Yesterday I had the most humbling experience of my life. The grade one teacher was absent and I was asked to stand in for her. Sure, says I with arrogant confidence.
There are 36 boys and girls, ages 6-7 with skills levels from non readers to grade 3 level. When I arrived in the classroom they had been without a teacher for half an hour and were pumped. I walked into one of Dante's rings of hell. They were yelling, leaping from desk to desk, punching, throwing, hitting and bullying each other. I actually expected that they would return to their sets and quieten down when I appeared, but that didn't happen. There was no way I could be heard above the din. I stood there gob-smacked. What to do? I randomly chose several children and asked them to come to the board to read a paragraph the teacher had written. They came, but they immediately attacked each other with the pointer and their rulers and other lethal objects. These I quickly confiscated amid howls of protest.
While this was happening, little fingers had been poking at me to get my attention. The poking fingers were accompanied by whining voices saying, "Mees, Mees, she take my penceel," "Mees, Mees, he poonch me" "Mees, Mees, she break de chalk," "Mees, Mees, I tursty". Not only was I literally backed into a corner by their pushing and shoving, but I found that I was with master tattlers. These champions of - it's not my fault - are constantly vigilant of their commrades in arms and ready at any moment to inform on each other.
I decided I had to give up reasoning with them and assert myself. I tried, I did try, but the children didn't give a rat's ass what I did, or that I was even there. I could not believe what I was seeing. The violence was astounding.
Suddenly brooms, mops, buckets of water and cleaning clothes appeared to add to the circus. It was Friday, clean up day. It gave 6 little girls something to do, and they did it with a vengence.
To be sure there were several quiet children disbursed among the wild animals who were working away on whatever. How could I use them to my advantage? I took some of them out on to the porch and closed the door on the rest of them hoping no one would get seriously hurt. These children did not know how to sit in a circle or how to cross their legs. These are basic Kindergarten skills. All of them had been to Kindergarten. They also did not know how to line up and taking turns was a totally foreign concept. They could not sit and listen to a story.
Finally it was break time and several teachers came and took some of the children away and absorbed them into their own overcrowded classrooms. This was a great relief, but really only helped the decible level, but it became manageable. I discovered 2 children who were way above the rest in reading and math level, the rest were virtual non readers! When I asked them how many children were in their family they all answered, "Just me," although I knew that many of them had brothers and sisters at the school. The idea of 'backwards' stumped them. They couldn't count backwards from 10, repeat a simple list of 2 items in reverse order, or walk backward. I tried the words, beside, next, over, under. This was better. They learned these concepts very quickly.
In my defence I would like to say that I am sure the accent (theirs and mine) were a major barrier, as well as not being able to raise my voice like the other teachers.
Finally someone sent a terrific young man, a grade 6 student down to rescue me. Devon Brewster will remain in my heart forever. Not only is he a born teacher, but he took command, after asking my permission, and the children responded to him immediately. He spoke with authority, and in their language. He continued to defer to me, although he was clearly in charge.
I am grateful for this experience. I am so glad that I was asked to do this job. I will never again critisize Dominican teachers for their stern voice, wagging finger, and occaisional tugged arm. I learned a lot.
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Thursday, March 5, 2009
School Tales
The Best of Excuses:
Sister Clare: Why are you late to school?
Little Boy: I didn't wake up, Sister.
Sister Clare: Why didn't you wake up?
Little Boy: I had a nightmare and a headache.
Sister Clare: Did you tell your mommy about your nightmare?
Little Boy: No Sister.
Sister Clare: Why didn't you tell your mommy?
Little boy: Because I was asleep.
Late comers waiting to see Sister Clare before they go to class
Sister Clare: Why are you late to school?
Little Boy: I didn't wake up, Sister.
Sister Clare: Why didn't you wake up?
Little Boy: I had a nightmare and a headache.
Sister Clare: Did you tell your mommy about your nightmare?
Little Boy: No Sister.
Sister Clare: Why didn't you tell your mommy?
