Thursday, May 7, 2009

Summer break is here... THANK GOD!

I am so glad that this is the last few weeks of teaching for this term. The school closes around May 27th for a month long break for June. Teaching here is a lot more stressful than I anticipated! The next two weeks are exams for my form 4, so I will only be teaching my form 1 students. I am thinking about rearranging my teaching schedule so I will only teach Tues- Fri, so I can devote some time on secondary projects. I am hoping that by doing other projects here, it will help me keep sane (and enthusiastic) about being here. Teaching here has been a draining experience. I have had mostly good days, but sometimes the rain sets in and I question why I am here.

The school I am placed at is a pretty good in comparison to other schools in the country. The teacher turnover rate in this country is ridiculous, but there are a few devoted teachers at my school who wish to make it better for future generations. I'm trying to look for needs of the school/community for some secondary projects. I have notice there is no science lab at the school and interest has been expressed for one here. In Tanzania, students cant continue their education( go on to A-level (freshman and sophomore years of college)) if they aren't able to complete basic science experiments. Since my students don't have a lab, this means that this is impossible. They can take the written alternative, but it's extremely difficult (I tried last years the other day and thank god I am not teaching physics or chemistry). Also, with science it's difficult to grasp concepts of abstract ideas, so I think it will help students to just get an understanding of things. They don't even have exposure to basic instruments for these subjects, which I feel will help them greatly.

Currently I am in the beginning stages of this project like making sure Peace Corps approves it and ascertaining if the school would actually use it if they had access to a lab. I am also finding people to train teachers on how to use and maintain the equipment, compiling a list of materials that the science teachers would like and trying to locate a building on campus to convert to a science lab. Another very important thing I am doing is looking for outside grants to fund this project. Buying and shipping materials here would be the greatest cost and I am looking for any outside help. If you have any suggestions of people I could ask, let me know!

Also the other day I was walking around town and I ran (well not exactly ran) into this area that would be great for a outside fair or a concert. So I am thinking about getting together with some other volunteers in neighboring villages and doing an AIDS/HIV fair with booths of information, free drinks and snacks, maybe games and inviting some local performance groups for a talent show with a small cash prize. Worlds AIDs day is sometime in Nov or Dec, so maybe then or sometime next spring. There are also a few other small projects that I am also considering.

Other than teaching, exercising (tried to carry water on my head and spilled a 20 liter bucket of water on myself...funny story) and playing with the small kids ( we do the hokey-poky; or as they call it " kichwa ndani" at least 4 times a day! and we have a coloring day (although they have almost finished all my coloring books!)) my life is pretty non-exist ant. I am learning how to make "uji wa ulezi" (it's like cream of wheat) with some of the female teachers, which I am very excited about! If you have any suggestions of kid's songs or games ( I forget most of them), please send me! I am going crazy doing the hokey poky so much. ( There are 8 kids ranging from 8months to 6 years old.... sadly to say, they are my best friends here!). But overall, life is good and will be better once the term ends....haha