A while back, Peace Corps Volunteers could sign up for an “embassy sponsor” – we would be paired with a staff member from the US Embassy who would open up his or her home for us whenever we were in Kampala. Obviously I signed up because one of the bullet points said, “hot shower and hot meal!” Is there anything better? I went to Kampala this past weekend because my friend from home, Kiera, is in town for the week. I decided to stay with my sponsor, Nathan, and it was pretty much life changing. I could go on an on about the greatness of it all – my own bedroom and bathroom, hot shower, good food, washer and dryer, and American TV. He drove me around in his car (air conditioned!), which was really nice of him and I was happy that I did not have to take public transport. I also got to play WII Mario Cart at his friend’s house. I felt like I was back in America and I got to see Kiera – I was one happy Peace Corps Volunteer. Needless to say, I wish I had more excuses to go to Kampala. I think that next time I am going to bring all of my dirty laundry…too much?
On Wednesday, my counterpart and I held a Learning Aids and Activities Workshop for the four model schools in Budaka District. (Of course Namengo Girls is a model school!). The head teacher and two teachers from each school attended, so there were about twelve teachers in attendance. This workshop happened to be one of my favorites so far – we actually kept time! I also had fun because I did a lot of activities with the teachers and they all got really into them. One of the activities was Multiplication Bingo and the teachers went nuts. They had never played “Bingo” before, but after the first round, they were pumped about the game. (I was giving the winner biscuits, maybe that had something to do with it). We played roughly ten times until I finally said we had to move on – lots of “ahhs” ensued. The teachers had a lot of fun with the other activities and I hope that they were motivated to try them out in their own classrooms.
After my presentation of activities, my counterpart held a discussion on the qualities of a good learning aid. The teachers used my “Multiplication Bingo” as an example of a “model” learning aid. They all took turns pointing out the qualities that made it a good learning aid. Some were hilarious:
- Her letters are all the same height
- The numbers are written in the proper format (I didn’t know there was an improper format)
- Good use of colors. If she had used red, then it would not have been inviting. (Ya, I totally thought so too. That’s why I used green. That or it was just the color marker I happened to grab).
- It is safe
 |
| My "model" learning aid |
My counterpart and I encouraged the teachers to develop their own learning aids/activities and then bring them to the resource room. I will be visiting the model schools in the upcoming weeks to check on their progress (hopefully at least one class isn’t lecture and rote memorization!). My counterpart and I are hoping to get teachers more involved in the resource room so that they will maintain it and actually use the resources.
Unfortunately for me, the workshop ended just as the neighboring secondary school was let out for “sports”. As a result, all the secondary students were walking down the road to the football field as I was walking up to head home. Well, we all know what happens when we have a large group of hormonal teenagers that get cockier in big groups. Catcalls. There is nothing better than getting harassed by a bunch of 15-16 year olds – and of course I laughed, which only exacerbated the problem. Here is what the first 5 minutes of my walk home sounded like:
- “Hey baby girl. What’s up?” (Followed by kissing sounds)
- Whistles
- “Hey mzungu, just give me one hug.”
- “Hey baby girl, we go make Obama babies.”
- “Eh, mzungu. A kiss for me?”
- “You are beautiful!”
Granted, laughing was probably the worst thing to do in this situation, but it was so ridiculous! I laugh in inappropriate situations…it’s a problem sometimes.
I noticed the other day that the "Kony 2012" video was trending on Facebook. I am happy to see that more people are becoming aware of the atrocities that have ravaged Northern Uganda, the DRC, and South Sudan for years. I, however, want to encourage you all to do a little more research if you were moved by the video. Additionally, before you start shelling out your money for the cause, do your research on the organizations. I found these articles extremely interesting:
http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/03/07/stop-kony-yes-but-dont-stop-asking-questions/
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/stop-kony-video-campaign-raises-questions-article-1.1035502?localLinksEnabled=false
http://thedailywh.at/2012/03/07/on-kony-2012-2/?fb_ref=newcontenthole
 |
| Some of the learning aids made from local materials (made by other teachers) |
 |
| Teachers observing the various learning aids in the Resource Room |
 |
| My counterpart, Cosmas. He wanted a picture with the learning aids |
 |
| In front of the CCT office (my counterpart's and my office). My parents brought this "I Love LA" t-shirt and he was really excited about it. So he wore it to work and showed it off. |
No comments:
Post a Comment