Back from Vacation!

It has been some time since I posted on my blog!  I have been having technical difficulties, my computer and Africa are having a difficult time! 

Vacation

Over Easter holiday me and 12 other volunteers traveled first to a backpacker on the coast of the Indian Ocean and then up to the Durban, South Africa.  It was an awesome time filled with 1^st world luxuries like restaurants, showers, and bbq’s.  The first hostel we stayed at called the Mantis and Moon had an awesome vibe with boardwalk paths through a jungle environment with a lit up pool and treehouses.  I tried out surfing by just renting out a board from the hostel.  It was not much of a success, mostly spending 2 hours getting smashed by waves!  It was wonderful to hang out with my friends for 5 days and escape the loneliness of many weeks at site.  Durban has all the makings of a big city.  We spent most of the time on the beach with its huge boardwalk.  Caitlin, myself, and our newly found friend from the Netherlands Tomas went to UShaka marine world aquarium and water park which was a solid time! 

It was nice to finally get out of Lesotho and see South Africa.  My house in Lesotho is not far from the boarder and the majority of our taxi ride to Durban.  However, the landscape is so different than in Lesotho.  The spaces are wide open and it is not a never ending village as the low lands of Lesotho seems.   There is development and rest stops that are the same as a US interstate.  However there is always the reminder that poverty surrounds you whether it be street children as you leave the bar, the suburbs with every theft deterrent possible, or dilapidated metal shack settlements where poverty from the distance appears far worse than my rural Lesotho village.

Back to Teaching

Returning to school has been a challenge getting back into the swing of things.  A teacher at my school is out for maternity leave for an unknown length of time and I am covering her three math classes in her absence.  So coming back from break had all the anxiety of the first day of school because 3 out of my 4 classes were new.  It took me out of the flow and I have had to readjust.  However, it has allowed me to interact with a lot of students that I previously only saw infrequently for life skills lessons. 

Education in Lesotho is centered on end of the year exams, everything depends on it.  Students take external exams, meaning nationally or internationally standardized, at the end of form c (10^th grade) and form e (12^th grade).  Everything is built up for these two tests and they mean everything.  Unlike at home students often don’t pass to the next grade.  A student who makes it straight through high school without repeating or taking a year or multiple off because finances, babies, or home challenges is extremely rare.  Some of my students in my 11^th grade class are 23 years old, older than me.  Additionally passing a grade only depends on passing English and a set number of other subjects.  This means that a student never has to pass math and can still graduate, and this often happens.  A major struggle I have is teaching students who are way behind grade level and it often seems hopeless to catch them up.

Everyday teaching is filled with highs and lows, frustrations and smiles.  I am focusing on staying positive and doing the best I can and trying to build friendships.

Other Projects to Stay Busy

Beyond teaching I have taken on 3 small secondary projects since being back from vacation.  The first is a workout/training club at school.  A couple of guys asked me if I would help them exercise so on Monday, Wednesday, and occasionally Friday we turn the school hall into a makeshift gym.  It has taken off from the two guys we started with and this week there were 20 students jumping around completing push ups, burpies, and sit ups to the sounds of a Lupe Fiasco album.  It is quite a sight!  I will try to take pictures next time and post.  I have also tried to start teaching them the ways of American football and ultimate frisbee also a hilarious sight!

My lifeskills classes have been cut while I cover for teaching math but I am working on organizing an HIV testing event at my school all of next week and a community event on May 12^th.  The community event hopefully will be a combination of performances from students doing HIV/AIDS related poetry and dramas, a community testing event put on by the hospital, and the painting of a large concrete AIDS ribbon on the top of Qholaqhoe Mountain.  Hopefully the hospital will sponsor paint for the event and we will repaint the ribbon that is hardly visible now and was originally created in 2000.  A lot is still up in the air with coordinating with the hospital so it is still a work in progress.

My third out of school project right now is to apply for a library through African Library Project for one of the primary schools in my village.  The principle is really excited about the project and we are starting to work on the application.  The African Library Project organizes donors in the states to organize book drives and financial donations to ship books to start libraries in Africa.  More info as the project progresses!

I had pictures to upload but between my computer crashing, a computer virus, and the slow connection at the internet cafe no luck so next time!