Where's GranEllen?

This past week included the first of three weeks of observing classes and co-teaching at a local school. Each of our language groups have been assigned to different schools for School Based Training (SBT). The first week included guided tour of the school, attending the morning staff meetings, observing as many classes as we could, and 2 hours of language training while at the school. Our language trainer came to the school with us and we were provided space for our lessons. I observed 7 math and science classes for grades 4-6, an 8^th grade Afrikaans class, and two 9^th grade math classes.

The next two weeks I will create lesson plans and co-teach two 5^th grade math classes per day. I will assist the regular teacher this week and next week I will be the lead teacher with the regular teacher assisting me. We will also continue a minimum of 2 hours language training during the school hours.

These are not like your typical American classrooms. The norm at this school (not all schools) is about 40 learners/class with one teacher. The learners usually share a textbook and the textbooks are not taken home. Some learners share a chair, but they don’t seem to mind.

Corporal punishment is illegal in Namibia schools, but it is a cultural norm that is slow to change. I did not witness it this week although several teachers carried 2ft lengths of garden hose or plastic pipe and would slap it on a desk or into their hand while walking around the class. Pretty intimidating to me!

The school day is 7:15am-1:05pm with a half hour break at 10. The learners do not eat lunch at school but have a snack during the break. There are vendors selling fat cakes, fruit, meat, and sweets or they bring something from home.

After our school day, we are taken to the PC Training Center for more training. We’ve had sessions on “Feedback and Error Correction”, “Teaching in Large Classrooms”, “Teaching with Minimal Resources”, and other useful teaching techniques. We also had sessions on “Domestic/Partner Violence”, “How to Deal with Unwanted Attention”, and other safety/security topics. Whew, my brain is on overload.

All for now, with all my love

Below:

PCT in traditional dress from host family.

Another PCT preparing pap, porridge.

Me, helping with food prep.

This week focused on the cultural differences in Namibia, Safety and Security especially in the context of living among multiple cultures, personal and mental health care, climaxing with a Cultural Cooking Day. I learned that the best way to protect myself is to integrate well into my community. The more the locals know me, the more they will look out for me and will come to my aid if needed. Peace Corps is teaching 8 different languages to my Group 48 but there are many more languages spoken in this extremely diverse country. I am learning Afrikaans but it is very beneficial to know greetings in other languages because many tribal peoples are migrating for work opportunities. Even small amounts of language will go a long way to integrate into the local community. The reason we teach in English is because the government learned early on that it would be impossible to educate their population using a dozen different languages, especially if many are moving and the languages are not localized anymore. Primary grades 0-3 are taught in the learner’s mother-tongue and from then on they are taught in English.
Peace Corps also takes our personal and mental health care very seriously. They have a counseling service, assigned medical staff, and we received our medical kits. We’ve had multiple sessions on what to do if we get sick and the medical kit is well stocked with OTC medications, chapstick, bug spray, sunscreen, saline solution, bandages, and more. In addition, we practiced how to do a pin-prick malaria test (I’m negative), we’ve had 2 out of 3 rabies shots, hepatitis B shot, typhoid booster. We’ve been prescribed a malaria prophylactic to reduce the chance of malaria or its effect. I am very impressed with the attention to detail and the thorough training. The manual is very comprehensive including prevention, symptoms, and care for just about anything that could happen to us here in Africa.
All of our host families were invited for our Cultural Cooking Day. Each of the 8 language groups prepared food with our host families helping us. Two goats were slaughtered and a number of chickens. There was donkey meat, beef, and an assortment of fish. The mohangu was prepared and made into pap. There were fat cakes, sautéed spinach, fire roasted bread, mopani worms and more. We also prepared entertainment for our host families – we sang and/or danced to a traditional song. It was fun but exhausting!