Things I've learned in Zambia and other notes

May 13th, 2008

First of all: Happy Birthday to my sister!!

Well, things are starting to change around this place a bit. We’ve had power for the most part and today we have water again (huzzah!).
We’ve just got a maid as well which makes life so much easier. Boy it was surprising when I left my room with all my lesson-planning stuff spread out all over the floor and my bed unmade as I ran out the door, and returned to find the room spotless. Going back to my room in Canada is going to take courage!
We’ve also got some visitors. David, Tanya and Leeland’s son, and their nephew Chris both arrived from the States yesterday. It’s great to have more people in the house… I do like people. J The guys are a lot of fun and I’ve really enjoyed their company. I beat Chris in a game of pool yesterday (which was highly momentous). The last time I saw David was when I was five and he was three. Needless to say, we’ve got lots of catching up to do!
Monday was the first full day at school. During their two-hour lunch break I sat with the teachers and some of the other kids and started to learn some words from one of the local languages which is called Nyanga (which is spelled quite differently than how it sounds… and hence just spelled wrong). It was good fun and we all had a good laugh.
In the afternoon I worked with some kids on reading… and made an unfortunate discovery. Many of them can’t read. At all. In my grade four class. Part of the cause of this (I think) is that they don’t get a lot of opportunities to read, and when they do, they read together as a class or repeat after the teacher so the ones who can’t read easily slip through the cracks. Repeating after the teacher, or mouthing what the other kids are saying requires no reading. The other problem is that some kids are new to the school, or they might have missed a term and now are back again and very behind. So… we are going to start from square one. I’ve made some phonix flash-cards and laughed when I was making them because of some of the things I had to change. “I is for Indian/ Igloo” is not going to be particularly helpful to these kids.
In the evening we had a great party at the house. It was in honor of the arrival of Chris and David and of the birthdays of me and another teacher at the school called Joseph. He is turning 22 on the 19th so it’s been a good joke that I’m so much older. It was a lot of fun.
I am still enjoying my work at the school although there are days that are very challenging. I remember, in my psych classes, talking about primary motivations that need to be satisfied in people. So many of the kids in my classes are hungry and are abused at home. How do you effectively teach kids who are so tired and hungry they can hardly keep their eyes open?
My grade 2 class loves to sing so when they start to get restless we stand in circle and sing some songs. They can now sing a very energetic “Head and shoulders, knees and toes” and “God made me” (we were learning body parts last week).
In my grade four class I’ve started to read a bit of Oliver Twist (an easier version with pictures) every day. I think it’s a bit hard for some of them, but it’s nice for the more advanced kids, who don’t get challenged that much, to have something more at their level. I act it out as I read and we stop every few pages and I ask them some comprehension questions.


Some things I’ve learned:
*The “Chamba Valley” where I am partying means “Marijuana Valley”.
*You can fit (at least!) 12 people into a car.
*“Please teacher may I go outside” or “Please teacher may you go outside” means “I have to go to the bathroom”. (Found that out after going outside and being very confused as the child I’d just been talking to disappeared)
*It is possible to drive through pot-holes the size of moon craters.
*Watch out for busses!! Shoulder checking is optional here—and you never know when they’ll pull out!
*You can get endless hours of amusement from advertisements and signs: a bus that says “For whites only” (advertising a laundry detergent) or another bus that read “flash the people on the move”.
*If there’s a red light, know that stopping is optional. If there is no light it means “GO!”.

This coming up weekend we are going to go on a safari. I am ridiculously excited.
Take care folks,
Dayna

Pictures are of the party on Monday. Me and Joseph the birthday boy.