Feats of Strength

Part I-The Carry

While I am not a huge fan of television in general I am a fan of the episode of Seinfeld in which George’s father wants to celebrate Festavist. (Sorry, I don’t really know how he spelled that?) I like that as a part of that celebration he wanted to include feats of strength; I like this as I have long been a fan of hernia inducing activities in general.  I believe George’s father, as he obviously appreciates gut busting acts of strength, would find that many of the people in Rwanda were celebrating, “Festavist for the rest of us!” on a daily basis and be quite pleased…if not get into the act himself. 

I am lucky as my commute to work here in Rwanda via motorcycle taxi is through some very beautiful, striking, and interesting countryside.  Initially, I spent much of this open road commute thinking that I could drive the motorcycle with my eyes and hanging onto the back handle for dear life, thus participating in my own feats of strength, and in the process developing the hand muscles of a circus performer.  However, now that I am accustomed to this mode of travel, and actually enjoy it, I use my travel time instead to observe and consider the life and activities around me, including manifold examples of incredible feats of strength. 

Look closely for the potato carry.

These feats of strength that I pass by can range from the simple, to the extreme, to the truly outlandish so that sometimes I think they may even just be showing off a little bit.  Therefore, I thought I would work my way through these displays of muscle supremacy starting with the ones that are mere child’s play to those that should earn the performer a spot on some Olympic team somewhere if not become an Olympic sport in of itself.

Water Carry:  I have seen children as young as three or four years old to persons as old as a person can get carrying jeri cans full of water down lengthy stretches of road.  They carry these jeri cans after completing feats of patience by waiting in a long line that can be up to fifty plus people waiting to fill their container.  After these displays of patience, some then carry one measly two or three gallon jug to and from the local water source and home while others may carry a five to ten gallon container.  The folks in the one jug competition are usually the little tikes in their blue or gold school uniforms carrying the cans home through the early morning mist as fast as their little legs can carry them before dashing off to school where additional water carrying may be required. Many of the participants in the water jug on the head competition are mothers who tend to carry the container on their head with a baby strapped to their back or in their arms. Although they also can be in the single container carry, they add to the feat with the baby strapped to their back and an additional load of pineapples or some other fruit or vegetable in a basket or bag balanced on their head.  Others like to get a bit more ambitious and go for one in each hand with a third jeri can or some other load balanced on their head to show their prowess.   Can you imagine this?  Carrying three, ten gallon jeri cans; one on your head and one in each hand?  I see it, am amazed by it and realize that while I may be able to compete in the two jeri can competition, and that would be at *short distances only, when it comes to adding the final third container to my head I fear even the trying.

*Short Distance = ten feet on a good day.

Miscellaneous Carry:  I suppose I need to state again that these carrying feats also run the range in ages from old enough to walk, so evidently old enough to carry to old enough to not to have to.  I have spent the last two Saturdays out in an area near some of the schools I am working with and see that most of those students spend their Saturdays collecting and then carrying wood piled on their head.  Large pointy piles neatly stacked and tied on their heads.   These students are in rather large groups plying up and down the dusty dirt road so I wonder if it is a kind of social event barring little chance for any others.  In similar vein it is now the peanut harvest and folks of all ages and sizes are carrying large bundles of peanut vine home from the fields so that they can then separate the tiny peanuts from their shells for their own use and to sell at the market.  Bundles of beans, corn, sorghum, and any other similar crops get the same treatment.  Potatoes, sweet and Irish, get to add to a carriers’ prestige by being loaded into sacks of unbelievable proportions to be again carried on one’s head, or so heavily loaded onto a bike that the bike is barely visible as the bicyclist pedals down the road, or pushes the load up a long steep hill.  I have also seen large rocks, carried on a person’s head, goats slung over shoulders, enormous pots of corn mash hiked up to a person’s cranium and then carried balanced down the road, like so many other loads famously balanced on people’s heads here. 

