Well unfortunately I have nothing nearly as cool as meeting the president to talk about today, but I do feel like I am beginning to get my foot in the door at at least one of my schools. Which is probably a little bit more my job than hanging out with high-ranking politicians. I’ve convinced my key-school principal to let me paint one wall of the primary school with a giant world map, which I think will be a pretty cool project. One of the teachers who was in the room when I was initially reading about it happens to love geography and is in fact currently teaching the very grid-enlarging method that we would use to get the map onto the wall. So he was sold and I get to do my project actual grass-roots style, like I’m supposed to. We’re going to recruit about 80 Grade 7 learners to do the real work, and I’m going to attempt to work in as many sample lesson plans and new curriculum usage as I can. Its actually already spawned a number of geography conversations with some teachers. I think that the curriculum was written in Canada, so consequently they all seem to think that either I myself am Canadian, or that Canada is part of the US – or both. There is also some general confusion about the location of Europe, North America vs. the United States, and whether or not you can drive to America. Generally the resources just don’t exist to put a nice map in every classroom, so I’m hoping that this will alleviate that problem and spark some good discussions on geography, culture, etc… Plus, I get to feel like I’m actually doing something. This is all provided that everything doesn’t fall through, of course, so wish me luck.
I’m grateful that I’m beginning to have projects to work on, because it gives me something to space out about when I’m watching television with my family at home. I love to spend time with them, and they’re all wonderful, but…lets just say that if the Chuck Norris Collection was to dissapear at some point I would definitely have had nothing to do with it…nor would I be too sad. Last night we watched Delta Force, featuring a manly and virile Chuck Norris and a rocket-launching motorcycle tracking down evil Arab terrorists. It was sort of like Team America, except the acting was a little stiffer and the special effects not as cool. The music was about on par though. Chuck Norris is big here, I have no idea why, but at least it makes all Chuck Norris Facts just that much funnier.
I got my first sunburn last week. (Meeting Thabo Mbeki. Did I mention I met Thabo Mbeki? The sunburn was worth it). It of course started to peel on Monday, and this freaked out all of my teachers. It may have been the first sunburn they had ever seen. A few probably thought that I had leprosy, and I had to explain numerous times that it was not the heat, per se, so much as UV rays. Then I had to explain UV rays. And melanin. (Actually, the melanin conversation was a good one). The upshot of all of this is, however, I am no longer aloud outside of the house without an umbrella or a large hat, and everybody goes out of their way to make sure that the delicate American is always in the shade and out of the heat. Hopefully that will get boring eventually.
And finally, a note on packages and mail: Matt Nagel is my current favorite human being on the face of the planet. And I would highly suggest that if any of you are sending a package to South Africa, declare it as something really boring, like “books” or “sundries” (the latter is a good one) and be sure that it is going air-mail. This vastly reduces the chances of it getting stolen, since writing dvds, clothes, and good things like that are like an invitation for stealing.
Oh, and the people down the road may or may not practice ritual 'muti-killings.' Of people. Neat, huh?
Thursday, October 26, 2006
Saturday, October 21, 2006
Donkey Jive
So…yesterday I shook hands with Thabo Mbeki. That’s going to be hard to top, either in this blog entry or the next two years – maybe I’ll just head back to the US now.
I was at the dedication of a monument to Samora Michel, and both he and the president of Mozambique were there, planting symbolic trees, making speeches, interacting with their public, and generally being good politicians. My key-school principal had taken me there – he likes to act like my own personal tour guide of all that South Africa has to offer – and we had arrived early enough that I was sitting towards the front with a crowd of gogos (who offered me candy and would start yelling at anybody who stood in front of them and blocked their view for more than 30 seconds. I love gogos.). When the little pocket of dignitaries paraded past us, of course everybody ran up to try to see the president. I wasn’t going to at first, but then I thought: what the hell, when am I going to get this chance again? So there I was, shaking hands with the President of South Africa. Seriously, how cool am I?
Like I said, that’s going to be hard to top, but I do have more to say. So I’ll let you admire these pictures for a few moments while you collect yourself, and then move on:
Hmm, just kidding. Photos are harder than I thought. Maybe later.
As far as my actual job goes, I think that things are going well. I’m getting to know my teachers – which as far as I can tell really is our only actual job for the first few months. The trick is in building relationships, keeping your mouth shut, and really doing very little, while appearing to actually be useful and beneficial. I did help one of my teachers use a computer for the very first time though, and the look on her face was awesome. She’s a cool woman, very intelligent and strong, you can just tell. She had asked me to type up a letter for her and I told her that I would show her how to do it herself. She was almost terrified to use the computer, she told me that she had never really done anything but look at one before. So together we opened word, I explained the basics of typing, and she started to type the letter. It took about 20 minutes for a 3 line letter, but the majority of that was just figuring out where the keys were placed. She was so excited that she was literally clapping her hands together. It was awesome. By the end we both agreed that computers were easy, and that I should start teaching computer lessons there ASAP. Its nice to feel like you’re really doing something.
