100 squares made as neat as possible for maths. You would be surprised with how many mistakes they made that had to be covered up.
We were running around playing alphabet games and they loved it! But ‘honestly,’ (a common phrase used here) there was a lot of people collecting the wrong capital letter to match the small letter. It doesn’t surprise me anymore, but it is still shocking.
Follow up visits
After the 2nd week of training we followed them to their villages to see how they were getting on. I managed to visit 8 more teachers out of 30 and they were mostly doing ok.
This is an example of the charts they have been making to help the children learn. I was happy to see these displayed in the ‘classroom.’ The 'classroom' is actually in someone’s back yard, surrounded by locally made mud walls, half in the sun, half in shade. (Notice '1, 2 buckle my shoe' and 'This old man.')
This girl was showing me the Hausa vowels that she had learnt. Notice her first attempt is written from the right hand side of the slate to the left. This is the direction they write when learning the Qur’an in Arabic. This is the only education she has had so far. You can see the second attempt when she wrote it again the correct way for Hausa.
It was surprising that the teacher managed to recruit all the children in the village for their lesson 2 hours early as we arrived ahead of schedule.
Here I am dressed in native clothes, including a scarf over my shoulders (although not over my head), despite the temperature being around 32 degrees. I like this photo because you can see the teacher stood next to me enjoying the lesson and the smiles on the children’s faces as they play a ‘learning game.’
A different class singing a Hausa action song.
Here we are breaking into an empty school to eat a late lunch made by a support teachers second wife! This is me with the driver. It’s their custom to give the guest the most/best food so my plate was piled high, including a whole half of a fat guinea fowl. It was actually one of the best meals I have had in Nigeria.
I’m a little sunburnt from being under sun for a couple of hours and a little worried about how I am going to eat all this food!
More camels! These villages are far north in Jigawa State, close to Niger and the Sahara Desert. They say that some of the children have even travelled from Niger to live with these Mallams and learn the Qur'an. You can actually buy cheese made from camels milk in these areas! They also say that the camels travel to and from Niger to Nigeria, buying and selling goods.
It makes me so happy to see these children smiling and so keen to learn. I have rarely seen children playing or having fun. I have mostly seen them roaming the streets with their plastic bowls, begging, hawking or carrying huge buckets of water on their heads.
On Monday we start the 3rd and final week training to end the launch of the training. I am really looking forward to teaching the teachers 'Old MacDonald had a farm' to teach the children English animal names.
Saturday 26 February 2011
Week 2 Highlights of the Tsangaya Project
Mostly Nigerian teachers talk for the whole lesson. The entire lesson. Or, they get the children to chant words from the black board. So we focused the second week of training on the structure of the lesson/ lesson plan and looking at what activities they will get the children to do for at least half of the lesson. Here are some highlights of the past 3 weeks.
Emily's Adventures in Dutse
Emily is another volunteer from Bournemouth!!! And I meet her across the world in Nigeria.
Click on the link for tales of her adventures in Dutse, accompanied by photos.
http://emily-in-nigeria.blogspot.com/2011/02/my-grand-tour-of-northern-nigeria-rat.html
The 'several thousand ants' made me laugh, it may be an exageration but then thinking about it, it could also be true! It is definitely way more than 100's! I put strong/thick glue in all the holes they appear from and enjoyed an ant free bathroom for 2 weeks until they found different routes out. Glued up those holes too now :o)
The number cards are amazing. Thanks.
Click on the link for tales of her adventures in Dutse, accompanied by photos.
http://emily-in-nigeria.blogspot.com/2011/02/my-grand-tour-of-northern-nigeria-rat.html
The 'several thousand ants' made me laugh, it may be an exageration but then thinking about it, it could also be true! It is definitely way more than 100's! I put strong/thick glue in all the holes they appear from and enjoyed an ant free bathroom for 2 weeks until they found different routes out. Glued up those holes too now :o)
The number cards are amazing. Thanks.
