Yes there are a lot of kids I would like to bring home! The most frustrating thing is seeing the kids that have so much potential and are willing to work so hard but there are a few problems.
First, teachers don't show up to the class they should teach. Second, most don't know the language or aren't skilled enough to explain things the way they should. Third, they don't have many resources or the money for things like hands on projects for the kids or posters. It is so important with deaf children to be able to see what you are trying to explain - it needs to be concrete, not abstract. Fourth, the teachers have the attitude themselves that the students are lazy and don't want to learn. In my opinion they really do want to learn, but how can they with the environment they're in - and at the JHS they are at an age that most don't really care about school! I remember in Jr. High the kids don't act like they care about anything but friends, it is the same here. So it's tough, they really have a lot of potential but they just don't have what they need to really progress.
I am more attached to the Junior High Students because they are the ones I help the most. But I also have a few primary kids that I am really attached to! It's funny how certain kids from the first day just attach to the volunteers and from that day forward stick with you. I'll tell about a few of the kids I'm really close with.
Soloman is in P-3 which is like 3rd or 4th grade. He has the biggest eyes and at the moment a shaved bald head. He is really smart, and taught me how to play this really fun rock game. I snuck gum to him last night and it was hilarious watching him. I told him to hide while I pulled it out so other kids didn't see so he was darting his eyes all around and not looking at me acting like nothing was going on. He put his head down on the table and I slipped the gum into his hand, he popped it in his mouth, and had the biggest grin but wouldn't look at me.
This little girl that is P-0 (kindergarten) always stays close to me. I don't know her name because she doesn't know it fingerspelled yet, but her sign name is a U on her forehead. She loves to carry my bag on her back and hold my hand. I let her follow me into the JSS in the evening and she is really shy with the older students and acts really shy when I look at her. She is adorable. One day I was talking wtih some kids and she sat next to me so I scratched her back a little, then she tried to scratch mine. She doesn't really sign, but can understand a little bit. Most of the young primary kids just gesture for most things.
Fredrick is in P-4, he is SUPER skilled with sign language for being his age. He told me that his dad is rich and so he has an XBOX in his home. His favorite thing is to describe the different games that he has and it is so funny. My favorite is when he does Mario and imitates him jumping up to the blocks with his head, a mushroom coming out, then him growing big. I told him about the Wii and he thought it was cool too. He is my assistant when I give out band-aids because he loves to put the Neosporin on the band-aid.
They have a game here that is similar to Mancala with nuts in little slots that they like to play. They have lost all the nuts though so they use rocks.
The middle school and the Primary school are right next to each other. The girls live just above the JHS and the boys live in a separate building above their little Library and computer room. The high school is a lot further away, but those students live in separate boy and girl dorms that are really close to the other schools. The high school students walk to school everyday - about a 10 or 15 minute walk. They are all on the same schedule for going home. This term ends July 30th and they will all go to their homes until September or October.
I really have no idea what their home life is like. I know some kids that I've talked to say they live with one parent, maybe a sibling, maybe their aunt. They don't like to go home because they have no one to really communicate with there. Signs of Hope started sending volunteers here in both the fall and the summer now so they get volunteers twice a year. But in Mampong they probably won't get volunteers again until next summer, and the group will all go to the other town Kibi. It is about 3 hours north of here.
The weekend of the 4th we are going to travel to Shai Hills where we get to feed some monkeys! I'm excited. Last Friday at the school they had "track meet" for high school students from different schools nearby. They just have this patchy grass field and so they marked lines around it by cutting the grass and used that as the track to run around. I didn't get to watch much because I was helping in the classroom, but it was really interesting to see!
I met quite a few new high school students from the deaf school - I haven't visited their school since the first week we were here. All of the schools want more volunteers to work with them. I can see that it would be frustrating in the high school because they are at a level where they need and desire the individual tutoring.
The area we are in is both beautiful and very dirty. There is so much greenery and we are in a hilly area, but clean is a relative term here in Africa. What we consider clean here would be really dirty at home. Except for laundry...on the day you wash... if an African is helping you. They are good at getting stains out of your clothes by hand washing! Some places like Accra or Kafordua definitely feel much more dirty than Mampong, but I wouldn't call anything clean.
