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!

Thanksgiving

Well the election results were just announced and the current President, His Excellency Ernest Bia Koroma was reelected for his second term.  Everything seems to have happened peacefully with no disturbances in or around Fadugu.  So hopefully everything continues to go well! 

            The election didn’t disturb school nearly as much as people had predicted in the beginning of the term.  A lot of people were saying we would have at least 2 weeks off for the election but luckily we only took off 2 ½ days and continued with classes the Monday following the election.  So I have just been teaching as per usual.  Which is good considering I have so much I want to cover with the students and soo little time! The first term is already almost over.  That means I only have 2 terms left with them.  Wow! Time flies! Before you know it I will be back in America for good.  It is kinda sad to think about.  I mean this really has become my home over these two years and I really do love a lot of my students and neighbor kids.  It will be hard to leave them.. And don’t even get me started on leaving Keba! ha

            Okay so moving on before this blog post gets too depressing.   Well despite not having turkey or mashed potatoes or pumpkin pie, my Thanksgiving weekend wasn’t too bad.  On actual Thanksgiving I didn’t do too much.  I taught all day and for the extra classes after school but that night I made salsa and Mohamed and I had a drink and watched some episodes of Game of Thrones.  Friday after school my girls club came over after prayers and we cooked together.  It was a lot of fun and I took a lot of pictures and video of them.  I am trying to take pictures and video of everything so I can make a movie about my Salone experience.  It isn’t too shabby so far I must say. ha Hopefully a rough version will be ready by Christmas time so I can show everyone.  Anyways, we cooked and then practiced our World AIDS Day songs.  Today (Saturday), Mohamed and I cooked a nice breakfast of eggs with onions and tomatoes.  I also experimented with making different kinds of fried dough.  So here they sell fried dough rolls with a small amount of fish and tomato inside so I bought the dough and made my own filled with cheese and tomato paste (i.e. pizza flavored) and a breakfast variety with butter and cinnamon sugar.  They were actually quite delicious! When I get home I will be quite the chef!!  So all in all a pretty good Thanksgiving Weekend.

            World AIDS Day is December 1^st so my girls club is preparing for it.  We have a couple of skits about AIDS prevention and causes that we will perform at the two secondary schools in Fadugu and a World AIDS Day song written by yours truly.  Also, on World AIDS Day we are playing football against Chelsea’s Girls Club and then making a dance to raise awareness about the issue.  Hopefully, everything goes well and in addition to having fun playing football and dancing, people actually learn something too!

            The last thing I’ve been working on is the World Map.  I am getting pretty far along on it.  I have painted 5 of the colors so only 3 colors are left to paint.   Then I just have to label it and it will be completed.  And I have successfully tricked everyone here into thinking I am a phenomenal artist.  It is going to be hard going back to America and not having everyone automatically think I am a genius and gifted in nearly every endeavor I undertake.  I guess I will slowly readjust to life as an average Joe but it was kinda nice to be treated like a celebrity for a few years.  Although I now have a better understanding and empathy for celebrities when they complain about their complete lack of privacy.  It really can be obnoxious at times. 

            All righty well that’s about all I’ve got.  I am super excited to come home and see everyone in just a few more weeks!

Year 2. Go.

Well even though I still have about 9 months here my time is slowly coming to an end.  On the one hand I will be very sad to leave what has been my home for the last 2 years and all the people I have come to know and love, but on the other hand I think by the end of my two years I will be ready to move on.  But first, I'm trying to get as much work done as possible before I go! Here's some of the things I've been up to:

Soo schools started and its off to a solid start.  Last year we had a pretty slow open to school but this year most of the teachers came the first week and by the second week we were having effective classes.  I have been really happy with how well my school has been functioning.  Despite being a community school that receives no government funding, my school has been performing better than a lot of other more well established schools.  The teachers have been really dedicated this year and have taken the initiative on a lot of projects.  A lot of them just want to be more involved and in charge of something.  So that has been a nice change this year.

I have a pretty heavy teaching load this year but I really do love teaching the kids so that is fine with me.  It is better than just sitting around the school all day even though I do end up pretty tired after 6 hours of teaching.  Some of the kids are just so dedicated and really want to learn that it makes me want to do everything in my power to help them! Haha I just really love some of my student and will definitely miss them when I go.  But hopefully I leave them at least a little smarter than they were when I met them so my time went to good use and they actually learned from me!

In addition to teaching I am still running the girls club.  This is a chance for me to help some students in ways other than academics, ways that will hopefully help them to learn valuable life skills that will be with them forever.  Unfortunately I have come to the realization that a lot of my students wont continue to senior secondary and almost none will make it to the university so I am trying to leave them with more than just random math notes and English lessons.  Anyways the girls club has been going well.  We made tshirts for the girls which they love and are a good way to make them really feel like they are a part of something and is good for when we have events so people know who is an actual member.  We did a cholera/ handwashing sensitization to kick things off this year.  Due to the recent cholera outbreak here we thought it would be good to go to the schools in the area and teach them a little about sanitation and what to do if you get cholera.  Now we have started learning about STIs and HIV/AIDs in preparation for World Aids Day. 

Also, I am currently in Freetown for a Girls Conference meeting.  Most volunteers are bringing girls to an annual girls conference started by the first group of volunteers.  It is a 3 days conference/camp for the girls to learn about important female health issues, career/educational opportunities for women, and just to meet with other girls from around the country.  So in my last girls club meeting we selected the two girls that should go.  I was really proud of my girls because they actually unanimously chose the two girls that they wanted to go and represent them.  I was excited to see them working together and not fighting over who gets this opportunity.

Okay well I dont want to bore everyone too much but thats more or less what I have been up to.  I havent done much travelling lately (other than coming to Freetown this weekend) because it is more relaxing to just stay in Fadugu and way cheaper! ha But we have had a couple of fun gatherings in Fadugu with volunteers.  The most recent being for Mohamed's birthday.  Other than that I havent been up to too much other than trying to stay happy and healthy in Sierra Leone! (fyi happy is much easier than healthy but dont worry I havent been too sick either!) 

Okay well miss you all and cant wait to see you and explain to you all in person what life is like in Sierra Leone!!

                                                 Working on the school. Plastering the walls.

                                      Girls Club doing the cholera/  handwashing sensitization

                                                      My students hard at work!

So school officially starts tomorrow after our nice long holiday
break! Yay! Hopefully in a month or so we will be able to move into
our 2 new school buildings.  

Just thought I would share what I wrote for my most recent Volunteer
Reporting Form.  Its kind of long but I thought some of the
information they ask for might be interesting for you all to read too!

Community Integration
I feel well integrated into my community.  I am able to communicate
well with almost anyone in Krio and have learned to greet and form
simple sentences in Mandingo and Limba which are the dominant tribes
in Fadugu.  Everyone is very friendly and always happy to have me come
and keep time with them.  I feel as though this last term, especially
during the holiday period when I had more time, I became closer with
people in my community and really feel as though I belong and am a
member of the community.