Sunday 20 February 2011
Engine for Sweeping and Other Short Stories
1. In the office, if I am in the middle of a conversation and someone wants my attention they either continuously tap me on the arm until I respond (like children do) or keep calling my name “Lucy, Lucy, Lucy. . .” until I answer them. It feels so rude and childlike. And nothing has been so urgent that people can’t wait a few minutes for me to finish.
2. I was invited to this workshop about teacher training and deployment. Out of the 40 participants I was very pleased to see another female there. The facilitator told me to make friends with her and take her to sit down. So we were about to sit close-ish to the front so we could see the screen ‘very well’ when I was told “I think you would like to sit over there, at the other side of the room,” indicating to the back of the room. In answer to my response I was told that the front was reserved for ‘important people!’ Down plummets our self esteem!
3. Ladies here do not sit with their legs together and it always surprises me when I see them sitting with their legs very wide apart like a ‘bloke.’ Then I try to remember being taught to sit politely but I can’t remember being taught – so I guess it is just engrained in our culture.
4. Knowing that we find it difficult to understand each other’s English, when waiting for an internal flight I listened very attentively to each announcement so as not to miss my plane. As my departure time drew very near (also knowing that things often run late here) and I hadn’t heard my call - I went to ask an attendant. I was then told to ‘run, run, run’ as my plane was about to take off. So I ran through the ticket booth. Attendants are pointing to my plane, which is all boarded and ready to fly and they are telling me to run across the airfield in front of other planes about to take off. So I run. I run, knowing that I would never be allowed to run across an airfield anywhere else in the world. I run, even though I can see my plane has no steps to the doors anymore and is fully boarded. As I run I am wondering why the attendants are not stopping me. But still I run, right up to the plane and stop next to the man with the torch and flag.
I have no idea how I missed the call. I listened so carefully to each announcement.
5. I have been in 3 road accidents now. My first day crash which was really bad. A small motorcycle accident in which the two men proceeded to have a fight over whose fault it was. And another minor car crash in which someone bumped us from behind. I hope this is my lot. Every journey I take I see the aftermath of accidents and wonder if people survived.
6. On a 5 hour public transport journey back from visiting friends in Kaduna I somehow got stuck in the middle of a political rally. (Making the journey 9 hours.) There were hundreds of cars with banners, t-shirts and posters for PDP (Peoples Democratic Party). Thousands of men lined the streets, hundreds of cars full of Nigerians hanging out of car windows, sitting in open car boots, sitting on the vehicles roofs. The scary part was they were waving weapons like swords, daggers, axes and huge wooden logs. Knowing that this could get violent, but hoping and praying it wouldn’t, I try to stay calm, the whole time waiting for a phone call with a round of ‘Happy Birthday’ from my family in England who were celebrating a belated birthday for me with a tea and scones party. (Out of the 1000s of people I only counted 4 other females in the rally or spectators.)
A week later we hear of news of a political rally in Lagos in which 9 people were killed in a stampede.
7. Harmattan is the season when the winds blow the dust from the desert. For about a month it got a little bit cold, cold enough to wear a thin cardigan in the mornings and evening. And sleeping under a blanket was comforting. The Nigerians were freezing cold but I have really enjoyed this season, being able to walk around town without getting hot and sweaty. But now temperatures are beginning to get hot again. 36 degrees in our workshop today. (I have a thermometer now.)
8. My neighbour’s kids are fascinated with my hoover and listened in amazement as I explained how it worked and how you emptied the dust etc. I have never seen so much wide eyed interest in a hoover! I have to ‘dash it’ (give it) to the mother when I leave. They couldn’t remember the English word for it so called it the ‘engine for sweeping!’ One day was a little bit cold and it made me laugh when they were warming their hands from the fumes!
9. The neighbours also think I have brought a washing machine from England with me. (I wish) They have seen washing machines on the TV. I told them I am learning to hand wash like them.
10. Lizards are everywhere here. There is one I always recognise in the garden as it has a broken leg. When these same neighbours heard that people pay a lot of money to keep lizards as pets in England they were amazed. They say they are going to put some in my suitcase when I return to England and then I can send them the money!
