We have come up with a new tongue twister for our students: How much corn can a Muzungu shuck if a Muzungu could shuck corn. Muzungo refers to white person here. The kids really do run along side the car or van, yelling "Good morning, Muzungu!" We are not sure if it is an endearing title or not. It seems it is to the kids anyway.
Well I am happy to say that I have shucked my last ear of corn. Three hours
in the hot sun shucking corn was all I could take today, and the kids
with great sympathy suggested I rest. And I did. Happily they finished
today so tomorrow we go back to class. I have never looked so forward
to teaching than I did today when it was announced the shucking was
done. I am bringing them all tasty treats and the boom box and a Stevie Wonder CD and we will celebrate tomorrow.
I just received an email from Camila who oddly enough is also shucking corn in Colombia. She has moved from Bogota to live with the Peace Community that she has been supporting. This is a community of farmers and corn I suppose is a major crop there. Please send positive thoughts her way as this is not an easy or particularly safe environment to be working in.
Jaali is back in the Bay Area living in Oakland with his dad, Jon, and attending
fourth grade at Thousand Oaks Elementary School in Berkeley. I Thanks
to Natasha for her generous help in getting him settled in school. Camila says that Natasha and Jon have made plans to get together to speak Mandarin! Great news.
hope you all are well.
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
The Harvest
Well, harvesting corn is no small task, let me assure you. I spent four hours with a group of girls on a corn stack, ripping the corn of the stalks and then stripping them of their husk. Our stack barley looked different after four hours! It is grueling work, but the girls sang a lot and taught me songs, which made the time pass a wee bit faster. The headmaster came and yelled at our group for working too slow and gave us to two additional corn stacks to do. I left at noon and it looked like it was going to be a long afternoon for my workmates. We probably will have to work in the fields tomorrow as well as there were still a whole lot of corn stacks to do when I left.
Some students stayed at the school to clean the classrooms and yard. They sweep and mop the classrooms each day, wash the chalkboards, and sweep the courtyard as well...all on a rotational basis. Imagine students in the states having to do that.
A particular low point was when the girls starting shouting "madam, Madam, look at your pants!" I yelped when I saw the giant black spider cheerfully crawling up my pants and we all beat it off and murdered it on the spot. I am glad that we will finish up this nasty business soon.
I think this is a good learning opportunity for students. At the very least it will inspire them to stay in school and study hard for their exams so they can escape the drudgery of farm life.
Must go as a line is forming behind me to get on this computer.
Some students stayed at the school to clean the classrooms and yard. They sweep and mop the classrooms each day, wash the chalkboards, and sweep the courtyard as well...all on a rotational basis. Imagine students in the states having to do that.
A particular low point was when the girls starting shouting "madam, Madam, look at your pants!" I yelped when I saw the giant black spider cheerfully crawling up my pants and we all beat it off and murdered it on the spot. I am glad that we will finish up this nasty business soon.
I think this is a good learning opportunity for students. At the very least it will inspire them to stay in school and study hard for their exams so they can escape the drudgery of farm life.
Must go as a line is forming behind me to get on this computer.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
a Weekend in Zanzibar
Last weekend a bunch of us flew to Zanzibar. It is culturally very different from the mainland as the population there is primarily Muslim. On the whole Zanzibar seems more wealthy than many places on the mainland. Someone said there are more than 250 mosques there with a population of less than one million. The mosques there are nondescript buildings; the only way one recognizes them is by a small and narrow seating area in front. It was nice to hear the call to prayer and watch the little boys in their white bou bou's and skull caps playing soccer in the streets.
We stayed in a beach hotel outside of Stonetown, the medieval city which was comfortable and lovely. A highlight of the trip was a sunset cruise we took. We sailed around the Indian Ocean for two and a half hours, serenaded by a good singer/guitar player and with tasty "bites" and wine. Then three of us took one of our colleagues to dinner in Stonetown. We visited museums and the old slave market and wandered the medieval streets of Stonetown for a few hour on Sunday before we flew back to Kilimanjaro. It was a quick tour, but a great break.
