Peace Corps is definitely a time for "firsts". I attended my first double funeral Saturday morning. Two young women in their 20s died last week from the #1 killer (or 2nd next to humans murdering humans) in South Africa: AIDS!
The women died on the same day, and were buried a few feet a away from one another. The crowds at the two services meshed together, sang the same songs, and listened to the same prayers by the preachers. It was a daunting experience. I stood their watching the sun come up over the mountains that highlight my village watching every single person in the crowd. Death is such a common component of life here. How can they stand it? I certainly can't. It breaks my heart. I haven't been to one funeral of a person who died of old age or just "natural causes". ALL have been for young adults in the prime, or pre-prime, of their lives.
One woman left behind three children; a baby under a year old, a young boy in Grade R, and a young girl in Grade 4. I teach the Grade R and Grade 4 children. When I went by their house to drop of plates for the reception after the funeral, the little boy (Thebogo) waved with a smile and said "Tama Tasha"! Ha.
I remember his name from the hundreds of other children because Thebogo was the name of a character in a book I read to the Grade R learners. When I asked the name of the little boy in the book, Thebogo raised his hand, smiled, and said "Thebogo!" His teacher smiled and said that was his name too. Thebogo got a sticker for answering the question right. He was happy to show it off to his friends.
It breaks my heart that these young children are motherless now. What I also think about now is the health of Thebogo and the baby......
I'm flying home Saturday to visit my family in America. Its so weird that I'll be able to step out of this world and my life here for three weeks.
Guess I'll see what happens....
Monday, June 22, 2009
Friday, June 5, 2009
What's a Dictionary!?!?!?
"What is a dictionary?" .....silence
"What do you do with this book?" (teacher points to dictionary).....silence
"What is IN a dictionary?" ......silence
I spent the first 15 minutes of my Grade 6 class yesterday trying to explain what a dictionary is. I wanted to make sure the kids understood the words "mystery and crime" before we jumped into reading "The Mystery of the Broken Window" story that I did with Grade 7 earlier this week. Grade 7 knew what a dictionary was for, and could even find the two words (mystery and crime) very quickly. Grade 6 on the other hand......
I was so surprised that they had NO CLUE how to use the dictionary (Sotho to English), that I become frustrated. I tried not to show it, but their teacher (who, in her defense, is sick w/ the flu) was uninterested and didn't seem to notice I was struggling.......struggling really really bad!
I wish I could yell, scream, and stomp my feet at the teachers and school administration: "How do your students not know what a dictionary is?!?!"
So now I'm putting together a "This is a Dictionary" lesson plan for my grade 6 learners. I'll probably play it safe and do this lesson with Grade 4-7. Might as well....
"What do you do with this book?" (teacher points to dictionary).....silence
"What is IN a dictionary?" ......silence
I spent the first 15 minutes of my Grade 6 class yesterday trying to explain what a dictionary is. I wanted to make sure the kids understood the words "mystery and crime" before we jumped into reading "The Mystery of the Broken Window" story that I did with Grade 7 earlier this week. Grade 7 knew what a dictionary was for, and could even find the two words (mystery and crime) very quickly. Grade 6 on the other hand......
I was so surprised that they had NO CLUE how to use the dictionary (Sotho to English), that I become frustrated. I tried not to show it, but their teacher (who, in her defense, is sick w/ the flu) was uninterested and didn't seem to notice I was struggling.......struggling really really bad!
I wish I could yell, scream, and stomp my feet at the teachers and school administration: "How do your students not know what a dictionary is?!?!"
So now I'm putting together a "This is a Dictionary" lesson plan for my grade 6 learners. I'll probably play it safe and do this lesson with Grade 4-7. Might as well....
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Kid Detective Sipho Mashile
For a few months now, I've been using Shel Silverstein poems with my grade 5-7 learners. We've worked on reading aloud, comprehension, vocabulary, and rhyming. Things went pretty well, but I could tell the kids still "didn't get" what they were reading. The poems were meant to be fun and imaginative but the kids (and teachers, might I add) were taking them literally. So that sucked all the fun and cuteness out of Silverstein's poems. Ha!
This week I took a different approach with building comprehension skills. I wanted to have an lesson that actively encouraged the kids to "think outside the box", use their imaginations, and build the skills necessary to decipher the English they read into something they actually understand.
This is where Kid Detective Sipho Mashile comes in.
I searched the Internet for short and easy to solve kid mysteries. After "Africanizing" (yep...just coined new word) the character's names and locations, as well as simplifying the language, I came up w/ a cute mystery (The Mystery of the Broken Window) that would engage the kids but also encourage them to understand the story so they can solve the crime.
