Sunday, February 10, 2013
A trip to Rundu
Getting anywhere (Rundu) takes
~4 hours each way. And a lot of patience. Thank goodness I can sleep in kombis.
The back gravel roads, where we stop to pick people up and drop them off takes
forever, and the drivers sometimes stop to chat with friends etc. You do meet
some fun people though! And we stopped at a ferry launch which crosses the
Okavango River to Angola, where you can look right across. That was pretty
cool!
We got to Rundu and finished our banking business-I have an ATM card now!
And then we got milkshakes! Yum!! AAAAAND there were women selling MANGOS! And
plums! Gonna be a great week!
We watched the Jungle Book as a school tonight. The
kids laughed a lot, and the speakers were much more functional than last week,
when we watched Pirates of the Caribbean.
Afterwards, as per instructions of the principal, girls went back to the hostel
first, and the boys, characteristically, complained. But then I played some PDK (a Namibian band)
for them, and they danced and had fun. Then I sent them home. I try not to make it feel like I am punishing
them for being born boys.
Hopefully next week, other
teachers will be prepared not to have a movie night on Saturday evening, but
instead do something more interactive, fun and educational. I think one teacher wanted to plan a debate
night. I’m planning a play night for the
grade 8s to present their term’s work from Arts in Culture for the end of the
term. And at some point, I want to get
together with Nathan, a Peace Corps volunteer from Chicago who is stationed 7 k
away, and have a leadership workshop with the grade 11s.
Teaching is going well, and Mr.
Fungo and I are working out the logistics of the term and who will be teaching
what. I think we need to function a bit
more as a team, and I want to work more student centered/cooperative learning
strategies into both of our teaching.
Technology installation began this week, so hopefully computers will be
here, and school wide wireless internet will be up and running very soon!
Monday, February 4, 2013
Study Duty Week Has Drawn to a Close!
3/2/2013
This week, I was on supervisory duty for study sessions in
the afternoons, evenings, and on weekends.
Every week day, the learners study from 3:00-4:30 and from 6:30-8, then
on Saturday from 10-12, 3-5, and 6:30-8 and on Sundays from 10-12 and
6:30-8. They work very hard at homework
and studying for exams. And I have to be on campus for all of those times in
addition to class times from 7:15-1:25 Monday to Friday. Today is my last day!! YAY! And last night,
we watched Pirates of the Caribbean
instead of having study. The kids (and
some teachers) laughed so much, and it was really relaxed and refreshing. Even though our speakers weren’t very loud,
and the English was often old fashioned and fast, that movie is hilarious in
any language! The kids deserved a break, and I’m happy I could give it to
them. Now I just hope they don’t expect
a movie night every week. I think in two
weeks, we are having a Valentine’s Day Pageant or something or other. Mr. Fungo
is organizing that one.
I got the movie from Nathan at the malaria control research
camp down the road. Man that place is so
cool! It was set up as a research facility, with bungalows for people to stay
in, a gym, pool and dining facilities, but it has been left unkempt for almost
15 years. It’s sort of Great Expectations-esque going in
there. Like the old lady Haversham (or
whatever)’s house. But Nathan is setting
up a garden, and there are a lot of boys that go there as sort of a community
center, so he’s getting life back into the place. It’s pretty awesome. And he has two dogs as pets (American style),
so that was really nice to love up on some puppy dawgs for a bit!
Mr. Kapisi teaches agriculture, and he and I have gotten to
be really good friends! I am really hoping that he starts a garden soon, and
that I could help with that at school. I
feel like that would be a really worthwhile project. Plus I just want to be doing something
physical. His (Mr. Kapisi’s) family came
to visit this weekend, and he took us to Divava Lodge. Before a light lunch, I taught his daughter
some swimming basics in their pool. Holy
Goodness Gracious, that was unbelievably awesome. I snuck in a number of laps and it felt so,
so, so (so so so so so so so so so) good.
And his daughter, who is six, just had an absolute blast. And I got to teach through play, which is my
all-time favorite way of teaching anything ever.
I’m struggling with the teaching style here. I am a firm believer in “I hear (or read
once), and I forget. I see, and I remember.
I do, and I understand.” That is not so much the general educational
practice here. I try to work it into my
teaching as much as I can, though. It’s
especially hard in computer classes, because we don’t have computers yet. Right
now, I’m doing a lot of having the kids pretend to be different parts of the
computer. This works best when I can
show them, at least on the projector, different programs etc. At least we have the projector. But I don’t want to rely on it too
heavily.
I also want to get extracurriculars started—like the garden,
and a drama club. One Saturday evening
toward the end of the term, I want to have the Grade 8 art classes perform
plays, and maybe a Grade 11 drama club or something also perform. Or maybe that’s two separate Saturdays. Spreading it over two weeks means that they
have two weeks of Saturday evening events.
Two Saturdays it is. Thanks for
helping me settle that one!!
Namibian Cooking 103
31/1/2013
Since we don’t have a refrigerator, we eat mostly dried
goods of some kind. We did buy some
gouda cheese, though, and yesterday I made pasta with canned peas, carrots and
corn, with some onion and gouda cheese.
