Just a few more pictures!

And a few pictures to sum it all up!

My students in the desks that my grant funded

Some of favorites. Baby Sallu is sleeping on my lap and Sajor and Tata are hanging out.

Most of the school. Can you find me in the pic? 

My best padi (friend), Pa Sallu. I sure do miss this little guy!

All the kids in my compound plus Numeh.

My neighbors.

Finished World Map at my school.

Keba. I miss him soo much! 

My top students with the prizes I gave out with their results.

Teachers and Staff of KISS

Last Blog post

So I always meant to do one last post to sum up the experience but clearly I've been slacking since being home.  Actually, I dont think I've really been slacking its just hard to sum up 2 years of my life.  I keep running into this problem as friends, family, and acquaintances I havent seen in awhile keep asking me how it was over there or did I have a good time? Umm it was good.. Yes I had a good time. But in reality the experience was much more nuanced than a simple one word answer.  Even sitting down and talking about it for 5 minutes and we're barely brushing the surface of what my experience was.  So anyways this blog is a bit late but I think I've needed these 3 months to finish processing everything.  These past 2 years have probably impacted and shaped my life much more than all the 22 years before them.
So if you really want to hear how my experience was pencil an hour in for a phone convo or coffee sometime. Otherwise just know it was a phenomenal experience for me that really changed my life. I cant say I loved every minute of my time there but I definitely loved most of it and wouldnt trade that experience for anything. Check out another video below.

http://youtu.be/mNn_CxS4RNY



Anyways as for the next chapter in my life. I just finished applying to law school so just waiting to hear back from all the schools so I can decide where I want to go.  I would like to study Human Rights Law. I am currently back home living with the fam for awhile. I started working as a teller about a month ago and really enjoy it so far. It has been great seeing all my friends and family again but I do miss Sierra Leone and all my students, friends, colleagues, and the dog I left behind. I am hoping to go back next summer before beginning law school.

First World Problems and My Third World Equivalents

1)      

a)      First World - The upstairs bathroom is in use so you have to go all the way downstairs to use the toilet

b)     Third World - You have to use the bathroom? No problem, there is a latrine outside you can use.  Oh, its night time and the cockroaches in there scare you… Well here’s a bucket you can use.

2)      

a)     First World - The internet is so slow. It is killing me! It has taken like 30 seconds for this video to load.

b)     Third World - Yes! The internet is working so well today! It has only taken 5 minutes to open gmail and I’ve actually been able to read and respond to 3 emails in the last 45 minutes! (Yeah my internet isn’t great. It actually makes dial-up look speedy.)

3)      

a)     First World - Oh man!  I’m the last in line for a shower.  This will take forever and all the hot water will be gone.

b)     Third World - Oh man!  My water is gone but it is the dry season so water is scarce and all the pumps are closed.  Oh well, looks like I can’t wash today.

4)      

a)     First World - The powers down.  Guess I’ll have to watch movies on my laptop since the tv isn’t working.

b)     Third World - No electricity. Ever.  Wait, that’s a lie.  I had one light bulb lit one time.  It was exciting.

5)      

a)     First World - Its so hot!  I cant believe mom wont let us turn on the air conditioning.  These fans hardly keep me cool at all!

b)     Third World - Its so hot!  My heat rash is coming back and I cant sleep at night because I am too busy sweating.  Oh I wish there was a breeze.

6)      

a)     First World - Nothing in the fridge looks good.  Guess I’ll have to order delivery.

b)     Third World - I really don’t feel like eating rice again and there is no street food other than day old cake.  Guess I’ll have to go to bed hungry.

While this is meant to be humorous, I hope it also reminds us of how lucky we were to be born in a First World Country.  There are many things there that we take for granted.  I hope when I return I remember what I learned from my time here and remember what is actually a need and what is a luxury.  Obviously I will enjoy sitting in the air conditioning, watching t.v. while drinking an ice cold lemonade.  But now I know how lucky I am to have those things and know that life can go on without them.  So next time you think your life is so hard because the internet is down for an hour, or the t.v. is broken, remember there are plenty of people in this world that go without those things and much more.  

Moving to our New School!

