Wednesday, July 21, 2004
I see that I haven’t written to this Journal in over a week now. But things seem to have settled into a rather unremarkable routine. And for now it is more difficult to get to the internet because the University across the street is in their three month break.
Here at Nsumba, I have been teaching for a week. Actually, it is going very well. I have been covering chemical equilibria. I consider that a fairly complex topic, but they have stuck with me. I have had them doing calculations in class that we then tabulate on the board and draw conclusions from. It has worked well as a teaching technique.
One of my students told me he wanted to drop chemistry. He said he got a zero on my final exam. My records show that he didn’t even take the test – or any other test or quiz during the whole term. I asked him what subjects he liked. History, English and Geography. But he didn’t want to tell me what his scores were in those subjects. What does he want to do? Be a businessman. Why? No good answer. What do you have to know to be a businessman? He didn’t know. I gave him a lecture about Planning, Knowledge and Hard Work and told him I would take his request up with the administration anyway.
The administration said chemistry is a required subject in Form III and he can’t drop it. But I see that he hasn’t been attending class since our discussion anyway.
Skills For Life Tanzania! also seems to be in the doldrums for the moment. I am waiting to hear from Kuleana’s about whether they will give us space and handle our finances, from the Rotary Club about their assistance and the computer they say they will provide, from my bank manager about when we should start a mail solicitation campaign, and my instructors are still in Arusha visiting their families.
My friends Emily and John decided to leave the Peace Corps. They had been on the edge of it since their marriage on Zanzibar, and things just weren’t coming together for them. There was also some concern about security at their site that they didn’t want to have to deal with. They are the latest in a string of people who have left. We are 10 months into our program now, and I think that it is the time that a lot of people must look at their experience and question what they are doing here.
Here at Nsumba, I have been teaching for a week. Actually, it is going very well. I have been covering chemical equilibria. I consider that a fairly complex topic, but they have stuck with me. I have had them doing calculations in class that we then tabulate on the board and draw conclusions from. It has worked well as a teaching technique.
One of my students told me he wanted to drop chemistry. He said he got a zero on my final exam. My records show that he didn’t even take the test – or any other test or quiz during the whole term. I asked him what subjects he liked. History, English and Geography. But he didn’t want to tell me what his scores were in those subjects. What does he want to do? Be a businessman. Why? No good answer. What do you have to know to be a businessman? He didn’t know. I gave him a lecture about Planning, Knowledge and Hard Work and told him I would take his request up with the administration anyway.
The administration said chemistry is a required subject in Form III and he can’t drop it. But I see that he hasn’t been attending class since our discussion anyway.
Skills For Life Tanzania! also seems to be in the doldrums for the moment. I am waiting to hear from Kuleana’s about whether they will give us space and handle our finances, from the Rotary Club about their assistance and the computer they say they will provide, from my bank manager about when we should start a mail solicitation campaign, and my instructors are still in Arusha visiting their families.
My friends Emily and John decided to leave the Peace Corps. They had been on the edge of it since their marriage on Zanzibar, and things just weren’t coming together for them. There was also some concern about security at their site that they didn’t want to have to deal with. They are the latest in a string of people who have left. We are 10 months into our program now, and I think that it is the time that a lot of people must look at their experience and question what they are doing here.
