Ok so this is another Sierra Leonean song (“E Nor Easy”) that sorta represents how things have been lately (and another personal favorite of mine out here…can you tell I like the local music?). The Peace Corps warned us that around 6 months many volunteers experience a dip emotionally, and that definitely has been true for me and some of my good friends here in Sierra Leone. It has been a combination of a lot of things. A lot of us have dealt with some minor but annoying health issues that make it just a bit harder to go about daily life. For me that coincided with running a little low on patience and resulted in a rough period of time. Luckily the term ended not too long after that and I headed out to In Service Training and then to Freetown to celebrate Christmas with some good friends at the beach out here…ya pretty much just in the nick of time. I feel like now I will be going back to my village rejuvenated and hopefully ready to keep on trying to do the best I can do out here.
So let me give you an update with school. I ended up dropping my 3 person SSIII Physics class (the students weren’t coming and we’re offering more classes than they had to anyway) and split my SSII Chemistry class into a more advanced 35 person class and a 60 person class that I move slower with. That strategy has worked fantastically for the 60 person class, and those students are much more engaged and focused in class and learning slowly how to actually solve problems. The advanced class has been acting out a bit and I think I will be working more on group projects and challenging questions with them to try to engage them better. Also the SSI students just came towards the end of the term (they had to wait to get the results of their exit exam from Junior Secondary School) so SSI will be really starting next term. I will have SSI Chemistry (which will be above 100 students) and SSI Physics (likely around 40). It will be a project for me next term to try to gauge the abilities and classroom management situation with that class and try to come up with a strategy for how to manage them.
Also next term I hope to be working on some other projects with my school. I want to slowly incorporate more labs into class and encourage other teachers to do the same. I also want to do a teacher training to help teachers know how to use textbooks as references and to write their own lesson plans. Besides that I am trying to start a girls football (soccer) team and help with the school brass band as time allows. And (you thought I was already busy enough right?) my students are starting correspondence with a school in Illinois through the World Wise Schools program, and I am working with other Peace Corps Volunteers to plan a girls conference for some of our most promising female students. Yeah its gonna be busy…My main focus with all of these projects is to help the school better utilize the resources it already has. One problem that most of the Peace Corps Volunteers have seen is that being in a post-conflict country that is now peaceful means Sierra Leone has gotten a lot of aid and international attention in a very short time period. It seems like that has encouraged a culture of asking for aid (whether monetary or resources from outside) without a lot of thought about whether or not those materials are needed, how they can be used, and who will help to sustain them. What people focus on is how to get more materials, not how to use what is already available. What a country like Sierra Leone really needs (or seems to need right now) is building up the capabilities of the people themselves, with specific emphasis on using the resources that are available in the country or can be sustained without additional resources. All this needs to be done in a way that encourages thinking and discussion about the country holistically, in terms of what type of country Sierra Leone is aspiring to be. The impression we get from people here is that they fully believe that America is a perfect place and exactly what they should aspire to as a country. I personally believe there are many great things about this culture and this country that would be lost in that process, but not a lot of higher level discussion is going on about where the country is going and what that means for the history and future of Sierra Leone.
Ok so I think you can see a bit of where my head has been recently. One thing that has been really valuable about the Peace Corps experience is that I’ve had the time (and just such a drastic change in lifestyle and surroundings) that I can think about big picture things in a way that I never could have if I had never lived outside of the United States. I can see the things that are not perfect about America, but maybe more importantly I can recognize the things I really love about American culture and see my own place in America more clearly. In case you’re wondering I’m still not sure what I will be doing after the Peace Corps but the picture gets clearer as time goes on.
I want to make sure to say that it hasn’t all been frustrations here (and honestly even those frustrations have been tremendous learning experiences). I’ve had some great talks over poyo (palm wine) and Guinness with the local Reverend Father, watched football (English Premier League, go Arsenal!) games with my Mende teacher and some other friends, attended a local dance put on for teachers after the term ended, seen some beautiful scenery (especially a great bike ride recently to Kenema for the day), sang and danced with the neighborhood children a lot(who a former PCV correctly said are the best and worst part of service!), and had some fantastic times with other Peace Corps Volunteers. I mean spending all of Christmas Eve at an empty beach in tropical Africa followed by Christmas lunch and drinks with the US Ambassador and his family? Yeah, things could be worse… :)
Ke ta mia [that is that],
Amanda
Saturday, December 25, 2010
“Mi yay de watch-o, eh-eh-eh mi yay de watch-o, i de watch-o”
This was written at the end of October...just fyi:
Ok so for the first time I’m starting you off with a song in Krio rather than English. It means “My eye is watching, my eye is watching, it is watching”. I’m pretty sure it’s by a Sierra Leonean artist called Innocent, so if you get a chance go check out the song (it’s an awesome and really politically conscious song). Anyway I chose that song today because it pretty much sums up the beginning of the school year for me. Basically the beginning of the year has been me trying things and then watching the students to see if anything I do is actually working.
