schools. Adjusting to his new Canadian life, Simon found that there were striking differences between Canada and Kenya in education, mass media, technology, commuting and transportation.
He was surprised by the lack of knowledge about Africa in the area, as some Canadians thought that Africa was a small country in Europe or that Kenya was part of Nigeria. Children in Kenya, then and now, learn a lot of geography compared to Canadians. Another surprising difference, he observed, was that a television was common in Canadian households and schools and rare in Kenya. Phones in people’s homes were common here and unheard of there. Black people were uncommon on Vancouver Island in the early 1980’s and Canadian children were intrigued by him. He found himself peppered with such questions as, “Why are you black?” In response, Simon would answer, “I painted myself”. This prompted the children to want to be painted as well, but in blue! From this experience in north America he kept great memories and a big cowboy hat bought while visiting friends in the US which he wore every day.
A Canadian in Kenya
In Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Connie Gerwing, heard about Crossroads from her sister, Vicki; Connie was completing a master’s degree in Educational Psychology and uncertain of her future. She decided to join Crossroads where she was assigned to Kenya, visiting Toronto for a group orientation that included Simon. Even during their four-month trip to Nairobi, Simon continued to wear his cowboy hat! During this time, Connie was teaching Form 1 (Grade 9) in Taru, about 80 kilometres from Mombasa. Among her many positive memories, she remembered watching giraffes from her first trip by bus from Nairobi to the Mombasa Highway, the heat, the hard rain beating on the roof of the classrooms stopping all activities.
Meanwhile, Simon went back to his teaching assignment in the Machakos area of Kenya, eventually becoming, in 1981, the Crossroads’ coordinator for Kenya. In 1983, Simon married his wife Beth and moved to Kinyambu where they both worked as teachers while raising their four children.
Connie continued to stay involved with Crossroads in Saskatoon until she moved to Prince Albert; however, she always remained a donor. She continued to stay in touch with Simon for several years, but they eventually fell out of touch. His wife, Beth decided to get involved with Crossroads as well, hosting many volunteers and teaching them how to successfully integrate to life in rural Kenya. In 2000, Crossroads invited her to start a placement in Peterborough, ON where she taught ESL at a Collegiate three days a week. The other two days she taught international students about life in Africa at Trent University.
The power of Google
In 2007, these friends reconnected through the internet. Connie’s daughter was applying for an internship in Kenya and found Simon’s contact details on the website of the Boy Scouts of Kenya as a board member. Upon her retirement in 2010, Connie and her son Philip visited Kenya, 30 years after her placement, where she caught up with Simon, Beth and their two daughters in Kinyambu. A friend of Connie’s had given her some money, $50 US, that she gave to Beth for the school. Connie and Philip then left for a couple of weeks to visit Tanzania. When they returned, Beth showed them what she had done with the donation. The outside walls of the school were painted with bright educational murals―a map of Kenya, parts of a flower, and parts of the body labelled in Swahili. Paper classroom materials don’t last in the heat in that area and classrooms are open to the breeze. Connie was amazed at what a small amount of money could do. She, Simon, and Beth talked about things they needed desperately in their community.
Inspiring Canadians: partnerships for One World
Inspired by her trip, Connie returned to Canada pondering how to obtain funding for projects in Kenya. She recalled the Rainbow of Hope for Children Society that her uncle, Al Gerwing, had worked with while supporting projects in Brazil. From this, a partnership was formed with a community organization set up by Simon and Beth. Fundraising began in earnest during 2010 to purchase desks, chairs and worktables and build a library for Kinyambu Primary School with the support of other Kenyan and Canadian professionals. Since then, the partnership has been successful in its goals and has expanded their goals to include the construction of three classrooms, a staffroom, and a principal’s office for nearby Nzavoni Primary School. The partnership expects to continue to further advance its mandate and build on these two success stories. Recently, it has created a pilot project to teach students from three different schools’ techniques to effectively raise chickens in order to help feed their families and provide a continuous source of income.
Today, Connie continues to visit Kenya to maintain her personal and professional relationships while introducing potential partners and anyone interested in the efforts of the partnership. Simon is now retired and spends his days managing and organizing the partnership’s projects while Beth continues to teach. They both are wonderful hosts to the many people that Connie brings who are interested in these projects. Most importantly, the communities of the Kinyambu area have been empowered to develop their other projects on their own, thereby enriching their own lives and those of their fellow community members.
