Hello, My Faithful Readers
March
28th, 2017
Volume 1, Number 4
Namastey
= Hello in Hindi
Sorry for the delay in writing; however, as you may
or may not know I’ve been traveling and teaching in India….. experiencing teaching
Afghanistan students. I was a teacher with a program sponsored by American
Councils (link below). The program entitled LEAP is a Leadership Program (Leadership
and English Advancement Program) in the Aamby Valley (about 2 hours outside of
Mumbai).
This program allowed 60 Afghanistan Students (50
were selected as campers and 10 were selected as teachers in training) to
travel to India for a 3week+ program.
The majority of students had never been outside of Afghanistan; so, in
addition to the teaching schedule students were also experiencing international
travel for the first time. In such a short period of time; we were able
(students and teachers) to cover so much. For example; classes in Reading, Home
Room (which could touch on any topic); Academic Writing and Public Speaking. In
addition; a variety of sports was organized (volleyball, basketball, Frisbee);
and courses in conflict management, gender issues; team building; media; film
making; photography – I could go on…but, needless to say a wide variety of
topic were covered.
To my exhaustion; we started the day at 8:00am
(breakfast) and most days didn’t end until 10:00pm (or later). We teachers did
have a little bit of breathing time in the afternoon; however, because I was so
new to this type of camp my time was spent preparing for the next day
courses. Honestly, I did complain as we
worked seven days in a row with back-to-back handling of 14 or 15 hour days.
This schedule did take its took on me (as well as the other staff members).
But, we were all in agreement to use every ounce of time that we had so that
the students had the most access to the materials and learning that we wanted
to provide.
I do want to talk more about this experience; but, I
also want to keep you up on events here in Tbilisi.
So, to begin…the good news is that coming back from
India (via Baku) there were NO FALCONS on the plane. Yipee…..I was so happy
about that. I also learned that for some reason when I booked my flights from
Doho to Tbilisi; I always ended up stopping in Baku because I booked myself
(unknowingly) on the shuttle and therefore we made a stop in Baku. So, now that
I have that piece of information I won’t use the shuttle again….what a relief.
I’ve listed a
link before that may be OLD news (at this point) – but, if you have not seen
the videos that were made to counter the US President’s call for “America First”…the
Republic of Georgia (where I live J) created this
video asking if we could PLEASE be SECOND. It is really funny….and worth the
time. Hope you enjoy!
Also listed below is a link about Georgians taking
medication without a prescription. It is noted that one in four Georgians are
taking antidepressants without a prescription. I noted this article as I was
amazed that I could go into a pharmacy, without a prescription, and re-new
medication that I am on. I just hold up
the box and the pharmacist hands me the medications that I need (please note –
they are NOT antidepressants)…but, in America I could not get what the doctor
prescribed without a prescription…I thought you might find this interesting,
Dear Reader.
So, Back to India!
There is no ICE in India…or maybe there is; however,
I could not find it or have access to it. I so love ICE and miss it when it is
not available.
The water is filtered through this device that hangs
on the wall. It takes a minute or two when you press the button for the water
to come through after it is filtered. It comes out as warm water; but it is
safe to drink. This is where we fill up our water bottles and tea kettle for
coffee/tea. It makes this odd beeping sound when it is ready. So, I drank warm
water the entire time I was in India. The day I was leaving Mumbai for the
airport to travel home; I was able to get 3 cubes of ice for a drink. It was
like heaven.
I did share a room with one of the teachers. I would
have rather have had my own room; but, it was ok. The best news was that we
each had our own bathrooms. That was awesome. The room was air conditioned as
well as had overhead fans; so, it was very comfortable temperature wise. I am
not sure how warm it got during the day; but, I would venture to guess that it
was between 80 and 90F. I was sunburn just from walking from the dormitory to
the cafeteria to the classrooms. We all wore sandals and most time short sleeve
shirts…no jacket or sweater was ever needed. It was strange being in summer
mode during February/March.
Our bathroom had our own hot water heater – it was
called a “Geezer” – hope I spelled it correct. We had to turn on the “geezer”
15 minutes before we needed hot water and then remember to turn it off so that
the water was not heating during the time hot water was not needed. The shower
was short lived. I was told it only ran for 2 minutes; and since in my world
that is not enough time to take a shower; I opted for a bucket bath. Lots of
HOT water in a HUGH bucket provided -
so, mixing that hot water with cold water from the sink – gave the necessary
time for a decent shower (at least all the soap came off).
We had a western toilet in our room and also, I may
mention, I only saw western toilets in the airport. That is way different than
when I was in India 10 years ago. At that time there were squat toilets with
(1) western toilet available. Progress!