One thing I have learned about integrating is that people really
appreciate the efforts you make and your presence and involvement in
the community.  I realized this through my language learning and by
attending more local events and gatherings.  While I am not able to
say too much in either Limba or Mandingo people enjoy what I am able
to say and are glad I have taken the effort just to learn the small
things like the greetings.  Additionally I have learned that people
really respect and enjoy my presence at events and gatherings.
Whether it is for a wedding, burial, football match or religious
holiday, people notice your presence and are appreciative of you
making time to come celebrate, commiserate, or cheer with them.  At
first I wasn't sure if it was appropriate for me to go to these events
but eventually I realized I was more than welcome at these events and
that attending would help me to become more a part of the community. I
think it would be helpful to mention in training that it is mostly
okay for volunteers to attend any gathering at their site and that the
community will appreciate seeing the volunteer taking part and
learning how things are done here.

Challenges Faced
One of the main challenges I have faced as a teacher is dealing with
false promotions in school.  It is incredibly frustrating to see the
majority of students being promoted to the next form when I know they
did not deserve the promotion and are not up to the level they should
be.  It is challenging because I know it is only detrimental to their
education and also makes teaching more difficult because it is hard to
teach when half the class is struggling with the subject material and
the other half is suffering because the material is not challenging
enough for them.
It is also a challenge for me because I discussed it with the exam
committee this third term and everyone agreed that we should be strict
and only promote students that have really performed well.  However,
when report cards were distributed I noticed that almost all the
students were promoted and that some grades had been inflated on the
report cards.  I have struggled with how to address this problem as I
don't want to create problems with other staff/teachers by insinuating
that the process was dishonest but I also dont want students to be
able to reach Form 3 without being able to compose a simple letter or
solving simple arithmetic problems.
This is one challenge I would like to really work on this academic year.

Peace Corps Goal 2: Sharing information about the American people to
peoples served
I primarily share information about the American people through
informal talks and discussions with my friends and neighbors.  I enjoy
sitting and keeping time with them and discussing the differences and
similarities between our cultures and countries.  It is a nice way for
me to hear their own thoughts and opinions and also to dispel any
incorrect, preconceived notions they have about America and the way
people live there.  Just sitting down and answering any questions they
have about America seems to be the most effective and enjoyable way to
share information.

Furthermore, I hosted my family in the beginning of August.  Seeing my
family gave my community an opportunity to know other Americans
besides myself and fellow volunteers.  It was nice for the community
to meet my family and have the opportunity to talk with them and hear
about what they do in the United States.  I think seeing my family
helped people here to realize that Americans come in all shapes and
sizes.  My family also brought some gifts such as sweets and books for
the youth which will further help the youth to learn our culture while
reading and looking at the pictures.

Finally, I have been participating in the World Wise Schools program
and have been giving my students letters from students in America.  I
think this helps them learn about America from a fellow students
perspective and leads them to ask questions about what school and life
are like in America.

Success Story
This past term I began work on addressing girls education and
empowerment.  I realized that girls are often overlooked or denied
many of the opportunities boys have.  I decided that in order to
effect change I would organize a Girls Club at my school.  The club
would meet once a week and discuss different women's issues and womens
health as well as organize events and activities.
Before starting the club I discussed the idea with my principal and
other school authorities.  After getting their approval we had a mass
meeting for any girls interested in joining the club.  Forty-one girls
attended the meeting but I was only looking for 15-20 to be a part of
the club.  At this meeting I gave information about what the club
would be doing and when and where we would be meeting as well as what
would be expected of the girls.  I decided that since such a large
number came to the mass meeting we would require that any girl still
interested in joining would need to write an application letter to
become a member of the club.  Eventually we received 17 letters and of
the 17, 15 girls were present at our first official meeting.  We held
elections to choose the Executive Board of the club and then discussed
with the girls what activities they would like to do and which topics
they would like to discuss first.  The girls decided they would like
to put on a play for the community and we started our weekly sessions
with talks about family planning and teenage pregnancy.
The club, in my view, was a success.  The girls were active members
and almost all girls contributed to the weekly conversation.
Additionally, the girls were very excited about having the opportunity
to perform for the community and worked very hard to get the play
ready.  I think through these activities the girls learned invaluable
life skills.  Aside from just learning about family planning, the
girls learned to take responsibility for their own activities and
learned leadership and communication skills.  Through the election the
girls learned how to peacefully and fairly vote for leaders and the
Executive Board members learned how to be leaders among their peers.
Additionally, through the classroom discussions in which everyone was
given an opportunity to talk and through their work on the play, the
girls learned how to communicate clearly and effectively. Furthermore,
the club helped the girls form a network on which they can trust and
rely on.  I am happy with the work the girls did last term and am very
excited to continue working with them this school year.  I think they
are not only gaining knowledge in our weekly discussions but are
learning important life skills such as communication, decision-making,
and leadership.

Lessons Learned
One lesson I learned is the importance of communication and checking
later to make sure the message you wanted to share was conveyed
clearly.  I have slowly been learning this lesson since arriving in
Sierra Leone because it is very easy to fall in the trap of saying
something and having someone agree simply because they didn't clearly
understand you or because they have a strong desire to please you.  I
have learned that it is important to follow up conversations with
questions to check their comprehension of what we discussed.  Also, it
is important to follow conversations about future plans and ideas with
questions on how best to implement them to ensure people aren't
agreeing just to pacify you but rather are agreeing with the intent of
working on the issue at hand.

One thing I have learned about myself is how truly Western my morals
and values are.  It has been a somewhat difficult process for me to
look at people's actions and behaviors without imposing my traditional
Western judgments.  I think I have learned to be more accepting of and
less judgmental towards some of these cultural differences.  For
example, while I do not agree with the use of corporal punishment in
the home and would like to encourage parents to adopt different
punishment techniques, I try not to judge or view people negatively
that do use corporal punishment because I know it is a part of the
culture they have grown up with and most do not know any better
punishment techniques.

September 5th, 2012

        Last week I was in Freetown for our Mid-Service Training (MST).  As
usual the training inspired and motivated me to come back to site and
get started on a plethora of new activities! Ha.  While I know we can't
possibly tackle all the issues and fix every problem there is here, I
enjoy hearing new ideas and learning about what my fellow volunteers
have done or brainstormed.  Of course I always come back with way more
ideas and plans than any one person could ever imagine to accomplish
(yet for some reason I always think I can do them all). But at least
the planning keeps me busy even if the plan/ idea is never fully
realized.
        So here are some of my plans for my second and final year of service:
1.      Continue with girls club (I already printed t-shirts for them),
having weekly meetings as well as big events for World AIDS Day and
International Women’s Day.
2.      Start a health and sanitation campaign.  This would involve buying
soap and water containers for local schools to keep outside by the
latrines.  This would be accompanied by sensitization activities held
at the schools teaching them about germs and the importance of
hand-washing.
3.      I would also like to draw the world map on both my school and the
primary school I help with.  It is a common Peace Corps activity and
includes an instruction manual on how to do it.
4.      I would like to work with my fellow teachers and administration to
create and use alternative punishment techniques in order to reduce
the use of corporal punishment.