  People have to carry goods and life’s necessities as the vast majority do not have cars, and even fewer have trucks, four-wheelers, or even a wheel barrel.  Strewn alongside the road then are a kind of circular head cushion fashioned from vegetation to carry things on, and for which I have a photo.  I do not have many photos for this topic as I am usually on the motorcycle when I witness the majority of these feats of strength and it is just not the sort of thing you can predict or stop and photograph-although I yearn to do so.  I made the mistake early on of waving to folks or giving them the thumbs up because I was so impressed with their efforts, but soon learned that being the friendly and polite people that Rwandans are they would instinctually wave and nearly lose the load they were carrying.  Ah, sorry.

Up next…building a country’s infastructure one swing of a pick axe at a time.

Consider the Price of a Cup of Coffee

Consider the Price of a Cup of Coffee: Commercial Interruption

Inspired by the fundraising efforts of the students at BBHS (see their tab) I thought I would make an official break in the blog here to for a commercial interruption.

Rwanda is famous for many things and one of those things is coffee.  This is lucky for me as I love coffee and while I rarely drink more than a cup or two in the morning those two wake up cups are now, rightly or wrongly, a part of each morning.  I find it amusing then that while in Rwanda where coffee is growing all around me I was, up until a few weeks ago, drinking Nescafe.  Is it because I prefer Nescafe?  Not at all.  It is rather because while some people may mistake me for being a minimalist they should instead see me as someone with little or no interest in spending any time or effort in feeding myself.  Hence, because it is just that much easier to make a simple cup of Nescafe than to use and clean a french press full of rich aromatic grounds that is what I did.  Turns out, however, that Rwandan coffee is famous for being good, because it really, really is delicious and after my first proper cup I am now inspired to clean that French press each morning even if it means I have to do it out in the yard where the running water is.

I believe that most people may be more familiar with Rwanda as they identify Rwanda with the terrible genocide of 1994.  However, what many people may not know is that the failure of the coffee and tea crops prior to the events that began in full on that April 6^th was one small part of what ignited the flame of the fire that raged through the country for the next 100 days.  Events that devastated the country, shattered people’s lives, tore apart families and communities, and destroyed the overall infrastructure of the country, including the education system.  It is sixteen years since the genocide and the country is making great strides in their efforts to not only rebuild families, communities, and society, but also to create something great in every aspect of their country.  CUSO-VSO is a big part of those efforts in the education sector, and in such a small and impoverished country the work does matter, and the work is effective.

Therefore, inspired by the kind support of the students at BBHS I am going to send out my official request to consider donating to the work of CUSO-VSO in Rwanda.  What I am asking for you to consider is to donate the  price of a cup of coffee.  All donations will be appreciated, be used wisely to help to create an education system in which quality education for all is not just a slogan, as well as a system that does directly affect people’s lives and their futures.

I thank you and the students at BBHCS for inspiring me to take the time to put myself out there for a cause I believe in, in a way that is not easy for me (directly asking for support).  Therefore, if you are interested in supporting this fundraising cause, please see the fundraising tab on this blog, and many deep and sincere thanks to those who have already made that generous donation and supported this work. 

"So You Think You Can Teach? Putting Your Money Where Your Mouth Is" Part 2...Finale?

Part 2

Piece of cake right?  Well, it can be if you chose your methodology wisely, the teacher you are working with hangs in there with you, another ten or twenty minutes can be squeezed out of the schedule, and you don’t succumb to the heat of the classroom.  If all of this goes well, and to be honest because the students you are working with are fabulously eager students it usually does, you will take that moto ride home feeling pretty darn terrific.  However, this feeling of elation depends immeasurably and irrevocably on your chosen methodology and program for the lesson.  A choice you usually have to make in one minute or less. 



Nothing like a good song to learn to



Light and shadow, lunar and solar eclipse, sexual reproductive parts, (don’t worry they won’t laugh, unless you want them to), parts of the tongues, the skeletal system, etc…what’s up in that gray matter?  One minute go…



We're waiting...