So big news... we are finally moving into our new school!! Woo!  I will no longer be teaching in an old agricultural store with bamboo sticks as walls but in a real school building with real walls, and doors to classrooms, and space for me to walk between the desks! ha It has been a long time coming but the date is finally set.  On March 22nd the school building will officially be handed over.  So after telling me for a year and a half that "next term we'll move to the new school site," we finally are!  Granted I'll only have one term to teach there but late is better than never.  Plus it is about a mile away and I probably wouldn't have been able to rouse myself an extra 45 minutes early to make it to school in time for my entire 2 years here but 2 months should be manageable.  Anyways, this has been very exciting news for myself and the school.
 It has been a bit frustrating for me lately to realize my time is coming to an end and I have hardly saved the world or turned my school into a smoothly running machine.  I know I have done good work during my time of service but everyone comes into service with wonderful ideas about everything they will accomplish.  I thought I would abolish flogging at my school and turn all the students into math geniuses! ha Well I suppose a few students that were already doing well in math have flourished with a teacher who cares but the good majority of my students are still doing pretty poorly.  And flogging... well it is definitely not abolished but I suppose the teachers have opened up to some alternative punishment techniques although I'm sure it is more to appease me than because they actually find them effective.

It is mostly just frustrating for me to know that the students I now know and love are stuck in a system that does so little for them.  It is hardly the students or teachers fault but the system as a whole that makes teaching ineffective.  Who can blame teachers that are barely paid for not coming to school regularly or on time?  Who can blame students who know that they will probably stay in their village and continue the family's work despite any education they get?  Who can blame the schools when the resources they need are not there?
Anyways it has been kind of depressing to think of leaving my favorite students here and not having a sure way of staying in contact with them.  I wish I could just bring them all back home with me! (haha you would like having 20 African children living with us, right mom and dad?)
 
Yesterday I walked with 3 of my students to one of their family's wer-ays.  It is where they keep their cattle.  Fullah's are known for being nomadic cow herders and while most have settled into homes now they still keep cattle and move their grazing location periodically.
Anyways, one of my favorite students, and one I pay school fees for, always goes to the wer-ay on Fridays so I told him I would like to see it sometime.  Finally, I went with him.  Before departing he assured me it was not too far.  About 4 miles in though I mentioned that it seemed a little far.  He told me that the cows had been about 10 miles away so comparatively this wasn't far at all (thankfully I was sick the last time he wanted to go or I would have been in for an unpleasant surprise).  Well after about 1 to 2 more miles we finally reached.  It was a nice, peaceful place in a hilly wooded area. Sulaimon's family lived there with the cattle so there were 4 one room huts around.  He introduced me to everyone and they were very happy I had come.  Soon I discovered that the 3 boys that walked me there though had no intention of going back to Fadugu until the following morning.  They all seemed to be under the impression that I was aware of this and that staying the night wouldn't be a problem at all.  Well I was a bit wary at first since I had not brought a change of clothes and really enjoy sleeping in my own bed but it really seemed to mean a lot to Sulaimon and his family so eventually I agreed.  Nothing too eventful happened.  In the morning I was able to see a lot of the cows and they gave me plenty of cow milk (unfortunately I am not particularly fond of the cow milk here as it is a bit clumpy and sour but the gesture was very nice).  All in all it was a good cultural experience for me and a nice visit.  It was nice to get to know some of my students better and see where they come from.  I think Sulaimon really appreciated that I went with them and met his family.  Its nice to know that my students see me not only as a teacher but as an adult they can share things with and spend time with outside of school.  The whole event really meant a lot to me as well.
Well that's all from me for now.  I hope things are well for you all too!

Sara's Top Ten Most Wanted Things (at this precise moment in time).
Just because I'm bored not because you are really interested.
1.      A cold beverage - a smoothie, raspberry lemonade, ice water, really
just anything not room temperature
2.      Working internet.  At this point dial-up would seem fast and reliable. (This is only number 2 because I am trying to use the internet and it is failing miserably.  Normally I don't mind not having it.  It would probably be better if I didn't even try to use it.)
3.      A salad with lots of veggies and real dressing, ie not a mayonnaise ketchup mixture.
4.      A bathroom inside my house (the ranking for this fluctuates depending on how I'm feeling ha)
5.      Air conditioning so I don't wake up soaked with my own sweat every night (sorry if that's too personal ha)
6.      A store that sells contact solution.
7.      A watch.  Some kids stole mine.  It wasn't even a whole watch it was just the time piece but they stole it anyways.
8.      My furniture project to be complete.  The carpenters are really taking their time with it...
9.      The majority of my students to pass my next exam.
10.     The 5th Game of Thrones book.