For dinner last night we had true Ghanaian food - it was called Banku. It was this sourdough-like substance (tasted nothing like dough though) that you tear a small piece off and dip it in spicy red sauce. We also had fried fish - a whole fish including the head, eyes, teeth and bones. It is eaten with your hands but only your right hand because your left hand is considered to be super dirty. You don't chew the Banku, just stick it in and swallow it because it's so sticky. I didn't really like it but I ate it all! The fish was really good.
It has been raining for two days now! I played in it with some students yesterday and had so much fun! We are planning a trip to the temple on Saturday and I'm looking forward to it. Erica and I went last year and loved the peacefulness and people we met. Until next week....
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Friday, June 19, 2009
Vacation within my vacation.....Is this a vacation? :)
This has been a great week. I'm becoming so close with all the kids. I love them all and we are becoming the best of friends!
The town is a lot like where I was before - I would say there is some difference from place to place. Our school is one of a few in Mampong so it's definitely not an isolated village. We live outside of the main town - which is basically just the main paved road with sellers along the sides spread out. There is one main paved road that it is easy to get a taxi or trotro from and everything else is dirt road. The stores really all seem the same from town to town, they have stacks of cans or packages of things hanging from the shack. People walk up and down the road with things to sell on their heads - that is more common in the bigger cities.
We had a little excursion of our own this past weekend. We left on Friday to cape coast. The group from Kibi joined us making sixteen people to ride in a little trotro for about 5 hours - plus our driver Emmanuel and his mate Donquah. It was a little squishy with 3 or 4 people in a row I spent the majority of the time in the backseat corner with low ceilings, hard seats, squeaking metal, with one leg on the wheel cover and a window easily slid open or shut. I loved the trip though because there are so many things to look at, new smells, and new people that are so different than the normal everday American life.
The road is typically one way but cars will not hesitate to pass each other. During one long stretch there were two sets of 5 speed bumps that came up about every minute creating an uncomfortable ride. We drove past a lot of greenery, mud hut homes, city life, and ocean. Because it is usually one way there is a lot of traffic through some areas and that is where the sellers come up to our window staring the obrunies down. Everyone was white in the trotro so they think it is a great selling spot.
I will never forget this one man selling grapes. We had already gone about 40 yards past the man and someone in my group decided they wanted some. His friend, meaning another street salesman selling apples heard her and called out for the grape man. We turned around and from behind a big truck out darted the grape man arms full and held out wide sprinting towards are car. It was hilarious. He made a good sale though so I guess it was worth it for him. He had to run alongside the car as we kept slowly going along to give us change. This happens to a lot of the sellers actually because traffic is still moving so they have to be good at getting quick change. You could basically drive down the road in some areas and get everything you need without getting out of the car - pretty convenient I guess :) From flags, windshield wipers, food, air fresheners, clocks, razors, or soap they had it all.
We stayed at a hotel which was a luxory in my opinion! But really it would have been a ghetto place if I stayed somewhere like that at home. I had running water and a sort of shower that had a little heater to warm up some of the water!! That was amazing. And our hotel had a big pond surrounding an eating place with crocodiles! I ate mashed potatoes one night served with a full fried fish, eyeball and everything. That was.. interesting. Pretty tasty. The next night I had french fries and imitation ice cream and I was in heaven :) I was excited for my hard bed, my big hard pillow, sheets, a squeeking fan, and a bug filled swimming pool.
Cape Coast itself is much more crowded than Mampong and the homes are much closer together. People didn't seem quite as friendly as they are in our town. Saturday was so much fun and full. We went to Kakrum National Park with the canopy walkway that is above the main tree line. It was beautiful! I saw a spider that was probably the size of a tennis ball, not so fat though. The walkway has plenty of rope but it is still shaky. The best part was it rained most of the time, and we were in a rainforest so it created the perfect situation. We went to two slave castles in the afternoon, Cape Coast Castle and Elmina. Those are very sobering places, it's so different seeing something like that personally than reading it in a book. I went to all of these places last summer so it was fun to visit it all again. Although one time is enough to get the idea at the slave castles - it is pretty draining to hear about the cruelty of the people there. Plus getting the tour from an African man is quite the experience.
Saturday night we ate at a beach and got to play along the shore. I didn't actually swim because it was later at night, but we got some fun jumping pictures!
