The dry, barren landscape of Nairobi seemed to extend out almost endlessly
towards the horizon. The view lacked
color, infrastructure and life. As the
bus made its way to the Tala School of Kenya, our teacher recited a list of
protocols we had to follow. His speech
seemed rehearsed, as he urged us to maintain perfect etiquette in order to
uphold our school image.
The point of this trip was to step outside our comfort zone
and to challenge ourselves in new, foreign environments, yet we are still bound
to so many different constraints that limit our actions. How do I step outside my comfort zone if I am
constantly forced to work within the very same limitations as I do in a
classroom?
Welcomed by the bare sun, we started off the day enduring
the engulfing heat that seared the very pores of our skins. It was awkward at first, because we didn’t
know how to approach one another. It
felt as if both parties were intimidated by the cultural differences that
separated us from one another.
The notion of a simple idea that was shared between two
different societies drew us closer to each other. We wanted to know about their culture, as
they did with ours. We began to embrace
and appreciate our differences.
The concept of differences has always been painted
negatively in my mind, because it meant that we couldn’t fully understand one
another. It gave us an excuse to
discriminate those who weren’t like us.
However, through meeting and interacting with these students I learnt a
very valuable lesson; that differences are in fact opportunities for us to
embrace our individuality, and that the concept of diversity is actually very
beautiful.
The transition from my classroom to this ‘classroom’ that I
depicted for myself showed that because I was too enticed inside my own little
‘bubble’, I became unaware of true beauty in this world.