Little boy: Because I was asleep.
Monday, March 2, 2009
Yeah Man (Ya Mon)
The Dominicans are a warm, friendly, so-be-it crowd. It is quite amazing to walk down the street and have everyone look at you and say, "Good Morning". The Americans and Brits avert their eyes as you pass them by. How can they resist the pull of a well meaning greeting? This morning I said, "Good Afternoon" to a young mother and her 4 year old. The child didn't answer me and the mother yanked her arm and said, "Say 'good afternoon' to the lady" Which the child promply did. I love it when the children from school call me from across the street or from their balcony, "Hello Miss Marian".
Coconut ice cream is really good! I bought 3 mangoes for $1. Grapefruit are as big as footballs, lemons are the size of baseballs.
Douglas Bay Beach, a very nice little beach that I used to visit often last trip has disappeared. Hurricane Omar plus a sea surge took it away and replaced it with stones. They have their own beauty to be sure, but that little private beach was nice!
Most of the Dominicans are devout R. Catholics and there is much activity around the church, especially that this is the season of Lent. The Anglicans have a strong but small community and a healthy youth group, but no priest. The Pentecostals are in full evidence.
There are 2 main cities, Roseau, the capital and Portsmouth, where I am. They are about 20 miles apart, but it takes an hour and 15 minutes to travel between the two. Roads are very narrow, convoluted and mountainous. Dominicans are very fast dare devil drivers. There are no street stop signs, and there are no traffic lights. Since there are also no sidewalks people walk in the road. Lots of honking, loud music and leaning out the window yelling "Hey Mon" at each other. Apart from this, I feel quite safe walking around.
I should mention the post office. They seem to keep it a secret. The entrance is not marked and is a heavy steel door at the back of a building. You'd never know. You could be standing in front of it asking for directions to the post office. And they are clearly not concerned about accessiblity. This morning I carried some parcels up the many steps into the post office proper for an old lady with a swollen knee who was struggling. They close for lunch. You can only post at the post office, and there is no delivery. It takes ages for a letter to arrive home. If I send a letter or postcard the first week I am here it takes a minimum of three weeks to get to Canada. I don't think we can lay this one at the feet of Canada Post!
None of this is complaining believe me. I love it here. I'm happy to be here. I'm at home here.
Coconut ice cream is really good! I bought 3 mangoes for $1. Grapefruit are as big as footballs, lemons are the size of baseballs.
Douglas Bay Beach, a very nice little beach that I used to visit often last trip has disappeared. Hurricane Omar plus a sea surge took it away and replaced it with stones. They have their own beauty to be sure, but that little private beach was nice!
Most of the Dominicans are devout R. Catholics and there is much activity around the church, especially that this is the season of Lent. The Anglicans have a strong but small community and a healthy youth group, but no priest. The Pentecostals are in full evidence.
There are 2 main cities, Roseau, the capital and Portsmouth, where I am. They are about 20 miles apart, but it takes an hour and 15 minutes to travel between the two. Roads are very narrow, convoluted and mountainous. Dominicans are very fast dare devil drivers. There are no street stop signs, and there are no traffic lights. Since there are also no sidewalks people walk in the road. Lots of honking, loud music and leaning out the window yelling "Hey Mon" at each other. Apart from this, I feel quite safe walking around.
I should mention the post office. They seem to keep it a secret. The entrance is not marked and is a heavy steel door at the back of a building. You'd never know. You could be standing in front of it asking for directions to the post office. And they are clearly not concerned about accessiblity. This morning I carried some parcels up the many steps into the post office proper for an old lady with a swollen knee who was struggling. They close for lunch. You can only post at the post office, and there is no delivery. It takes ages for a letter to arrive home. If I send a letter or postcard the first week I am here it takes a minimum of three weeks to get to Canada. I don't think we can lay this one at the feet of Canada Post!