Also remember you can expect to have only about 40 % of what you want to convey through the teacher to be conveyed so you had better make it simple and concrete, be ready to move some bodies around, and to sweat…basically just resign yourself to sweating all the time, and by the way it is impolite to eat or drink in public so there will be no water bottle handy to replenish your fluids.  Also know that because the practice has been to not do these things the students may not know how to line up for a game, get into groups, think indepenantly, answer critical questions, practice dialogue together, form a circle, make guesses, estimate, or anything that does not involve listening, repeating, staying quiet in their desk, and answering very basic memorization questions.



Ready and willing





Are the wheels spinning?  It has been a minute and the very nice Rwandan teacher is looking at you.  They are looking at you and waiting for your suggestion that will not only knock their socks off, but also make their ten hour, double shift a day easier, more enjoyable, manageable, and perhaps, meaningful.  They very much want to be convinced so don’t blow it.  

You may also want to keep in mind that they are unlikely to be impressed with any of the subtleties of teaching like using a learner’s name, letting a student know that you are going to call on them next so that they can prepare an answer and gain confidence, seating arrangement, never turning your back on the class, or any kind of humor or staging within the lesson.  What they want are the facts, the facts being, have more students understood the stated goal in the end?  Therefore, be especially forewarned that you may walk out of the class after a lesson in which students were engaged, discussing, asking questions, and excited and eager to try these new ways of learning only to have the teacher ask you why you had not given them three questions at the end to evaluate their learning.  Teacher observation being another one of the many ideas they are not overly impressed with.

Using an extra large blackboard

Having said all that I am guessing that your co-teaching went well, you did a fair amount of sweating, and had a lot of fun watching students’ eyes light up when they realized that you did indeed expect them to participate, think, work together, and have a bit of fun.  I am also guessing that you will get a warm and genuine thank you from your co-teacher and may even see the teacher that seemed the least impressed with you and your ideas excited to see you a week later to tell you about their independent try at one or many of these learner centered ideas. 

Well, I think if you are still with me and reading any of this with interest it is likely that you are a teacher of high qualifications or at least a teacher at heart.  Therefore, I am happy and pleased to announce you…yes, that’s right¸ you, are now the United States Secretary of Education!  Wow, wee!  I wish you well and look forward to all the amazing things you will do with in your new post.  Whew.

Next?  The long awaited, “Feats of Strength!”

"So You Think You Can Teach? Putting Your Money Where Your Mouth Is" - Part I

Round Three:

Bring your best

Congratulations, you have made it through rounds one and two of, “So You Think You Can Teach: Rwanda.”  Round three will highlight what it is that I do here, and therefore, will focus less on what the Rwandan teachers do, and more on what it means to stop talking the methodology talk and instead put your money where your mouth is.  Here in round three you may find yourself reveling in the joy of work well done, being schooled in front of ten or so Rwandan teachers by a pack of six and seven year old students, sweating buckets in a hot, dark classroom, picking up every stray bottle cap you can find, or wondering far too late why it is that you never learned the alimentary canal system within the digestive system in fifth grade.

Round three finds the folks who are wanting to stretch themselves as teachers and human beings after many internet searches, inquires, applications, discussions, correspondences, trainings, and travel to Rwanda acting as Basic Methodology Trainers at primary and secondary schools in Bugesera District.  What this means practically speaking is that you are putting yourself forward as a trainer and resource person for teachers and schools on how to more effectively teach any subject at any level.  In other words you are now, the guru, specialist, authority, professional and all around educational "expert" who is supposed to know everything, and will have to perform at any level for any subject at anytime.  Round three is really all about going big or going home.  With that understood I say, "Let the games begin!"