I set up 6 tables around the library (I call these stations, and use this method often). Each had a copy of the story and two questions. They had five minutes at each station to answer the questions, which lead them in the right direction to solving the crime (i.e. clues). Once every group made it to all stations, we came back together as a class to actually solve the crime. It took ALOT of acting out on my part, but before I almost gave the answer away, a learner figured it out! It was great!
The kids got into it, and I saw several boys who are a part of my "Too Cool for School" crew engaged in the story and trying to figure out the mystery.
Anyway, Kid Detective Sipho Mashile is going to make a recurring appearance during Library Time from now on.
This week I took a different approach with building comprehension skills. I wanted to have an lesson that actively encouraged the kids to "think outside the box", use their imaginations, and build the skills necessary to decipher the English they read into something they actually understand.
This is where Kid Detective Sipho Mashile comes in.
I searched the Internet for short and easy to solve kid mysteries. After "Africanizing" (yep...just coined new word) the character's names and locations, as well as simplifying the language, I came up w/ a cute mystery (The Mystery of the Broken Window) that would engage the kids but also encourage them to understand the story so they can solve the crime.
I set up 6 tables around the library (I call these stations, and use this method often). Each had a copy of the story and two questions. They had five minutes at each station to answer the questions, which lead them in the right direction to solving the crime (i.e. clues). Once every group made it to all stations, we came back together as a class to actually solve the crime. It took ALOT of acting out on my part, but before I almost gave the answer away, a learner figured it out! It was great!
The kids got into it, and I saw several boys who are a part of my "Too Cool for School" crew engaged in the story and trying to figure out the mystery.
Anyway, Kid Detective Sipho Mashile is going to make a recurring appearance during Library Time from now on.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
African Winters
**Let me start off by clarifying that I will settle for an "African Winter" over an "African Summer" any day!**
The weather in my region has never been normal. Everything here is exaggerated...
We don't have breezy days, we have monsoon type winds that cause ridiculous dust storms. Its like I'm living in the Dust Bowl in 1920s [history reference :)]
We don't have have light drizzles on a cloudy day, we have torrential rainfall that makes a trip to the pit toilet a physical act only a well trained athlete can survive.
We don't have nice warm days in the summer, we have heat that causes a person to suffocate inside or outside at all times of the day!
And now, I'm getting a taste of what Winter will be like. I say "will be", b/c its not even Winter yet. As I type right now, my fingers are numb. My tin roof has a way of keeping all the coldness inside the house, and any warmth from the sun outside. At night I'm wrapped up like a burrito. I've already decided to invest in a small electric heater when I return from the States.
I never ever ever imagine it could get so cold in South Africa. I didn't come prepared.
oh well, now I know....
The weather in my region has never been normal. Everything here is exaggerated...
We don't have breezy days, we have monsoon type winds that cause ridiculous dust storms. Its like I'm living in the Dust Bowl in 1920s [history reference :)]
We don't have have light drizzles on a cloudy day, we have torrential rainfall that makes a trip to the pit toilet a physical act only a well trained athlete can survive.
We don't have nice warm days in the summer, we have heat that causes a person to suffocate inside or outside at all times of the day!
And now, I'm getting a taste of what Winter will be like. I say "will be", b/c its not even Winter yet. As I type right now, my fingers are numb. My tin roof has a way of keeping all the coldness inside the house, and any warmth from the sun outside. At night I'm wrapped up like a burrito. I've already decided to invest in a small electric heater when I return from the States.
I never ever ever imagine it could get so cold in South Africa. I didn't come prepared.
oh well, now I know....
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Back to "Normal"
Things are getting back to "normal" for me in the village.
Life at home with my host family is awesome, as usual. I've never lived with young kids before (I'm the youngest child my immediate family), so I've never been able to experience the physical and mental growth of young children and babies. Im so intrigued and, more often, annoyed by their actions.
I'll start with the youngest, Thebang, who is 8 months now. She's absolutely amazed by my locks and always gives me the best wide-eyed (no blinking) stare whenever I wear my hair down. When I hold her, she automatically goes for the locks. She likes to try to eat them! She's been doing a lot more baby talk, and we all can't wait for her to actually start talking. I've been joking (but internally being serious) with the family about how I hope Thebang's first word is something in English!
sidenote: I've been speaking ALOT more Sotho on a regular basis. I sometimes find myself unintentionally mixing Sotho and English in my sentences.
