Miscellaneous Thoughts

May 9, 2010

Hope all is well in the US.  Have not seen or heard much news since my phone was stolen in Iringa and the TV in the staff room at school broke.  However, the repairman has come and the TV is again functional, but before returning to news programming, the staff at Mkuu is catching up on our favorite dubbed over (in English) soap opera "Shades of Sin."

I seem to have settled into my life here at Mkuu.  I am now teaching form V (34 students) and form VI (19 students).  I am not certain of the true numbers.  I have no official rosters.  The new school year began a couple of weeks ago, but the school calendar is more like a suggested schedule rather than one set in stone.  More students may come tomorrow or even next week.  Who knows, but I am teaching again.  I am making lesson plans and doing chemistry problems and trying to think of ways to explain abstract concepts to students whose second language is English.  Many of these concepts are difficult to explain to students whose first language is English!  Those of you who know me well, know that I secretly enjoy doing chemistry problems, and although it amazes most Tanzanian teachers, I also love to teach! 

My form VI students are quite comfortable with me now and do not hesitate to ask questions, although it may take me a few minutes to understand what they are actually asking.  I did the "crush the can" demo to wrap up our gas law unit.  I had to bring my own equipment (hot plate, tongs, a small pot to hold water, and empty soda cans.  (Most soda is sold in bottles here so I saved the cans from the soda I gave Cheryl for Christmas). I asked the students to explain why the can imploded using principles of the kinetic molecular theory and the gas laws, and I told them that their response would be graded as a question on the unit test.  The students immediately began discussing the demo in rapid Kiswahili (if I know the topic, I can actually understand many words) and they were really excited.  Usually information is just given to them and they are required to memorize it, but I have seen from their eyes that they like to think and to understand.  Someone asked what would happen if we did the procedure a bit differently, so we tried, but the results were difficult to see using a can.  I just happened to have a balloon in my backpack, so we put it over a flask, heated it, and stuck it in cold water.  My students thought that that was cool too! 

My new form V students are a larger class and still very quiet.  I ask questions, give them time to think, and no response.  I call on them by name to answer questions, and they reply so quietly that I practically have to put my ear next to their mouth to hear them.  However, their eyes tell me that some are really eager to talk.  (Teachers can tell a lot by looking at students' eyes).  They are still just trying to figure me out.  I have high hopes for form V.  I will have no problem covering the syllabus because I have been teaching from day one.  I will also probably do a better job teaching them because I will be a "second year Tanzanian teacher."  Now, if I could just find a solution to this chalk.  After back to back classes, I really look white.

Speaking of new teachers, while talking to the headmaster, I offered to help with our new temporary teachers.  There are five of them, all newly graduated from form VI.  Form VI exams are taken in February and then the school year ends.  Students do not get their results until months later and university begins in September, so they have plenty of time to contemplate the possible paths their lifes may take.  Hopefully they will be the lucky ones who pass their exams and will then have an opportunity to go to university.  While waiting, many form VI leavers, like these young men, take temporary jobs at schools teaching O-level classes.  This helps alleviate the teacher shortage.  However, form VI leavers receive no teacher training.  I am observing their classes in order to help them improve their teaching.  Our first goal is to talk to the students, not to the board.  After that, maybe we'll work on questioning.  This is really fun! 

Sunday morning as I left my house to walk to church, my little friend with the one hand came running across the field to meet me.  I think he had been waiting for me.  Today he was dressed in his finest.  He was wearing a suit jacket made for a much bigger boy, but the sleeves covered his deformed hand, and that is what he prefers.  My friend's name is Steven and he is 8 years old.  He walked me to church, and he walked me home.  As we walked towards my house, I seemed to gather quite a large following of children.  I felt like the pied piper.  I knew that I did not have enough cookies to give to all these children.  Steven and one small friend followed me into my kitchen.  I gave them each a couple of cookies and told them to eat them inside. However, they ran off with the crowd.

A short time later, I heard a knock at the door.  It was Steven, alone, saying something I did not understand and looking kind of sad.  Then I noticed a group of older boys in the field below looking toward my house.  I think that they were somehow bothering Steven, so I invited him in.  Diana was at the house and I was cooking rice and fish in a tomato vegetable sauce.  I invited Steven to stay for lunch, and he ate two generous helpings. When I told him that I was going to walk Diana to the road to catch the bus, he went outside and sat on my porch.  He was still there when I returned.  He stayed for the rest of the day.  I cleaned house, mopped floors, and washed some clothes while he played ball on the porch with a friend.  Around 6:00, another large group of children congregated outside my door.  Again, there were too many, and I was tired, so I sent them all home and closed the doors.  Another Sunday in Mkuu.

Now that I am teaching forms V and VI, I do not have much time to go to the internet cafe in town.  I started writing this e-mail on April 26th, but have not had a chance to finish it and hit send.  My relationship with my form V students continues to improve.  I am no longer mzungu (white person).  Instead I have become mwalimu (teacher).  That makes me feel good.  I am concerned about my form VI students however, because they have no real advanced math teacher and their physics teacher is leaving soon.  Their only real teacher is me.  I know that they are discouraged.  I know that they are scared.  These exams are their future.  I will do all that I can to help them. I only hope that  it will be enough.

Not all here is depressing.  I was riding home from Moshi a few weeks ago, and I was thinking about the women that I saw working out in the fields.  Then something caught my eye.  Someone really had a sense of humor.  There were faded pink flamingos surrounding one of the fields.  Then to my surprise, they moved!  I remembered that I was in Africa.  They do not have fake plastic pink flamingos, they have real ones.

Yesterday Cheryl and I went on an outing with the second master from her school.  We were going to climb up the mountain a bit, but she is not able to do a lot of strenuous walking and climbing, so we went to see a waterfall and a Chaga museum (local tribe) instead.  It was a nice, relaxing day.  Cheryl sat by the side of the stream, while I took off my shoes and socks and walked with the guide and the second master over to the falls.  The museum was also interesting.  There was a young cow inside the Chaga house.  Animals were kept in the house with the family to prevent theft by the Masai.

 I have a soft spot for animals.  I believe that many people here feel the same.  As we traveled by bus to town, I noticed many people walking their pets (goats, pigs, cows, and chickens) to the market that day.  Maybe they just wanted to give their pets a bit of exercise or maybe there was going to be a big pet show.  The big pig that I saw was practically skipping alongside his owner.  He seemed very happy to be going somewhere.