It was fun to start back at the school on monday morning after a good break from everything. Suzy and I made up some fun games to play with the kids to help them learn their English and multiplications. I am officially halfway through the trip! I love being into more of a routine, and yet it's not really a routine because I never really know what to expect for school. The students are so much fun and I am so happy to be at the Junior High.
I am out of time now, there is so much more I could say about my experience here and the people, I can't wait to show you all my videos and pictures. There will be plenty :)
The town is a lot like where I was before - I would say there is some difference from place to place. Our school is one of a few in Mampong so it's definitely not an isolated village. We live outside of the main town - which is basically just the main paved road with sellers along the sides spread out. There is one main paved road that it is easy to get a taxi or trotro from and everything else is dirt road. The stores really all seem the same from town to town, they have stacks of cans or packages of things hanging from the shack. People walk up and down the road with things to sell on their heads - that is more common in the bigger cities.
We had a little excursion of our own this past weekend. We left on Friday to cape coast. The group from Kibi joined us making sixteen people to ride in a little trotro for about 5 hours - plus our driver Emmanuel and his mate Donquah. It was a little squishy with 3 or 4 people in a row I spent the majority of the time in the backseat corner with low ceilings, hard seats, squeaking metal, with one leg on the wheel cover and a window easily slid open or shut. I loved the trip though because there are so many things to look at, new smells, and new people that are so different than the normal everday American life.
The road is typically one way but cars will not hesitate to pass each other. During one long stretch there were two sets of 5 speed bumps that came up about every minute creating an uncomfortable ride. We drove past a lot of greenery, mud hut homes, city life, and ocean. Because it is usually one way there is a lot of traffic through some areas and that is where the sellers come up to our window staring the obrunies down. Everyone was white in the trotro so they think it is a great selling spot.
I will never forget this one man selling grapes. We had already gone about 40 yards past the man and someone in my group decided they wanted some. His friend, meaning another street salesman selling apples heard her and called out for the grape man. We turned around and from behind a big truck out darted the grape man arms full and held out wide sprinting towards are car. It was hilarious. He made a good sale though so I guess it was worth it for him. He had to run alongside the car as we kept slowly going along to give us change. This happens to a lot of the sellers actually because traffic is still moving so they have to be good at getting quick change. You could basically drive down the road in some areas and get everything you need without getting out of the car - pretty convenient I guess :) From flags, windshield wipers, food, air fresheners, clocks, razors, or soap they had it all.
We stayed at a hotel which was a luxory in my opinion! But really it would have been a ghetto place if I stayed somewhere like that at home. I had running water and a sort of shower that had a little heater to warm up some of the water!! That was amazing. And our hotel had a big pond surrounding an eating place with crocodiles! I ate mashed potatoes one night served with a full fried fish, eyeball and everything. That was.. interesting. Pretty tasty. The next night I had french fries and imitation ice cream and I was in heaven :) I was excited for my hard bed, my big hard pillow, sheets, a squeeking fan, and a bug filled swimming pool.
Cape Coast itself is much more crowded than Mampong and the homes are much closer together. People didn't seem quite as friendly as they are in our town. Saturday was so much fun and full. We went to Kakrum National Park with the canopy walkway that is above the main tree line. It was beautiful! I saw a spider that was probably the size of a tennis ball, not so fat though. The walkway has plenty of rope but it is still shaky. The best part was it rained most of the time, and we were in a rainforest so it created the perfect situation. We went to two slave castles in the afternoon, Cape Coast Castle and Elmina. Those are very sobering places, it's so different seeing something like that personally than reading it in a book. I went to all of these places last summer so it was fun to visit it all again. Although one time is enough to get the idea at the slave castles - it is pretty draining to hear about the cruelty of the people there. Plus getting the tour from an African man is quite the experience.
Saturday night we ate at a beach and got to play along the shore. I didn't actually swim because it was later at night, but we got some fun jumping pictures!
It was fun to start back at the school on monday morning after a good break from everything. Suzy and I made up some fun games to play with the kids to help them learn their English and multiplications. I am officially halfway through the trip! I love being into more of a routine, and yet it's not really a routine because I never really know what to expect for school. The students are so much fun and I am so happy to be at the Junior High.
