Okay so some information for your students about school here since the first week was officially last week. Well unlike in the U.S. where the first day is looked forward to and everyone is excited and plans what they will wear and which cool new pencil they will use, the first day here is a ghost town at school. Students typically dont go to school for a week or two until after it starts, both just due to cultural norms that have developed but also in large part due to the lack of funds families have to send their kids to school or to buy new uniforms/supplies.
So on my first day of school last Monday we had a total of maybe 5 students show up throughout the morning while the teachers just hung out and talked. Which was actually kind of nice for me because it gave me a chance to get to know my colleagues. On Tuesday we had about 30 students come to school but rather than start classes the students were put to work cleaning the building we will be using this term. So students moved all the tables and benches out of the building, swept, and then moved everything back in and organized it. On Wednesday we finally started actually teaching some. However, the timetable or schedule of classes has not been set yet so I was placed in the JSS 3 classroom and just told to teach. Which I did, for 2 1/2 hours. haha Good thing I teach math so I just have to do random problems with them for that time period. I can't imagine having to come up with a random lesson for science or English for more than 2 hours. Thursday was pretty much the same but they stuck me in the JSS 2 class this time. But it is good practice and gives the students a chance to get used to me a little. Friday we had a teachers meeting for about 3 1/2 hours so the students just came and did some yard work around the school for about 30 minutes before we started the meeting. On Monday the time table should be complete for JSS 1 and 2 so they will have regularly scheduled classes (hopefully) but we will see what happens for JSS 3.
Currently we still only have 50 students that have officially enrolled for the year and paid their school fees. Last year they ended the school year with over 300 students. The principal has guessed that some students might just wait to start until October at this point and continue helping with the families work for the rest of September.
So as I have said many students struggle paying the school fees. How much are those fees you may ask?? Well at my school the fees are 75,000 Le a term (I think its per term and not yearly) which is just under $20. So that should give you an idea about the types of communities we are working in here. $20 is a lot of money to the people here. I can easily live for 2 weeks on 75,000 Le. And I mean live pretty well not even easily just get by. What astonished me most recently is that teachers at my school are only paid 40,000 Le a month if that. That is less than $10 for an entire month of work. This is because my school is a community school so they have only the school fees as an income. Once the school becomes government assisted the teachers will probably make about 200,000 Le a month which is about $50. This is still not too much though considering most have very large families to take care of too. And I thought I didnt make much but I make an impressive 1,000,000 Le a month or about $250 . It seems unfair sometimes that I make so much for just myself to live on but at the same time compared to US standards I make next to nothing..
Okay so after that downer here is the funny Salone moment of the day: In my car on the way to Makeni this morning I was sitting in the front waiting for the back to be loaded. First, a few bags of rice were loaded into the trunk which also causes the back of the car to sink a bit. But one time after loading something into the car the back dipped a lot so I turned to see them loading a huge cow into the back. Yip transport in Salone
So on my first day of school last Monday we had a total of maybe 5 students show up throughout the morning while the teachers just hung out and talked. Which was actually kind of nice for me because it gave me a chance to get to know my colleagues. On Tuesday we had about 30 students come to school but rather than start classes the students were put to work cleaning the building we will be using this term. So students moved all the tables and benches out of the building, swept, and then moved everything back in and organized it. On Wednesday we finally started actually teaching some. However, the timetable or schedule of classes has not been set yet so I was placed in the JSS 3 classroom and just told to teach. Which I did, for 2 1/2 hours. haha Good thing I teach math so I just have to do random problems with them for that time period. I can't imagine having to come up with a random lesson for science or English for more than 2 hours. Thursday was pretty much the same but they stuck me in the JSS 2 class this time. But it is good practice and gives the students a chance to get used to me a little. Friday we had a teachers meeting for about 3 1/2 hours so the students just came and did some yard work around the school for about 30 minutes before we started the meeting. On Monday the time table should be complete for JSS 1 and 2 so they will have regularly scheduled classes (hopefully) but we will see what happens for JSS 3.
Currently we still only have 50 students that have officially enrolled for the year and paid their school fees. Last year they ended the school year with over 300 students. The principal has guessed that some students might just wait to start until October at this point and continue helping with the families work for the rest of September.
So as I have said many students struggle paying the school fees. How much are those fees you may ask?? Well at my school the fees are 75,000 Le a term (I think its per term and not yearly) which is just under $20. So that should give you an idea about the types of communities we are working in here. $20 is a lot of money to the people here. I can easily live for 2 weeks on 75,000 Le. And I mean live pretty well not even easily just get by. What astonished me most recently is that teachers at my school are only paid 40,000 Le a month if that. That is less than $10 for an entire month of work. This is because my school is a community school so they have only the school fees as an income. Once the school becomes government assisted the teachers will probably make about 200,000 Le a month which is about $50. This is still not too much though considering most have very large families to take care of too. And I thought I didnt make much but I make an impressive 1,000,000 Le a month or about $250 . It seems unfair sometimes that I make so much for just myself to live on but at the same time compared to US standards I make next to nothing..
Okay so after that downer here is the funny Salone moment of the day: In my car on the way to Makeni this morning I was sitting in the front waiting for the back to be loaded. First, a few bags of rice were loaded into the trunk which also causes the back of the car to sink a bit. But one time after loading something into the car the back dipped a lot so I turned to see them loading a huge cow into the back. Yip transport in Salone