Mac and Cheese plus veggies, basically.
It was pretty yummy. And there
are leftovers today for lunch. Mostly,
we’ve just been eating pb&j. I’ll come back to this topic once we get a
fridge! It should be this week. Then we
can make other things, like chicken! And beef. And I can make real portions to
save for later. Soup! Great. Now I’m
excited to cook. Oh! Nathan, a guy in PeaceCorps nearby, says it’s pear season!
I love pears! I’ll have to get some.
Democracy, a general rant and thoughts on the matter
30/1/2013
Democracy is hard. It
is hard to implement in an effective, balanced way. The balance between discussion, and taking
the opinion of everyone, and making decisions that get things done is very
sensitive. Americans are often more on
the side of getting things done quickly, rather than discussing small issues
for days on end. And this can be our
downfall sometimes. Rash action can get
us into tough situations. And efficiency
can hurt peoples’ feelings. Sometimes,
the decision which is come to is not going to be liked by everyone. But at some point, that will always be the
case, and a continued discussion about this is not going to go anywhere.
On the other hand, democracy is taught from a very young
age. How we make rules for schools and
classrooms in the US often involve the students (or at least pretend to let the
students feel some power and input).
This helps them learn how to deliberately deliberate about what is
needed in a classroom or social structure, critically think about necessary
guidelines, and effectively implement the rules and consequences for
infractions. In actuality, by involving
students in the rule making and writing process, they are learning how to
operate in a democratic society in a thoughtful way.
Teaching a class on Art and Culture is interesting, because
it makes me think critically about what Americans value. Like when we are in
school, we are taught to ask why things are the way they are. In fact, and maybe this is just a personal
learning technique, when I know more about why things happen the way do, and
there is justification for the reasons, I know them better. I like knowing the
background. But here, what the teacher says
should be believed and not questioned. Holy major cultural differences, batman!
Democracy, a general rant and thoughts on the matter
30/1/2013
Democracy is hard. It
is hard to implement in an effective, balanced way. The balance between discussion, and taking
the opinion of everyone, and making decisions that get things done is very
sensitive. Americans are often more on
the side of getting things done quickly, rather than discussing small issues
for days on end. And this can be our
downfall sometimes. Rash action can get
us into tough situations. And efficiency
can hurt peoples’ feelings. Sometimes,
the decision which is come to is not going to be liked by everyone. But at some point, that will always be the
case, and a continued discussion about this is not going to go anywhere.
On the other hand, democracy is taught from a very young
age. How we make rules for schools and
classrooms in the US often involve the students (or at least pretend to let the
students feel some power and input).
This helps them learn how to deliberately deliberate about what is
needed in a classroom or social structure, critically think about necessary
guidelines, and effectively implement the rules and consequences for
infractions. In actuality, by involving
students in the rule making and writing process, they are learning how to
operate in a democratic society in a thoughtful way.
Teaching a class on Art and Culture is interesting, because
it makes me think critically about what Americans value. Like when we are in
school, we are taught to ask why things are the way they are. In fact, and maybe this is just a personal
learning technique, when I know more about why things happen the way do, and
there is justification for the reasons, I know them better. I like knowing the
background. But here, what the teacher says
should be believed and not questioned. Holy major cultural differences, batman!
The bustling town of Divundu
29/1/2013
I’m making friends! (That sounds like a third grader.
Whatever.) Scott Karrell, a previous WorldTeach volunteer in Divundu was here,
and introduced me to some people who live in Divundu. Other people in Divundu got my phone number
from his hand when he didn’t have a paper or his phone to put it in. Either way, my phone is blowin’ up! There is
also a guy from Chicago doing PeaceCorps less than 10 k away, who is really
great! I’m trying to set up a movie night for the learners with his projector
and movies. That could give them a nice
break! The teachers are all getting along pretty nicely (brought together by
short water and electrical outages), and there is a lot of joking as well as
effective work done in the staff room.
I found a spot. It’s
in the middle of the bridge crossing the Kavango River, and it’s only ½
kilometer away, and it is beautiful. I
went there the other day for sunset over the river. Unreal.
This place is breathtaking. I think at some point I will go there so
that I can think about some of the bigger issues. I find myself getting lost in some frivolous,
day-to-day drama or annoyances so I don’t think about what really matters—the
children’s education and emotional resiliency. My own, too. I didn’t bring my camera the other night, so
to tide you over, here is a picture from the Kavango River at Davava Lodge and
Spa.
Being in a new structure and school comes with its own set
of trials. Water pumps don’t always work
quite right; fuse boxes are overly sensitive at times; air conditioning units
leak; furniture and teaching materials are slow in arriving. But this school is built around two things:
providing a free, safe education to vulnerable children, and teaching the best
and the brightest of Namibian children.
I think the combination of these two attributes in one set of students
leads to a very interesting group of learners.
They are super driven to succeed, but they need a lot of support in
their struggle to make their dreams attainable.
It’s super rewarding to see achievement in these students. As this school gets onto its feet, I think
these learners are going to soar, if given the chance. Soon, the student leadership will be elected,
and I am curious to see how they are given powers in the school, and what will
fall under their domain.
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