We were sad that today was Sreedevi’s last full day before leaving tomorrow. But that reality has had an excellent side-benefit. It has pushed us to sew up some loose ends on the new program that require her participation. The challenges of effective communication with the Kantolomba team once we are back in the U.S. are many. We decided to use Sreedevi’s departure to bring early closure to several aspects of our work and practice the communication while two of us are still here. Perfect!
Every morning the whole property is thoroughly cleaned in preparation for another day of hosting 800 children in a variety of activities.!
In the afternoon we met with Theresa, Veronica and Rose, our three main engines of the project. Each has chosen, in her own way, to expand her horizons and has taken an active, open, curious approach to life. These are the qualities we want to offer the children, especially the girls! It was interesting to hear each of them speak about how they learned to read, learned English, and learned to take that curious approach to life. Reading was a significant part for all. It may not be this trip, but building reading into the culture of the project was something we agreed is key.
Rose has not been in on all of the conversations, and filling her in was a good chance to summarize where we are thus far. Walking through it was an inspiring reminder of how far we have come in just over a week! The actual content of what we are doing—planning field trips, creating attendance posters etc., can seem small, but the process behind it and the possibility it symbolizes is enormous.
There was a wonderful moment during our meeting when a parent came to give their child permission to join the program. It had been set up that the parent meetings would be from 3:00-3:30 Thursday and Friday, but this parent said she would not be able to attend on those days. She came early to make sure we knew her child was a yes. The parent is pecking on her child’s shell!
Later in the morning we all got to participate in Anna’s next adult English lesson. It is wonderful fun for all of us! We did more work in the new Purple-Blue book, and it is clear that this curriculum is going to be far more effective—and fun—for the team. Yea.
Anna gets up to act out a point.
Engaged in learning.
During the lesson the topic of weekly reporting came up. As we mentioned in a previous blog, we realized that learning from each other is one of our best tools. Weekly email communication is the way to do that when we are not here. As we talked about how we want to structure that communication going forward, the topic of typing came up. They marvel at how easily we type, and how fast. We explained that it is an easy skill to learn, and that with solid, daily practice they too could be typing as we do.
We broke up into teams for a few minutes of practice.
Joy taking a turn
Anna and Georgina were a team.
Susan was laughing as she attempted to convince her fingers to press only one key at a time—a challenge.
We had a great moment when demonstrating typing without looking at the keyboard. Charles commented that he could never do that. So, we tried a little experiment—we taught him the “home keys,” a s d f j k l ;. We had him put his fingers on those keys. Then asked him what key was under his left pinky. “A.” We then asked him to look up, not looking at the keyboard, and type an “A.” He did it. “There, you just typed without looking.” And he had a wide smile. Of course, if you can type one key without looking, then, with practice, you can type without looking. The applications for that truism are many!
We had a wonderful surprise just after lunch when Josephine, who has been out on maternity leave, dropped by to say hello. She brought Baby Eunice with her, now 2 months old.
Jen and Josephine greeting one another
Theresa shows off Baby Eunice.
Interacting with Josephine, we were reminded how clear her English is. Her pronunciation is beautiful. We plan to ask her if she would be interested in assisting in one of the classrooms.
At any given point during the day the sky offers a work of art.
When the grade 8 students arrived after their school day was over, Anna resumed work with them on the Masala Clinic trip report. It is easy to project that this activity is bringing English alive for them. Instead of reading or writing about some imaginary scenario in a text book, they are reporting on a trip they took. And they are doing great!
The Clinic report
As the afternoon comes to a close, a few folks wind down the day with some outdoor fun.
Victor and Peter play a game of soccer.
Memory helps Anna practice her “chenga” game.
A few of the team summarize from the day and lay out the agenda for tomorrow.
And adorable Elizabeth is there to send us off. “Tukamenana milo.” See you tomorrow.
Wow.