The issue with the toilet was the toilet paper or
lack thereof. I don’t know the wipe protocol of India; however, maybe western
folks use way more paper than we should. The toilet paper roll was meager at
best…we were always asking for more toilet paper (don’t judge me, please J)
We had maid service every day; however, they were
not very quick at changing bed linen or towels. Also, there was a laundry
service where we placed our laundry in bags and the laundry went out and came
back clean two days later. It was something that I not thought possible in
India.
Traffic in India is a horror (and that is putting it
mildly). I thought traffic in Georgia was bad; but, compared to India – we have
no traffic problems (or very little traffic problems) in Georgia. When I
arrived in Mumbai a driver picked me up and drove me to the camp site in Aamby
Valley. As we were driving in; I noted that the traffic coming into the city
(Mumbai) at 3:00am was almost bumper-to-bumper. I was just floored looking at
the traffic. My driver told me that people have to start into the city by
3:00am or they will be late for their start time of 9:00am! Are you kidding me….no,
he said. When they arrive at their offices they have a place to rest – but,
they know that they won’t be late for work.
One of the things that I love about India is the
horn beeping. In American and here in Georgia when people beep their horns the
meaning is clear – “Get out of my way”..it is a very mean horn beep. However,
in India the horn beep means “I am here – watch out for me”. It is a much more
gently way of letting another car know that you are near them. I always cringe
here in Georgia when horns beep – but in India (as frantic as traffic is) does
not bother me when I hear the horns.
I found out something interesting and really have no
way of knowing if it is true or not. So, I was told that the voices you hear
when you go through a “drive-thru” at a fast food restaurant is the voice of a “Prisoner”.
What! – Are you kidding? I was told that many of these for profit prisons have
agreements with fast food restaurants to take the orders (via a computer) using
“Prisoners”. I was told all parties win…the prisoner gets a little salary; the
prison itself makes some money and the restaurant gets a break financially…so,
everyone wins. Like I said, have no idea if this is true or not – but, what
will they think of next!
The focus of the camp was ENGLISH. Students were
required to speak ONLY ENGLISH – although Dari and Pashto are the languages of
Afghanistan and these students speak all three languages (Dari, Pashto and
English). These students have a good command of English – as it was a
requirement to get into the LEAP Program. A program called “Access” coordinated
the application process for the children to be selected for the LEAP Program.
An interview was conducted, an essay required as well as an application. The
students arrived with a HIGH novice or LOW intermediate level of English. We
did language assessments when they arrived and immediately prior to their
leaving and most left with language levels increase two or three levels. Many
of the students that I interviewed were way over the HIGH Intermediate range
going into Superior. This was both
considering vocabulary as well as context understanding. It was wonderful to
see.
Ok, Back to Georgia for a little bit….I was very
happy to return to my apartment. I really missed Tbilisi and I missed my
privacy and free time. It was great to get back and also to have access to food
other than INDIAN food. I don’t like INDIAN food; but, I made out ok in India
as at times the cafeteria did have some international choices. When I returned
I took a couple of days and just layed around and also did my puzzle…I miss my
jigsaw puzzle when I am away. My landlord is really a nice guy and he always
makes sure that all is secure in my apartment so that I don’t have any
surprises when I arrive home.
I’ve been back a couple of weeks and I am still
unpacking all the notes that I made during my time in India; both acknowledging
all the learning of India and Afghanistan and also all I learned from the other
teachers and materials that were given
by American Councils. I am also catching up with friends and making plans for
what is next for me…..to be continued.
I recently participated as a judge at the National
NESC – National English Spelling Competition here in Tbilisi. Over the course
of the academic year local and regional competitions are held in order to
secure (24) 8th -9th graders and (24) 10th –
11th and 12th graders who made it thru the local and
regional rounds. They come to Tbilisi with money provided by donors and the
Peace Corps to compete for the title of the National Winners of NESC.
It was an exciting day. These students were able to
spell words (In English) that I have never heard of. The poise and intelligence
it took to compete was off the charts (In my opinion). I worked with two other
judges to complete the competition. There was a live stream, which I am not
sure if still valid in the link below – but, there is information if you should
like to read further about this annual event. It was started five years ago by
a Peace Corps Volunteer.
Back to India and to close for the moment…I have so
much more to write and will in the next day or so; but, for now in closing – I’ve
listed a link for the “Fountain Show” that happens just about every night in
Aamby Valley. It is an incredible show, which honestly I am not sure how it is
done…but, I think it is well worth the time to watch. This is a man-made lake
in Aamby valley (a planned community). I hope you enjoy watching. Hundreds of
folks show up to watch including all the
members of the LEAP Camp.
Take care and stay tuned for part 2!
All the best, My Faithful Readers
Catherine Lawrence – 3/28/17
Student Art Work from Reading Class
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