So as I have an English teaching qualification (not particularly well used, but never mind), I said yes when I was asked to do some teaching at the school supported by Meakea, and Monday was the day. I did some planning, but that soon went out of the window as I eventually ended up teaching a group with a completely different standard of English to what I was told and became more and more curious as the class numbers grew further and further past what I expected. So the first class ended up being a question and answer session (Are you married? How do you pay to be here? What’s the difference between school here and England?) where the standard of English was surprisingly high.
Here I am imparting my pearls of wisdom. Surprisingly they listened very patiently. I don't think you can tell from this quite how much I am sweating, but my T-shirt shouldn't be as dark as this. It was very very humid!
After that were two more classes of even more kids, and then I noticed that some had different books from each other. So what had happened is that everyone wanted to be taught by a foreigner, and just came and sat in the class, so all of them were entirely of mixed abilities! It was all highly enjoyable, and although I am not sure how much anyone learned (the flat Northern vowels are confusing), they all asked when I would go back and really got stuck in with unbelievable enthusiasm. I also got to see what few resources the teachers and students have to work with and how it would really change how you would teach – no electricity and text books that have been recycled for years for example. It was a fantastic eye-opening experience.
There were 4 kids in here who decided that they wanted to learn English the day I got there. I hope I didn't put them off. It's difficult to describe quite how enthusiastic everyone was, but I guess it's seen as a way of getting on. I hope they're not disappointed.
After this I went out to look at some of the houses that are being built for poor families in the area. This poverty is of course relative, as no-one out there could be described as anything other than poor, but again it gives an insight into the homes that the kids at the school come from. A big problem is keeping the kids in the school as it places a big burden on the families who want them to either help in the fields or work in the factories in the city. A number of them drop out every year because of this. And the position people find themselves in certainly isn’t lost on them. When I asked one student what he knew about England, he said all he knew was he would never be able to visit. There’s not much you can say to that.
Other than this I continue to work on the financial side of things in PP and I am continuing to get to grips with the different issues you face here. There are loads of ex-pats here who all have a take on things, but obviously losing a generation of the population has really had an impact – those people would have been the leaders now. There is a massive willingness to learn amongst people I have encountered and I am constantly asked ‘how are things done in your country’, but the lack of resources are obviously a handicap. Still, it’s fun trying to get things done. It just takes longer. Much longer.
Matthew, that's awesome!
ReplyDeleteI know it must be hard to be a role model / object of fascination, but you're doing so much good. Giving them interesting experiences that may motivate them to keep in school. Extra finesse to their English studies. And a chance to see that sweating through a T-shirt doesn't ruin your ability to speak in public :)
When you speak about peoples' patience and enthusiasm there, I'm reminded of your own :) A good match.
I thought when you said you were going to 'take some classes' you meant that they would teach you a thing or two :)
ReplyDeleteIt's really impressive that the students have such a high standard of English already to ask such questions. Having a Westerner there to practice the language at a conversational level must be invaluable.