Trip: Africa 2011
There are [83] stories from my trip: Africa 2011
SIERRA LEONE | Saturday, 14 May 2011 | Views [594] | Comments [1]
Today SUCKED. Firstly, there are now two teachers in the same class - Miss Jones and Mr Koroma - which is just stupid. Miss Jones slept the whole time and left midday to attend a funeral. We had to stop for 20 minutes because the rain was so torrential ... Read more >
SIERRA LEONE | Friday, 13 May 2011 | Views [256]
Massive storm last night. Thunder and lightening and all. I'd consider it a hurricane, but apparently they happen daily during the rainy season. I believe the monthly rainfall in Sierra Leone is about 10x that of San Francisco and 7x that of New Zealand ... Read more >
SIERRA LEONE | Thursday, 12 May 2011 | Views [290]
You are probably sick of my ranting about the school system so I'll lay off (although I did buy tons of supplies for the class today). Also bought some cake (for myself) called 'Kill the Driver', apparently named because a truck driver was eating it ... Read more >
SIERRA LEONE | Wednesday, 11 May 2011 | Views [459]
Doctor Seuss was a big hit in the morning. We are talking, 'Mouse, house. Mouse on house.' - nothing as sophisticated as Green Eggs and Ham, Sam I am. No teachers fell asleep today, although one little boy did. Miss Jones asked me to give her my ... Read more >
SIERRA LEONE | Tuesday, 10 May 2011 | Views [311]
School today (Thursday), more Roman Numerals though it pains me. Made it to (but didn't complete) Quiz 4 out of 9 (which numeral is bigger - IV or VI?). The curriculum says they need to know numbers 1 through 500, but this seems insurmountable with ... Read more >
SIERRA LEONE | Monday, 9 May 2011 | Views [466] | Comments [1]
It's hard to describe how chaotic, disorganized, nutty, frenetic, and illogical things are here; and how poor the level of learning is. I'm teaching 9-13 year olds and some students are still doing single digit arithmetic on their fingers - and only ... Read more >
SIERRA LEONE | Sunday, 8 May 2011 | Views [342] | Comments [1]
(Ide's classroom Fawe (Far-way) School above)
Official school timetable (very impressive) 8:30 - 8:45 Assembly 8:45 - 9:45 Science 9:45 - 10:15 Language Arts 10:15 - 10:25 Break 10:25 - 10:55 Social Studies ... Read more >
SIERRA LEONE | Saturday, 7 May 2011 | Views [409]
My first solo lesson! A bit of a challenge because I can't think of any reason why kids need to know about Roman Numerals. I prepare nine quizzes in order of easy to hard thinking 'How can I fill an entire hour with this?' Ice-breaker Me: Does anyone ... Read more >
SIERRA LEONE | Friday, 6 May 2011 | Views [462] | Comments [1]
Finally my first day in a classroom! According to what we had been told, our role is purely to assist the teachers and help the children in classroom activities. Under no circumstances should we be in the room teaching by ourselves as we are not qualified ... Read more >
SIERRA LEONE | Thursday, 5 May 2011 | Views [330]
Monday was a special day, because instead of a holiday Honored Guests (alumni) had come from the UK to give presents to the children. We were scheduled to start at 10am , so anxious to be punctual I turned up at 9.50. I think this was a bit of a shock, ... Read more >
SIERRA LEONE | Wednesday, 4 May 2011 | Views [523]
On Sunday we were invited to Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving (still haven't figured out what we're giving thanks for) is a little unfair. The children have to pay to have special outfits made for that one day, and never use them again - so the kids whose ... Read more >
SIERRA LEONE | Tuesday, 3 May 2011 | Views [323]
Another football game. Arsenal vs. Man. U. Most people are Man. U.
fans here although Ishmael supports Arsenal and we bought him a team shirt today. Same bar, tattered flags
and advertisements for Star beer ("Share the brighter life") ... Read more >
SIERRA LEONE | Monday, 2 May 2011 | Views [285]
Today we walked into Lumley via the beach, which is not nearly as nice as Number 2 beach. We walked through a labyrinth of huts to get there. These often consist of pieces of corrugated iron held up by thick sticks. Some have walls, some don't. But as ... Read more >
SIERRA LEONE | Sunday, 1 May 2011 | Views [465]
With not starting teaching, no TV, Internet, gym, or family, we fill the days by amplifying small dramas and setting ourselves challenges. 99% of the classrooms here use chalkboards. Sue happens to teach in one that has a whiteboard and was running out ... Read more >
SIERRA LEONE | Saturday, 30 Apr 2011 | Views [496]
Haja Haja manages the day-to-day administration and is great at arguing with people (police, customs officials, baggage claim...) on our behalf. However, she has told the Extra Mile director that the volunteers drink too much tea and use too much ... Read more >
SIERRA LEONE | Friday, 29 Apr 2011 | Views [495]
Transport
Today we caught our first poda-poda. Imagine a mini-van with four back seats and up to 24 people crammed in. To catch one you merely stand on the side of the road and wave. They will stop if they are not full or if they are full.... Read more >
SIERRA LEONE | Thursday, 28 Apr 2011 | Views [447] | Comments [2]
You may be wondering why I haven't said a thing about the reason we are actually here - volunteering as teachers' aids. That's because we haven't started yet! Our coordinator warned us about African Time, or BMT (black man's time) as they call it here, ... Read more >
SIERRA LEONE | Tuesday, 26 Apr 2011 | Views [348]
Haja's sister Basa showed up today. She is nothing like Haja - very big, covered with gold - big gold necklace, big gold earrings, big gold watch - dressed in blue, green, and white for Independence Day, with a great sense of humor. Haja took us all ... Read more >
SIERRA LEONE | Monday, 25 Apr 2011 | Views [438]
We finally got our baggage! It only required a four hour drive, a two hour ferry, and a half hour taxi ride. Oh, plus an hour wait at the airport until the correct official could be found and the appropriate posturing could be completed. We were waved ... Read more >
SIERRA LEONE | Saturday, 23 Apr 2011 | Views [473]
Yesterday we took a drive into Aberdeen to visit a friend of Haja's. Even going out for a day trip she dressed exquisitely in a long copper colored satin dress with spaghetti straps and a diamond-like broach clasping it together on her chest. Classy ... Read more >
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