Love and Work - Renovating Our Schools To Meet CBC Guidelines

​Sigmund Freud once said, “Love and work are the cornerstones of our humanness.” This certainly speaks to the heart and mission of Crossing Thresholds. In fact, our work is driven by our love for the children of Kibera. Our love is not merely sentiment. It is the deepest desire for the wellbeing of another. When one operates from that conviction, work is involved. We work to ensure the wellbeing of others. In 2024, our work at Crossing Thresholds will demand extra effort as we confront somewhat unanticipated challenges.

Sigmund Freud once said, “Love and work are the cornerstones of our humanness.” This certainly speaks to the heart and mission of Crossing Thresholds. In fact, our work is driven by our love for the children of Kibera. Our love is not merely sentiment. It is the deepest desire for the wellbeing of another. When one operates from that conviction, work is involved. We work to ensure the wellbeing of others. In 2024, our work at Crossing Thresholds will demand extra effort as we confront somewhat unanticipated challenges.

Over the past 2-3 years, there has been a lot of confusion around education in Kenya. Some of the confusion began with the pandemic. But the biggest challenge has been the Kenyan government’s intention to overhaul the entire Educational System as we have known it. In a nutshell, the change is FROM a system marked by Primary Education (preschool through 8th grade) and Secondary Education (9th through 12th) TO Primary Education (preschool through 6th), Junior Secondary (7th through 9th) and Secondary Education (10th through 12th). Most Kenyan educators are enthusiastic about this change as it moves away from the old hierarchical British system. The new model is called the Competency Based Curriculum (CBC). The CBC was researched and developed by KICD (Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development). In summary, the new curriculum has pivoted away from an intensely old school, academic approach to teaching/learning. The new system is designed to be more practical, and to equip Kenyan students to be more competitive and employable in the global marketplace. Technology is an essential piece of the new model. Thanks largely to Ken Kaplan, we are prepared on that front!

For Crossing Thresholds and our five partner schools, the additional demands of the CBC are quite significant. At each of our schools, we will need to build 9th grade classrooms; at each of our schools, we will need to build Science Labs; at each of our schools, we will need provide space for more extracurricular programming; and at each of our schools, we will need more toilets for the extra students. These are merely the capital improvements. At the same time, we will need to hire several more teachers with more teaching credentials.

As with anything in life, extra work can be stressful. All these demands carry a price tag. But here is the competing truth. These challenges are exciting. Something new is happening in Kenya. The new curriculum will provide more opportunities for the children in Kibera. As Sigmund Freud once said, work is one of the cornerstones of our humanness. When the work makes it possible for underserved children to break the chains of poverty, it is noble work. For us, it is born of love.


- Carter Via
Founder and Executive Director