So those are more or less the plans.  Oh plus the usual teaching.
This year I am teaching both math and language arts to my JSS 2 and
JSS 3 students.  This means I am teaching 28 periods this year plus
the extra classes twice a week after school for JSS 3 and the extra
class once a week for Class 6 at the primary school.  So hopefully I
will be busy.  Better to be busy than bored!

        Anyways before MST me and 2 other girls brought our Sierra Leonean
boyfriends to Freetown for a triple date.  It was fun hanging out with
everyone and doing a somewhat normal dating activity.  It is also nice
to get a good mix of Sierra Leonean and American sometimes so everyone
feels comfortable.  This way the boys could hangout and talk about
what interests them (football) and the girls could talk about other
things.  Sometimes when it is just me with Mohamed and all his friends
I have trouble engaging myself in the conversation and the same
happens to him when we are around all Peace Corps volunteers.  So this
was a happy medium and I think everyone had a good time.  We went to a
beach bar the first night and then ate dinner and played cards.  The
next day we went to a nearby beach and ate good food and were later
joined by other volunteers.  So all in all a good time was had.
(Oh and the beaches here are amazing so I would recommend you all come
visit someday!)

And now a small success story:
So in my town there is a little girl that has always been terrified of
me and cries on sight. Well finally, she is warming up to me a little
bit.  She is still pretty scared of me but she will greet me and
answer when I greet her.  She even consented to sit down next to me
for about five minutes the other day! haha So while her threshold of
being near to a white woman is still pretty low, it is getting better
and I am slowly but surely breaking through the barrier.  Peace Corps
teaches us to celebrate all the small victories with the big ones.  I
count this as a victory.  Maybe one day she will be able to see me
without feeling the urge to turn and run as quickly as possible in the
other direction.

Okay well that’s all for now!

Holiday

So I have been back in Sierra Leone for a month now.  I have mostly just been hanging out in Fadugu and thinking a bit about the start of the school year.  I will be teaching math and Language Arts this year which is exciting!
I am currently in Freetown for our Mid Service Training on Thursday and Friday of this week.  Until that time I will be on a triple date with two other volunteers and their Sierra Leonean boyfriends.  It should be fun having us all hangout together and go to the beach and stuff. 
Theres not a lot to update people on for now.  Check out all the pictures I put up on Facebook from our safari trip and my family's visit to Sierra Leone!

Dear Friends of Sara,

We are excited to tell you about Sara Metzler’s Peace Corps Partnership Program project. Since its inception in 1964, the Peace Corps Partnership Program has helped thousands of Peace Corps Volunteers implement community-initiated projects worldwide. Now Sara is taking on a new Furniture Construction project in Sierra Leone that needs your support.

This project, developed to address a pressing community need, will be implemented by both Sara and local partners. This project will benefit the people of the community for many years to come.

In order to begin implementation, Sara must raise $1,445.93 from friends, family and other interested donors. Sara and the people of the community are asking for your assistance to turn this project into a reality.  The easiest way to donate is to visit www.peacecorps.gov/donate and search by the project number, 636-013.   Although the web site is the quickest way to make a donation, you may also make a check payable to Peace Corps Partnership Program and send it to:

     Paul D. Coverdell Peace Corps Headquarters
     Peace Corps Partnership Program, OPSI
     1111 20th Street NW
     Washington DC 20526

 

Be sure to indicate the project number, 636-013, on the check so it will be applied to the correct project. Please note that due to security procedures, checks sent to Peace Corps via regular mail can take up to 4 weeks to reach their destination. We strongly recommend donors to send check payments through an expedited service such as FedEx or UPS as this will dramatically speed up the delivery process.

Also, if you’re looking for ways to make your donation go even farther, check with your employer to see if they have a matching gifts program; many companies match donations dollar for dollar. Furthermore, consider forwarding this email to anyone else who may be interested in supporting Sara. Remember that gifts supporting this project are tax-deductible!

Please feel free to contact our office directly at 202.692.2170 or 1.800.424.8580 x2170 with any questions you might have. Your support will go a long way to aid Sara’s efforts in Sierra Leone.

Best,
Caitlin Gliniecki
Peace Corps • Office of Gifts and Grants Management

Vacation Time

Whew so a lot has been going on the past few weeks.  From weddings, to
safaris, to the fambul (family) in Sierra Leone, times have been
exciting!
        So first of all, about 2 weeks ago two Peace Corps Volunteers from my
group got married! The wedding was in Freetown and all the PC
volunteers and staff were invited so it was basically a big party for
everyone and a good chance for everyone to hangout before Salone 1
leaves.  The wedding was held in one of the nicest hotels in Freetown
and was absolutely beautiful.  Everyone wore Africana (dresses made
from African fabrics) so we were a very colorful and a very shiny
group! ha It actually almost reminded me of prom because everyone got
ready together before the wedding in one of the hotel rooms so we all
did each others hair and makeup. It made me miss going out and getting
ready with friends back in America haha.  Then there was the ceremony
which was very nice followed by a fabulous dinner and then it just
turned into a party!  The next  day I headed to the airport with
Mohamed and 4 other volunteers.
        To get to the airport in Sierra Leone you have to cross from Freetown
to Lungi in a Ferry.  The trip over is about 1 hour long and was
pretty uneventful.  The airport was a bit hectic but I made my flight
on time and was on my way to South Africa!! After reaching
Johannesburg safely I waited in the airport for 8 hours because I
missed the car to the hotel but don’t worry I bided my time by
exploring the airport, using flush toilets, and eating all kings of
delicious food like grilled cheese and an oreo shake.. yummm
Eventually my family made it to South Africa and we all headed over to
the hotel together.  We spent one night in Johannesburg before heading
to the Game Reserve.
        The safari is set up so that you go out on game drives with the same
guide and group of 10 people twice a day for 6 days.  It was cool
because you become friends with the other people in your group and at
the lodge so you can joke around and have a good time even when you
don’t see many animals.  Lucky for us though our game drives started
out with a bang! On our first day we saw giraffes, rhinos, zebras,
buffalo and elephants to name a few.  The elephants literally walked
right next to our car.  The people in the back of the car could have
reached out and pet them if we weren’t all a bit afraid of the
elephants charging the car.  The next day we went on a game drive at
the neighboring game reserve to try and see lions and leopards.  The
lions were a success but the leopards not so much. While we were out
driving around looking for the lions they made a kill.  The lions
killed an antelope so we got to drive up and see them all eating.  The
cubs (when they said cubs I assumed cute little cats but they were
massive!) weren’t too hungry so they were pretty playful and fun to
watch.  When we tried pulling our land cruiser away though one of the
cubs was stalking our car as though we were the next prey. Fortunately
though we made it away safely.  Earlier we had also seen a black rhino
up close and personal.  Again I was a bit nervous he was going to
charge That evening we saw the cheetah at our game reserve eating and
saw some giraffes fighting.  So apparently giraffes fight in slow
motion by hitting each other with their heads.  It looks ridiculous.
ha but highly entertaining.  Then we saw the male cheetah eating.
After the second day we didn’t see much of anything new at the game
reserve.  We also went on a boat tour to see crocodiles and hippos one
day and then went over to the beach off of the Indian Ocean.
        Okay well that is a long enough update from the Safari. The pictures
are much more interesting and explain what I saw pretty well anyways
so hopefully I will be able to get them up soon!
        So next my family came back with me to Sierra Leone.  After a super
long flight we finally made it safely to Lungi Airport with all of our
luggage.  Mohamed met us at the airport with our rental car so we
packed up and headed back across on the ferry.  The first night we
just went back to the house we were staying at, ate some dinner and
went to sleep.  The next morning we headed to Fadugu.  We stopped in
Makeni on the way to see my host family and just get out and stretch
our legs a bit.  My host family was very happy to meet my family.
Then we continued on to Fadugu where we were swarmed by my excited
neighbors as soon as we got out of the car.  So that night I just gave
my family a tour of Fadugu.  Everyone was very excited to meet them
and told them tons of nice things about me. ha  The next day my school
put on a cultural program for my family.  Some of the girls did
cultural dances for them and then we went to see my school building.
That afternoon Mohamed had arranged a football (soccer) match to be
played for our entertainment.  Also throughout our stay in Fadugu we
distributed the clothes and toys my parents sent which people were all
very happy to receive.  The kids went a bit crazy though and we
eventually had to have Mohamed lure them away with candy.
        Friday we left with the hope of going on a beach tour.  Unfortunately
our car broke down just outside of Waterloo so we ended up having to
take public transport into Freetown and just went back to the house.
It was definitely a bummer but a good cultural experience for my
family I guess.  The next morning we went to the Chimpanzee sanctuary
which was also very cool.  On our way out of the sanctuary our car got
stuck again haha and we had to wait for someone to tow us out.
Eventually we made it to the beach and went for a walk and had a
delicious fish and chip dinner.
        Sunday my family left.  Mohamed and I took them to the airport to
drop them off and left quickly in order to make it back on the next
ferry.  So hopefully they all  made it home safely!  Overall, the trip
went well.  A couple of roadblocks were encountered while in Sierra
Leone but I think it just helped them to really see what the country
is like and some of the hardships encountered here.  I am glad they
visited and would welcome any one to come and see the life I live!! ha