Week three at St. Theresia's and I am really feeling at home there. Wonderful.
We stayed in a beach hotel outside of Stonetown, the medieval city which was comfortable and lovely. A highlight of the trip was a sunset cruise we took. We sailed around the Indian Ocean for two and a half hours, serenaded by a good singer/guitar player and with tasty "bites" and wine. Then three of us took one of our colleagues to dinner in Stonetown. We visited museums and the old slave market and wandered the medieval streets of Stonetown for a few hour on Sunday before we flew back to Kilimanjaro. It was a quick tour, but a great break.
Week three at St. Theresia's and I am really feeling at home there. Wonderful.
Monday, September 10, 2007
More on Teaching in Tanzania
Today I experienced that delicious feeling we all know of having an unexpected day off of work. My CCS teaching colleague, Nick, and I arrived at the school today to an assembly in the courtyard. The first clue that something unusual was going on were the girls dressed in slacks with a kanga (wrap skirt). Neither girls nor women wear pants in public here. It turned out that the entire school was going corn harvesting today! Since I had a skirt on and a bushel of essays to grade, I bowed out and returned to home base. It's wonderfully cool and quiet right now so I making major progress on those papers. The students and staff will continuing harvesting tomorrow, so I'll dress appropriately and join them then. The school has some acres of corn which is what the staple food Ugali is made of, and everyone pitches in to grow and harvest it. On the way to school today we, in fact, passed many fields with young people harvesting.
Yesterday all the students had exams. Since there are no copying facilities, the testing procedure involved the students filing out of their classrooms and waiting in the courtyard while the teachers wrote the tests on the board. This is done three times as all students taking a battery of tests all morning every Monday - three periods worth. Testing is a major activity in schools here. Form 4 students (seniors) will soon begin to prepare for their national exams which they must pass to enter the next level of studies -- Form 5 and 6, which is basically junior college. There is a major examination at the end of primary school which screens students for high school. If you don't pass, you don't go to high school. Many don't' pass and must either go to work, or if they are lucky attend a vocational school. We visited a youth center yesterday where students who didn't pass the high school entrance exams are studying to work in the hotel and restaurant industry. They cooked us a mighty good meal and were most hospitable. And there should be a lot of jobs since this is the launching point for Mt. Kiliminjaro.
One thing that shocks us all here is the widespread use of corporal punishment in the schools. I have seen teachers yank students ears, swap them upside the head and deliver blows with a switch to the hands. Many teachers take a switch and chalk to the classrooms each day. Teachers at my school insist that this is the only way to control the students. Maybe that is why the students are so excited to have us Muzungus (foreigners) at the school.
The walls of my classrooms are beginning to brighten up. I have brought in maps and have flip chart sheets all over with our brainstorming activities and problem solving tasks. I was very excited to bring in my boom box, but it turned out that only one classroom has an electrical outlet and that one is pretty shoddy. It works if a student holds the plug about half way in the socket and gives it a slight twist to the right... and remains in this position. Thankfully I have batteries and it is pretty easy to buy more in town. As soon as we are done harvesting the corn, we will start working on a song.
My Form 4 Students are going to start writing a small book about their lives here in Tanzania as well as letters of introduction. I will use these along with photos and a ten minute movie about St. Teresia I plan to make to recruit pen pals for them at Berkeley High and maybe some high schools in SF, including the remedial high school we share the building with at the Mission Campus. We are all psyched about this project.
well, back to those essays.
Yesterday all the students had exams. Since there are no copying facilities, the testing procedure involved the students filing out of their classrooms and waiting in the courtyard while the teachers wrote the tests on the board. This is done three times as all students taking a battery of tests all morning every Monday - three periods worth. Testing is a major activity in schools here. Form 4 students (seniors) will soon begin to prepare for their national exams which they must pass to enter the next level of studies -- Form 5 and 6, which is basically junior college. There is a major examination at the end of primary school which screens students for high school. If you don't pass, you don't go to high school. Many don't' pass and must either go to work, or if they are lucky attend a vocational school. We visited a youth center yesterday where students who didn't pass the high school entrance exams are studying to work in the hotel and restaurant industry. They cooked us a mighty good meal and were most hospitable. And there should be a lot of jobs since this is the launching point for Mt. Kiliminjaro.