None of this is complaining believe me. I love it here. I'm happy to be here. I'm at home here.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
The Green Dominican Flag
Dominica, like any rainforest is lush and green, but definitely not green in environmental terms. If any reader here has even a flash of environmental awareness or concern, they had better not come to D'ca because they will freak out! There is no recycling of plastic. There is no commitment to reuse, I can't figure out the garbage collection system here in Portsmouth. On garbage pickup days they seem to strew more around than they pick up. The only thing that is recycled is scrap metal, and that they ship off to Germany. There are piles of rusting cars, wires, cans, barrels, steel sheets lying around, not to mention the 3 hulking ship carcasses washed up in the 1994 hurricane just rotting away on the shores. You get the idea...I won't go on and on.
On the other hand, Dominica might bee the only third world coountry that feeds itself. It is so lush, fertile and humid, you can truly just drop any seed anywhere and it will germinate - this includes the piles of rusting metal! Yah Mon! Mangoes everywhere, pineapple grows in here and there. Want a banana? No problem. D'ca has 365 fresh water rivers and you can drink from the tap.
More later...
Thursday, February 26, 2009
More D'ca
Finally today I saw some children. Terrific little willing workers. The school has had the building that was blown away in the hurricane of 2004 rebuilt, so there is some more space. There is a nice library now. When the 2 volunteers arrived 3 weeks ago nothing had been unpacked since the hurricane. Yes, books and teaching materials were all still in damp boxes alongside boxes of brand new materials and books. They did the mammoth job of unpacking, sorting, discarding, arranging on the shelves thousands of books. Just a note to those who think they would like to donate school books, library books and teaching materials to "disadvantaged" countries..do your research first. Certainly St. John's School in Dominica does not need anymore school library books. The school is very well stocked with children's lit.
I am going to have a lot to say about the school system here. My present oberservation is that it is about 40 to 50 years behind the time.
Then, this afternoon I went over to C.A.L.L.S. and volunteered one afternoon a week (to start). Right away they set me up with a 15 year old girl from Haiti who speaks no English or French - only Creole - so I will see her for a couple of hours a week and try to teach her some basic English. I'll probably do more there. By the way, her lovely name is Lovely! ESL is becoming an issue, there are several Haitian children in St. John's who don't speak any English and who don't read and write in their own language.
I was astonished when I went into CALLS this afternoon to be recognized by the director and her assistant and welcomed like a family member! Great. This has happened several times and I am always knocked out!
I wish I could get some photos up on this page, but that'll have to wait until I get home.
More later.
I am going to have a lot to say about the school system here. My present oberservation is that it is about 40 to 50 years behind the time.
Then, this afternoon I went over to C.A.L.L.S. and volunteered one afternoon a week (to start). Right away they set me up with a 15 year old girl from Haiti who speaks no English or French - only Creole - so I will see her for a couple of hours a week and try to teach her some basic English. I'll probably do more there. By the way, her lovely name is Lovely! ESL is becoming an issue, there are several Haitian children in St. John's who don't speak any English and who don't read and write in their own language.
I was astonished when I went into CALLS this afternoon to be recognized by the director and her assistant and welcomed like a family member! Great. This has happened several times and I am always knocked out!
I wish I could get some photos up on this page, but that'll have to wait until I get home.
More later.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Dominica
OK Gang - I give up, so I have to start my blog re D'ca from week 2. Be assured that many adventures were had in the first week .
For example, there is the lost luggage saga. The usual story of having a perfect flight down to Antigua, checking luggage through customs, getting on the airplane to Dominica, a 30 minute plane ride (prop plane) and arriving in Antigua sans luggage. I had put everything on, including my carry-on thinking that it was hot. I was tired and hungry, what could go wrong? I made it to D'ca, but the luggage didn't. I even saw it sitting on the tarmack waiting to get loaded back in Antigua. I soon discovered that it was everyone's luggage, not just mine, that got left behind. It would come the next day. NOT. So then for sure the very next day. Meanwhile the Island had run completely out of petrol, so everyone was reluctant to go the 1 hour trip to the airport. By now I had given up and decided to go shopping and spend my grocery money on necessities when my carry on turned up. The big one it seemed was still on Antigua. Anyway, it too finally arrived.