 

He makes it all look so easy


First, know that most of what you say will be misunderstood as you have just arrived in the country and don’t speak the mother tongue, and most of the people that you work with do not speak your language, although out of politeness they will pretend that they understand what you are saying, and it will be only after getting into some task that requires their help or translation that will you realize they have absolutely no idea what it is that you were trying to convey.  Therefore, you are on your own, perhaps in front of 60 plus students modeling best practices while an audience of ten or so teachers, who have gathered to observe the “expert,” sit silent and stony faced in the back row as your expert self begins to sweat.
Second, know that you will often arrive at a school prepared to observe several teachers in order to give them feedback and ideas for learner centered lessons, only to find that one or more of the teachers are gone, so the head teacher would like you to step into the classroom and take over the teaching as that is what would be most helpful at this time.  “Um, sure…” you mumble as you stumble into a hot, dark classroom full of eager students who stand and politely greet you, and then sit down,  waiting to do whatever it is the strange lady who can’t speak proper Kinyarwanda asks them to do.  Being polite students they will sing, dance, repeat, chant, move, and do anything this expert teacher asks them to do, including repeating, “listen”, “try this”, “no wait”, “don’t repeat”, “just a minute”, “oh, goodness”, “okay, no really wait”, “just sit and listen”, “STOP!” and the like.  They aim to please, and since what they are usually asked to do is repeat and mimic what they see and hear, they are polite experts themselves indeed.  They may even laugh, grimace, or put their hand over their eyes slowly shaking their head just like you, as you look up to see several teachers watching and laughing at you in this sweltering classroom slowly melting as you wonder who is watching their students if they are standing around laughing at you.  

I think this is the way to go



Third, know that you had better have a big bag of both literal and figurative tricks, be quick on your feet, know the Rwandan tools of carpentry, as well as how to diagram both in the inner and the outer eye quickly and from memory.  To prepare your literal bag of tricks, you will need to save each pencil, crayon, marker, decent looking stone or stick, bottle cap, nail, string, newspaper, and tissue box you come across, as well as every last scrap of cardboard or paper you find as the school supply room consists primarily of white chalk, well, I guess if you are really lucky you might find a few colored pieces in there too.  You save every last pencil, crayon, marker, decent looking stone or stick as you will need them to demonstrate the wisdom and joy of using teaching aides beyond a piece of chalk, a chalkboard, and the sound of your own voice.



The famous digestive system



For your figurative bag of tricks all you can do is thank any teacher who ever taught you anything that stuck, and do your best as you will have zero reference books or Ms. Know it All-Google to fall back upon.  It is all what you have stored in that gray matter of yours and nothing else for this round.

With your bag of tricks packed, get ready for an extreme contact sport known as co-teaching.  Sounds innocent enough I know, but it is not for the faint of heart or slow of wit and imagination.  It involves showing up at a school after a long, bumpy moto ride, peeling yourself off the moto, trying to get your helmet off before being mobbed by students all shouting, “Good Morning Teacher,” rushing into the teacher’s room, and preparing one of four or five ESL lessons on any subject, at any level, of best practices, and with local didactic materials in 40 minutes or less.  You will co-plan and co-teach this lesson with  teachers who will try their very best to follow your logic, reasoning, and rationale only to politely tell you that it is not possible and could we please just teach the way they always do: chalk in hand, standing at the board talking, and on occasion asking the students if they understand, to which they all reply, “Hummmm,” Rwandan child speak for, “Sure teach, sure,” give them rote exercises to do, which they  take 15 minutes to correct, and call it good?  You will then have to convince them, as you desperately try to remember the difference between communicative and distributive properties that your learner-centered lesson with flash cards, visual aids, and peer correction is superior - albeit more involved.

You will then work desperately to construct a lesson with this teacher in which you both have a role to play and will ensure that they and the students so enjoy it that they will be converted to your “put the learner first” ways forever, thus fulfilling your mission as a basic methodology trainer in Rwanda.  Ta Da!  Piece of cake right?  Maybe…but let’s leave that for the Part II of, "So You Think You Can Teach: Rwanda.  Putting Your Money Where Your Mouth Is."