Keeping Busy

It's been a while since we've talked extensively about the work that we're doing. Lately, life has really picked up. The work's moving time along briskly and we love the community and family that we're a part of. A little over a month until we head home to catch up with the fam and, most importantly, see my Dad who's going through a pretty serious illness (just dropping that in there for any who didn't know). We're pretty comfortable here and it'll be tough to transition home for such a brief time, but the food will more make up for it. All of you back home, be wary. Rachel and I now have a secret language with which to gossip with impunity. Unless, of course, you've been brushing up on your Mandinka in our absence.

As for work, Rachel is keeping so many projects on her plate I rarely know where she is. This is especially frustrating because the number one question our friends and neighbors ask me during the extensive greeting process is, "Where's your wife?" followed by the shock and disgust that a husband has lost track of his spouse. Her number one project is the Nursery School. With a generous donation from a student group in California, as she mentioned earlier, she and her counterpart, Burama, have something to be proud of. We'll post pictures as the work continues, but it's really amazing to watch dirt floors and unpainted cinderblock be transformed into a real classroom. She's also working for a local NGO's women's rights unit. With the arrival of funding, her counterpart has moved to Kerewan and they're already planning a 5-day trek around the division for fieldwork. Most of you can imagine how happy she is doing women's empowerment work at a grassroots level. She's also scheduled a teacher-training workshop for 6 other nursery schools in the area. As Debra, an education super-volunteer, leaves the country, Rachel's going to adopt and put the finishing touches on her Teacher's Guide for Nursery Schools (with the hope of having the Dept. of State for Ed. use the ideas for an eventual curriculum). She's a little bit sad as her girls club tapers off towards the end of the school year and misses her time in the garden as the season ends (her carrots were fabulous, albeit small, but the town was very proud). But, she more than makes up for it as she spends nights tutoring every neighborhood child and their endearingly snot-nosed little sibs.

I'm still spinning my tires double shifting at the high school. Some days are more frustrating than others so you'll have to excuse any ranting like my entry "my daily frustration" (though I stand by it). I really do enjoy being in the classroom, but can't wait to dedicate more time to some of my more promising secondary projects. Now that Kerewan has electricity in the mornings, Harinder and I have set up a computer lab in the school library with some old Pentium IIs that were lying around town collecting dust. We currently have 6 up and running with plans for a few more. The students, most of whom have never set hands on a keyboard, are begging for time and instruction. Between classes I've been informally teaching as many as possible, but it gets a little crazy with 50 kids trying to push onto 6 computers. On Monday we're starting evening classes for teachers, who are also first-timers, and I'm lobbying for formal student classes during the next academic year. This makes the expansion of the lab a top priority.

Another goal that will stretch into next year is to create an assortment of science demonstrations for the other teachers to use. It's hard to find the time except on weekends (after weekend classes), but my distillation apparatus using charcoal and buckets was a success. The only question every student got right on the last test was the one about the demonstration and the middle school teachers are now asking to use it for their classes.

By far the most rewarding new project, however, is an older student to younger student reading program that we're starting. I've twice taken my grade 11 students to read to the nursery school during their free period and, with any luck, we can set up a formal weekly program for the upcoming school year. Rachel's uncovered a sizable stack of kid’s books and a few friends have sent some in the mail. Even my most disruptive students have shown a lot enthusiasm for it and of course the nursery school kids LOVE the one on one attention from role models.

We're happy and healthy with plenty to do as we approach our 1-year mark in country. Fun fact: we recently switched from a foam mattress to a grass one in a futile effort to stop sweating through the night.