A short story about my first village journey....

I wanted to start this blog with a short story of my first trip to the village:

The sun was out and the cool air whipped across my face. It was Saturday morning around 6AM. I heard the constant turning of the motorbike engine. I felt every bump and turn of the road. I saw streams of brown and green as we flew passed the bush and farms. The road to the village Koindabaia was about 10 minutes from my house. In front, was Sarah and Steven leading the way. As the wheels of Steven’s Honda XL kicked dust in our faces, Lansana and I were finally turning onto the road toward my three hours of indescribable peace.

The dirt road was littered with pot holes, rocks, and big puddles, but the motor bike was able to weave through all the bad parts so gracefully. The road was surrounded by green plant life and trees bending every which way zig-zagging toward the bright blue sky. All you could hear was the sounds of insects and the faint buzz of the engine. I felt as if I were flying. Bending up, down and around the hills of Kabala has an overwhelming sense of peace and relaxation. I just sat on the back of Lansana’s bike and enjoyed the cool breeze and sights to see.

About a mile from Koindabaia you can see the two huge trees in the middle of the village. The trees are so big that even if ten people held hands around the trunks of the trees you would not fit. If you were to outline the trunk of the tree it would look like a star with 30 points. We were greeted by Steven’s grandmother and Lansana’s grandmother. Because we were driving back through we only stayed for about 10 minutes and were back on the winding dirt road toward the village of Yara where Steven’s grandfather lives.

Steven’s grandfather greeted us with 3 chickens to take home and some nice cold water. As his family prepared food we walked down a small path to get to the river. Yara has the most beautiful winding river with goldmines down the banks. Followed by 20 children we went to see the sites and to wash our feet. The river was shallow and had many waterfalls. There was one point when one of the kids was pushed in and could not swim, so I had to step into a deeper part to help them out. The most beautiful part of the villages was the ability to unplug from Kabala and the world and to just enjoy the beautiful sites and people.

The ride back was just as peaceful and felt as if it went fast. I was able to reflect on the people I met and the places I went. As we came back to Koindabaia we met Steven’s mom and they gave us the gift of rice. The village life is very different from Kabala and it was a wonderful experience.

***(some pictures on facebook)***

The rest of the week has gone very smoothly. Teaching is getting easier, even though the kids are just as rowdy. I got the opportunity to try and pound rice in the village, which was very challenging. On my ride back to Kabala I named the beautiful chicken I was carrying Kevin. We ended up eating him Sunday night when our guest, Kathy, arrived. Kathy has been a missionary for over 20 years in Nigeria. She has come for two weeks to work with accounting at CES and at CRC school. This weekend Krissi, Ansou, Sarah, Steven, and myself are traveling to Freetown for valentines benefit. The dinner/dance will support a women’s home that helps support teenage girls with children. I am very excited for my first trip to Freetown and to go to the beach.

Saying Goodbye to January

As you all may know, today is February 1^st, and I cannot even believe that the month of January has come so quickly to an end. Each week feels as if it goes by faster and faster. Pretty soon it will be June and I will be on my way home.

In my classroom I have been working hard on getting to know my students and understanding where they are academically. I have done pre-assessment in math, given a math test on hundreds, tens and units places, I have also given two spelling tests. The spelling tests have taught me so much about where my students are with letter sounds, words, and blends. I want to make my reading club invitation only that is on Thursdays exclusively for the students that are in the lowest tier. I want to open up another day for students that want to come and practice more work. If these students can’t get more practice of learning how to read then they will have a hard time getting through the next couple years of primary school. In some families there are no materials to help them with their reading skills or they don’t have anyone that can help them read.

Some of my students singing the "Pen Army" song, while doing the hand motions to the song. They are at the "creep on my enemy" part.

The management is getting easier because I have a lot of incentives that I can give and/or take away. I have found that this is a good way to manage them without using the corporal punishment. For example, the students love going to the football games at the end of the week Friday, but if they do not behave then their name goes on the board and they cannot go watch the games. I give them opportunities to redeem themselves, like writing their spelling words, cleaning the classroom, etc. The students responded to this management well all week. I also threaten sending them to class 1, which to them, is a shame and I am sure the class 1 teacher disciplines them a little by making them kneel on the ground in front of the class.

The students are getting so much better at sharing books and I even got them to read in partners this week, which was a huge milestone. It took a couple days for them I am going to change their seats to get the concept, but I was so happy on Thursday when they read in their partners. We also made pictures this week of them at their own market experience because of the book we are reading about Neka, a girl that went to the market. This coming Tuesday, we will be holding our own market in class where other classes can come and buy things from my students.

I am thinking of changing their seats on Monday so the students can sit next to new people and so I can separate the trouble makers. It will be a lot easier to place the students now because I know them better. I know who needs to sit towards the front. Sarah made stools with one legs for her students that cannot sit still, and I think I may have a carpenter make two for me because I have a couple students that need a seat like that. I am planning on changing seats every month, something I have taken from my student teaching experience with Diane and Steve. In RME, religious moral education, we also did some acts of kindness, another activity I have taken from my students teaching experience. I was amazed at some of the things my students had done at home.

This week I have also found out that one of my students has some learning and social struggles due to a disease he has. I wish I knew this before, but I have now given him his own desk right near me and give him some jobs to do around the classroom that allows him to focus on important things and allows him to stay out of trouble.

 

Class 6 and JSS 3 have to take standardized exams in order to move into the next part of their schooling. Because of this the students pay for extra classes that we the teacher go and teach from 4:30 to 6:15. I have taken on English for class 6 and this week was the first week I got to teach it. We discussed verbs and adverbs, and matching appropriate adverbs with verbs. It was actually a lot of fun. I love teaching that age.

This week’s football matches were JSS 1 & SS1 girls vs. JSS2 & JSS 3 girls. Then after the staff played against the school team. We lost very badly, but I got to take a penalty kick and scored the first of the two goals for the staff team. It was still very fun and a great workout. I am feeling slightly sore today.



Krissi and I

This week we also had the privilege of not having to cook very often. Reverend Bahago and Reverend Ezekiel invited us for dinner Wednesday, where we had fufu ground corn flour and cassava flour, which forms a sort of pasty dough that you eat with your hands and dip in soup with chicken. Thursday night, a friend form church, Daniel, invited us from some ground nut soup. Friday, our Guinean friend, Ansou, made us a lovely Guinean dish with potato, fish, and vegetables all mixed together in a stew. Tonight, Saturday, we have a staff dinner at our house for one of our newly married staff members.

It has been a lovely week and I am continuing to learn and growing as a teacher. I have a new found appreciation for small class sizes, whiteboards, and paper. I miss all my friends and family so much. The longer I am here, the more I feel at home. It is hard to believe that one of my life’s dreams, teaching in Africa, is coming true.

God Bless,

Nikki