I am out of time now, there is so much more I could say about my experience here and the people, I can't wait to show you all my videos and pictures. There will be plenty :)
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
It's summertime
It is officially summer at home now with school out. I am definitely getting into the routine of things now. It's been nice so far this week because for the majority of the time I have had teachers actually show up in the prep class. I will usually sit there while they teach the main lesson and then they are given exercises to work on so I will go around and work with them individually. I feel the most effective when I do that because I feel like I can catch up those kids that are behind. One thing that I am learning is that they have to be willing themselves.
A big problem, no HuGE problem at the school is cheating. That is what the students know how to do - copy off of each other. I have been trying to focus on keeping them focused on their own work. Today for their science they were learning how to classify crops into three different groups based on their growth cycles. There was a paper going around that someone had copied during the lesson so I had to take it away, but there is only so much that I can do :) Because they sign to each other it is super easy to do that behind your back. But we all have a lot of fun and we laugh when I catch them copying now because they know I won't let them do it. It is really fun for me at this point because I feel like I have a closer relationship with all of the students in the prep class now - and they are used to having me there to help.
Before our math lesson the teacher noticed that all of the kids were really tired and not paying attention. He did some stand up, sit down exercises and then told them to run around the building twice. The boys took off pretty fast but the girls were moving slow so I jumped up and started pushing and pulling them out the door. I ran with them and they thought that was pretty funny - I was pushing them along the whole time :)
One of the boys in my class is super tiny for his age! But he has a TON of attitude, he pulls the biggest faces all the time and struts everywhere he goes. It makes me laught when he wants my help because if I tell him he answers a question wrong he is CONVINCED that he really is right until I can prove him wrong. His name is Bernard. Such a little punk, but he is a lot of fun. When I got back into the class he asked if I could really run and then challenged me to a race later today. We will see how that goes :) They are quick to point out someone who did something wrong. As soon as I got back in the room kids would point to those who only ran around the building once. I see them getting mad at each other a lot for not looking at the teacher too, or leaving the classroom when they're not supposed to. It's pretty crazy how much movement happens in one day. Definitely not like any school day at home in America.
Over the weekend I went with a couple girls to Kafordua to just go explore for the afternoon. Literally everywhere we walked we had people in the trotros and taxis asking us "Where are you going" and then we'd have to respond "We are staying" over and over again. The bad thing is they couldn't really understand us either so after awhile we just stopped answering them. We decided to get ingredients and make Guacamole because it was Lindsey's birthday on Saturday. It was really interesting buying food at the little market because when we went to one stand all of the people would start calling us to go and buy something from them. We walked down a narrow area looking for Limes and it smelled aweful because they had all this meat just laying out. So many flies! Ah! The fish looked aweful just baking in the sun. There were also huge snails that one woman was selling - so disgusting.
I have become the band-aid woman at the primary school now. That is good and bad. Good because the young kids always have these huge gashes, mostly because they beat on each other, and so they really do need covered. Bad because I started to put band-aids on a few kids so now all of them come up to me and want something for every little scratch. And they bug the other volunteer girls for band-aids too. It is a lot of fun to be Miss Nurse to the kids and clean their wounds then put a band-aid on it, but I have a feeling that was a bad thing to start because it will be never ending. They are adorable after I finish though because they sign a huge thank you. The kids are super tough! Not only do they barely move when I'm cleaning with little alcohol swabs, but if I had a scratch like that when I was a little girl I would be bawling when I first got it and they are barely phased.
We are traveling this weekend with the Kibi volunteers to Cape Coast for 4 days so I am really excited. We will visit the slave castles, go to the canopy walk, stay in some hotels and go to the beach. I think the drive is like 6-7 hours which is really long, but I think it will be a good break for everyone to do something new for the weekend. Thats all for now.....
A big problem, no HuGE problem at the school is cheating. That is what the students know how to do - copy off of each other. I have been trying to focus on keeping them focused on their own work. Today for their science they were learning how to classify crops into three different groups based on their growth cycles. There was a paper going around that someone had copied during the lesson so I had to take it away, but there is only so much that I can do :) Because they sign to each other it is super easy to do that behind your back. But we all have a lot of fun and we laugh when I catch them copying now because they know I won't let them do it. It is really fun for me at this point because I feel like I have a closer relationship with all of the students in the prep class now - and they are used to having me there to help.