Love and miss you all!

Okay so let me apologize in advance for the lack of organization/
coherency in this post.  It is kind of late and I couldn’t sleep so I
figured I might as well write a blog post.  Needless to say it may not
be my best work but I think it covers most of whats been going on.
        Well its been a busy last few weeks.  First of all, school was
wrapping up so we had exams every day for 2 weeks and of course it was
my responsibility to collect all the exam questions from the teachers
so that I could make sure all the exams started on time and everything
proceeded smoothly.  ha Luckily I had to go to Bo for training to be
on a panel of volunteers that are currently in relationships with host
country nationals (aka Sierra Leoneans).  The training is for the
incoming volunteers so it was fun going to meet all the newbies and
finally feel like the cool, experienced volunteers for a change.  So
it was nice meeting them and imparting what little wisdom I have to
offer.  Also, it was a lot of fun just hanging out with some of the
other volunteers there to help with training.
        Anyways, after 2 days in Bo I returned to Fadugu and continued
administering and proctoring exams until last Thursday.  So we are
finally done with exams. Now I just have to enter the marks for 14
subjects onto about 100 students report cards.  What I am really
looking forward to is hopefully putting on a little Awards Ceremony
for the highest achieving students.  I am planning on having it just
after they give back the report cards and giving away some of the
school supplies I have as prizes.
         I also went to Kabala last Thursday to give a math lesson for our
BECE candidates (When you complete JSS 3 you have to take an external
examination, the BECE, to continue on to the Senior Secondary level).
Anyways, they had to take the math portion Friday morning so they
called me in to give a last minute refresher course.  So I arrived in
Kabala at approximately 5 pm to meet them all hanging out and just
starting to cook.  So we decide that when they are done cooking and
everyone is done eating I should give my lesson before they have their
Religious Education lesson.  After just sitting there for 2 hours they
were finally done and we go take class for about 45 minutes before my
time is done.  Then the next morning it took me 3 hours to get a car
back to Fadugu.  All I can say is at least a handful better pass the
maths portion (last year only 2 people passed so I’m looking to double
it and have 4 pass.  We’ll see how it goes).  But the kids were really
excited to see me there and see that I care so going wasn’t a complete
waste time.  Hopefully it will have been a bit of a morale boost
before the last two exams if nothing else.
        As you all may remember I have been talking about my girls club and a
program we have been planning.  The program happened this past
Saturday and went as smoothly as things do here I think.  Friday
evening I was a bit stressed as an American who is used to having set
plans and organization in a place where nothing happens until the time
of the show.  So I was very anxious about the fact that at our dress
rehearsal no one was in costumes and up to that day we had never had a
practice with everyone in their specific roles because one or two
people always failed to show up.  Mohamed did his best to explain that
that is just the way things happen here but I have to admit that
didn’t calm my nerves too much and I may have been a bit short with
him.  Poor Mohamed, he has to put up with a perfectionist American
that likes efficiency and timeliness in a place where time doesn’t
really matter.  Fortunately though he was right and things worked
themselves out in the end.  The girls got ready Saturday morning and
even though, as per usual, not everyone showed up the show still went
well and everyone seemed to enjoy it.  Also, four other Volunteers
came to watch so it was great to see their support of our efforts.
The crowd was a bit smaller than expected but I think that’s mostly
because we started pretty much on time and people here are used to
plays lasting 3 or 4 hours and ours was only 1 hour long so people
were still trickling their way in until the very end and even after
the show had been done for 2 hours people would ask me if we had
started yet.  Overall, I think everything went pretty well especially
considering it was everyones first show and I am excited to continue
working with the girls club when school reopens.
        Tomorrow for the 4th of July a few volunteers that live relatively
close are planning on coming to Fadugu to cook some American food in
celebration of Independence Day.  I am excited to try and cook some
new things and hang out with some other volunteers.  Other than that I
don’t have too many plans now that school is done.  The 17th-19th I am
attending a math/science conference in Bo as one of four
representatives from the Peace Corps Volunteers.  I was excited to be
chosen for that.  It is always nice to feel like someone actually
appreciates your work.  After that I will head to Freetown for a
wedding of two volunteers and then I get to go to South Africa and see
my family!! I am so excited to finally see them and then to show them
where I am now.
        Finally, thank you all that have contributed to my grant! I really
appreciate your help and my school is also very grateful for the
assistance.

Love and miss you all,
Sara

ONE YEAR

So today marks my one year anniversary in Sierra Leone!! WOOHOO!!! Things are going great. Love the work and have no regrets about volunteer two years of my life to live and work in Sierra Leone.

