Here are some thoughts and moments from year two (so far). Send me email updates of your lives please. I’d love to hear it!
The sticker chart… So I still don’t use the stick in the classroom, which is shocking to many. I often wonder if I do a disservice to the kids being their teacher. Will they fall too far behind because I don’t “demand” the same level of discipline as other teachers? I try to make it clear to my students how much I am there for them and how important I think it is that they succeed. I may not use the stick, but that in no way means I am not serious. Over time, I think they are really starting to believe me and I am seeing their effort and performance increasing. As added incentive I have started a sticker chart! Each week I review exercise books for completion and neatness and put a sticker (a sticker is equivalent to crack-cocaine in my classroom, by the way) near anyone’s name who’s done it all. Whether or not you got a perfect score is not important. In the world of class rankings and grades based on test scores, kids are surprised to see a sticker next to a lower performing kid’s name and a blank next to the kid who got a 95%. Is this social justice? Probably not exactly… but I like it.
Holding yet another sick baby… So another baby arrived at the dispensary the other day. His mother had died from AIDS the day before. He is fourteen months old and tiny, and has thin, long limbs and a distended belly from malnutrition. Sick from AIDS, malaria, typhoid, and probably pneumonia. It’s these moments where I realize how very little I know about the world and how I understand even less. I am slapped in the face with the realities of poverty and structural injustice, but I just can’t wrap my head around it. Maybe that’s the point. I don’t know.
Holding a baby who is getting better… So happy to say, lots of examples! Here's one: being here for a long time, I have watched Esther grow healthier and healthier since she arrived when she was about 2 months old and tiny. She is standing in her crib, playful, and loves to try to talk in her raspy, grunting, hilarious noises. Cheesy as it may be, she is joy and hope in human form.
Books… Our library is growing thanks to the help of so many of you and so many other donors to the Village of Hope! I try to encourage the kids to choose books with words that they can read, but I can’t (and don’t really want) to harness the interest in and awe that Maria De Mattias students have in books! In pictures, cartoons, bits of information, recognizing a word. Just the other day, I witnessed a student experience a pop-up book for the first time and his excitement when I told him we have more than one. Another student fount a science text book from the U.S. and told me, very seriously, that this was an excellent book and he was coming back to read more of it.
Drinking tea… I read a description of tea in the book Little Bee, the story of a Nigerian refugee in England that drinking tea is like drinking fog. For her that wasn’t necessarily a positive thing, but for me it tastes like home.
Drinking coffee? Yes that’s right. Not only do I eat peanut butter, but I also drink coffee now. Mostly instant AfriCafe, from which I make very weak cups. But the other day I had my first Starbucks from a pack of instant that my mom brought. Let me just tell you… I was buzzzzzing.
Visiting villages! One of the coolest things I get to experience here is visiting some surrounding villages. Some teachers have invited me to go to their homes, meet their families, and experience a bit of village living. One of the coolest parts about it is hearing the teachers' life stories. I feel so honored that someone would welcome me into their life in this way. Also, I love busting out some Kigogo (the language of the local tribe) greetings, and then hearing the shock/laughs in response.
“She’s different…” Sometimes when friends introduce me to others, they tell them “She’s not like the other white people. She speaks Swahili. She visits people. She cooks,” and things of that nature. I guess two years really are necessary!
“She’s leaving in December…” Yes, we are coming up on May, but I feel like everyone is talking about me leaving! The head teacher, choir members, friends and even my students have started the guilt trip already. I know it is really just a compliment, and don’t get me wrong, I look forward to going home, but I also am going to be so sad to leave here. I just wish other people weren’t looking so far ahead!
Cooking... I was just thinking the other day about how many things I have learned here in the kitchen. Nothing here comes from a box and I can make lots of traditional foods like chapatti, chapatti mayai, beans, dengu, ugali, and more types of greens than I ever thought possible. Who knew you could eat so many types of leaves! Also, I can make bread without an oven, using a big pot and a little pot and sand and rocks. It may be true that I’ve never been camping, but I think I could hang.
Laundry… I am not going to lie. There were about two minutes one day where I thought, “wow. Doing laundry by hand is such a cool experience.” Then I immediately got over it and missed the washing machine again. Even if I have to walk a mile to a laundry mat, carrying everything, I don’t think I’ll ever complain about doing laundry again. If I do, please slap me.
Sharing all this with my family… In February I had the greatest experience ever sharing all this with my mom, Maura and Marie Simpson when they came to visit me! It was so much fun and so interesting to introduce them to a lot of the aspects of my life here and share in their reactions, discussions and everything else. We had a blast, and everyone here was so excited to meet them. And I think people like me more after meeting my family. That really shows you come from good people. Of course I had a homesickness resurgence after they left, but I only let it last about a week. And really, time is flying. I will be home before you and I know it.
