Community entry has ended which means I am now free to leave my site and travel within the standards of Peace Corps. The school term has ended as well (three months on, one month off). With school out and our entry period complete, Peace Corps calls all the new volunteers in for an In-Service Training. It's a two week workshop where we all share our experiences, challenges, successes, and new techniques for teaching and sustainable development within our communities. We have just completed the workshop and it was a long two weeks. Some topics covered were dealing with corporal punishment, school gardening, and learner centered classroom techniques. We had a counterpart from our villages come in and do a Project Design and Management workshop for two days as well. Almost everyone brought a fellow teacher to the workshop. I brought a futbol teammate. He and I would like to start a sports club so I felt this was a good opportunity to get a plan together. We learned some good strategies, but we'll see what happens in the village. All in all, it was a fun getting to see everyone and hear all the crazy stories that we all could relate to.
Right before the training, some teachers in my village were taking their kids to the Agriculture show in Lusaka, so I tagged along and brought the two first grade girls I live with. The two girls have never been out of the village, nonetheless seen electricity or city before. They were quite like a deer in head lights, yet they took the experience in stride. I was rather impressed. They took to the jumping castle like pros and got cotton candy all over their face like they're supposed to. I can only imagine what they were thinking as they looked around. The Agro show was very similar to a county or state fair with lots of entertainment. There is a picture of the crew above.
There is a picture of some of the grade 7 class getting ready to take a mock exam. There is also a picture of Rachel, the granddaughter of one of the ladies I live with.