Tuesday May 29th

            Well I’ve decided to update my blog since I have had the past 2 days off from school.  I fainted in class Monday morning which apparently terrified the students and staff so they have forced me to just rest and relax.  Which to be honest I am fine with.  I really was quite exhausted yesterday and thoroughly enjoyed being able to just lay in bed and read or sleep all day.  And today I have been able to plan for my girls club, record grades, wash my hair, and now try and update all of you lovely folks out there reading this.  So you may be wondering what caused me to faint.. The most likely culprit is dehydration and low blood sugar.  Anyways the event caused quite an uproar in school and all of my students came to see me after school to tell me sorry.  Poor kids. Can you imagine a foreign white woman just collapsing in the middle of teaching you how to change decimals to fractions? Literally every kid in all 4 of the classrooms in the building was on his/her feet and rushing to see what happened.  Oh man. Well at least I finally accomplished my goal of getting everyone in the class to pay attention to me and not sleep. ha And I have had a nice little 2 day vacation to catch up on some much needed rest and to get a little ahead in my work.  Also, Mohamed has been the best nurse taking care of me and lecturing me that my health is more important than teaching, and “health is wealth.” ha At least he is looking out for me.  Oh and my sitemate Chelsea has malaria.  Things haven’t been great for the girls in Fadugu (update as of May 31^st, her health is much improved. The malaria is gone she is just a little weak.)

            Well that has easily been the most exciting event in my life for the past month but let me try and update you on the other mundane occurrences in my life.  School is going alright.  We just had midterms last week and as per usual the majority of my students failed the exam.  Even my JSS 1 students failed and their exam was just 4 questions, one of addition and subtraction, one of multiplication, one of subtraction of decimals, and one word problem.  And yet still at least 75% of the class failed.  These are things they should have been learning for at least 3 years in primary school, but the majority still appear as though they have never seen a decimal point in their lives.  Oh well at least a few kids in all of my classes are trying and doing well.  In each class I had a couple students get 100% so I know if they really pay attention they could do well and I cant possible be that terrible of a teacher.  It is just frustrating that education isn’t seen as that high of a priority.  On any given day there will be at least 10 students gone in each class to work on the farm, or to sell, or just because they didn’t feel like coming and there is no adult supervision that would force them to come.  I guess all I can do is my best but it is still hard when I see so many things I want to improve but know I cant possible tackle them all.

            On the positive side, one thing I am very excited about is my newly established girls club.  At the first meeting we had 41 girls show up.  This is much more than I actually wanted for my girls club so I asked any girls that were still interested after the meeting to write me an application letter just expressing that they were interested.  I ended up receiving 20 letters and 15 girls actually came to the first meeting which is the perfect number in my opinion.  We had elections for President, Vice President, Secretary, and Assistant Secretary which all went smoothly.   Then we decided to plan what we wanted to do.  I want the girls to be in control of the club as much as possible in order to really enforce that the club is for them and can be used to address the issues they are interested in and to build their confidence to voice their opinion and run a club.  Anyways, they decided the first topic they wanted to address is Teenage Pregnancy which is very important here as I think something like 70% of girls in Sierra Leone have had a child by the time they reach the age of 20.  So that is the first topic we will discuss as a club and the girls also decided that in addition to our weekly meetings they would like to plan a play to present for the community as well.  The play would obviously focus on teenage pregnancy and would try and educate the viewers on the consequences of teenage pregnancy and how to avoid pregnancy until you are ready.  All the girls were very excited for the chance to perform and practice.  Plays (or concerts as they call them here which is quite misleading for us foreigners who might expect music given the name) are very popular and people love to watch what is essentially a soap opera put on stage.  So the girls cant wait to start the planning and preparation for their own concert.   I am also excited because I think it is good to start with something that will get them invested and interested in the club and that can show the community what the club is doing.

            This weekend I am going to Bo for a bachelor/bachelorette party.  Two volunteers from my group got engaged back in February or something and the wedding is this coming July so they are having their respective parties this Saturday evening.  It should be a lot of fun to see everyone and to celebrate the event together! 

Okay well that’s plenty for you all to read for now.  As usual love and miss you all! If you have anything you want to send for me you can send it to my parents and they can bring it when they come to see me in July!

Here is a message from Mohamed:

Hey! Sara is the person I am always thinking of and I’m always pleased to be with her wherever life takes us. I am always in place to give her the fullest protection she deserves. I hope you guys are doing well and I cant wait to meet you, as I am very excited from what Sara has told me about you guys. Sara has been very honest with me all this while and helping me learn the American culture and always practice it. With tons of love…

Aww those Sierra Leoneans such romantics… Mohamed is doing well.  He has been helping to teach at both my school and Chelsea’s school so hopefully one of these days someone finally decides to compensate his work with at least a small stipend.  He has also played a very big role in helping me start my girls club and co-facilitates the meetings with me.  It is nice having him help when things get lost in translation.  We are also currently looking into some schooling options in America for him to see if he would be able to be an international student at a school in Michigan.  So hopefully we get the applications for that in this coming fall and then we just have to pray he gets accepted and some financial aid!  Overall, things have been going really well and he has definitely been a big help to me in getting some projects off the ground and to advise me on what would and wouldn’t work here and how to act appropriately in sensitive situations such as burials and things. 

Okay well now to end with a few “Only in Salone” moments:

Only Na Salone:

·        - Are mayonnaise sandwiches considered both delicious and nutritious

     spiders the size of my hand don’t scare anyone, but small garden snakes should be killed on sight.

·         will children run away from me screaming because I am white (at least I’m assume that’s the reason and its not actually because I am hideously disfigured)

·         can I convince a child to do any chore for me by promising him/her a reward of a pencil, pen, or even just a few almonds. 

·         will the children actually volunteer to do chores for me with an expectation of nothing

·         is mayonnaise mixed with ketchup a perfectly acceptable topping for a salad..

·         would the timekeeper at a school not have a functional watch or phone

·         would I consider buying a goat to increase my financial worth

·         is a goat worth 25% of my monthly salary

·         have I seen a two-year-old child say “f*** off” and not be punished for it. 

·         would my boyfriend think taking me on a date to McDonalds would be considered romantic

Hey everyone! Sorry I haven't blogged in awhile but considering my internet access is slightly limited I think I've been updating you all pretty well.. Ha but I might as well admit I have become a bit of a slacker when it comes to keeping people updated.  Its just that most of my life here seems pretty mundane now.  I mostly just teach and then hang around town or on people's porches.  My day-to-day activities dont vary a ton and I dont want to vent all my frustrations to the general public.  But I will try and find a few interesting tidbits from my life to share with you all today!

Well first of all, since my last blog post we had exams at school, break between term 2 and 3 which I spent half in Fadugu and half in Freetown, and now we are back at school and have been open for 2 weeks.