January, 2013

Well it was great to see everyone over the holidays! I hope all of your New Years are off to a phenomenal start!         Things are going pretty well here.  School got up and running much more quickly than expected.  We had a decent turnout the first week, effective classes the second week, and by week three we a record number of students showing up! haha So school is off to a pretty good start.  I’ve gotten back into the groove of teaching.  I have decided that for the rest of my time teaching I am going to try and focus more on problem solving in math class and reading comprehension and writing in language arts.  I feel like those are skills that will be useful for a lifetime while what I try to teach from the syllabus is forgotten within a week of learning it.  So more or less I am trying to impart as much wisdom to my students as I possibly can before I leave them.         The more I think about it the sadder and more sentimental I get.  I have even toyed with the idea of extending and staying a third year but I think deep down I will be ready to go when the time reaches.  I still have so much to do in life and what always seems like so little time! ha  For those of you that don’t know, my current life plan is as such: next year live at home with mom and dad, try and find any work that pays while also giving me plenty of time to make up for lost time with my friends, and applying to law school.  I am currently thinking I would like to focus on International Human Rights Law which would allow me to continue to help those in need while also providing me with the opportunity to continue travelling.  Finally, after working as a lawyer and making some money I want to open my own school here in Sierra Leone supported by a non-profit organization I will start before going. haha So well see which if any of those goals is accomplished.         My desk project is still chugging along.  Its really like the “Little Engine that Could.”  We just keep chugging away and eventually, one day, everything will be completed.  All the desk sets are completed they just need to be polished and then we are still left with the tables, chairs and cupboards.  Hopefully within a month it will all be done.  I know I keep saying that but one of these months it has to be true, right? Just like one of these days we have to move to the new school, right? They’ve only been telling me that for the last year and a half.         Soo in addition to that I have been helping my principal with another project to make a school library.  I have had to type and try and email any documents or pictures they need.  Obviously here that is not as easy at it sounds… Last night I spent about 2 hours online trying to send 2 emails.  Friday night I spent another hour or so sending 1 email.  And now tonight I am back at trying to send one of the emails from last night because the connection dropped after I had been trying to send the 1 email for about 45 minutes.  So yes while I can access internet from my house, now you can see why the emails and blog updates are so infrequent… I literally want to through my computer across the room every time I attempt to use the internet.         Alright well on that happy note, I think that is all I have to say. Things are well here, hope they are well there too!  Love and miss you. Sara

Holidays

Well I'm home enjoying the holidays for two weeks so I have nothing new to share about Salone but I have finished my video.  So here is the link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHTrLC1BvxE&feature=youtu.be
Enjoy!

Home for Christmas!

So this is going to be the last blog I write before I come home
because I should be home in less than 2 weeks at this point! Yay!
haha

So as you all should know December 1st was World AIDS Day and I had
some events planned in my village to raise awareness.  First, my girls
club performed two skits and a song at the two secondary schools in
town.  That was more of the educational side of the day.  The next
event was a football match between my girls club and Chelsea's girls
club.  Unfortunately we lost but the game went well.  The girls had a
good time playing and it was the first time the schools did something
together without an incident occurring so thats good.  I also made
AIDS ribbons and passed them out to all the girls and some of the
spectators.  Finally, that night we put on a dance.  The dance didnt
really have an educational component but was more just a large scale
event to make people know it was World AIDS Day.  So hopefully
everyone in Fadugu at least knows approximately when World AIDS Day
is.

Now it is exam week at school.  The exam committee decided (excluding
myself who just so happens to be chairman of said committee) that the
students should only have one exam a day and we should save some exams
for after the break to try and ensure students will come back on time.
 First, having one exam a day means we are only at the school a
maximum of 3 hours and after the students leave I am pretty sure they
arent going to study all day for the next exam which was the
committees hope.  Rather the students will just walk around town idly
or their parents will just put them to work all day. Second, I am
fairly certain that no students will study over the break so they will
probably forget everything before sitting the exams that come after.
Also, even though we have exams I still expect only 20 or so kids to
come the first day after break.  But I have decided to pick and choose
my battles and didnt feel like arguing with the committee about the
exam schedule. I would much rather focus on making sure all the
results come out fair this year and students arent promoted that
failed all their subjects.

I am pretty much done with my World Map Project! I just have to label
the countries and maybe give a few one more coat of paint so they
really show clear.  I will have to take a picture to show all of you
my new found artistic talents.

Now I am preparing my girls for the Girls Conference the Peace Corps
are putting on.  For the session I am co-leading we have some skits in
it so both of us leading the session have to teach our girls the
skits.  So I am meeting with two girls to work on that everyday.
Other than that I have been pretty free so I have been charging my
computer a lot and watching a lot of tv shows. ha And by a lot I mean
max 2 hours worth but that seems like tons to me now! I just started
watching the Game of Thrones.  It is really good!

Okay well this is long enough for now. I will see you all soon enough
to tell you everything in person!