Sunday I was actually able to sleep in a bit. For some reason I woke up inspired to start exercising again. It was 10 in the morning and I made it about 2 km down the road before it got too hot to run. At least I gave it a shot. Back at the house we had breakfast and waited for Sofia to arrive. She would be taking us through town showing us the essentials, where to get money, a phone and internet. After walking through town for a bit (the main portion is only 4 blocks long) we headed off to grab a bit of lunch with everyone at Zig Zags. After lunch I explored town a bit more. It was Yom Kipur and I thought that I would at least attempt to try and find a synagogue to go to. Unfortunately, this trek ended without finding anywhere to go. Sorry Mom, I tried. The rest of the day was quite uneventful. We had dinner together and I got a lesson on dirty English words. Now hopefully I can understand what everyone is saying.
Monday morning we had to get up early to start work. Ciara (Keira) woke me up at half past six to go for a run. It was much better going out early in the morning when it is still somewhat cool. After breakfast, Dan, Rachel and I got the introduction about the project, the communities that we would be working in and the conditions there. It was actually quite shocking, as I didn't realize how bad things really are. It is published that the AIDS rate is around 40 percent, but in actuality about 80 percent of the population is HIV positive. It has been very difficult to educate the people about AIDS and it is still spreading. It has been an on going struggle to get people to use condoms. The men don't like wearing condoms because if they wear a condom they are seen as being sick and the women won't have sex then. The women won't ask the men to wear a condom because then they are seen as dirty and sick and the men won't have sex with them. In addition people won't go and get tested to see if they have AIDS. It is taboo for it to be known in the community that you have AIDS.
After the introduction, we took a tour of each of the three schools and a clinic where the volunteers work. The first stop was the clinic. This is where the women go to give birth, as well as take their children to get their immunizations and health checks. It was a constant procession of mothers bringing their children in. I couldn't believe how young all of these mothers were though. Most of them looked like they were in their early teens.
The next stop was the Linda community school. This is the poorest school in the district and anyone can go there because there are no fees. Because there are no fees, it is not unusual for the teachers to just not show up. There are about 100 children there of all ages and 3 classrooms to teach in. In addition, there are so few books and supplies that it is usually 10 kids sitting at a desk and sharing a text book. The kids all flocked to us when we arrived though. They all wanted to say hello. Dan and I were big hits with the boys as they were told that we would be organizing soccer for them. After meeting all of the children and teachers, we took a quick tour of the orphanage on site in which 18 of the boys lived in one room.
After the Linda school we went to the Dambwa Community School. This was more of a proper school with three buildings and teachers that worked there full time. The difference between the Dambwa and Linda is that all of the children that attend the Dambwa school have to pay to go there. The fee isn't very much, but this is normal for any school run by the Zambian government. All of these children were still very poor, but their families were able to pay the small fees. Education is seen as very important in Zambia so the parents will often work very hard to be able to pay these fees. The school also required that all of the children wear a uniform. The uniform at Dambwa consisted of a neon yellow shirt with neon green shorts and tie.
The last stop was the Zambezi school. This was the most well off school in Livingstone and volunteers only go there if there are enough to work at the other two schools. Zambezi Basic School mission statement: To provide quality inclusive education aimed a producing hard working healthy pupils who will serve the nation in all aspects of life.
Driving through the communities was amazing. Most of the houses were small onebedroom buildings made of some sort of building stone and a tin roof. Almost every house had a mother and numerous young children sitting outside. When we passed the houses, all of the children would come running to the street just to wave to us. It was amazing how friendly everyone was. So many people came up to shake our hands and thank us for coming to teach. Aparently the children now want to go to school because the volunteers are teaching. It was a bit overwelming to see and meet everyone from the community and schools, but they were all so happy that we were there.
Monday morning we prepared for our first day of teaching. Alex and I would be going to the Linda school to teach. There was no set plan for the school and we would go where ever there wasn't a teacher. I ended up teaching the fourth grade class which consisted of 30 children ranging from ages 8 to 16. They were situated in a room that had 6 tables and 6 books for everyone to teach. We started the lesson with simple pronouns. I was amazed at how difficult it was to teach the children, as it took them a very long time to understand each lesson. Just getting through the words me, my, mine, he, him, his, they, them, their and you, your, yours took about 2 hours. I had just a blackboard and some chalk but spent most of the time going around the room helping the kids write out the examples in the lessons and correct them. They like it when you correct everything on the page and put lots of checks and stars. At 10 the kids go on break. The boys took me outside and we played keep away with a soccer ball for half an hour. The boys were really good at soccer and I found myself spending quite a bit of time in the center chasing the ball around. After break we went back inside for the math lesson for the day. Todays lesson was decimals and it went much better than the English lesson. The kids soon were understanding everything, but it was difficult to find good examples of when they would use decimals because the smallest currency note that I have seen is 500 kwacha. We got through the teths and hundredths before the school day eneded. Class is usually only taught from 7 until noon. All of the kids then go home for lunch and then return in the afternoon for activities.