I do feel like I struggle sometimes with giving all three of Peace Corps goals equal weight. (A refresher: Development work, sharing American culture in a foreign country, sharing a foreign country’s culture back home). The second one is easy. The question invariably starts with “So, in America…” and will be followed up by anything from questions about livestock to politics. People are continually shocked by the fact that we really do have cows, but no pap. (“But what do you eat?”). The third one I imagine won’t be too tricky either. God knows I’m opinionated enough and have a big enough mouth to be ‘sharing’ my knowledge for the rest of my life – whether my audience likes it or not. But of course the reason I joined Peace Corps was for the first. I continually hear that the smaller you set your goals the happier you’ll be. That I shouldn’t expect to see results for at least a year – if ever. That, to quote the Bhagavad Gita, “To the work alone are you entitled, never the fruit.” In other words, the problem is a big one, and the mindsets pretty entrenched. I know that the work I’m doing is important, that eventually I will make a difference – even a little bit – but its hard now when we’re all still getting used to eachother. When my only goal is to get my teachers to trust me enough to let me work. So I rely on the fact that I’m certainly taking care of 2 and 3. But that feels like a little bit of a cop-out.
I remember having a conversation with Dana before I left. I acknowledged that the work would be hard, that I wasn’t about to change the world, “but if one more girl goes to college then I win.” My poor 14 year-old host sister, Latoya (whom I love, and who is completely awesome) has mentioned to me on several occasions how much she loves to read and write, and that she wants to be a doctor. I hope the poor girl knows that she’s pretty much sealed her fate in my eyes. I’ve already started researching universities and scholarships.
This is getting long, so I’ll cut it short. For those of you in Davis-land enjoying homecoming today: have a good time and Go Ags. And Happy Birthday to Dana, Erin, and Chad. Your gifts are in the mail, I swear.
I was at the dedication of a monument to Samora Michel, and both he and the president of Mozambique were there, planting symbolic trees, making speeches, interacting with their public, and generally being good politicians. My key-school principal had taken me there – he likes to act like my own personal tour guide of all that South Africa has to offer – and we had arrived early enough that I was sitting towards the front with a crowd of gogos (who offered me candy and would start yelling at anybody who stood in front of them and blocked their view for more than 30 seconds. I love gogos.). When the little pocket of dignitaries paraded past us, of course everybody ran up to try to see the president. I wasn’t going to at first, but then I thought: what the hell, when am I going to get this chance again? So there I was, shaking hands with the President of South Africa. Seriously, how cool am I?
Like I said, that’s going to be hard to top, but I do have more to say. So I’ll let you admire these pictures for a few moments while you collect yourself, and then move on:
Hmm, just kidding. Photos are harder than I thought. Maybe later.
As far as my actual job goes, I think that things are going well. I’m getting to know my teachers – which as far as I can tell really is our only actual job for the first few months. The trick is in building relationships, keeping your mouth shut, and really doing very little, while appearing to actually be useful and beneficial. I did help one of my teachers use a computer for the very first time though, and the look on her face was awesome. She’s a cool woman, very intelligent and strong, you can just tell. She had asked me to type up a letter for her and I told her that I would show her how to do it herself. She was almost terrified to use the computer, she told me that she had never really done anything but look at one before. So together we opened word, I explained the basics of typing, and she started to type the letter. It took about 20 minutes for a 3 line letter, but the majority of that was just figuring out where the keys were placed. She was so excited that she was literally clapping her hands together. It was awesome. By the end we both agreed that computers were easy, and that I should start teaching computer lessons there ASAP. Its nice to feel like you’re really doing something.
I do feel like I struggle sometimes with giving all three of Peace Corps goals equal weight. (A refresher: Development work, sharing American culture in a foreign country, sharing a foreign country’s culture back home). The second one is easy. The question invariably starts with “So, in America…” and will be followed up by anything from questions about livestock to politics. People are continually shocked by the fact that we really do have cows, but no pap. (“But what do you eat?”). The third one I imagine won’t be too tricky either. God knows I’m opinionated enough and have a big enough mouth to be ‘sharing’ my knowledge for the rest of my life – whether my audience likes it or not. But of course the reason I joined Peace Corps was for the first. I continually hear that the smaller you set your goals the happier you’ll be. That I shouldn’t expect to see results for at least a year – if ever. That, to quote the Bhagavad Gita, “To the work alone are you entitled, never the fruit.” In other words, the problem is a big one, and the mindsets pretty entrenched. I know that the work I’m doing is important, that eventually I will make a difference – even a little bit – but its hard now when we’re all still getting used to eachother. When my only goal is to get my teachers to trust me enough to let me work. So I rely on the fact that I’m certainly taking care of 2 and 3. But that feels like a little bit of a cop-out.