So let's start with exams.  First of all, not to brag but just to illustrate how schools are run here, I basically ran all the exams.  I made the exam schedule and had to collect all the exams from the teachers so we would have them in case the teachers didnt show up on the day of their exam.  You may be thinking, "teachers would never skip their exam day" but you couldnt be more wrong.  Some didnt even seem to know when their exam was scheduled for and had to write questions on the spot.  Anyways, after collecting all the exams, I then had to write the exams on the blackboards (at least for the morning exams since I am always the first to school).  Finally, when all the exams were done and results were calculated, I was lucky enough to get the job of entering them all, by hand, to the report cards.  Now those of you that know may be wondering how on earth I got that job since my handwriting resembles that of a 4 year old boy, but I guess they just knew I would actually get the job done.  But I just finished entering all the grades so I am finally done with that.. and guess what?? After not having school for the three weeks before exams, I would say at least half of the students failed all of their exams. Shocking. Okay so I feel like this reads pretty negative so I would like to counter this by saying, despite all the work I do enjoy teaching and I do enjoy the company of all the other teachers at my school.  Its hard to blame them for not being super committed when most of them only get paid $10 a month, which isnt enough to live off of even here.

Okay next, when exams were all done it was Easter!! So here Easter isnt really celebrated until the Monday after Easter.  Then, in Fadugu, everyone climbs a small hill and goes and celebrates on flat spot on top.  So me and Mohamed made the hike up the hill and just hungout for an hour or so before coming back down.  We wanted to come down before the mad rush of people all came running down the hill but about 2/3 of the way down, the music cut and all the kids started whispering "they're coming. They're coming now hurry."  Haha I felt like I was in a horror movie and zombies were chasing us or something.  But the danger wasnt due to zombies but due to the fact that since the hill was pretty steep, the favorite way to come down among locals is by running down the hill.  So essentially a stampede of people was threatening to overtake me as I slowly made my way down trying not to trip on any branches or rocks. Dont worry. I made it down safely.  Also, this weekend Chelsea's family and one of her friends were here visiting so it was fun hanging out with some Americans for awhile and most importantly picking up a few tips on what to do and what not to do when my own family comes.

After Easter I was just biding my time in Fadugu for the week before heading to the beach and Freetown.  I went to a beach called River No 2 for a night which was absolutely gorgeous.  White sand and palm trees and warm ocean water.  So I stayed there for a night with about 10 other volunteers and then went and stayed with Mohamed for a few days in Freetown.  Then I switched to the Peace Corps hostel for a few days and attended a workshop on Life Skills.  I really enjoyed the workshop and feel newly motivated and ready to get going on some projects like starting a girls club and having a career day to teach my students about opportunities available to them.  Also, we had to bring counterparts from our towns and my counterpart was just thrilled to be there and kept thanking me at every break for inviting him so I was glad I brought someone that really enjoyed the workshop and will be eager to work with me in Fadugu.  The rest of the time in Freetown I just spent time with all the other volunteers going to the beach or eating good food.  It was really nice to just get away for a bit and talk with other people that know exactly what I am going through.  Sometimes you just need to vent to someone that understands exactly what your talking about or share ideas/experiences of things you have done.  Also, sometimes it is just nice to laugh and talk with someone who understands your sarcasm and has similar interests and opinions.  All in all it was a very nice break.

So finally, we are back at school.  As per usual the first week of school is a joke, with neither teacher nor student in attendance.  I think we averaged about 15 students a  day and maybe 4 teachers a day.  So yeah the first week allowed me to ease myself back into the school schedule by teaching the kids that were there for an hour or two and then going home to nap. haha This past week though the students and teachers have started showing up so we have followed the real schedule and I have actually been able to teach a few classes.  Unfortunately my JSS 3 students who will be going to sit their external exam soon seem to have a case of something equivalent to 'senioritis' and are not taking class too serious anymore.  This is very annoying because they still need a lot of practice (and I really mean A LOT) if they have any chance of passing the math BECE.  I would estimate that only 2 or 3 of the 80 students will pass.  Which is actually common and expected here.. Anyways their incessant chatter during my classes has really started to strike a nerve and I dont know what to do since they dont care about school so all my threats are empty.  Also, it has become pretty aggravating for all my classes, for me to ask a simple question and have a class of 50 all just give me blank stares.  As much as I really really love some of my students, some days it can be just a little too frustrating and I cant wait for the school day to end.  But as I just said there are some kids I really care about and want to see succeed so much.  They are just so cute and try so hard!! Unfortunately there are also a few I really like that try really hard but math just isnt their subject.  Oh well.

Alright well this post is super long so I'll just leave it at that.

Love and miss you all!

17/3/2012
       So it has been 2 weeks since I have taught a class.  Second term is
“sport” term here.  Sport is a 2 day competition between the school
houses.  There are four houses (think Harry Potter and how they are
sorted into houses) that compete against each other in track and field
events.  You may be thinking if it is only a two day competition then
why is there no school for about 2 weeks??  Well the answer is simple.
 The children have to spend 2 weeks making the track, building a fence
around the track, and then building little pavilions inside the track
for each of the houses.  So all this work adds up and leads to very
little effective schooling for the two weeks prior to sport.  Also,
sport is mandatory since in addition to being graded based on their
cognitive aspect (i.e. test scores) they are also graded on
psycho-motor (athletics) and affective (attitude).  Anyways, while I
do think that sport is a fun activity with plenty of its own merits, I
do not fully support the sport setup, i.e. the whole missing school
for 2 weeks even though all the kids are struggling their way through
all their classes.
       Overall though, I must admit I did have fun at sport the past two
days.  It is nice to see everyone so excited about something and
working together towards one common goal.  Also, I do enjoy cheering
on the kids as they participate in the track and field events.  Oh and
some of the events here are pretty funny.  I can’t wait to put up
pictures but the events include: musical chairs, egg on a spoon race,
sack race, filling a basket with mangoes race, etc.  Haha I just love
that they include these events among all the other track and field
events and take them just as seriously as any of the normal running or
jumping events.  This year White House won in a major upset that left
many participants displeased.  White and Red were neck and neck the
whole competition but white pulled through with the victory.  However,
Red won the all-house relay worth the most points so they had prepared
themselves for the victory and lined up for the awards ceremony
expecting nothing less than first place.  Well as the announcer called
out “Second place goes to Red House” many of the red house
participants become quite disgruntled and after the initial shock wore
off the whole house (under the direction of the House Master - aka
teacher in charge of the students) stormed off without even watching
the presentation of the first place trophy.  Haha so much for good
sportsmanship and remembering that sport is for the kids and just for
fun.  Oh well everything else went off smoothly (aside from starting
at least 2 hours late both days) and I thoroughly enjoyed sport at my
school.  Oh and I forgot to mention I was on the Sport Committee so I
helped organize it (kinda, I really just did whatever they told me to
do since it was my first sport and I wasn’t actually super supportive
of the whole 2 weeks preparation process.  But I let them store all
the food and money in my house so no one would steal it so I guess
that’s a decent contribution on my part.)
       Okay moving on.. Well on a completely different note, I have found
through my time here that I am much more passionate about human rights
than I had ever realized before.  I guess I just had to go someplace
where many people are living without some rights that I feel are basic
and belong to everyone to really get charged up and interested in
them.  This applies mostly to women and children’s rights as they are
often marginalized here, doing a good portion of the labor yet being
without money or food quite frequently.  I especially feel for the
children since I look back at my own childhood and see now how good I
had it.  We are so spoiled in America.  Children here learn to work at
the ripe old age of 3 and continue until they leave the house
(although this also applies much more to the girl children than the
boys).  And I’m not talking about little chores like sweep once a week
and you’ll get $5 for your allowance.  No this is cooking, cleaning,
childcare, washing clothes by hand, etc. all without receiving a cent.
 Also, it is much more a tough- love mentality here.  Children aren’t
coddled or held or hugged too much and I cant help but feel that all
they need is a little love to really perk up their lives.  But I
suppose love is shown to them in a different way because I do believe
that the parents genuinely love their children they just don’t show it
in the way we are accustomed to.  Anyways I find myself getting heated
about issues I never used to consider at all and makes me want to work
towards making real change.
       Okay moving on again.. My life is pretty much the same old routine.
School and just hanging out with Keba and all the kids. Mohamed is
still here in Fadugu with me so obviously things are still going on
between us and are good.  He just got hired at the other secondary
school in town and will be teaching there starting tomorrow so that is
exciting.  In about two weeks we will be getting ready for final exams
for this term and then we have a short break between terms.  I hope to
do some travelling at this time in addition to attending a workshop on
life skills training and teenage pregnancy. So all in all things are
going well.  I hope all of you are also well.  Keep on sending the
emails, I really do love reading about your lives even if I don’t
always have the time (or a fast enough internet connection) to reply.
Also, for those of you sending letters and things I absolutely love
that!! It is like Christmas/ my birthday every time I get a mail drop
and see a letter or package from my family/ friends.
       Okay well I love and miss you all!!

