Saturday, May 21, 2011

Mathematics and Magic

I know a certain math teacher back in the U S of A who'd be pretty proud of me today! But first, to catch up: I've been in my village for three and a half weeks now, and there's a warm sense of routine, and
yet each day is different. The pacing of life manages somehow to be both faster and slower than some other places I've known. Things are on Zam time, of course, so I find myself doing a lot of hurry-up-and-wait to get out of the house on schedule and sit for an hour until the event actually begins. Cooking and other household chores are more time-consuming, too; no microwave here. And yet it's amazing how much gets done. I was away from home most of this week--more on that to come--so today was going to be house time. My family here, who lives two houses over, invited me to church, however.  I'm making the rounds at all the churches and had already committed to a Kingdom Hall visit with a teacher tomorrow, but today was Visitors' Day at the Seventh Day Adventist church, where my family members here are members, so I agreed to try to attend. So between 6:30 and 9:30 am, I drew water, swept my courtyard - grass is intentionally removed, as it creates a haven for snakes - washed a big load of clothes, boiled water for oatmeal, cleaned my water filter candles, ate, organized and cleaned some food boxes, and swept and mopped my kitchen area. Sweeping and mopping the rest of the house came later. It may not sound like much, but it needed to be done with some promptness, and I tend to feel pretty accomplished after getting the house in order- truly an ongoing task when you have open access to rodents and other pests just awaiting an invitation.

So! The reason my house was abandoned is that Monday morning we decided in a staff meeting that I
should take the place of one of the teachers and accompany about 60 pupils to a school about 35 k away for a four-day sports tournament of sorts. We had a marvelous time. It gave me a great chance for some
informal interaction with some pupils and other teacher chaperones, challenged me in terms of gender roles in Zambia in ways I didn't expect to feel so viscerally, offered multiple opportunities for dancing with the kids, whose joy seems boundless. Then, on Friday, I was off to visit the next nearest school in my zone. It was an
incredibly productive day- I had a formal introduction to staff and kids, observed three different classes and teachers, played with some young ones and in general just gave people a chance to figure out who the white girl is. So, back to today, and maths as they are called here, and magic. One of my favorite aspects of this school is that it has boarders. Many don't go home every weekend as some must walk for 5 or more hours to get there. While I shouldn't jump into classrooms too quickly, the boarders give great opportunity for informal education and exchange. I agreed to help some boys study this afternoon. Before long I was teaching similar triangles, as best I could make out from their notes. One of our priorities with the Ministry of Ed is using learner-centered methodologies. So I did. And it was magical. Kids walking by poured in, like a scene from Sister Act. And I felt that incredible excitement that you feel when you can see it, when someone
gets it, when the veil of confusion is lifted and a ray of comprehension streaks through. This evening even more pupils were studying by candlelight, when we left at 9 pm they said, "Will you be coming back at 01:00?" Me, no-that's smack in the middle of sleepy time for me, and I've got a flat tire to mend before church tomorrow.

But how incredible--they want so desperately to succeed. There is a lot of work to be done, and I'm thrilled to be witness to the magic. May you all find your x and y, wherever and whatever they are for you
today.

Much love,
Rose (my village name, if I haven't mentioned previously)

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

It's been one week...

And my phone battery is rapidly dying. Yesterday I met a deaf pupil and made friends, though I wish I remembered more sign. Where's my sister Becky when you need her? He goes to a special school in Kasama, I'm told. It's inspiring to see such a bright student in grade 8 despite considerable challenges, in this area where many children never obtain that level of education- and even fewer pass grade 9 exams to go on to high school. I'm settling into my house well. The ants are persistent, the rats come and go, despite my efforts to keep things as clean as possible. I feel extremely welcomed and my Mambwe is coming along. We finished building my bathing shelter and I sewed a gorgeous curtain, so it's quite classy. I also have a bookshelf! My job right now is to meet people. Next week school starts, so I'll be doing lots of observation and learning; Peace Corps is very careful not to jump in and start changing things immediately. Things here are wonderful! Best wishes to all of you...