On Monday afternoon one of the students from my English theatre group showed up at my house and asked for help with a class presentation. Usually when a student comes to ask for help and I get out a text book we just read through the answers and they leave, happy with what they’ve “learned.” Well this day was different. This student, Bon-Bons, not only wanted to read about his topic (types of agriculture in Mozambique) he wanted help understanding it, and then wanted to create a speech for his presentation. Using most of the information from my book we talked about this topic, came up with relevant, local examples and Bon-Bons practiced his speech. After all this was done I expected him to say thanks and rush on home, but no, that didn’t happen. Instead Bon-Bons decided to flip through my textbook and proceeded to read out loud random sections of text; reading first in English, then translating into Portuguese to make sure he understood everything. After this, we’d go through the reading comprehension questions together. As a side note, before Bon-Bons showed up (randomly) at my house I was tutoring another student for 2 hours. Well Bon-Bons stayed for 3 hours and then finally decided it was time to go home, but he said he’d be back the next day.
The next day, Bon-Bons did come back, and he brought a few friends. This group of 3 or 4 students returned each afternoon this week and together we practiced English for 3-4 hours. What amazed me the most was not just that these students wanted to practice, but that even by 7 PM (when its dark out and most people are eating dinner) these guys wanted to keep practicing. It was me asking them if they wanted water, a snack or to take a break. They never got tired or wanted to give up, they were just so excited to be speaking English.
A typical afternoon with these students consists of some general grammar practice (I asked their teachers what grammar I should review with them for their finals) followed by a session where each student reads a passage out loud (first in English, then self-translated into Portuguese) and finally, my favorite part of the lesson, when one student acts as the teacher and asks the others random questions. On Friday, I was supposed to have a late night meeting at school so we met at school to practice (and I assumed when my meeting started I could leave them with my books at school to continue their lessons). Well, when I returned from my meeting I found one of them writing notes on the board and the others anxiously participating in the lesson…and words cannot begin to describe how happy it made me.
Yes these are all great students, they are the ones who usually participate in lessons and at least one of them is the class chefe de turma, but being labeled as a leader doesn’t do justice to their overall personality and ability. They are quick and anxious learners. It’s amazing how much they remember from day to day and how excited they are to continue to learn. One of the students, Joe, stuttered with just about every word he said on Monday, and by Friday he was speaking in sentences—yes I know not every student progresses this quickly but its amazing to see how much they progress when they practice and are pushed a little. And they have so many questions! These vary from ‘madaam, what is the difference between love and beloved, or how would I say make in the past tense (made), to what is this (points to his elbow)” they are just so curious! Yesterday, at 7:30 PM I literally had to kick them out of the classroom because I, after 4 1/2 hours of English was beat and wanted to go home and cook dinner…and even though today is a Saturday they asked if we could meet to practice.
I have no idea where this new enthusiasm for learning English came from but I’m going to do everything I can to keep it going. The students keep telling me how next year, we will meet like a real English club and today I told them that they already were an English club. I should also explain that finding students who are this excited about learning is kind of rare. It’s not that students here don’t care about school, because they do, but school is not the first priority. I remember growing up in America and it seemed since first or second grade (when I got my first college regalia, a Muhlenberg College sweatshirt) I knew that I would continue my education…and then I was continually encourage or pushed to do my best in school so I could go to university and eventually find a good job. Well, here in Mozambique things are a bit different; students come to school everyday in their uniforms, take notes and sometimes participate but they have many other responsibilities (working on their family farms or in the market, supporting younger siblings, or paying rent for their school housing). Put simply, school is not the first priority, and it’s impossible for it to be the first priority. So for me to find a group of students; wait, I should correct myself-for a group of students to seek me out to practice their English for an extra 15 to 20 hours a week (3 to 4 hours every afternoon) is kind of amazing, and I am going to do everything I can to keep them interested!
So, that’s my story, sorry it is kind of long but I’m just so excited. If you had talked to me a month ago I would have told you that (for the first time since arriving in Mozambique) I wanted to go home. I was so frustrated with trying to start projects, I was so bored with my lack of work, and the cultural norms were driving me insane. I missed my friends and family, and I wanted nothing more than to go back to America and find a job with real hours, a real job description and a salary. Well, fast-forward to now, and I am happy. Don’t worry mom and dad I’m still coming home next year but I can finally say confidently that I am happy to be here, I understand my job and what I need to do and, I finally feel like I belong here in my community.
And it’s a pretty wonderful feeling.
Bon-Bons acting as the teacher and writing sentences on the board with words the students found "confusing" or that sounds the same.
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