Before our math lesson the teacher noticed that all of the kids were really tired and not paying attention. He did some stand up, sit down exercises and then told them to run around the building twice. The boys took off pretty fast but the girls were moving slow so I jumped up and started pushing and pulling them out the door. I ran with them and they thought that was pretty funny - I was pushing them along the whole time :)
One of the boys in my class is super tiny for his age! But he has a TON of attitude, he pulls the biggest faces all the time and struts everywhere he goes. It makes me laught when he wants my help because if I tell him he answers a question wrong he is CONVINCED that he really is right until I can prove him wrong. His name is Bernard. Such a little punk, but he is a lot of fun. When I got back into the class he asked if I could really run and then challenged me to a race later today. We will see how that goes :) They are quick to point out someone who did something wrong. As soon as I got back in the room kids would point to those who only ran around the building once. I see them getting mad at each other a lot for not looking at the teacher too, or leaving the classroom when they're not supposed to. It's pretty crazy how much movement happens in one day. Definitely not like any school day at home in America.
Over the weekend I went with a couple girls to Kafordua to just go explore for the afternoon. Literally everywhere we walked we had people in the trotros and taxis asking us "Where are you going" and then we'd have to respond "We are staying" over and over again. The bad thing is they couldn't really understand us either so after awhile we just stopped answering them. We decided to get ingredients and make Guacamole because it was Lindsey's birthday on Saturday. It was really interesting buying food at the little market because when we went to one stand all of the people would start calling us to go and buy something from them. We walked down a narrow area looking for Limes and it smelled aweful because they had all this meat just laying out. So many flies! Ah! The fish looked aweful just baking in the sun. There were also huge snails that one woman was selling - so disgusting.
I have become the band-aid woman at the primary school now. That is good and bad. Good because the young kids always have these huge gashes, mostly because they beat on each other, and so they really do need covered. Bad because I started to put band-aids on a few kids so now all of them come up to me and want something for every little scratch. And they bug the other volunteer girls for band-aids too. It is a lot of fun to be Miss Nurse to the kids and clean their wounds then put a band-aid on it, but I have a feeling that was a bad thing to start because it will be never ending. They are adorable after I finish though because they sign a huge thank you. The kids are super tough! Not only do they barely move when I'm cleaning with little alcohol swabs, but if I had a scratch like that when I was a little girl I would be bawling when I first got it and they are barely phased.
We are traveling this weekend with the Kibi volunteers to Cape Coast for 4 days so I am really excited. We will visit the slave castles, go to the canopy walk, stay in some hotels and go to the beach. I think the drive is like 6-7 hours which is really long, but I think it will be a good break for everyone to do something new for the weekend. Thats all for now.....
Monday, June 8, 2009
3 weeks today - June 4, 09
It's been an amazing day, we didn't have school. They just opened up a hair salon at the school that is a place for the students who choose to go to vocational school to learn how to style hair. It's a great thing because hair is such a big business for women in Ghana and it provides them a lot more opportunity for a good job when they finish school. This building was really really nice. Probably one of the nicest I have seen anywhere in Ghana - especially considering it is at the school. It was provided by L'Oreal and people from that company all traveled up from Accra. They had a big celebration for the opening of it including dances performed by some of the students for their guests. They gave out t-shirts and lunch to everyone and it was all a big celebration! I wish I could add video from it but the software here won't allow me to put a video on. But don't worry, I have a lot of videos and pictures so far.
It really is madness when you pull out a camera at school, and the worst is that they all want a picture by themselves :) Tomorrow will not be a very big school day either because it is Friday and Friday never lasts long for school :)
I am really loving it this week, I am finally into the routine of things and becoming so much more comfortable with everything. Three weeks today! So many ups and downs but I wouldn't trade it for anything and I love all of the relationships I am forming here. We had true African food for lunch today with all of the kids and it was really interesting - I don't even know how to describe it but it was delicious - and the chicken was really spicy!! Learning more each day!
It really is madness when you pull out a camera at school, and the worst is that they all want a picture by themselves :) Tomorrow will not be a very big school day either because it is Friday and Friday never lasts long for school :)
I am really loving it this week, I am finally into the routine of things and becoming so much more comfortable with everything. Three weeks today! So many ups and downs but I wouldn't trade it for anything and I love all of the relationships I am forming here. We had true African food for lunch today with all of the kids and it was really interesting - I don't even know how to describe it but it was delicious - and the chicken was really spicy!! Learning more each day!