Also some of you have requested my address again so here it is:
Sara Metzler
C/O Peace Corps P.O. 905
Freetown, Sierra Leone

25/3/2012

       So the internet wasn’t working last week so I couldn’t post the blog
so I decided I would just add a bit to it.  Sorry this will now be a
super long post.  Anyways I can update the last post to “its been
approximately 3 weeks since there has been any effective schooling at
my school.”  Its not just my school though this seems to be pretty
common among most of the volunteers I talk to here so apparently March
just isn’t a great time to be teaching.. I guess.  More kids (and
teachers) should show up next week though considering finals for the
term start on Monday.  Despite the low number of students and school
closing every day after 2 hours I tried to do some review exercises
with my students so we’ll see if that actually helped anyone (probably
not considering most students weren’t paying attention since I was the
only teacher crazy enough to actually try and teach.)
       Lets see, there isn’t much else new to discuss.  Next week for my
birthday I am planning on going to Makeni to with some other
volunteers to swim at a hotel’s pool and then go eat at a restaurant
that serves Western food.  So I am excited. It should be a fun time.
Otherwise, its just finals for two weeks and then we get a 2 week
break before the start of the next term.  Okay I really don’t have
anything else at this point so keep on enjoying America and don’t
forget about me, I’ll be back in a year or so! ha

March 5, 2012

So its been a few weeks now so I figured it was about time for me to
update the blog.  Things are pretty much just chugging along same as
usual for me.  Just teaching and hanging out.  The past two weeks have
been a bit rough though.  Not too bad its just that all the little
things have been adding up to make me a bit frustrated with life here.
 I mean I've gotten used to the whole no electricity or running water
thing but some of the cultural differences can be a bit aggravating to
say the least.  Our lives in America are just so different from their
lives here and while I understand that different things are priorities
here when just feeding your family is hard to do sometimes, it is
still difficult to see children pulled out of school to work, or
people just accepting that corruption is a way of life here.  I guess
that's what always having food on the table and money in the bank does
but I still cant help thinking that it doesn't have to be that way.
And that's not to say people here don't want things to change but as I
said it is more difficult when simply surviving isn't a given.
So as I said I had been feeling a little down and a bit homesick for
America but after a nice weekend at the beach two weekends ago and a
fun night out with some friends this last week things are looking a
little better.  Plus I think all my physical ailments are finally
healing up (knock on wood) so hopefully I am well on my way to being
healthy and happy in Africa.  Which Mohamed told me is not too much to
ask for. (haha I told him I just wanted to be happy and healthy in
Africa, is that too much to ask for? And he took my question quite
literally and replied "no sara that isn't too much to ask for. In fact
you could ask for more."  Haha sometimes I love how literally he takes
everything me and fellow volunteers say)
       Two weekends ago I finally made it to a beach outside of Freetown.  A
small group of volunteers went to Bureh beach.  It was absolutely
gorgeous.  Nice white sand and a beautiful blue ocean that was perfect
for swimming.  Also, the best part was we were the only ones there.
We had the whole magnificent beach to ourselves!  Mohamed ended up
meeting some friends of his from his community in Freetown so we
stayed in a nice room by ourselves very near to the beach and very
near to where the other volunteers were.  And not only did we save a
little money but we got to sleep in a bed rather than in a tent on the
sand.  Overall, it was a nice mini vacation full of sunbathing,
swimming, and chatting with fellow volunteers.  The only problem was
after travel time and everything it was a bit too short for my taste.
       It has started getting super hot again.  And apparently it only gets
hotter as we move towards the end of March and enter into April.
Considering I am already in a full sweat just by moving from laying on
my bed to sitting on my back stoop I don't know if I can handle the
weather getting any hotter. (Good thing I just got the cold-weather
clothes my mom sent for me this past week.)  Yup so its getting hot
and all the water is drying up.. I'm not sure what exactly happens but
I hear getting water becomes even more of a chore than it already is.
Also, it is definitely too hot during the day for my poor little dog
Keba as I found out when I tried taking him for a walk yesterday.  We
got almost halfway when he just turned around looked at me and started
crying.  He must think I am absolutely crazy or super mean for
torturing him in that way.  But don't worry we found some shade to sit
in and some water for him to drink so we could make it home without
anyone passing out.
       We just finished with midterms in school.  While I absolutely love
some students and I can tell they actually study and try in math, a
lot of my students still seem to be in a mindset that math is just an
impossible subject that they might as well not even attempt.
Sometimes it is incredibly frustrating to stand up in front of the
class and ask a question I literally have just said the answer to and
only receive blank stares.  Its as if what I say really does go in one
ear and out the other.  But then there are other times when the kids
are just so cute or try so hard that I absolutely love them and love
teaching.  I really do like working with children and really do want
to see some of my students do really well on their external exams but
sometimes it is really hard.  While I am now able to see that teaching
is a rewarding career I also have to say I have earned new respect for
my former teachers.  This job isn't easy to say the least.

My life at 22.
~ I go sleep by 9 at the absolute latest pretty much every school
night (and most weekend nights too).
~ I wake up at the latest around 7 every day. And yes that does
include weekends.
~ My best friend is an 8 year old boy. He does everything with me.
~ Its been a good week when I have washed my hair twice and maybe even
shaved my whole legs once if I'm lucky.
~ I eat rice literally every day.
~ This past weekend I had water that was almost so cold ice could have
been in it.  I almost couldn't drink it because it felt so cold.  My
normal drink of choice is nice lukewarm water from my filter.
~ I also slept on a bed with bedsprings for the first time in 9
months.  It felt incredible.  My normal mattress is foam and has a
clear indentation of my body.
~ I make approximately $250 a month doing a full time job.
~ I'm a local celebrity.  Everyone in town knows my name and all the
kids scream it whenever I pass.  Also, at any event in town I will be
given a seat at the high table with all the other VIPs.