There was no petrol at all during Carnival, and boy were the rumours about why rife. There was a leak, the Guadalupians were hoarding, D'ca hadn't paid its bill...the Carnival goers were the most upset-and then Portsmouth ran out of bread. But that is all now over. Everyone has a full tank of gas and various buckets (with and without lids) have been filled and I hope stored safely. Bread will be in the stores tomorrow.
I haven't actually taught any children yet, as Carnival is a 3 day holiday and today is a PD day. I have met several, and reacquainted with one or two who remembered me from last time. I've been to the beach instead.
The carnival: I just don't know what to say: it has me stumped. Every second little shop has a mammoth bank of speakers that are turned up to maximum spewing out so called 'calypso' music. The entire town turns out on the street 'jumping' and 'chipping' (a kind of shuffle). For 2 solids days.
My accomodations are excellent. Large, clean, bright; however, I am being eaten by something at night and wake up with little horribly itchy red spots that I have scratched in my sleep and made worse.
Food is plentiful and expensive. People are friendly. Water is drinkable (but I don't). The most glaring thing is the complete lack of environmental awarness. No 3 Rs going on here!
I am also going to give a day to the local agency that trains young people in an upgrading, work skills, life skills program. Just up my alley.
Stay tuned.
For example, there is the lost luggage saga. The usual story of having a perfect flight down to Antigua, checking luggage through customs, getting on the airplane to Dominica, a 30 minute plane ride (prop plane) and arriving in Antigua sans luggage. I had put everything on, including my carry-on thinking that it was hot. I was tired and hungry, what could go wrong? I made it to D'ca, but the luggage didn't. I even saw it sitting on the tarmack waiting to get loaded back in Antigua. I soon discovered that it was everyone's luggage, not just mine, that got left behind. It would come the next day. NOT. So then for sure the very next day. Meanwhile the Island had run completely out of petrol, so everyone was reluctant to go the 1 hour trip to the airport. By now I had given up and decided to go shopping and spend my grocery money on necessities when my carry on turned up. The big one it seemed was still on Antigua. Anyway, it too finally arrived.
There was no petrol at all during Carnival, and boy were the rumours about why rife. There was a leak, the Guadalupians were hoarding, D'ca hadn't paid its bill...the Carnival goers were the most upset-and then Portsmouth ran out of bread. But that is all now over. Everyone has a full tank of gas and various buckets (with and without lids) have been filled and I hope stored safely. Bread will be in the stores tomorrow.
I haven't actually taught any children yet, as Carnival is a 3 day holiday and today is a PD day. I have met several, and reacquainted with one or two who remembered me from last time. I've been to the beach instead.
The carnival: I just don't know what to say: it has me stumped. Every second little shop has a mammoth bank of speakers that are turned up to maximum spewing out so called 'calypso' music. The entire town turns out on the street 'jumping' and 'chipping' (a kind of shuffle). For 2 solids days.
My accomodations are excellent. Large, clean, bright; however, I am being eaten by something at night and wake up with little horribly itchy red spots that I have scratched in my sleep and made worse.
Food is plentiful and expensive. People are friendly. Water is drinkable (but I don't). The most glaring thing is the complete lack of environmental awarness. No 3 Rs going on here!
I am also going to give a day to the local agency that trains young people in an upgrading, work skills, life skills program. Just up my alley.
Stay tuned.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
The Sinns’ Post Christmas Post - as told by Alfie!
Hello
My name is Alfie. I am a West Highland Terrier. I came to live with the Sinns’ in September. At first I was lonely for all my brothers and sisters, but soon I saw that there was as much noise and hubbub and coming and going here as in the kennel where I was born .