Monday morning we had to get up early to start work. Ciara (Keira) woke me up at half past six to go for a run. It was much better going out early in the morning when it is still somewhat cool. After breakfast, Dan, Rachel and I got the introduction about the project, the communities that we would be working in and the conditions there. It was actually quite shocking, as I didn't realize how bad things really are. It is published that the AIDS rate is around 40 percent, but in actuality about 80 percent of the population is HIV positive. It has been very difficult to educate the people about AIDS and it is still spreading. It has been an on going struggle to get people to use condoms. The men don't like wearing condoms because if they wear a condom they are seen as being sick and the women won't have sex then. The women won't ask the men to wear a condom because then they are seen as dirty and sick and the men won't have sex with them. In addition people won't go and get tested to see if they have AIDS. It is taboo for it to be known in the community that you have AIDS.
After the introduction, we took a tour of each of the three schools and a clinic where the volunteers work. The first stop was the clinic. This is where the women go to give birth, as well as take their children to get their immunizations and health checks. It was a constant procession of mothers bringing their children in. I couldn't believe how young all of these mothers were though. Most of them looked like they were in their early teens.The next stop was the Linda community school. This is the poorest school in the district and anyone can go there because there are no fees. Because there are no fees, it is not unusual for the teachers to just not show up. There are about 100 children there of all ages and 3 classrooms to teach in. In addition, there are so few books and supplies that it is usually 10 kids sitting at a desk and sharing a text book. The kids all flocked to us when we arrived though. They all wanted to say hello. Dan and I were big hits with the boys as they were told that we would be organizing soccer for them. After meeting all of the children and teachers, we took a quick tour of the orphanage on site in which 18 of the boys lived in one room.
After the Linda school we went to the Dambwa Community School. This was more of a proper school with three buildings and teachers that worked there full time. The difference between the Dambwa and Linda is that all of the children that attend the Dambwa school have to pay to go there. The fee isn't very much, but this is normal for any school run by the Zambian government. All of these children were still very poor, but their families were able to pay the small fees. Education is seen as very important in Zambia so the parents will often work very hard to be able to pay these fees. The school also required that all of the children wear a uniform. The uniform at Dambwa consisted of a neon yellow shirt with neon green shorts and tie.
The last stop was the Zambezi school. This was the most well off school in Livingstone and volunteers only go there if there are enough to work at the other two schools. Zambezi Basic School mission statement: To provide quality inclusive education aimed a producing hard working healthy pupils who will serve the nation in all aspects of life.Driving through the communities was amazing. Most of the houses were small onebedroom buildings made of some sort of building stone and a tin roof. Almost every house had a mother and numerous young children sitting outside. When we passed the houses, all of the children would come running to the street just to wave to us. It was amazing how friendly everyone was. So many people came up to shake our hands and thank us for coming to teach. Aparently the children now want to go to school because the volunteers are teaching. It was a bit overwelming to see and meet everyone from the community and schools, but they were all so happy that we were there.
Monday morning we prepared for our first day of teaching. Alex and I would be going to the Linda school to teach. There was no set plan for the school and we would go where ever there wasn't a teacher. I ended up teaching the fourth grade class which consisted of 30 children ranging from ages 8 to 16. They were situated in a room that had 6 tables and 6 books for everyone to teach. We started the lesson with simple pronouns. I was amazed at how difficult it was to teach the children, as it took them a very long time to understand each lesson. Just getting through the words me, my, mine, he, him, his, they, them, their and you, your, yours took about 2 hours. I had just a blackboard and some chalk but spent most of the time going around the room helping the kids write out the examples in the lessons and correct them. They like it when you correct everything on the page and put lots of checks and stars. At 10 the kids go on break. The boys took me outside and we played keep away with a soccer ball for half an hour. The boys were really good at soccer and I found myself spending quite a bit of time in the center chasing the ball around. After break we went back inside for the math lesson for the day. Todays lesson was decimals and it went much better than the English lesson. The kids soon were understanding everything, but it was difficult to find good examples of when they would use decimals because the smallest currency note that I have seen is 500 kwacha. We got through the teths and hundredths before the school day eneded. Class is usually only taught from 7 until noon. All of the kids then go home for lunch and then return in the afternoon for activities.
In the afternoon we participate in community projects. I am starting with the community farming project. It is a small farm in which a group grows vegatables and raises chickens in order to sell in the market to raise money for the clinic. The farm is actually pretty nice and everything is growing pretty well. I spent the afternoon weeding the vegatable rows and watering them. This is easy work compared to the tilling that needs to be done on the new land, but that isn't ready yet. In addition to the farming, there is a small group from the clinic that is run by a minister named Joseph. The American girls had been leading yoga (stretching) with this group every Wednesday for the past month. Because this is their last week, they asked me if I would be willing to continue the lessons. This is the most bastardized version of yoga that I have ever seen as everything is done standing in the fields. It is funny watching and listening to them try and do some stretches. We usuallly have some kids that stop by as well and try and mimic what we are doing.
I will be also teaching the kids soccer on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. I start next week so look for some updates then. I have been working on my skills at the house with one of the locals named Bright. He is really good and helping me with my game a bit. I have a feeling I am going to be embarassed by the kids next week though.
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