Learn to ask WHY

At an exchange I attended several weeks back, there was an information session and discussion about malaria.  A nurse came to answer any and all questions students had about malaria.  Great idea! In my opinion, there is no such thing as a stupid question.  If it helps you understand, why not ask it.  Other people did not feel the same way.  After several questions like "How can you get malaria from mosquitoes but not HIV?" and "How long is a mosquito's life cycle?", one of the group facilitators, the person all these students are looking up to, stood up and said “These are stupid questions.  The details don’t matter.  You just need to know to sleep under a mosquito net and clean up dirt.”  I was appalled!! Not surprised, but upset.  This teacher is telling his kids not to be inquisitive, to not question what they are learning, and just learn how to regurgitate information, but not Why.  Why is the most important part!!!  I continued to talk to the students during lunch that day, trying to encourage any bit of curiosity and investigation.  All too often kids here are cut down and discouraged from learning.  I can only hope that little by little we can change that and promote inquisition.