Hello everyone, I know what you are thinking “Where the heck
is Thelma” or like my market lady friends say when they don’t see me for a day “Você estave
desaparecido” (you’ve disappeared). Well Last time I updated my blog was in
March and well now we are in….July….Like I said I am really sorry. Well lets
get to it I will update each month. Don’t worry they will be in separate blog
posts.
So it’s April….well best month ever because it is my
Birthday month! April was a busy month because the first trimester began to
wind down. So of course we have provincial testing at the end of the trimester.
Each school in the province will receive the same exam like US standard tests
to test the students. This whole trimester I have been working really really
hard on trying find ways to get my students attention and love biology as much
as I do. I tried doing some experiments for each class which they loved!
We worked on a diffusion and osmosis lab with our limited
resources. I gathered old cans, plastic cups and of course the red solo cups
that were in our house. I am still trying to find short low budget experiments
to do for them but meanwhile I will still bring displays for them to understand
what they are learning. We will see how much I can improve on this.
My students working hard on a test.
One thing I do struggle with is the cheating that happens in
my classroom. Students are slowly learning that it is unacceptable in my
classroom. I do have to take in consideration many of these students do not
even know they are doing it because they are so used to it and grow up learning how to copy. For
example a young girl will learn how to copy the tasks of a mother for example :
care for a child, wake up early to help cart water. I am trying to teach them
how to study and they are capable of passing the class if they have confidence in
themselves. Do not get me wrong though I do have some wonderful students who
try and show me they want to learn. The only struggle is making two versions of
tests and making them sit in twos. There is limited space in some of the classrooms
since one of my classes is filled with 48 students which is considered small
here. Maybe by the end of my service I won’t have to make 2 versions of test.
Here’s a cute picture of me grading papers meanwhile I was
cat sitting for another fellow volunteer. He’s name is Mata-Bicho (Macho) means
bug killer!
Another good thing about this month is that it was also one
of my good friends birthday to wonderful little Wendell (wendy). It was nice to get every volunteer in central
Mozambique to celebrate birthdays together. I have to say these volunteers are
like my family and make days better!
So one thing me and my roommate like to do is always make
good food and go passear(walking) around our town of Vanduzi.
Our yummy Easter Brunch ( banan bread, pancakes with
chocolate, scrambled eggs and REAL coffee)
Our pretty site can always make me smile. You see kids
always so happy and playing. Running up to us just to say hi. Many calling us
Amendoim (our dogs name), calling Haleigh- hell or Helen since they can’t say
her name and then my regular telma or sometimes Sarah. I will explain that name
in my next blog post. One day my roommate and I decided to do a day trip to candandica
which is an hour away from our town. We went to visit a modista(a female that
makes clothes). We decided we should eat lunch there and we do what we do best
wonder around and find a place that looks good but affordable. Haleigh is a vegetarian which is awesome cause
we get to find places that make couve or folha de abobora(which are yummy dishes) We found one market food place that welcomed us with open arms. I am
pretty sure these people made us part of their family within seconds and we had
yummy market food! The owner spoke English and was enjoying the practice he was
getting with us…even though we wanted to practice our Portuguese. We enjoyed the day with hima nd his wife as we ate lunch.
Our day ended really well!
So I am working on my secondary projects! I know finally, I am
not just a teacher but a leader in my community. I decided to work with a group
called J.U.N.T.O.S that works with younger students and help them become better
leaders in their community. They teach their community about different subjects
related to health and education. The best part about it is that they get to
show this awareness and education through art. We recently started ours this
month with our counterpart.
So
now my month is slowly ending, but before april ends me and my roommate decided
to go visit and escolinha (preschool). We all know I love teaching things to
children and somehow children love me
They were learning their ABC’s
in portuguese. They had so much energy but they were still writing their notes
and repeating the letters to the
teacher. One thing I did get to teach the kids was head shoulders knees
and toes in Portuguese. They loved it! Sorry I don’t have a picture of it. I
swear it did happen though! This is when I realized I really wanted to start
working with a younger group of kids again. I started looking into other
secondary projects too.
Now the month has ended but so did the trimester which
means I get to travel and we have our Reconnect meeting where Central and South
volunteers get together with PC staff and discuss how everything is going at
site. I decided the month f May i will be going to the beaches in the South. So since majority of us were traveling the first of may we all celebrated my
birthday with a card and dinner before we all left for the month of May.
My Neighborhood Children they always come over to play
Thank
You for All the cards! I feel the LOVE
