1/28/17
Hi ya
friends and family!
It’s been awhile since I’ve made time to write my next update
and it’s been another
one of those busy periods where there is no shortage of stories, experiences,
lessons, and adventures. To start things off, I’ve been out of touch for about a
month now. I had a mishap with my phone right before New Years and finally got
a replacement yesterday. For about 40$ I bought a replacement smart phone
(brand new too!). The clerk asked me several times if I was sure I wanted it
because it was not a Samsung or other “American Brand”. After all, it
had a “made in china” sticker!! In my region of
Mozambique, there is a huge social value placed on American brand names (even
though those products are typically made in China anyway…). I had two choices – buy a Movitel branded smart phone
for about 40$ or buy a US brand for 200-300$. To be honest, option two was
really never a practical choice – I would’ve gone without
than attempt to use 2-months’ salary on a
smart phone.
Anywho – I apologize to anyone who sent me
messages in the last month and I never replied! I should have my what’s app back up in the next few days.
Brief
update on the house and building shiz nitz – I decided to build a couch because
why not. Plus, built some kitchen shelves and outdoor shelves. Hopefully
tomorrow I’ll be able to finish
our outdoor handwashing station. I also built the gate for our yard. Today, my
roommate and I re-wired our living room and added a second outlet (our living
room is also our dining room and kitchen: living, dining, cooking room). In
college, I took some courses requiring wiring and circuitry so this was fairly
simple! We bought cheap led flashlights and used the lights to test our
connections with a small battery before wiring everything into the house. If I
had access to things like ammeters and voltmeters I could have used those – but Alas! We had to be a touch
creative. In the next week, we’re hoping to
rewire our veranda to add an outlet and some lights/a switch for the bathroom. In
one week, our house will have gone from 3 outlets to 5!! WOAH.
Related to
household improvements, I planted some corn and it is well on its way to
growing well. Ohhhh and if you’ve been wondering how all these
building projects have been treating my hands, fear not! I was able to buy a
cheap 50$ cordless drill in Pemba and a 11mm drill bit to help build my wood
joints (the connection points for the couch are Mortise & Tenon which is a
strong joint that does not use nails or screws).
In early
January I hired a Makua tutor (the Peace Corps reimburses us – up to a certain amount – to hire language tutors. My tutor
was a previous 10th grader who is 18 and whose family did not have
enough money for him to go to school this year. He was going to wait until next
year before starting 11th grade. I told him I can afford to continue
to hire him at our 3$/week for about 3-4 hours of tutoring for one entire year.
Last week, he registered for school which costs about 10$ upfront and maybe
another 5$ to buy the uniform and notebook/school accessories. A few months
back, I promised to write a blog about pricing to paint a better picture of the
value of money – and I will get
to that. All in due time.
And now to
change the subject to why I’m actually in
Mozambique at all, I had my first week of classes as a teacher!!!!! 5 months
after arriving in Mozambique I have started my official job J. I have 4 groups of 8th
grade math classes and 1 group of 11th grade math class for a grand
total of 23-45minute periods. The 8th graders meet for 5 periods a
week and 11th graders meet for 3 periods a week. Most other
volunteers teach about 16 periods so I’m a bit on the heavier side but enjoying it! There is most definitely a
different culture surrounding learning that I have been trying to help students
reframe. There is the assumption that learning occurs when the teacher says
something and writes it on the board and then students learn it! In my
experience with education throughout my 22 years of life – it is a quite different reality. So
goal one has been demonstrating to students that their learning is their
responsibility. I am here to guide the process in every way I can and to be
available to help them learn outside the classroom as well. Typically teachers also
tell students “you’re dumb” when students answer a question in
the classroom incorrectly so I have also been trying to reinforce every
instance of students answering a question – whether right or wrong I NEED to
encourage more participation. I’m hoping, and
it would seem it is starting to be the case, that my students are beginning to
realize I want them to participate in class and we are going to be working and
learning together.
Keep in
mind that all of these classes are in Portuguese so my speaking capabilities
continue to improve. Typically, the first week of classes are a joke and most
students don’t show up but
my 8th graders have had astonishing attendance for the most part! My
8th grade groups are about 67 students each and on Thursday my
lowest attendance class was 54. Oh – I need to pause for a moment. 8-D is the 8th grade class
that had the fewest students on Thursday with 54 of 67 students. Their
classroom is a disaster (in Mozambique a class stays in its classroom the
entire day and teachers move). The chalkboard is broken, the door doesn’t close, day 1 I found a mango seed
and corn husk on the floor, and the room is littered with trash. To make it
worse – this classroom
has 18 desks which normally accommodate 2 people per, but on Thursday it was 3
people per desk and no desks left. Granted – there were two empty benches that
next time I’m sure will
have 3 people each as well. When 8-D all shows up to class I will probably have
about 10 students sitting on the floor.
For another
struggle that students face (foreshadowed previously with respect to my Makua
tutor), oftentimes students range in age per class. In my 8-D class, most of my
students are 14-16 years old. However, that class has several between 16 &
18 and two students who are 20 years old. 8th grade. Two students
that are 20. In my 11th grade class I only had 20 students show up
(class size is still around 60-70), but they ranged in ages from 15-18. Hence,
I have several 8th graders who are older than all of my 11th
graders.
From what I
hear it’s been some
crazy times in the states – especially for
scientists, government employees, and veterans. Peace Corps volunteers receive
a non-competitive advantage for governmental jobs. Significance is – when we return we have 1 year where
we get auto-cleared for back-round checks for government jobs. So, we don’t automatically get government jobs,
but our resumes get guaranteed looks. However, with recent executive orders Peace
Corps Volunteers currently returning to the United States have been faced with
job offers that they have agreed to but cannot start or get paid for; henceforth
leaving returned volunteers jobless.
Whelp,
overall I believe that has been a thorough update on my life! I’m making some beans and about to go
make some chili and serve it over rice for dinner. We were able to get some
large peppers, large onions, and large garlic!! PLUS THE MONTEPUEZ MARKET HAD
AVOCADOS!!!! I was in Montepuez yesterday to use the bank – it’s the nearest town to me at about 3
hours away. BUT AVOCADOS. It was most definitely worth it.
Thanks for
reading!
-Daniel
“Education is
what remains after one has forgotten what one learned in school” – Albert Einstein
P.S. I apologize for not having a picture in this photo. I just bought a phone capable of pictures yesterday and have not taken any pictures worth sharing yet.