One thing that shocks us all here is the widespread use of corporal punishment in the schools. I have seen teachers yank students ears, swap them upside the head and deliver blows with a switch to the hands. Many teachers take a switch and chalk to the classrooms each day. Teachers at my school insist that this is the only way to control the students. Maybe that is why the students are so excited to have us Muzungus (foreigners) at the school.
The walls of my classrooms are beginning to brighten up. I have brought in maps and have flip chart sheets all over with our brainstorming activities and problem solving tasks. I was very excited to bring in my boom box, but it turned out that only one classroom has an electrical outlet and that one is pretty shoddy. It works if a student holds the plug about half way in the socket and gives it a slight twist to the right... and remains in this position. Thankfully I have batteries and it is pretty easy to buy more in town. As soon as we are done harvesting the corn, we will start working on a song.
My Form 4 Students are going to start writing a small book about their lives here in Tanzania as well as letters of introduction. I will use these along with photos and a ten minute movie about St. Teresia I plan to make to recruit pen pals for them at Berkeley High and maybe some high schools in SF, including the remedial high school we share the building with at the Mission Campus. We are all psyched about this project.
well, back to those essays.
Monday, September 3, 2007
A weekend with the Maasai...lengthened version
A few of us spent and incredibly interesting weekend with a Maasai family, a man and his four wives in their family compound. We spent most of the first day singing and dancing with them and playing with the children. Then we camped in their courtyard and got up the next morning, hiked down a large hill to the well, and hauled water...yes on the top of our heads...up the hill. Thankfully we didn't have to go fetch the firewood...that would have taken the whole day.
We had our meals in the main hut which is the first wife's home. Women build the ho uses here out of wood and dung plaster. The houses are small with a small general area space which is adjacent to the cow section and goat quarters. We had out meals on a makeshift dinning table in the cow's area. Some people had to sit in the main area (which could accomodate three chairs total) to sit at the other side of the table. The food was great and it was amazing that it was all cooked in a tiny cooking hut.
We camped in their courtyard which was the common outdoor area for the other houses. All in all there were about ten children it seemed. After hauling water and eating breakfast we too a long, long walk with a Maasai man and then we made it to the Maasai market which sold everything a person or animal could need. We still had out Maasai capes on and caused quite a stir in the market. People were falling off their stools laughing...we assume with us rather than at us. Some women were kind enough to get up and straighten out our cape dresses.
The Maasai, as you have by now surmised, continue to practice a traditional culture and life style... although they do use cell phones. Tiny children wander the great Maasai steppe with their goats and tiny girls have babies strapped to their backs as they do household chores. The group that led the tour have been major donors to a school project in the area and the young people see the value of education and are excited about studying and speaking English. One of the young women in the family just completed high school and plans to go to a teaching college in January. So the modern world encroaches bringing advancements and complications. Female circumcision is reportedly still practiced by the Maasai, but many people told us that the practice is, fortunately, being curtailed.
We had our meals in the main hut which is the first wife's home. Women build the ho uses here out of wood and dung plaster. The houses are small with a small general area space which is adjacent to the cow section and goat quarters. We had out meals on a makeshift dinning table in the cow's area. Some people had to sit in the main area (which could accomodate three chairs total) to sit at the other side of the table. The food was great and it was amazing that it was all cooked in a tiny cooking hut.
We camped in their courtyard which was the common outdoor area for the other houses. All in all there were about ten children it seemed. After hauling water and eating breakfast we too a long, long walk with a Maasai man and then we made it to the Maasai market which sold everything a person or animal could need. We still had out Maasai capes on and caused quite a stir in the market. People were falling off their stools laughing...we assume with us rather than at us. Some women were kind enough to get up and straighten out our cape dresses.
