Getting some work done with the students

Not much has changed in the past couple of weeks, but here’s a little update on some of the work I've been doing.  I’ve gotten both my student and teacher programs started. Fortunately, I’m a lot busier than I was my first year. It’s been nice having something to do every day. I’ve even had days where I get a little stressed, so going back to work in the states after working here for two years will surely be a challenge and take some getting used to.

My student programs have been going really well. I love my grade 7 and 8 English club. I have some of the same students that I had last year so my 7th graders have become my 8th graders while some new students have joined. For the last four weeks I’ve averaged 20 students per session, a number that I’m pretty proud of. Seeing them come back every week is a good sign. I’m so much more comfortable with the club this year. I feel so much more relaxed and at ease with the students. I always have a lot of fun with them and I always leave our meetings feeling so happy. This is by far my greatest success. I also have an English club for grades 5 and 6. Getting students registered for this one has been difficult. I have much less students than in my other English club, but I have the same three boys showing up every week on time. So even if it’s just them who come I still have a lesson prepared and they seem to really enjoy it.

At one of my other schools I’ve found a really motivated English teacher who has taken initiative to start English language programs. He’s very enthusiastic about teaching. I get the sense that he truly wants to help his students improve. Last week when he spoke to me, he wanted to start a spelling program that would meet once a week on English day (Wednesday). He asked me if I would participate and assist him in running it. This week we had our first meeting. I prepared a short lesson and taught the group. We’re going to try to continue this every week. This will be a great way for me to get more teaching experience. I teach in my English club but that’s a much more relaxed environment. This program feels more academic since I'm teaching them grammar and spelling. What I’m most excited about is having a teacher to work with. With this program I’m not the one doing all the work and having to pour all my energy into it. And I’m also doing something that the school and the teachers want which seems to work best in the end. The idea for this program came straight from them.

Furthermore, I hope it will please everyone to know that the books are getting plenty of use. During break times (recess), all the desks in my classroom are filled. When I’m not doing anything they’ll practice their reading with me. They share books with their friends and read together. I see them pointing and looking at pictures and laughing. So far the books are a hit.

In a previous post I had mentioned a girls’ club I was starting to pilot a program developed by the organization Girl Hub. That club has proven to be a bit more challenging to run. I was having communication issues with the counterparts (female teachers working with me on the pilot). Last week, Girl Hub came to visit our session. It didn’t go as planned but I think the representatives from the organization were able to clear up any misunderstandings we were having. This curriculum is all in Amharic therefore the counterparts are to act as facilitators while I observe and monitor the sessions and then send Girl Hub my feedback. It hasn’t been going that way so hopefully now that Girl Hub came and helped make our roles more clear, things will run smoothly. I’m not giving up on this club yet. Gender programs are so important in Ethiopia so I’m keeping my fingers crossed that this will work. I recently read a book on women living under oppression; “Half the Sky” by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryll WuDunn. Each chapter had a story of a girl or woman in the developing world living in difficult situations. Several of the stories focused on females in Ethiopia. It was a reminder to me of the conditions that countless women around me face. While I’m living here I can and need to do something. Reading this book was a reminder that my programs are important and I can’t give up on them.