One of the sources of activity is Samantha, after all she is 18. She is still trying to drag herself through high school but it seems to be a struggle. She’ll do it, but it will be on her timetable, not anybody else’s. Sam is living at ‘The Little House” which is a 2 room cottage just a short trot up the path.
Marian was just saying the other day how much she loved the studio she shared with her printmaking friend over the summer. That must have closed because she is doing her cards and artwork at home (again). Although, it seems to me that not too much of that has been going on lately as she is not at home a whole lot. She did make 200 greeting cards for the Christmas season to sell at craft fairs and galleries. That was fun! Scraps and bits of paper all over the place. Now she is knitting. Equally as much fun and mischief as I get her yarn all muddled up. I hear her talking about returning to Dominica mid February to mid March to do volunteer teaching at the school in Portsmouth.
Hans is a great guy. He calls me ALL-FEE! He is at his computer all day every day, but when he has to shovel snow or bring in the wood, he always calls me to help. I am happy to do this. Right now he is working on the conference taking place in Ottawa early February on “Women and Peace”. He is pleased with the way the project to professionalise peace work is progressing. I have heard him lament from time to time that his plan to bring basic literacy to Afghani women via the radio is not picking up steam. Even I have to wonder why. Seems like a no-brainer to me!
When we go to visit Anthony, Neary, Cecilia and Carolyn, and their little doggie, a mini-Dachund they call Pluto, I to go too and harass Pluto. They are all doing very well. Neary was in Cambodia for a few weeks with her parents for a wedding which she arranged, and which went off splendidly.
Nick came home for 10 days over Christmas. I overheard several conversations about his situation in Abbotsford B.C. with his landscape work, and making a life for himself there. He loves his work, he is happy to be the foreman and have his crew to develop. He spent a lot of good time with Samantha.
You can look for Samantha and Marian on Facebook. You can find Hans at civilianpeaceservice.com or hans1nn@xplornet.com
My name is Alfie. I am a West Highland Terrier. I came to live with the Sinns’ in September. At first I was lonely for all my brothers and sisters, but soon I saw that there was as much noise and hubbub and coming and going here as in the kennel where I was born .
One of the sources of activity is Samantha, after all she is 18. She is still trying to drag herself through high school but it seems to be a struggle. She’ll do it, but it will be on her timetable, not anybody else’s. Sam is living at ‘The Little House” which is a 2 room cottage just a short trot up the path.
Marian was just saying the other day how much she loved the studio she shared with her printmaking friend over the summer. That must have closed because she is doing her cards and artwork at home (again). Although, it seems to me that not too much of that has been going on lately as she is not at home a whole lot. She did make 200 greeting cards for the Christmas season to sell at craft fairs and galleries. That was fun! Scraps and bits of paper all over the place. Now she is knitting. Equally as much fun and mischief as I get her yarn all muddled up. I hear her talking about returning to Dominica mid February to mid March to do volunteer teaching at the school in Portsmouth.
Hans is a great guy. He calls me ALL-FEE! He is at his computer all day every day, but when he has to shovel snow or bring in the wood, he always calls me to help. I am happy to do this. Right now he is working on the conference taking place in Ottawa early February on “Women and Peace”. He is pleased with the way the project to professionalise peace work is progressing. I have heard him lament from time to time that his plan to bring basic literacy to Afghani women via the radio is not picking up steam. Even I have to wonder why. Seems like a no-brainer to me!
When we go to visit Anthony, Neary, Cecilia and Carolyn, and their little doggie, a mini-Dachund they call Pluto, I to go too and harass Pluto. They are all doing very well. Neary was in Cambodia for a few weeks with her parents for a wedding which she arranged, and which went off splendidly.
Nick came home for 10 days over Christmas. I overheard several conversations about his situation in Abbotsford B.C. with his landscape work, and making a life for himself there. He loves his work, he is happy to be the foreman and have his crew to develop. He spent a lot of good time with Samantha.
You can look for Samantha and Marian on Facebook. You can find Hans at civilianpeaceservice.com or hans1nn@xplornet.com
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