The Maasai, as you have by now surmised, continue to practice a traditional culture and life style... although they do use cell phones. Tiny children wander the great Maasai steppe with their goats and tiny girls have babies strapped to their backs as they do household chores. The group that led the tour have been major donors to a school project in the area and the young people see the value of education and are excited about studying and speaking English. One of the young women in the family just completed high school and plans to go to a teaching college in January. So the modern world encroaches bringing advancements and complications. Female circumcision is reportedly still practiced by the Maasai, but many people told us that the practice is, fortunately, being curtailed.
Friday, August 31, 2007
Teaching in Tanzania
I mentioned earlier the problem of resources here for teachers and students. Yesterday I erased the blackboard and then was talking to the students for awhile and when I turned back to the blackboard to erase something, I discovered the eraser was missing. I thought I was having an episode of early-onset dementia. Suddenly a student, Queen, ran out of the classroom and when I asked another student where Queen was going, she said Queen was getting me the eraser. Well, it turns out that all of the four teachers teaching at that time share the eraser! Apparently, another teacher has sent a student in to get the erasor while my back was turned, and sure enough about ten minutes later the teacher next door came in and asked to use the eraser. Today I am in town and planning to buy one for each classroom. Also, there is nothing on the walls. Not a slip of paper or worn out picture. Almost no books for students, and of course no electronic equipment. Yet the students are serious about their educations. They are smart and constantly surprise me with their insightful opinions and knowledge.
I really caused a ruckus in the teacher's room the other day when I announced that I was an atheist (well, they asked me). Pandemonium prevailed for quite a while as my colleagues, fanning themselves vigorously, shouted out questions and exclamations. It didn't occur to me at the time that I was in a Christian High School (one of my buddies at CCS pointed that out to me when I got home!) They calmed down when, by way of explanation, I pointed out that there were many people who called themselves Christians or believers, who were guilty of committing heinous crimes; so that believing was not exactly the criterion for a moral life. I brought up our boy George and the head matron, said to everyone in a tone oozing with sympathy, "Oh, yes, That's why she says such things!" It's really great fun to hang out with colleagues here, on the other side of the world, and share ideas and opinions. We agree that we are learning a lot from each other.
Next week I will continue with my civics class for 9th graders, English with 10th graders, and I'll add on a composition class with seniors. It's such an incredible experience to work with these students. I feel truly blessed, although it's is painful to witness the hardships that they face. My 10th graders have lofty aspirations for their futures. They want to be doctors and pilots, lawyers and politicians (one girl insists she will become president one day) engineers, teachers, religious leaders, mechanics, nurses and computer scientist. They love American rappers (I think they will be thrilled when I start doing music with them) and movies and all things American, especially the people. The girls seem more determined to succeed than many of the boys. My heart is so full of hope fore them.
Maybe I like them so much because they fight each other to grab my things at the end of class and at least four of them escort me to the teacher's room after each period. I feel like a screen celebrity or something.
Some of the folks at home base tell me they can help be download some photos, so when I get back from the Maasai village on Sunday, I will try to post some photos of the wonderful people we have met in Tanzania. You will be very jealous.
Until then...
I really caused a ruckus in the teacher's room the other day when I announced that I was an atheist (well, they asked me). Pandemonium prevailed for quite a while as my colleagues, fanning themselves vigorously, shouted out questions and exclamations. It didn't occur to me at the time that I was in a Christian High School (one of my buddies at CCS pointed that out to me when I got home!) They calmed down when, by way of explanation, I pointed out that there were many people who called themselves Christians or believers, who were guilty of committing heinous crimes; so that believing was not exactly the criterion for a moral life. I brought up our boy George and the head matron, said to everyone in a tone oozing with sympathy, "Oh, yes, That's why she says such things!" It's really great fun to hang out with colleagues here, on the other side of the world, and share ideas and opinions. We agree that we are learning a lot from each other.