I remember having a conversation with Dana before I left. I acknowledged that the work would be hard, that I wasn’t about to change the world, “but if one more girl goes to college then I win.” My poor 14 year-old host sister, Latoya (whom I love, and who is completely awesome) has mentioned to me on several occasions how much she loves to read and write, and that she wants to be a doctor. I hope the poor girl knows that she’s pretty much sealed her fate in my eyes. I’ve already started researching universities and scholarships.
This is getting long, so I’ll cut it short. For those of you in Davis-land enjoying homecoming today: have a good time and Go Ags. And Happy Birthday to Dana, Erin, and Chad. Your gifts are in the mail, I swear.
Thursday, October 12, 2006
Starting to get to Work...
So I now have access to my email whenever I may want it via my pretty blinged-out cellphone, but anything beyond that is sort of a pain. Hopefully I’ll have more substantial internet at least once a week, and on of my schools is (in theory, maybe, next year) getting internet. So, here’s hoping. But like I said, I do at least have access to my email whenever I want it, so feel free to email me!
As of September 21st I am officially a real-live Peace Corps Volunteer. We had a very nice swearing-in ceremony, and one of the other volunteers gave an absolutely amazing speech in isiZulu. Really, I’ve kicked around the idea of being a speech writer from time to time, but Jeff put anything I could ever write to shame. I’ll have to see if anybody wrote it down and post it.
So now I have moved into my new village with my new host family. I am living with a younger couple (mid/late 30s), and 6(!) children, ranging from 18 months to about 16 years. I’m staying in a room just next to the house, which took a little bit of negotiation, but I think it was worth it. Except now I have to kill my own cockroaches. And spiders. And rats. Guess I’ll just have to get tough. The cockroaches are seriously the size of my hand though. After having to listen to one run around my room for the better part of a night, though, I declared a fatwa on all organisms with more than 3 legs and went a little crazy with the “DyRoach.” I used an entire can in under 20 minutes. Sure I felt a tad dizzy that night, but the next morning I found my new friend upside down and immobile under my bed. So I’m willing to consider that a victory. I comfort myself with the fact that had I done PC Madagascar, the cockroaches would have had the words “giant” and “hissing” as a pre-fix. So maybe this isn’t so bad.
I do have electricity, which is awesome, but no running water. Which is slightly unawesome. I wouldn’t mind so much – you actually get used to the pit toilets pretty fast – but I really miss showers. My hair really misses showers. But actually, with a little ingenuity and a little (okay, a lot) of spare time, even that probably won’t be so bad. I was using just a bucket, a water kettle, and a washcloth, and that worked all right, but recently I have upgraded: I bought a small pitcher and a watering can. The watering can simulates showers surprisingly well, and I’m already planning an elaborate rig involving some rope, wire, and a bigger basin (to minimize the splash-zone). Hot showers are just a matter of time. You’ll see. I’ll post photos.
I spent the last week at my key school, just observing and getting to know my teachers. I’m not entirely certain what my job is going to be yet, but I have some good leads. I did a small, short workshop with my teachers just to get an idea of what they want. So far my list includes computer lessons, discipline and classroom management (this one was heavily emphasized. I think that I may actually be at one of the very few rural schools that honestly doesn’t hit its learners. At least, I didn’t see any last week. But the teachers don’t know what else to do), lesson planning and the new national curriculum, different teaching methods, involving learners, and team building. Personally, I also want to work on critical thinking, and do a few fairly scientific, fact based presentations on HIV/AIDS. Awareness of the disease is not the problem. South Africa has one of the highest rates of HIV in the world. It may be as high as 1 in 3 people. It is thoroughly worked into the curriculum, you see ribbons, slogans, and signs everywhere. But that doesn’t mean that people necessarily understand the concept of a virus, of blood and fluid-borne diseases, of what exactly is happening to a person. What the hell, it can’t hurt, right?
As of September 21st I am officially a real-live Peace Corps Volunteer. We had a very nice swearing-in ceremony, and one of the other volunteers gave an absolutely amazing speech in isiZulu. Really, I’ve kicked around the idea of being a speech writer from time to time, but Jeff put anything I could ever write to shame. I’ll have to see if anybody wrote it down and post it.
