the adventure continues...

Well...things are maintaining themselves. No real progress anywhere, but no major steps backward either. If the computers don't blow up at the center the class will officially begin next Monday, November 12. (Seeing as how they've done almost everything except blow up, I'm wouldn't be too surprised if they did...) :). This is Africa! :)

I am now co-teaching at my key school (the other one, as I mentioned, didn't want to have anything to do with that idea...). I have "co-taught" two classes so far. I did this in training and thought I was prepared for it. Boy, I wasn't! It was such an eye opening experience all around. It was overwhelming also.

I first co-taught an English class for grade 4. It went decently, the teacher I was working with fully grasped the concept and together we came up with a creative lesson that wasn't comprised of students repeating facts over and over. It went fine and the teacher I was working with was obviously enjoying herself, as were the students. Then it came time to do the homework part of the lesson. It was to construct a telephone conversation following the model we'd been using in class. I do not mean to insult the intelligence of the learner's in any way, shape or form, but I thought the assignment should be rather simple. I'd previously been encouraging teachers to push their kids harder, giving them more difficult work. Well, I don't know what happened but the homework was a serious problem! The learners didn't seem to understand what was being asked and it took some learners over an hour to complete the task at hand. My heart sank as I sat there at the front of the room and watched the kids struggle and struggle and struggle.

HOWEVER, it is important to note that while they were clearly having difficulty the learners DID NOT QUIT. This is something that made me admire them immensely. They sat there and worked straight through their recess break. I even told them they could go outside and play, that they could finish it later. Instead they stayed during recess to finish. It was awe inspiring, and sad at the same time.

It speaks of a larger picture that is slowly coming into focus for me. And said picture is a LOT bigger than I initially thought it was. To avoid being "poetically vague" what I mean is: I thought I'd figured out what the "problems" were and I thought I'd come up with possible solutions. It turns out that by addressing the most obvious "problems" I have come upon yet another layer of issues that add to the over all "problem." Thus making the likelihood of me getting ANYTHING productive/lasting done here very, very small.

I co-taught a "Life Orientation" class Monday and that went over horribly. Even though I'd met with the teacher beforehand to co-write the lesson plan she apparently didn't really grasp the concept. When the class began she got up and proceeded to teach the entire lesson...only it wasn't the lesson we'd planned together...and there was no spot for me in it. It was a bit frustrating. Oh dear.

I am also really concerned by the lack of teaching going on at most of my schools. I've taken the habit of making "rounds" to just peak my head into the classrooms to take note of who's teaching, who isn't. Yesterday, at my key school, I walked into all 9 classrooms and observed only 2 teachers actually teaching. Three classrooms were devoid of adult supervisions and were in various stages of chaos. I poked my head into a few other rooms were teachers were sitting together in the front of the room deep in conversation while the children mimicked their behavior at their desks. I even found the principal "teaching" her class by text messaging while the learners chatted. This is very frustrating. I can't FORCE anybody to teach...I can only hope I can instill in them some sort of desire to do so.

All that to say, I am once again overwhelmed by the situations in the schools here. It's hard to make myself want to go some mornings. But, what doesn't kill us only makes us stronger, right? I hope I'm able to at least address a few of the issues that are seriously thwarting the progress of the learners (ex: poor teaching styles)...

I am beginning to really understand what a good friend/mentor from DC once said to me..."In development work you MUST be satisfied with the best you can do, even if your best isn't sustainable, you must be satisfied with it, or you'll go crazy."

How true that is!

I am finding everyday comfort in basic pleasures like reading (I've already ingested 14 books!), exercising and spending time with Jason. As such, today I feel more or less optimistic - which is something I need to cling to and run with!

Well, this blog is a lot of rambling, for that I apologize. I'll try not to turn this spot into a journal! But, as always, it's nice to vent my thoughts in a somewhat coherent fashion!