Next week I will continue with my civics class for 9th graders, English with 10th graders, and I'll add on a composition class with seniors. It's such an incredible experience to work with these students. I feel truly blessed, although it's is painful to witness the hardships that they face. My 10th graders have lofty aspirations for their futures. They want to be doctors and pilots, lawyers and politicians (one girl insists she will become president one day) engineers, teachers, religious leaders, mechanics, nurses and computer scientist. They love American rappers (I think they will be thrilled when I start doing music with them) and movies and all things American, especially the people. The girls seem more determined to succeed than many of the boys. My heart is so full of hope fore them.
Maybe I like them so much because they fight each other to grab my things at the end of class and at least four of them escort me to the teacher's room after each period. I feel like a screen celebrity or something.
Some of the folks at home base tell me they can help be download some photos, so when I get back from the Maasai village on Sunday, I will try to post some photos of the wonderful people we have met in Tanzania. You will be very jealous.
Until then...
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Hamjambo!
What a great experience it has been here in Tanzania these last four days. The weather is fabulous: warm during the day and cool in the evenings. And its very green here at the bottom of Mt. Kiliminjaro. The mountain is visable from many different vantage points here and it's stunning. Too bad I can't upload photographs.
I have started my teaching job at St. Theresia secondary school and am loving that too. The students stand up when an adult walks in the room and when they answer questions, and they also escort you to the teacher's room, Your books in hand at the end of class. They are courteous and polite and seem genuinely happy to have foreign teachers. I'm loving the respect you get here as a teacher and as an elder.
I am teaching two levels of English (9th and 10th graders) and Civics. There is one civics book that the other civics teacher and I have to share. Of course the students don't have any books. In my English classes between 25 and 40 students share around 8 of the readers and grammar primers; that's the most frustrating aspect of teaching here-- the woeful lack of resources.
All of my 28 co-volunteers are wonderful people to know and I am learning a lot from them as well. The food at the base home is sensational. Mostly vegetables and lots of salads and wonderful stews and I have quickly learned to like Ugali (the corn-based staple) too because the sauces are so delicious.
This weekend I am going with a few others to spend the weekend at a Masai village. We will meet and eat and dance (!) with them and help them with their chores. I can't wait. I have always been drawn to the Masai because they are such tall people. I think my ancient ancestors must have come from this rejoin.
Our computer at home base is very slow and we are only supposed to use it to conduct quick business, so I am here in town today using a very fast computer for about 50 cents an hour. We have lectures and Swahili lessons in the afternoons after our placements so there hasn't been a lot of time to get into town, but the pace will slow down in two weeks and then I'll have more time to post.
Right now I have to grab a cab back home for Swahili class, so Bedai for now.
I have started my teaching job at St. Theresia secondary school and am loving that too. The students stand up when an adult walks in the room and when they answer questions, and they also escort you to the teacher's room, Your books in hand at the end of class. They are courteous and polite and seem genuinely happy to have foreign teachers. I'm loving the respect you get here as a teacher and as an elder.
I am teaching two levels of English (9th and 10th graders) and Civics. There is one civics book that the other civics teacher and I have to share. Of course the students don't have any books. In my English classes between 25 and 40 students share around 8 of the readers and grammar primers; that's the most frustrating aspect of teaching here-- the woeful lack of resources.
All of my 28 co-volunteers are wonderful people to know and I am learning a lot from them as well. The food at the base home is sensational. Mostly vegetables and lots of salads and wonderful stews and I have quickly learned to like Ugali (the corn-based staple) too because the sauces are so delicious.
This weekend I am going with a few others to spend the weekend at a Masai village. We will meet and eat and dance (!) with them and help them with their chores. I can't wait. I have always been drawn to the Masai because they are such tall people. I think my ancient ancestors must have come from this rejoin.
Our computer at home base is very slow and we are only supposed to use it to conduct quick business, so I am here in town today using a very fast computer for about 50 cents an hour. We have lectures and Swahili lessons in the afternoons after our placements so there hasn't been a lot of time to get into town, but the pace will slow down in two weeks and then I'll have more time to post.
Right now I have to grab a cab back home for Swahili class, so Bedai for now.
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