So now I have moved into my new village with my new host family. I am living with a younger couple (mid/late 30s), and 6(!) children, ranging from 18 months to about 16 years. I’m staying in a room just next to the house, which took a little bit of negotiation, but I think it was worth it. Except now I have to kill my own cockroaches. And spiders. And rats. Guess I’ll just have to get tough. The cockroaches are seriously the size of my hand though. After having to listen to one run around my room for the better part of a night, though, I declared a fatwa on all organisms with more than 3 legs and went a little crazy with the “DyRoach.” I used an entire can in under 20 minutes. Sure I felt a tad dizzy that night, but the next morning I found my new friend upside down and immobile under my bed. So I’m willing to consider that a victory. I comfort myself with the fact that had I done PC Madagascar, the cockroaches would have had the words “giant” and “hissing” as a pre-fix. So maybe this isn’t so bad.
I do have electricity, which is awesome, but no running water. Which is slightly unawesome. I wouldn’t mind so much – you actually get used to the pit toilets pretty fast – but I really miss showers. My hair really misses showers. But actually, with a little ingenuity and a little (okay, a lot) of spare time, even that probably won’t be so bad. I was using just a bucket, a water kettle, and a washcloth, and that worked all right, but recently I have upgraded: I bought a small pitcher and a watering can. The watering can simulates showers surprisingly well, and I’m already planning an elaborate rig involving some rope, wire, and a bigger basin (to minimize the splash-zone). Hot showers are just a matter of time. You’ll see. I’ll post photos.
I spent the last week at my key school, just observing and getting to know my teachers. I’m not entirely certain what my job is going to be yet, but I have some good leads. I did a small, short workshop with my teachers just to get an idea of what they want. So far my list includes computer lessons, discipline and classroom management (this one was heavily emphasized. I think that I may actually be at one of the very few rural schools that honestly doesn’t hit its learners. At least, I didn’t see any last week. But the teachers don’t know what else to do), lesson planning and the new national curriculum, different teaching methods, involving learners, and team building. Personally, I also want to work on critical thinking, and do a few fairly scientific, fact based presentations on HIV/AIDS. Awareness of the disease is not the problem. South Africa has one of the highest rates of HIV in the world. It may be as high as 1 in 3 people. It is thoroughly worked into the curriculum, you see ribbons, slogans, and signs everywhere. But that doesn’t mean that people necessarily understand the concept of a virus, of blood and fluid-borne diseases, of what exactly is happening to a person. What the hell, it can’t hurt, right?
Sunday, October 08, 2006
Alive and back!!
So on September 21st, I officially became a real live PCV here in South Africa, and with that the hard work apparently really starts. (Because apparently learning an entirely new language, culture, and system of education wasn't tricky enough). I have been living at my new site for two weeks now, and I love it. I'm in a very small town practically on the border of Mozambique and, even better, practically on the border of Kruger National Park! I've already been to both (okay, to the border of both) and in Kruger I got the chance to see crocodiles, hippos, wildebeest, and rhinos. Which was awesome. I also spent about a week suffering fron tick-bite fever, which was slightly less awesome but -- oh well. At least I got to be the very first member of our group to get a real live South African disease! So go me. I actually wrote up a very nice, long post on my computer at home, but then forgot to put it on my flash drive and bring here. So for the moment you all get the short one in which I summarize all of the things I can think of off the top of my head.
And before I forget, my brand new address is:
Rebecca Miller (/Nomvula Sambo, if you're feeling clever)
Box 62
Steenbok
1347
South Africa.
Be sure to write airmail on the envelope or it may take the better part of 4 months to reach me. Which would be sort of lame. And be sure to write me! Letters make a day better like nothing else.
I currently have access to my email whenever I want it via my cellphone, so if anybody wants to reach me that is an excellent way to do it. I have to respond using the phones keypad, so you may not get a long answer back, but I promise that I have seen it! (and if you want my cell number, give my parents a call -- they have it).
Next week I will post the longer entry that I wrote up, and maybe some pictures as well. But for the moment rest assured that I am happy, all of my fellow PCVs are some of the most amazing people and best friends I have ever met, and -- yes, people eat cow intestines and chicken feet. Occasionally on the same day. Thank god for multivitamins and peanut butter.
Hooray South Africa!
And before I forget, my brand new address is:
Rebecca Miller (/Nomvula Sambo, if you're feeling clever)
Box 62
Steenbok
1347
South Africa.
Be sure to write airmail on the envelope or it may take the better part of 4 months to reach me. Which would be sort of lame. And be sure to write me! Letters make a day better like nothing else.
I currently have access to my email whenever I want it via my cellphone, so if anybody wants to reach me that is an excellent way to do it. I have to respond using the phones keypad, so you may not get a long answer back, but I promise that I have seen it! (and if you want my cell number, give my parents a call -- they have it).
Next week I will post the longer entry that I wrote up, and maybe some pictures as well. But for the moment rest assured that I am happy, all of my fellow PCVs are some of the most amazing people and best friends I have ever met, and -- yes, people eat cow intestines and chicken feet. Occasionally on the same day. Thank god for multivitamins and peanut butter.
Hooray South Africa!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)