Then there are Sizwe (boy) and Mpumi (girl). They are both 7 years old. In "South African terms", they are brother and sisters because their mothers are sisters. They're as close as twins as can get w/o actually being twins. A few months ago, Mpumi could stomp Sizwe in anything physical. Well, now the tables have turned. Also, we hear Mpumi crying alot more now, as opposed to Sizwe over something the other did to each other.
My host sister, Nkele, has still remained my closest confidant. Especially since Diakano died. We talk about him alot, and its comforting. Its culturally rude/disrespectful to talk about the dead openly after they pass. You rarely even hear the person's name said out loud. But me and Nkele talk about Diakano all the time. We're able to laugh about stuff he used to do. We can talk about how much we miss him. Its nice.
Its also cool to see her developing more and more into a mom. I've never seen the development of the bond between a mother and her child before. Thebang recognizes Nkele as her mother, even though she lives with 8 other people and is held by them all on a regular basis. And one day my host mother, Mma Theko, took Thebang to a relatives house and didn't return until the next night. Nkele was going crazy b/c she hadn't been able to hold Thebang for a day. I joked with her about that, but it was a beautiful thing. Mother and child.
Anyway.....things at school are also going a whole lot smoother!!! I'm finally getting a handle on how to do this literacy thing. The kids have adjusted to me and my routines, and I've found ways to manage my classroom w/o things getting crazy. Also, the teachers can see that I NEVER raise a hand to my learners, and I've still managed to keep them calmer than they [the teachers] do all day.....
sidenote: I reached to pat a learner who was talking on the back the other week, and he flinched b/c he thought I was going to hit him. I immediately stopped the class and for 5 minutes explained how I would NEVER EVER EVER hit them b/c thats not right and thats not the type of teacher I am. Their teacher was present for half the speech, but I didn't care. I'm so tired of seeing these teachers hit the kids. Its out of their frustrations and anger, not with the intention to discipline the child. Its terrible!!
....I'm also doing a better job of differentiating my lessons. I'm trying to do more artsy lessons with the older learners, and introduce phonics with the younger grades. Yesterday, with my grade 4 class, we spent the entire hour making small booklets ("My Word Families Book") from scratch paper I could find, string, and color pencils. Every week I will introduce a new Word Family to my Grade 4 and 5 classes. They know the English alphabet and how each letter sounds. But the majority of them can not read English. So every week we'll learn a series of new words associated with a particular Word Family. For example, they will learn the sound "ack" and how it will sound with a "b" before it (back), or maybe a "bl" (black).
In less than a month I'll be heading home for a three week vacation. I can't %@&*ing wait!!!
till next time (hopefully sooner than last time)......
Life at home with my host family is awesome, as usual. I've never lived with young kids before (I'm the youngest child my immediate family), so I've never been able to experience the physical and mental growth of young children and babies. Im so intrigued and, more often, annoyed by their actions.
I'll start with the youngest, Thebang, who is 8 months now. She's absolutely amazed by my locks and always gives me the best wide-eyed (no blinking) stare whenever I wear my hair down. When I hold her, she automatically goes for the locks. She likes to try to eat them! She's been doing a lot more baby talk, and we all can't wait for her to actually start talking. I've been joking (but internally being serious) with the family about how I hope Thebang's first word is something in English!
sidenote: I've been speaking ALOT more Sotho on a regular basis. I sometimes find myself unintentionally mixing Sotho and English in my sentences.
Then there are Sizwe (boy) and Mpumi (girl). They are both 7 years old. In "South African terms", they are brother and sisters because their mothers are sisters. They're as close as twins as can get w/o actually being twins. A few months ago, Mpumi could stomp Sizwe in anything physical. Well, now the tables have turned. Also, we hear Mpumi crying alot more now, as opposed to Sizwe over something the other did to each other.
My host sister, Nkele, has still remained my closest confidant. Especially since Diakano died. We talk about him alot, and its comforting. Its culturally rude/disrespectful to talk about the dead openly after they pass. You rarely even hear the person's name said out loud. But me and Nkele talk about Diakano all the time. We're able to laugh about stuff he used to do. We can talk about how much we miss him. Its nice.
Its also cool to see her developing more and more into a mom. I've never seen the development of the bond between a mother and her child before. Thebang recognizes Nkele as her mother, even though she lives with 8 other people and is held by them all on a regular basis. And one day my host mother, Mma Theko, took Thebang to a relatives house and didn't return until the next night. Nkele was going crazy b/c she hadn't been able to hold Thebang for a day. I joked with her about that, but it was a beautiful thing. Mother and child.
