This week, as we went back to reading as a class,
discussing, and acting out each page my energy and motivation has been renewed.
I realized that last week I was looking for a gold star from my students. I
wanted their paper’s to tell me that my hard work was paying off and that I
wasn’t the only one learning in the library every day. However, I was looking
for validation in the wrong place. As much as it made me frustrated and sad
last week, the lesson I had for the kids was too challenging and that was my
fault not theirs. When the kids eagerly raised their hands to read the next
page this week, I got my validation and reassurance that even if I can’t
measure what I am doing every day in the library, I am doing something and I
will keep trying and retrying.
Saturday, February 28, 2015
Week 80: Writing Week
Week 79: Shout Out to GRS
This week I want to give a little shout out to the
organization Grass Roots Soccer. In their own words, “Grassroot soccer is an
HIV prevention organization that uses the power of soccer to educate, inspire,
and mobilize communities to stop the spread of HIV and AIDS.” GRS is present in
25 countries and based in Cape Town, South Africa. I was trained to be a GRS coach last January and it was not
until this week that I finished my first program. A program consists of eleven
interactive lessons and a graduation ceremony. Previously I never got past
lesson four before the practices were derailed for one reason or another.
However, all of those failed attempts made this victory all the sweeter. I am
grateful to the organization for making such a great teaching tool and to my
kids and co-coach for showing up and listening. As always I am fairly certain that I learned more than
anyone else and once I was able to let go of my control, it went considerably
better. The most powerful moment for me involved the debrief with my co-coach
and finding out what she learned from the program, a good reminder how
necessary open and honest conversations about HIV and its spread can be.
Friday, February 6, 2015
Week 78: Frustrations
Over a year in and I still have some of the same
frustrations. I thought many of these would be solved or melt away however,
many of the things still bother me in the same way they did a year ago. Today I went for a meeting only to have
the person who I scheduled the meeting with say that she couldn’t meet (this is
not the first time this meting has been rescheduled). Moments after walking out
of her office a man started harassing me, and its only 9am on a Tuesday. I
thought the more time I spent here the less I would have to deal with these
situations. However, the difference is that when I went to the meeting I knew
that there was only a fifty-fifty percent chance it would take place today. I
am confident that it will take place before the month is over and I am
confident that the event we are planning will also take place before I leave in
eight months but I am not so sure that it will happen before the month is out
as we planned. As for the man, there was another man after him that chastised
the first, the second man does not make up for the first’s behavior but it was
a good reminder of the usually silent majority. Although I do not think I will
ever adjust to the local perception of time or the insensitive treatment I
receive from the loud minority of men. Despite this I know that I want to be
here not because of the novelty of being in a new place but because this place
is my home and I am happy here.
Week 77: Gratitude Journal
While in the capital I ate at the new Lebanese restaurant
and noticed that since I arrived a year ago there are now three new dinning
options including Mexican. Thai, and the Lebanese place. As far as I know these
three are the first of their kind in the capital and it made me think just how
many more changes I will witness before I leave as well as what the country
will look like in five or ten years when I come back to visit.
Week 76: Isolation, Diversity, and Acting Class
Peace Corps is a two-year commitment with 2-3 additional
months of training before one’s service officially begins. I arrived in August
2013 had pre-service training until October. For the next three months I was
not allowed to leave the village which would be my home for the next two years,
this period is called community integration or lovingly referred to by PCVs as “lockdown.”
Lockdown ends with a two-week training called In-Service Training (IST). This
week I facilitated a session at the IST for the PCV group who came a year after
me. The session I was co-facilitating was on diversity and led to some quality
conversations amongst the training group on their respective identities. Many
PCVs feel a common bond with each other that may not have been present had we
met stateside due to the nature of our shared experiences. However,
unfortunately American prejudices and narrow mindedness also travel with
individuals no matter what continent they are on and consequently some people
may feel isolated in their newfound communities whether they are amongst host
country nationals or fellow Americans.
In the library the standard six and seven classes are
reading Finding Nemo. I thought the story was on par with the classes’ English
level and would make for a good time in class. However one of the classes this
week was trying to act “too cool for school” and thus I turned the lesson into
an acting class and instead of simply looking up the challenging words (ie
accused) in a dictionary. I had the students practice accusing each other. Other
fun words included gasped and exclaimed. By the end of the lesson my irritation
and the student’s attitudes had all melted into laughter.
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