Caitlin Miller, ’09, is from Myakka City, FL. Caitlin likes photography and talking about current events. At home she likes to jet ski and help her mother on their farm. She is a member of the winter Journalism class.

For first year Proctor English teacher Karin Clough, teaching at a private New England boarding school is a world away from where she recently spent two years as an English teacher and the Dean of students at the Aga Khan Academy, a private day school in Mombassa, Kenya. Having worked in Kenya in a large city, Karin has come to appreciate the freedom and open lands that Proctor has to offer.

Mombassa is one of Kenya’s largest cities and sits on a coral island off the mainland of Kenya surrounded by sandy white beaches and clear water. The island is a major trading center for large ships bringing materials and goods to Kenya with the port of Mombassa serving as the nation’s biggest seaport.

When I asked why she chose to work in Kenya, Karin mentioned that after working at Bowdoin College for six years, she and her husband, Kurt, decided they wanted to live abroad and work in Kenya. This was a country that Kurt had visited and loved and one which Karin had never seen. Her twin boys, Lucas and Finn, six at the time, attended the Aga Khan while her daughter Sophia, four, attended a kindergarten which was a part of the Aga Khan. Her husband, Kurt, a practicing veterinarian in the US, volunteered at different animal clinics. He also took care of the children.

Karin talked with great empathy of how she values the idea of having students working and living together in communities. Karin stated, “ It’s pretty rare really, and we’re sort of used to it in New England but it’s not that common in other parts of the world.” Karin believes in building a strong relationship between students and teachers outside the classroom and that living at a boarding school is a unique experience for students. Unfortunately, Karin was unable to live (in the boarding school setting) at the Aga Khan due to the unstable government and protests that put a halt to construction of the dormitories while she was there.

During her first year in Kenya, Karin lived in a house outside of Mombassa in a rural area. High walls surrounded the property while two dogs, which came with the property, roamed the yard. With rampant crime and unreliable police, many teachers in Kenya lived in walled homes and had some other sort of protection. In her second year, Karin moved to Mombassa and lived in a community compound, which included seven other houses, each having their own security. Talk of guard dogs and high fences may make Mombassa sound like a dangerous place to live, but Karin stated, “You get used to it quickly; you adapt to how you live your life.” Although the crime rate in Mombassa is high, Karin hardly encountered any issues and could easily ride her bike to school each day.

Karin worked at the Aga Khan when it was a day school; she helped with the planning and future development of the residential program at the school. The Aga Khan would eventually operate as a private boarding school for only Kenyan students where dormitories, a cafeteria, and classrooms would all be on one campus. The school currently runs under the IB program, (International Baccalaureate) which is geared towards preparing students for college and offers challenging courses to the students who attend.

While working at the Aga Khan Academy, Karin taught English and served as the Dean of students, watching over the five hundred and eighty boys and girls who attended the school. She laughed and observed, “The Dean of Students work is the same in Africa as it is in America: it’s kids who are late to class, it’s kids who are disrespectful to the teacher if there was a fight, if there was insult, bullying, all that kind of stuff that you would have at any high school anywhere in the world.”

One of the experiences Karin has taken away from living and working in Kenya is witnessing how few luxuries many Kenyans have but how happy they are. Karin notes, “People can live on very little and have very wonderful families and real values sharing joy in the community. Comparing some of the resources at the Aga Khan and Proctor, Karin stated, “I think that kids from Kenya would just be amazed by the resources at this school [Proctor], the food, the Wise Center, the hockey rink, the fields, the gym, snow, skiing, it’s just unbelievable. That’s where I think we have this incredible richness in our program.” Living in a country where so many people have very few valuables, Karin learned that even if you do not have a lot of money or luxuries, people can still live a joyful life.