Happy Halloween

Well, thank you all for all the messages it is lovely to hear from everyone.
Life here in Dessie is still good, picking up pace now in work. This week in work we made Big Books of Ethiopian versions of The Boy Who Cried Wolf and Goldilocks, everyone was so impressed the college are going to organise a workshop for all the schools to come and learn how to make big books – it’s the simple things over here that seem to please them most.
Then we made maths equipment and visited the model Kindergarten which is very far removed from what a model Kindergarten should be but not for the lack of trying. The two teachers are lovely and really want to teach well but don’t know how and the college has spent loads of money on equipment which some of which is too advanced for the children and the others they just don’t know how to use. On our visit the children sang many songs again and again for us. This seems to be the main activity in the Kindergarten!
So we made some simple maths equipment – Play dough, counters and sorting boards, number cards and picture bingo and taught a demonstration lesson, but the really sad thing is the children didn’t know what to do with the equipment and couldn’t use their own initiative. We put the play dough out for example and gave each child a piece and they just sat there and then we showed them how to make things with it but it took ages for them to even try, so a lot of work will be needed but the college and the Kindergarten teachers were delighted with the help and seemed to realise that the children need to be active to learn, but it explained a lot about Ethiopian culture.
Here people don’t really work … I know most of you are thinking well sure loads of people at home skive off too, but here people don’t even know how to work they just learn in school to sit quietly and repeat what the teacher says so later they just sit quietly, everywhere there are people sitting doing nothing and if one person is working there will be five others looking at him, so they are going to have to change their entire culture to progress. Luckily teachers seem quite motivated and willing to change they just don’t know how so I suppose that is our job.
Even in our office, our Ethiopian colleagues are really motivate and dedicated and talk all the time about the future they hope for Ethiopia and the changes they wish to see etc. but take all day to do a small task and can’t figure things out like how to use a binder or stapler but when you see how the children are taught in schools you can see why, and up until a year or so ago there was no freedom of thought or that so I suppose it will take a while for things to change
But after that negative griping the good thing is there is a real feeling of optimism here, in Dessie particularly and if you take our housekeeper for example:
Sercalum is 22yr old and she left school when she was ten because her family couldn’t afford to send her anymore. But now because she is working for us (well for VSO) she will be able to afford to go back to school at night. So she will work here from 8 – 5pm and then go to school from 5:30pm till 8:30pm five nights a week and she hopes in three years to go to university. There are loads of young people like her who are getting an education and who have ambitions for the future so hopefully things will be better.
Well I have started Amharic lessons and have found a local teacher Mr. Gilletay who worked on submarines so learnt loads of languages travelling the world, he is a pretty old man now but he seems a good teacher. Its amazing how much Amharic I have learnt as it is all anyone speaks here really, well young people have some English and try it out on me all the time I can’t walk down the road but for ten or so people stopping me to say what is your name, where are you from, what age are you, where are you going etc etc all very friendly though.
No Halloween here and no bank holiday weekend, we will start giving workshops on Monday – the first one is on Continuous Assessment. We will give the same workshop twice a day for seven days so we will be well sick of it!
I will be heading down to Addis for a workshop on HIV and AIDS on the 15th November it is a Tuesday so we hope to take some time off and go for the weekend.
Tomorrow we are planning to go to a near by town called Hayak which has a lake and a church, Religion here is really big. There is a mixture of Muslims and Christians in the town and luckily they all get on well together, but at almost all times during the night you can hear either wailing from the Mosque or wailing from the Church. Sercalum was telling us that she goes to mass twice a day every day and during the night she gets up at 12am, 3am and 6am to pray – Every Night!! People here believe they are poor because God is punishing them so they do everything to please God which means there is no crime and you can get rid of beggars by saying God will bless you!!
So all is well, I have well over 30 insect bites now luckily I brought half a pharmacy with me so I am treating them all. Here pharmacies are called Drug Vendors so up on the road there is a big sign for the Rural Drug Vendor!! I must take a photo of it. Also saw a sign today for weeding cakes!!
Well take care and enjoy your Halloween 