I knew there would be challenges going into the school year, but I think the challenges are different than I first expected. Or maybe put another way, I thought I would be able to settle into a routine and teaching style quickly that would help me deal with teaching in Sierra Leone, but each class is having unique challenges, and I have to learn what works for each class individually. Let me try to explain. I have a 3 student SSIII Physics class (that have to sit their secondary school exit exam this year), a 25 student SSIII Core Science Physics class (also sitting the exam this year), a 50 student SSII Core Science Physics class (not sitting this year) and a 85+ student SSII Chemistry class. The SSII students are fantastic at sitting and taking notes quietly (in a way that no American class would ever be) because that is the normal class routine here (students don’t have textbooks so class usually consists of taking notes). While they are great at taking notes, they have very little practice actually using their notes to answer questions or solve problems. They also are very difficult to control if you do anything with them at all besides note taking, which is basically all the activities that lead to any real learning. The SSIII’s surprisingly couldn’t be more different. They are bored quickly by note taking and complain often. They are more accustomed to answering questions and will usually try to solve problems, although their math is definitely lacking. They also don’t come to school exams because they think the only score that matters is their exit exam, while the SSII’s have more students on exam day than any other day. So I’ve been spending most of my time revising my teaching ideas and styles to try to fit each class’s needs and capabilities.
I decided on a few areas to focus on with all of my students. I want to get them to understand how to use their notes to answer questions and solve problems, then with time show them how to write their own questions to help study for exams. I want to spend time with them on strategies for reading and understanding exam questions. Finally I want to find a way to get these kids to understand how to use textbooks. We just opened a library this school year that has fantastic physics books and also some decent chemistry books. I was excited at first that students would have books to use and was encouraging them to supplement class with these books, until I realized almost no one has ever used a textbook before and they literally don’t know how to use them. So anyway now you have an idea of my changing school strategies and how things have been going.
The last month and a half has been mostly busy with school, so there isn’t much of an update besides that. I am continuing Mende lessons (oh so slowly making progress there) and continuing to build relationships with community members. I also decided to pay my neighbor to cook for me because cooking is just too much work here, and have really been enjoying eating and spending time with the 3 families that live next to me.
On to more serious issues. First off, just to keep you all updated, we lost 2 more Peace Corps Volunteers to Early Termination, leaving 35 here. As always I wish them luck and hope all is well with them. It is known throughout the Peace Corps that the first 3-6 months at your site are often the most challenging and frustrating, and full of big emotional swings. This is the time many volunteers find it difficult to get anything done and start to wonder why it is that we are really here or what we can honestly accomplish. I have definitely experienced all of those frustrations, and have spent much of my first few months at site thinking about what it is that Peace Corps Volunteers and aid workers in general can actually hope to (or should be striving to) accomplish in Africa. I am far from any sort of answer or even interesting insight on that front, but what has come out of this time is a greater understanding of what characteristics I really value and respect in people (across both cultures). To spare you the details, let me just give you the short list as it stands now: tolerance/open-mindedness, integrity, self-reliance (or at least striving to be able to take care of yourself without relying on others), compassion, and something that I struggle to find a good word for but is basically the opposite of feeling entitled. Something like being able to appreciate the good things in life and the good others do for you. If anyone wants to hear the long winded version of this just let me know and I’d be happy to share :)
To close out today’s update, last time I promised to tell you how I got the travel name “Paradise”. Back during September, the volunteers took a trip to Number 2 River near Freetown. Everyone was discussing travel names that they use outside of their villages just for fun (like Lady Gaga and Iceman just to give some examples) and because we are all tired of being celebrities and hearing our local names yelled at us by children all the time so we welcome using other names when outside of home. Anyway I was still without a travel name when we were heading home from our fantastic 3 days at the beach. We were riding in public transport with 2 Sierra Leoneans and I think 10 volunteers. One of the Sierra Leoneans met one of our volunteers named Evan. He (the Sierra Leonean) turned to me and said “his name is evan [he was thinking Evan’s name was “Heaven” because that’s how you say Heaven in Krio], so my name is el [hell], and you must be paradise?” Later on in the journey the fumes from the car were bothering my eyes and the same Sierra Leonean broke the silence (that is so common in public transport) to say “Paradise is crying”, which in that moment seemed a strangely poetic thing to say. Anyway, that solved the problem of me not having a travel name, and I became Paradise from that point on. I also forgot last time when I gave all my titles to include the Peace Corps Sierra Leone superlative “Lyrical Gangster” I received during training as voted by my peers, so you can add that to the list from last time.
That’s all from Blama, Sierra Leone for now. The next time you hear from me we will have completed the first term of school and I’ll be meeting up with all the remaining Peace Corps Volunteers for In-Service Training (IST), hopefully followed by some sort of outing at some beach somewhere in Sierra Leone…until then I hope all is going well and take care. -A
Ok so for the first time I’m starting you off with a song in Krio rather than English. It means “My eye is watching, my eye is watching, it is watching”. I’m pretty sure it’s by a Sierra Leonean artist called Innocent, so if you get a chance go check out the song (it’s an awesome and really politically conscious song). Anyway I chose that song today because it pretty much sums up the beginning of the school year for me. Basically the beginning of the year has been me trying things and then watching the students to see if anything I do is actually working.
