UPDATE FROM SCHOOL!

Apologies because I know it has been far too long since I've written but my keyboard on my computer is broken and although I can use a manual (keyboard on my screen) to type up letters and blog posts it takes FOREVER. We're talking 5 minutes to write a small paragraph. That being said, things have been incredibly busy so when I come to Chimoio (the town closest to my village where there is Peace Corps office and computers for volunteers to use) I usually do not have time to write up a blog post...but today I got to the office early and I brought lots of coffee and I'm ready to write...

As I said, school has been incredibly busy. The first trimester ended well; my students didn't do as well as I'd hoped but they continued to improve with each test/in-class activity so I am confident that by the end of this trimester they'll be back in the swing of things. It's also just difficult because I know I demand more from my students, and push them to excel in speaking, writing and listening (instead of just filling in a test) and this takes lots of practice! I've started tutoring each class for an additional hour outside of their allotted class time and I really think this will help. I've only just started this additional tutoring but once I have a better understanding of which of my students are doing well and which are far behind I plan to re-group the students according to their ability so that my better students can be challenged and my weaker students can just focus on understanding what we're learning in class. I'm still unsure how it will go though...I was expecting 30 students max to help with extra tutoring and I have about 150, so instead of just two days a week of "english club" I've now added 4 additional 1-2 hour slots in the morning to tutor students. It's a lot of work but it's why I'm here! I am also trying to organize getting some children's books donated to my school library to use in my lessons (more of that to come soon!).

Instead of writing a novel I'm going to just share some pictures from the past few months with a summary of what has been going on...enjoy!

My roommate and I stayed in Vanduzi for Easter-we were hoping to cook a big brunch with our neighbors and spend the day with friends and students...but everyone left town for the weekend (to visit family!) So we didn't get a big celebration but we still made some delicious food for brunch, and then just took a nice long walk around Vanduzi, exploring out in the bairros (neighborhoods) far from our house, visiting people/making friends, and just relaxing. It was easily one of the quietest/most relaxing weekends and we were pretty grateful for it.

One of our bosses, Nelson Ramiro, came to visit us in Vanduzi and it was great introducing him to colleagues and students and just being able to show off our wonderful little town that we love so much. Here is a picture with myself, Ramiro, Thelma, and three of our students who participate in English club and English theater: Anna, Julio and Bon Bons. The kid on the left we don't know and just snuck in at last minute...

Thelma and I finally got our JUNTOS group started, something I've wanted to do since last year! Here is a picture of our counter-part/neighbor/very close friend in Vanduzi, Causha. Causha will work with us to lead these students throughout the year; we hope to teach them leadership skills, focusing mainly on educating them more about issues they face in the community. At our first meeting, they made a list of the topics they would like to discuss throughout the year.

Here is (translated) list of the topics students hope to discuss this year:
-A lesson about HIV/AIDS
-A lesson about personal hygiene
-A lesson about malaria: prevention and how things can become contaminated (spread?)...etc
-A lesson about TB: Prevention and how things can become contaminated (spread?)
-A lesson about sexual violence
-A lesson about alcoholism/alcohol abuse

Our students hope to learn more about these topics and then take that knowledge to teach others in our community and at school about these issues through journalism, music and dance. We will likely do some theatre too! Thelma and I are beyond excited about starting this group up!

We had 15 kids show up at our first meeting (and another 5 new students at our last one) here are some of the students involved in our group :)

During exams period Thelma and I had a day off from proctoring tests so we went to Catandica, a town about 100k from us...we dropped of capulanas to get some dresses made and then wandered to the market for lunch. After asking a few people where we could get inexpensive market food (and something other than goat or chicken) we found this little bar that was also serving food. The owner was so excited that we had selected his restaurant to eat at, he came out and sat with us while we ate and told us stories of his life in Zimbabwe during the Mozambican war. He also spoke pretty decent English (because of his time spent in Zim) it was a really fun afternoon!