Anyway.....things at school are also going a whole lot smoother!!! I'm finally getting a handle on how to do this literacy thing. The kids have adjusted to me and my routines, and I've found ways to manage my classroom w/o things getting crazy. Also, the teachers can see that I NEVER raise a hand to my learners, and I've still managed to keep them calmer than they [the teachers] do all day.....
sidenote: I reached to pat a learner who was talking on the back the other week, and he flinched b/c he thought I was going to hit him. I immediately stopped the class and for 5 minutes explained how I would NEVER EVER EVER hit them b/c thats not right and thats not the type of teacher I am. Their teacher was present for half the speech, but I didn't care. I'm so tired of seeing these teachers hit the kids. Its out of their frustrations and anger, not with the intention to discipline the child. Its terrible!!
....I'm also doing a better job of differentiating my lessons. I'm trying to do more artsy lessons with the older learners, and introduce phonics with the younger grades. Yesterday, with my grade 4 class, we spent the entire hour making small booklets ("My Word Families Book") from scratch paper I could find, string, and color pencils. Every week I will introduce a new Word Family to my Grade 4 and 5 classes. They know the English alphabet and how each letter sounds. But the majority of them can not read English. So every week we'll learn a series of new words associated with a particular Word Family. For example, they will learn the sound "ack" and how it will sound with a "b" before it (back), or maybe a "bl" (black).
In less than a month I'll be heading home for a three week vacation. I can't %@&*ing wait!!!
till next time (hopefully sooner than last time)......
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Untitled
The interesting thing about being a Peace Corps Volunteer is that you, honestly, have NO IDEA what you are getting yourself into! Will your 27 months of service be the most fulfilling and rewarding work of your life, or the most extreme disaster you've ever encountered? For me, it’s been an even mixture of both. So much so, that I've never been more challenged physically, socially, professionally, mentally, and emotionally as I've been since stepping foot in the country last July.
I've seen some of the most beautiful landscapes and sunsets.
I've met some of the funniest, smartest, annoying people.
I've tasted some of the most extreme foods (ex. bugs, chicken intestines, homemade wine, etc).
I've smelled some of the most HORRIFIC body odor.
I think what’s affected me the most is how I've experienced senseless violence against people close to me. Last month I lost my 16 year host brother to an altercation with a 17 year old that ended up with Diakano stabbed in the heart. And today I learned that my 39 year old host father from my training village (I lived with this family for 2 months) was shot and killed yesterday.
Chicco and his wife,
I haven't had a "normal" week in my village in months!
On a (VERY) positive note: I'm visiting home for three weeks during the June/July school break. I can't wait to see my family and friends.
Who would've thought a Southern girl from the suburbs would be living this surreal life in another country. From one day to the next, I'm experiencing a variety of emotions: anger, elation, pain, frustration, excitement, mistrust, confusion.....
I'm so curious (and somewhat scared) to see what’s next......
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Diakano Theko
Its been a long time since my last posting. The past month (and a half, give or take) has been....well..... challenging. I struggled with finding motivation and excitement when teaching my literacy classes with one of my schools for several weeks. I felt as if the village was sucking the life out of me. Teacher apathy and ineffectiveness was driving me mad. And, I was having a difficult time creating lesson plans that kept 30-50 children mentally/physically occupied for 1 hour.
(side note: I had absolutely no idea how to teach kids HOW to read. I'm talking about basics of this is an "A" and it sounds like this ---.Its actually a little harder than I was expecting.)
I then went away for a week of training, which was fun because I was able to spend time with friends that I hadn't seen for a long time. However, on my way home from the training, I received a phone call from my host sister. My 16 year old host brother, Diakano, had been
killed. He was stabbed by a 19 year old boy. They were arguing over a girl. Yep....a girl!
So, the past few weeks (since his passing) have been crazy. I'm actually going to save that information for another posting. I don't want this one to be too long.....
(side note: I had absolutely no idea how to teach kids HOW to read. I'm talking about basics of this is an "A" and it sounds like this ---.Its actually a little harder than I was expecting.)
I then went away for a week of training, which was fun because I was able to spend time with friends that I hadn't seen for a long time. However, on my way home from the training, I received a phone call from my host sister. My 16 year old host brother, Diakano, had been
killed. He was stabbed by a 19 year old boy. They were arguing over a girl. Yep....a girl!
So, the past few weeks (since his passing) have been crazy. I'm actually going to save that information for another posting. I don't want this one to be too long.....
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