Interesting/Different Things in Salone (Sierra Leone)

·      Sport is part of the curriculum in schools here.  That doesn’t mean students are required to play on after school sports teams.  Here it means that during second term at least a week is taken to play sports between the houses (think Harry Potter and all students split into 4 houses).  Some Peace Corps said sport takes up to a month because they give the students time to practice and construct little huts for each house.

·      Witchcraft and devils are not just a good plot line for movies here.  They are taken seriously and people fear and respect them.  Also, it is a common belief that witches and devils are part of American culture too but they put their knowledge and magic to good use to help scientists build airplanes, helicopters, computers, etc.  I had to tell them that I had never heard of this in America but since I’m not a scientists perhaps I was just never privileged enough to learn these secrets. 

·      Corporal punishment is very common here.  In school and at home it is common to see children being flogged for their misbehavior.  They like to quote “spare the rod, spoil the child” or tell me that African children are different than American children and wont learn unless they are flogged.  I keep insisting that all children are the same but alas that idea just doesn’t seem to take hold at my school.  Just last week the teachers and principal tried to make me flog a student that had been very bad just to show the seriousness of the offense he had committed.  I politely declined and said I just couldn’t hit anyone regardless of what they had done.

·      Being chubby or stout is considered beautiful here.  People think it is a compliment if they tell you you are putting on weight.  It would be like someone in the U.S. saying “you look good, have you lost weight?” Except that here people say “you look good, you’ve been gaining weight.” haha it takes some adjustment to say the least. 

·      Two of the most common questions I get here are “are you married?” and “do you have children?”  I always respond that I don’t yet because I am too young.  They then proceed to ask my age and laugh.  I would estimate about 75% of girls my age here have children and are engaged to someone if not married. 

·      People think it is weird that I could ever desire to eat anything besides rice and sauce.  Most people eat rice morning, noon, and night.  They joke that if they haven’t eaten rice that day it is like they haven’t eaten anything at all.  

Life here

So the festive season is done and, after a Christmas and New Years like none I had ever experienced before, school is up and running again.  As expected, school got off to a slow start again this term.   First, the start date was pushed back a week from the originally scheduled start date and when school finally did start the turnout, for both students and teachers, was pretty dismal.  But now after what was technically the third week of school for the term (2^nd actual week of teaching) the students are starting to come back in numbers.  Don’t take this commentary as a complaint from me though because I thoroughly enjoyed the extra week of break to rest and recover from a very busy term break.  I have to admit though I enjoy keeping busy and have actually discovered I really enjoy teaching and interacting with the students.  Despite the still abysmal test scores my students get (don’t worry its not only my students but all volunteer’s students, actually maybe all students in the country) I do feel like I am making a difference in people’s lives here just by showing up to work everyday and interacting in the community.  Our presence is as much about giving the people here hope and providing an opportunity for a cultural information exchange as it is about teaching students math, English, or science.  So overall, the experience has been a rewarding one for me thus far although it has caused me to completely rethink what I want to do when my service is done, and I am back at square one as far as future plans go.  So far one of the most enticing options is opening a guest house on a beach here since Sierra Leone is destined to become a tourist hot-spot again as soon as the infrastructure rebuilds itself at least a little. 

            So enough self-reflection.. some of you may be wondering what my daily schedule here in Africa is like.  So I will enlighten those of you that care to read about it.  Everyday, regardless of whether it’s a weekday or the weekend, I wake up by 7 or 7:15 at the absolute latest.  Monday through Friday I go to school.  Monday thru Thursday I am at school from approximately 8:00 am until 2:30 p.m.  On Friday we have a shorter school day because the students and teachers have to go to the Mosque to pray so we end school around 1 or a little earlier.  When I first get up I go and take a quick bucket bath, most of the time I’ll just watch my face and then go and get dressed.  After dressing I check out the market to see if bread is ready before I go to school.  Then I head to school around 7:40-7:45.  I am usually the only one there until about 8 and assembly wont actually start until 8:15-8:30 despite the fact that the first period is supposed to start at 8:20.  Oh well. Then I teach between 4-6 periods a day which ranges from 3-5 hours a day.  Mondays after school I teach extra classes for form 3 from 3-5.  The other days I normally go home and rest for a while before jogging around 4 or 5.  After jogging I take another bucket bath and sit down to eat the rice prepared for me.  Then I kill time until around 7:30 or 8 at which point it is acceptable in Africa to go inside and lay down for the night.  So needless to say I am normally sleeping by 9.  So yes in the past 7 months I have gone from 22 to 72.  On Friday, Saturday and Sunday I cook for myself which is a solid hour or two activity if I actually cook.  Sometimes I am lazy and just buy street food or eat a peanut butter sandwich.  But on ambitious days (or whenever Mohamed is around) we will cook pasta or rice which takes quite some time. 

            Okay so new topic. The weather.  Overall, I must admit I find the weather here in Africa much more agreeable than the 5 to 6 months of cold and wet and gross weather we got back in Michigan.  Here there are only 2 seasons: the rainy season and the dry season.  Currently we are in the dry season and I love the predictability of it.  In the dry season it hasn’t rained once and in the rainy season it was pretty much guaranteed that it would rain at least once every day.  Forget the weather forecast, you just know rainy season means rain and the dry season means no precipitation.  Currently the Harmattan winds are blowing a nice cold breeze across Northern Sierra Leone so I am enjoy comfortable weather in the 70s every day/  At night and in the morning it gets a little chilly sometimes but as soon as the sun comes out the place starts warming up and by 11 am it is warm enough to sit out in the sun in a t-shirt and shorts.  From what I hear though in a month or two the water pumps will start drying up and then getting water will be kind of a pain.  Also, I hear it gets hot even by the standards they have here, which means I will absolutely sweat to death.  But all in all I enjoy the heat much more than the cold so the weather change is one adjustment that hasn’t caused me too much distress.

            Now on to the subject of food.  Unlike the weather, I enjoy the food in America much more than the food here.  Don’t get me wrong I have really come to enjoy some of the rice and sauce combinations but really you can only eat so much rice and in my opinion that amount has been far passed here. haha Rice morning, noon, and night everyday is just too much for me.  Oh how I miss fresh fruits and vegetables.  Only having things seasonally is quite a change for anyone used to growing up in a place where supermarkets provide everything imaginable at any time of the year.  Oh well, I guess this experience will just make me appreciate life in America that much more when I return.    

Overall though I really am enjoying my time here and could actually see myself staying and starting a business or working with an aid organization.  It is a relaxing lifestyle and everyone really is quite friendly.  At the very least I think I will have a retirement house here. haha