Hello everyone!
I will keep this shorter because, trop parler, c'est maladie.
Listen to this while reading:
T.P. Poly-Rythmo De Cotonou (Benin) - Trop Parler, C'est Maladie
It has been a little longer since my last update. I have
spent most of my writing energy on letters and journaling, making true my
pledge to reply to all written mail (the pledge still holds, I love letters).
I am writing to you on a Thursday afternoon here in
Porto-Novo. We are finishing up a week and a half IST (In Service Training).
For the Education sector, this is mandatory. We learn everything about all of
the other sectors in about one week. Of course, in such a short amount of time,
everything is cursory, but one can get the sense of the larger plan. There are
a lot of intersections in the different realms of health and hygiene,
nutrition, deforestation, moringa, education, youth empowerment. There is a
difficulty being in TEFL though, because we still have class. There is a
certain amount of liberty in the other sectors. No recurring obligations.
Teaching means I must show up every Monday morning. It is tantalizing to have
all these very ambitious and creative project ideas. Can I juggle grant
writing, evaluation, promotion, and fundraising while still learning how to
teach and take care of my health? It is easy to see the plate piles up.
Starting
out, my homologue Laurent is really interested in getting a girls’ football
team in our two villages—himself in Koulou, myself in Dassari. I have been
practicing football with the other teachers and students during the pick-up
games and more formal team practices. The field is right behind my house. He
has already told me the Porga team will beat the Dassari team, so now my
village pride is on the line.
We also
have a bunch of Moringa seeds that we will nurse around May and then plant
around the beginning of the rainy season. If you haven’t heard of it before,
Moringa is this superfood that grows really well here in West Africa. It is
rich in protein and vitamins; you can eat almost every part of it; they grow
very fast. Some of the more zealous may claim it is the solution to West
Africa’s problem with malnutrition. I have seen some Moringa creams that claim
to cure every illness. I like to throw some fresh leaves in with an omelette, or
mix the powder in a peanut sauce.
The big
thing though that I am really excited about is the Parent-Teacher Conference.
After talking with a volunteer who had done it in the past, I think it would be
great for Dassari. A lot of the children attending school come from parents who
did not go to school. Thus, many parents do not understand how the school
system works. If they don’t know how the system works, they can’t understand
whether their child is doing well or not, whether an 11 on the devoir is good
or bad. (It’s passing.) The idea would be to do a larger sensibilization at the
school open to all parents interested, explaining the structure of the school
system and the division of the school year, what is an interrogation, what is a
devoir, how are moyens (grades) calculated. This also gives us a chance to
promote the value of education and to encourage the support of a child’s
education at home. To give them a quiet place where they can study. Ask to see
their tests. Praise them when they do well. We see the same thing in the US,
that when a child’s family gets involved with their education, they become
better students. The follow up to the large group session would be to make
house calls for students who are failing. This will be a little more difficult
and time consuming, but this would be the responsibility of individual
teachers.
That is a
lot of speculation, so let’s get back to basic. The first semester is over and
I am proud to say most of my students are passing! The average is about a 70%
passing rate. There are still plenty of students right on the line, so I hope
to improve that number this coming semester. I am getting really attached to my
kids and they are becoming more comfortable with my teaching style. There were
a few problem students here and there, but once I figured out the situation, I
was able to eliminate it. One boy named Bienvenu is in my sixieme class. He was
being a distraction to a couple of other students and wouldn’t follow
instructions for large group activities. But he is one of my stronger students,
ranked 5th in the class. So I
started by changing his seat to the front of the class, but this only made it
worse. He was the center of attention, pissed off, and causing problems with
other students. We talked after class and he told me that he just moved here
from some tiny village near Burkina, but in the move, he had to retake sixieme.
This boy didn't have a behavior issue. He was just bored. So I moved him back
to his seat in the back, and let him draw pictures and help a boy who sits next
to him. Now there is no problem.
Other than
that, been doing a lot of long-distance biking to other villages to salute
volunteers and friends. Improving my recipes (I have a really great black sauce
to serve over pasta, tomatoes, peanut, moringa, ginger, garlic, onions. The red
tomatoes and green moringa with the peanut butter makes a dark, dark sauce.)
Reading like wild. Infinite Jest, Madam Bovary, Farewell to Arms, Zeitoun,
Man’s Search for Meaning. I am going to try to read more French to build up my
vocabulary. I am the day-to-day vocabulary down, now I want to be able to
express myself with precision. Plenty of meditation. I could not survive without it. My guitar is a good friend too.
This
training has lasted 2 days too long. I am really tired and I want to get back
to village. Please send me and email or letter. I will write you back!
Allez avec dieu,
Chazaq
Chazaq
