During training, we learn about many secondary projects: girl groups, early learning activities, Science Fair, English Club, English Theater, Stomp out Malaria, perma-gardening, etc. There are many volunteers here in Mozambique that are doing really great work.
After hearing about the great work that current volunteers are doing, and ideas about projects that I could start in my community, I thought I knew two things:
- I want to do something with EGRA (Early Grade Reading Activities) because I worked in 0-5 before quitting USA life to come to Mozambique.
- I absolutely do NOT want to do anything having to do with English. Yes, I can speak it, but no, I cannot teach it and frankly, teaching English sounds like the worst.
Fast forward a few months to February, when the school year started: I began to slowly get to know my students, and I started to become in tune with my community’s needs. I wanted to just listen and watch and try to identify where I could best offer my knowledge, heart and resources to improve the lives of my neighbors and students. It would be very easy to use brute force to start a project that focused on 0-5 because that’s what I wanted to do and Mozambicans likely won’t say no to help, even if it’s not a top priority. But how successful would that be if there weren’t some key players in the community helping me out? By the time the application for EGRA was due, I had not met anyone who seemed passionate enough about 0-5 to jump on board. I was a bit bummed, but also energized to figure out what I should be doing in addition to teaching.
Peace Corps volunteers are special in that we do not work in an office in the nicest part of the country, trying to bring Western ideas to communities that cannot relate to Western ideas. We live (more or less) just like our neighbors live and see every single day the challenges that they face. I am forced to work within the framework of Mozambique’s struggling education system and have to deal with the same nonsense that other teachers deal with. I meet girls that don’t believe in themselves, and think the only way to a stable like is to get pregnant. I meet students who are not even close to mastering the country’s national language. Some days my students sit in their desks for hours waiting for teachers to never show up. Students cheat instead of think for themselves, and sometimes this cheating is support by the people who are supposed to be prohibiting it.
I have students who want to spend their free time learning but are lacking a teacher to put his/her own free time into that.
BINGO.
Within the first two weeks of school, I had a handful of students come up to me and ask me if I could help them with their English. As awesome as it would be to have one-on-one practice time with each of these 5-10 kids, I am only one person and that’s just not feasible. So, I decided to explore the idea of an English Club, and after submitting a request to the school director, I was approved to use Classroom #12, which is unused in the afternoon, to hold English Club once or twice per week.
I spoke with Mana Marta’s daughter Nércia, who is also my student, and asked her what types of things they are currently learning in English class and what she thinks she would need the most help with. She said that it’s hard because the teacher usually just writes on the board, the students copy, and then the teacher moves onto the next topic. Little time for explanation and no time for practicing. I know, from learning Portuguese by diving into the deep end and hoping I don’t drown, that practicing speaking is just as important as learning the verbs and vocabulary. If you have words in your brain but can’t figure out how to put them together and push them out of your mouth, what’s the point? So I decided that my English Club sessions were going to be more about speaking and less about learning technicalities.
The first session happened on a rainy Tuesday, and I was really nervous. I had never taught English before, I didn’t really know the current level of the students, and I didn’t want it to be boring. I wanted them to leave feeling confident, energized, and like they actually learned something new. To be honest, I was dreading this. What if it sucks? What if the students are unimpressed? What if nobody participates and it’s just crickets all around? I don’t want to do this I don’t want to do this this is completely outside of my comfort zone I don’t want to do this.
So then, I did it. I went to school in the rain to Classroom #12 and nobody was there. Well, this is cool. So I waited. And one student trickled in. And then four more…and eventually there was about 25 kids sitting in desks looking at me with high expectations. We want to learn some English, damnit!
So we stood up and I challenged each student to introduce themselves and say one special thing about them. I started and said that My name is Sarah and I am an only child. I asked the next student to introduce me (Her name is Sarah and she is an only child) and then introduce himself (My name is Titos and I like apples and bread). Apples and bread. Thumbs up. (Whatever at least he’s speaking English). We went around the circle in this order until everyone had introduced one other person and themselves. Some of the students—most of them, actually—were terrified to speak. It took many seconds of deep breaths and mustering up the confidence even to say “my name is”. But in the end, everybody did it. I then went around the circle asking “who is this” to students about other students. By the end of the 90 minute session, each student was speaking more loudly and with more confidence.
Before leaving, I asked if they liked what we did and if they learned something. I explained to them that I had never taught English before or never had an English Club, so we will have to learn as we go. One student told me, “if this is your first day, you will be wonderful”. And that made me happy. I left feeling like it was a success and I was excited for the next session.
Since then, we have had English Club once or twice per week each week. Students are getting more confident in speaking, and also more confident in thinking for themselves. Sometimes I bring in a passage for them to read, translate and answer questions about. Sometimes I give them scenarios and make them talk to each other, pretending to be different characters. Sometimes they ask me questions about slang words and I try to answer honestly without saying anything inappropriate. (I.e. “what’s a birthday suit?’). I can honestly say that English Club, so far, has been the thing that positively energizes me the most. I always leave feeling like my students have gained something—whether it be a new vocabulary word, an ounce more of confidence, or just the feeling that there is a teacher here who is without a doubt invested in their learning. It’s a mutually beneficial project and I’m so glad I pursued it.
English Club as taught me a lot about the different ways in which I can impact my students. It’s taught me about myself in that I can start something from scratch, leave my comfort zone, and find success. But most of all, it taught me that when you enter into a position to serve others, you have to intentionally ensure that your expectations and wants come second to the needs of the people you are serving. If I would have stuck to my initial idea of starting Early Grade Reading and stayed closed off to projects relating to English, there would be no English Club and I would have missed a really wonderful opportunity to meet my students where they’re at.
I’m here to serve. And I am serving. Sometimes it’s really hard. Sometimes I want to be selfish and go home. Sometimes I feel like my time here won’t matter. But then I go to English Club and see my students’ joy and enthusiasm for learning, and the opportunity to encourage and expand on that is what keeps me going.
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