I knew there would be challenges going into the school year, but I think the challenges are different than I first expected. Or maybe put another way, I thought I would be able to settle into a routine and teaching style quickly that would help me deal with teaching in Sierra Leone, but each class is having unique challenges, and I have to learn what works for each class individually. Let me try to explain. I have a 3 student SSIII Physics class (that have to sit their secondary school exit exam this year), a 25 student SSIII Core Science Physics class (also sitting the exam this year), a 50 student SSII Core Science Physics class (not sitting this year) and a 85+ student SSII Chemistry class. The SSII students are fantastic at sitting and taking notes quietly (in a way that no American class would ever be) because that is the normal class routine here (students don’t have textbooks so class usually consists of taking notes). While they are great at taking notes, they have very little practice actually using their notes to answer questions or solve problems. They also are very difficult to control if you do anything with them at all besides note taking, which is basically all the activities that lead to any real learning. The SSIII’s surprisingly couldn’t be more different. They are bored quickly by note taking and complain often. They are more accustomed to answering questions and will usually try to solve problems, although their math is definitely lacking. They also don’t come to school exams because they think the only score that matters is their exit exam, while the SSII’s have more students on exam day than any other day. So I’ve been spending most of my time revising my teaching ideas and styles to try to fit each class’s needs and capabilities.
I decided on a few areas to focus on with all of my students. I want to get them to understand how to use their notes to answer questions and solve problems, then with time show them how to write their own questions to help study for exams. I want to spend time with them on strategies for reading and understanding exam questions. Finally I want to find a way to get these kids to understand how to use textbooks. We just opened a library this school year that has fantastic physics books and also some decent chemistry books. I was excited at first that students would have books to use and was encouraging them to supplement class with these books, until I realized almost no one has ever used a textbook before and they literally don’t know how to use them. So anyway now you have an idea of my changing school strategies and how things have been going.
The last month and a half has been mostly busy with school, so there isn’t much of an update besides that. I am continuing Mende lessons (oh so slowly making progress there) and continuing to build relationships with community members. I also decided to pay my neighbor to cook for me because cooking is just too much work here, and have really been enjoying eating and spending time with the 3 families that live next to me.
On to more serious issues. First off, just to keep you all updated, we lost 2 more Peace Corps Volunteers to Early Termination, leaving 35 here. As always I wish them luck and hope all is well with them. It is known throughout the Peace Corps that the first 3-6 months at your site are often the most challenging and frustrating, and full of big emotional swings. This is the time many volunteers find it difficult to get anything done and start to wonder why it is that we are really here or what we can honestly accomplish. I have definitely experienced all of those frustrations, and have spent much of my first few months at site thinking about what it is that Peace Corps Volunteers and aid workers in general can actually hope to (or should be striving to) accomplish in Africa. I am far from any sort of answer or even interesting insight on that front, but what has come out of this time is a greater understanding of what characteristics I really value and respect in people (across both cultures). To spare you the details, let me just give you the short list as it stands now: tolerance/open-mindedness, integrity, self-reliance (or at least striving to be able to take care of yourself without relying on others), compassion, and something that I struggle to find a good word for but is basically the opposite of feeling entitled. Something like being able to appreciate the good things in life and the good others do for you. If anyone wants to hear the long winded version of this just let me know and I’d be happy to share :)
To close out today’s update, last time I promised to tell you how I got the travel name “Paradise”. Back during September, the volunteers took a trip to Number 2 River near Freetown. Everyone was discussing travel names that they use outside of their villages just for fun (like Lady Gaga and Iceman just to give some examples) and because we are all tired of being celebrities and hearing our local names yelled at us by children all the time so we welcome using other names when outside of home. Anyway I was still without a travel name when we were heading home from our fantastic 3 days at the beach. We were riding in public transport with 2 Sierra Leoneans and I think 10 volunteers. One of the Sierra Leoneans met one of our volunteers named Evan. He (the Sierra Leonean) turned to me and said “his name is evan [he was thinking Evan’s name was “Heaven” because that’s how you say Heaven in Krio], so my name is el [hell], and you must be paradise?” Later on in the journey the fumes from the car were bothering my eyes and the same Sierra Leonean broke the silence (that is so common in public transport) to say “Paradise is crying”, which in that moment seemed a strangely poetic thing to say. Anyway, that solved the problem of me not having a travel name, and I became Paradise from that point on. I also forgot last time when I gave all my titles to include the Peace Corps Sierra Leone superlative “Lyrical Gangster” I received during training as voted by my peers, so you can add that to the list from last time.
That’s all from Blama, Sierra Leone for now. The next time you hear from me we will have completed the first term of school and I’ll be meeting up with all the remaining Peace Corps Volunteers for In-Service Training (IST), hopefully followed by some sort of outing at some beach somewhere in Sierra Leone…until then I hope all is going well and take care. -A
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