Thursday, June 4, 2009
I have pictures!
I hope to have more pictures up later! It takes a long time to upload the pictures and these are all from my video camera where I can't put up any videos because of the software here. The majority of my pictures are on another camera that I don't have a cord for. I'm excited that I got a few up! Enjoy!
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
June 2, 09
How has the weather been at home, is it really hot? The weather here is crazy because it will be burning hot and then the next minute it is POURING rain, harder than I have ever seen before. Then it will clear up and be hot and humid again all in the same day. Just the other day Kelsey and I danced out in the rain for a long time and it was so so fun. We were in an African rainstorm!! It was awesome :) Last weekend we went to a wedding! A true Ghanaian wedding for a deaf man named Marco marrying a hearing woman named Hannah. It was an adventure! Their wedding was just at a home in Kafordua, about an hour drive from here. We were told that we should be there promptly at 9:00. We were a few minutes late since we picked up the Kibi group but to my surprise we were the first ones there! We sat on plastic chairs under a tent and for the next 3 hours watched the decorations get put up including a few balloons, fake flowers, a small cake, wine glasses on a small table, and blasting music. There were chickens walking around this lawn and a little boy during the slow comotion dropped his pants and peed in front of us... more than once. More guests slowly arrived and the bride and groom were walking around in other clothes. It was way interesting for awhile, but then an hour passed and the novelty of it all was also gone. When we sat there I guess going on inside the house was this big ceremonial trade where the bride's parents with her & the groom's parents and him sit and discuss things. The groom gives this bag of things I guess he promises at the engagement and they were clapping & cheering every once in awhile. There was no wedding song or walking down the aisle. They had a man give a screaming openeing prayer :) The whole thing was in the language Twi but they did kiss and dance - people danced around them. Then they sat at a long table facing us and I guess it was time for the after party "reception". Well first they read scripture and a man added something to it every verse - he yelled it. At times the parents would dance or a man tried to sell hankercheifs for a few dollars and that money I'm guessing would go to the bride and groom. also, they could pay a dollar to pop a balloon. They were so excited that people from another country came to their wedding. Eventually they brought out food and we got to eat it too. It reminded me of a family barbeque, but everyone was dressed in African clothes and we had chicken and rice. It was really spicy, but delicious! We each gave about $5 for the couple and left. It was a long morning, but fun. We don't live close to really anything special, we have to take a taxi either here in Aburi or Akropong - both the same distance either north or south of our town because the internet doesn't work there. I'm really starting to get into a routine now, and the nights are either spent back at the school to help tutor/teach or in our house talking with some high school students. I don't like to stay home, I prefer to leave but I try to be flexible :) It's hard. I go running here now about every other day. The people really stare when we run by because not only are they not used to a white person, but a running white person with an iPod is something to laugh at here - it's pretty entertaining for them. This town Aburi has the wood district where we will be going after this. We are planning on going into Accra - it's about 2 hours from here - sometime soon and do some shopping there. No I am not forgetting how to talk :) I wish I was signing that much, but I definitely don't say as many words in the day because of school. The other night I went to the school and a little boy named Soloman taught me this rock game where you throw up a rock & pick up 5, then catch the thrown rock. There is a lot of variation to that game. He had the tiniest hands, but he was so quick. When I finally could do it too his eyes lit up, he was so proud of me! It was way cute :) Another little boy named Stephen drew a picture of me today and it is really good! I couldn't believe his art skills! He is probably in about 4th grade and he was amazing. Kelsey, Lyndsey and I traveled to Madina to go to the LDS ward on Sunday. It was their stake conference so we saw the area president who was white and ran into a couple of white missionaries. It was a really great meeting and we were so proud of ourselves for finding our way there! They had many of the new converts get up to give their testimonies. I love going to church because it just feels like home. We had to walk through this crazy market to get there that smelled terrible, but people are really helpful if you ask them where to go and how to get somewhere. I love these kids and I am loving this experience, it is tough but so rewarding and I can already see how hard it is going to be to leave these kids because I am creating such great friendships with them. When I worked with the kids last year I bonded with them and that was so short so I can tell that leaving these students is going to be difficult. More to come next week.