Also during exams week, Thelma and I went to a small village in between Vanduzi and Chimoio where there is a pre-school that my good friend/a previous PCV used to teach at. We weren't sure what to expect because there is no longer a volunteer assisting at the school but I was pleasantly surprised to find 20-some children at the school, all learning their ABCS and how to count...etc I wish I didn't have lessons that clash with the pre-school schedule because it was so fun working with the children, I know we'll be back next break as well to help out!

The students spent the 2 1/2 hours we were there writing the alphabet and trying to remember how to sing it the whole way through...let's just say three and four year old's have a very short attention span! Most children here (at least in more rural areas) don't attend pre-school, so trying to instill good class room behavior, and just get a start on things like writing, reading (the alphabet) and counting is a huge challenge but will help the kids in the long run as they enter primary school in a year or two!

Right before leaving for the semester break (we had 2 weeks off before the second trimester started) myself and some other PCVS in Manica province helped Thelma celebrate her 23rd birthday!

The Country Director, Sanjay Mathur, came to visit the PCVs in Central. I met him (with a number of pcvs who live in Chimoio) to go out to lunch at our good friend, Silvino's restaarant (Silvino is the one crouching in the front in the white kimono and red hat). Sanjay also came to Vanduzi a few days later to meet my school director and see what I've been up to there. Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures because I just forgot but I had a great time showing him around town and talking to him about my work at site. Even better, my School Director (who is awesome!) spent the whole morning with us; he took Sanjay to his house to meet his family and even came with us to lunch. It was great to have my boss around, who was clearly thrilled to meet Sanjay, and excited to talk to him more about opportunities with Peace Corps and to just show him our wonderful school in Vanduzi.



Also random, but I had the opportunity to skype into a Peace Corps recruiting event back home. The event was at Lehigh University and my Congressman, Charlie Dent, and the current Peace Corps Director, Carrie Hessler-Radelet, were both present along with professors/staff from Lehigh University and some RPCVs. It was a really neat event because I got to hear my Congressman and the current CD speak about the awesome work PCVS are doing all over the world, and they both emphasized the importance of community service and working abroad. What was really cool for me was that fact that I got to skype into the event to talk about my experience thus far. Speaking to interested college students was a neat way to reflect on my service and motivated others to get more involved in their communities or around the world. My family attending the event as well, because they were curious to meet some RPCVs and the CD, it was pretty awesome and they made me feel incredibly supported :) Here's a picture of them, with my Congressman, and the PC Director from the event!

http://www.peacecorps.gov/media/forpress/press/2356/


AND THE MOST EXCITING NEWS OF ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Not the best picture but here is a picture of me with my colleague Simao. Simao is one of those people you meet here and wonder how they became the way they are because they are just so hard-working, driven and think WAY OUTSIDE of the box. Simao is one of my colleagues at school; we lesson plan together, we cover each other's classes if one of us is busy and we also confide in each other frustrations with corruption or lack of student motivation. He is one of the few people who is not afraid to criticize the norms here with the educational system, and also refuses to work with corruption by changing grades or allowing students to pass if they are not really educated. Last year, I helped Simao as his finished the requirements for his Master's Degree here in Moz. I also helped him apply for study abroad programs, to get his MA in teaching abroad, and encouraged him to apply for programs sponsored by the US Embassy and the State Department. Well, let me tell you, all I did was encourage Simao to apply, and then proof-read his applications, he did all the rest of the work, and because he is one of the most hard-working people I have met here I am so happy to tell all of you that Simao not only got into multiple schools in Europe for study abroad programs, he also received high enough marks on the TOEFL (English language exam required to study in the States) that he is eligible for a Fullbright in America. If Simao doesn't succeed in attaining a Fullbright (he'll find out in September) he will participate in a 6-week program sponsored by the US Embassy to study in NYC/DC next year. Also, if he does not attain a Fullbright, he will definitely study abroad in Europe next year, likely in Brussels. The program is an English-teaching, and Development Training Program, and it requires him to return to Moz in two years (once he finishes) to use the skills he has learned abroad to help improve the education system here, and continue to work with development projects in his community. I AM SO PROUD OF HIM.

Sorry this was a long update but I hope you enjoyed all the pictures :)