Monday, June 1, 2009
May 28, 09
Teaching is getting better but it is still super difficult. I am saying that on a good day, meaning that I felt good about what I did today, but it just depends on the day. I just feel like even if I had perfect ASL I wouldn't be able to explain some of these concepts to the kids because they just don't have a solid language foundation. So it requires being creative... and good artistic skills :) The teachers are pretty negative and always say that the kids just don't want to learn, all they do is play and eat all day. I wish they were more encouraging for the kids.
The girls are getting along really well considering 9 girls all in one house. We really haven't had any issues. We told the teachers that we didn't want to take over a subject, but that we were there to just assist in teaching and work one on one with the students. Let me just tell you my day so you get an idea of what it is typically like.
Usually we go to the school at 8:00, but this morning everyone had worship together so we decided to go when they would be finished with breakfast, which is 9:50. When I got there I went into my classroom, JSS Prep, and the teacher was sitting in the corner with "Integrated Science Test" written on the board followed by 10 questions. The kids all had their notebooks out copying the questions and trying to answer, sneaking their books out when the teacher wasn't looking to copy down any word from that chapter - which made no sense because they didn't really even understand what the question was asking. It was all about hazards, including signs like Danger, and a skull with cross bones = Toxic. So I asked the teacher if I could explain the questions to the students and she told me no, she wanted the students to try first.As I sat there, another teacher came in to talk to mine in another language - who knows what they were saying. They often answer their phones while their are teaching. She (my teacher) then told me about her life and where she was going to school herself etc. while the kids were all copying each other's papers. Then a woman selling peanuts on her head came up to the window (4 big open spaces with nothing blocking it) and that was quite the distraction as a few kids got some, even the teacher told one of the students to get her some because she was too lazy to get up and walk over there. When they finish they hand the books to me and the teacher (Mary) wanted me to make corrections, so I did with a red pen and handed it back. It was then time for Social Studies - but that teacher had come and left to a teacher's meeting - which they always for some reason hold during school hours - so I continued with Science trying to explain what Hazards were.
I found that the biggest problem is English vocabulary so I taught some words using drawings on the board for helmet, glove, goggles, earmuffs, and nose mask. During this whole time kids are up and down, in and out of the room - some watching and some not while I struggled to act out and explain the reasoning behind everything. When that finished they were supposed to have P.E. and then a free period and then I.C.T which is some computer class - which none of those ever really happen, that is just what is on the schedule.
The problem this week is that the water wells are broken so they call kids out of school to go and fetch water, so by about 1:00 in the afternoon the whole class is about empty. We then played an art game where they drew pictures that I signed. Then I had 3 girls who were really intrigued in learning names for the parts of the body. I felt really accomplished after that so it was a great day. I went into another JSS class at about 1:30 and helped 2 boys with some math, linear equations, which is fun to help with but really difficult to explain in sign language without a solid language foundation. My day is filled with many ups and downs as you can see :)
Yes all the kids that are at the school are deaf, but they have various degrees. I had the most amazing experience today meeting a girl named Sylvia who is deaf and blind. She is incredible, when you sign to her she holds your hands and can tell what you are saying. She had a book from a previous volunteer that was the Book of Mormon stories in Braille, and she was telling us about some of the characters in there. She is really sweet and can tell who you are so easily after the first time you meet her. Very smart, it blows me away.
We don't see their families because during the school termsl they actually live there in dorms but they are very open about describing their families and like when you ask them. I think the way it works is they have 3 terms, each 14 weeks. They first start in October, but then after that I don't know the time they have for each break. Right now the oldest kids at the junior high are not here because they took their final test at the beginning of this term and are waiting for the results to see if they can move on so they are living at home. The hardest thing about this culture is how rough the kids can be. The girls are having a really difficult time at the primary because the kids literally BEAT each other, they are cruel and it is so difficult for them to control. The real problem is that when deaf kids are born they are left to just wonder basically as they are raised without anyone giving them orders for what to do. So when they are finally brought to school, sometimes not until the age of 8, they don't know how to follow directions, don't have a language foundation, and are used to doing whatever they want. It is very hard for these teachers, and I can see why they would get so frustrated. But I also don't agree when they use a cane or beating to punish the kids.
Also, in class if a student answers a question wrong the teacher outright will call them stupid and lazy and tell them they can't learn. It's a tough cycle, and one we can't break on our own, But I'm also coming to realize that even helping one student understand a concept that they can build on then that can make a difference. The great thing is that they love you from the first second just because of your skin. I am having a great time here but there are a lot of hard things. I am going to have to be creative, and take one day at a time :)
The girls are getting along really well considering 9 girls all in one house. We really haven't had any issues. We told the teachers that we didn't want to take over a subject, but that we were there to just assist in teaching and work one on one with the students. Let me just tell you my day so you get an idea of what it is typically like.
Usually we go to the school at 8:00, but this morning everyone had worship together so we decided to go when they would be finished with breakfast, which is 9:50. When I got there I went into my classroom, JSS Prep, and the teacher was sitting in the corner with "Integrated Science Test" written on the board followed by 10 questions. The kids all had their notebooks out copying the questions and trying to answer, sneaking their books out when the teacher wasn't looking to copy down any word from that chapter - which made no sense because they didn't really even understand what the question was asking. It was all about hazards, including signs like Danger, and a skull with cross bones = Toxic. So I asked the teacher if I could explain the questions to the students and she told me no, she wanted the students to try first.As I sat there, another teacher came in to talk to mine in another language - who knows what they were saying. They often answer their phones while their are teaching. She (my teacher) then told me about her life and where she was going to school herself etc. while the kids were all copying each other's papers. Then a woman selling peanuts on her head came up to the window (4 big open spaces with nothing blocking it) and that was quite the distraction as a few kids got some, even the teacher told one of the students to get her some because she was too lazy to get up and walk over there. When they finish they hand the books to me and the teacher (Mary) wanted me to make corrections, so I did with a red pen and handed it back. It was then time for Social Studies - but that teacher had come and left to a teacher's meeting - which they always for some reason hold during school hours - so I continued with Science trying to explain what Hazards were.
I found that the biggest problem is English vocabulary so I taught some words using drawings on the board for helmet, glove, goggles, earmuffs, and nose mask. During this whole time kids are up and down, in and out of the room - some watching and some not while I struggled to act out and explain the reasoning behind everything. When that finished they were supposed to have P.E. and then a free period and then I.C.T which is some computer class - which none of those ever really happen, that is just what is on the schedule.
The problem this week is that the water wells are broken so they call kids out of school to go and fetch water, so by about 1:00 in the afternoon the whole class is about empty. We then played an art game where they drew pictures that I signed. Then I had 3 girls who were really intrigued in learning names for the parts of the body. I felt really accomplished after that so it was a great day. I went into another JSS class at about 1:30 and helped 2 boys with some math, linear equations, which is fun to help with but really difficult to explain in sign language without a solid language foundation. My day is filled with many ups and downs as you can see :)
Yes all the kids that are at the school are deaf, but they have various degrees. I had the most amazing experience today meeting a girl named Sylvia who is deaf and blind. She is incredible, when you sign to her she holds your hands and can tell what you are saying. She had a book from a previous volunteer that was the Book of Mormon stories in Braille, and she was telling us about some of the characters in there. She is really sweet and can tell who you are so easily after the first time you meet her. Very smart, it blows me away.
We don't see their families because during the school termsl they actually live there in dorms but they are very open about describing their families and like when you ask them. I think the way it works is they have 3 terms, each 14 weeks. They first start in October, but then after that I don't know the time they have for each break. Right now the oldest kids at the junior high are not here because they took their final test at the beginning of this term and are waiting for the results to see if they can move on so they are living at home. The hardest thing about this culture is how rough the kids can be. The girls are having a really difficult time at the primary because the kids literally BEAT each other, they are cruel and it is so difficult for them to control. The real problem is that when deaf kids are born they are left to just wonder basically as they are raised without anyone giving them orders for what to do. So when they are finally brought to school, sometimes not until the age of 8, they don't know how to follow directions, don't have a language foundation, and are used to doing whatever they want. It is very hard for these teachers, and I can see why they would get so frustrated. But I also don't agree when they use a cane or beating to punish the kids.
Also, in class if a student answers a question wrong the teacher outright will call them stupid and lazy and tell them they can't learn. It's a tough cycle, and one we can't break on our own, But I'm also coming to realize that even helping one student understand a concept that they can build on then that can make a difference. The great thing is that they love you from the first second just because of your skin. I am having a great time here but there are a lot of hard things. I am going to have to be creative, and take one day at a time :)
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