2. I was invited to this workshop about teacher training and deployment. Out of the 40 participants I was very pleased to see another female there. The facilitator told me to make friends with her and take her to sit down. So we were about to sit close-ish to the front so we could see the screen ‘very well’ when I was told “I think you would like to sit over there, at the other side of the room,” indicating to the back of the room. In answer to my response I was told that the front was reserved for ‘important people!’ Down plummets our self esteem!
3. Ladies here do not sit with their legs together and it always surprises me when I see them sitting with their legs very wide apart like a ‘bloke.’ Then I try to remember being taught to sit politely but I can’t remember being taught – so I guess it is just engrained in our culture.
4. Knowing that we find it difficult to understand each other’s English, when waiting for an internal flight I listened very attentively to each announcement so as not to miss my plane. As my departure time drew very near (also knowing that things often run late here) and I hadn’t heard my call - I went to ask an attendant. I was then told to ‘run, run, run’ as my plane was about to take off. So I ran through the ticket booth. Attendants are pointing to my plane, which is all boarded and ready to fly and they are telling me to run across the airfield in front of other planes about to take off. So I run. I run, knowing that I would never be allowed to run across an airfield anywhere else in the world. I run, even though I can see my plane has no steps to the doors anymore and is fully boarded. As I run I am wondering why the attendants are not stopping me. But still I run, right up to the plane and stop next to the man with the torch and flag.
I have no idea how I missed the call. I listened so carefully to each announcement.
5. I have been in 3 road accidents now. My first day crash which was really bad. A small motorcycle accident in which the two men proceeded to have a fight over whose fault it was. And another minor car crash in which someone bumped us from behind. I hope this is my lot. Every journey I take I see the aftermath of accidents and wonder if people survived.
6. On a 5 hour public transport journey back from visiting friends in Kaduna I somehow got stuck in the middle of a political rally. (Making the journey 9 hours.) There were hundreds of cars with banners, t-shirts and posters for PDP (Peoples Democratic Party). Thousands of men lined the streets, hundreds of cars full of Nigerians hanging out of car windows, sitting in open car boots, sitting on the vehicles roofs. The scary part was they were waving weapons like swords, daggers, axes and huge wooden logs. Knowing that this could get violent, but hoping and praying it wouldn’t, I try to stay calm, the whole time waiting for a phone call with a round of ‘Happy Birthday’ from my family in England who were celebrating a belated birthday for me with a tea and scones party. (Out of the 1000s of people I only counted 4 other females in the rally or spectators.)
A week later we hear of news of a political rally in Lagos in which 9 people were killed in a stampede.
7. Harmattan is the season when the winds blow the dust from the desert. For about a month it got a little bit cold, cold enough to wear a thin cardigan in the mornings and evening. And sleeping under a blanket was comforting. The Nigerians were freezing cold but I have really enjoyed this season, being able to walk around town without getting hot and sweaty. But now temperatures are beginning to get hot again. 36 degrees in our workshop today. (I have a thermometer now.)
8. My neighbour’s kids are fascinated with my hoover and listened in amazement as I explained how it worked and how you emptied the dust etc. I have never seen so much wide eyed interest in a hoover! I have to ‘dash it’ (give it) to the mother when I leave. They couldn’t remember the English word for it so called it the ‘engine for sweeping!’ One day was a little bit cold and it made me laugh when they were warming their hands from the fumes!
9. The neighbours also think I have brought a washing machine from England with me. (I wish) They have seen washing machines on the TV. I told them I am learning to hand wash like them.
10. Lizards are everywhere here. There is one I always recognise in the garden as it has a broken leg. When these same neighbours heard that people pay a lot of money to keep lizards as pets in England they were amazed. They say they are going to put some in my suitcase when I return to England and then I can send them the money!
Thursday 3 February 2011
Sharing skills, changing lives.
This is VSO’s motto and 6 months into my placement I am finally doing just that. Last week I trained 39 men to be teachers. It was a very difficult job as not many of them spoke English well at all, even those that could speak English were not used to hearing English from an English person so basically no one could understand me and I hoped through demonstration and translation that I had got some of my messages across – the focus being on child centred teaching methods as opposed to teacher centred methods.
3 men from the Education Authority were invited to attend to find out what the project is all about. They were old and wise and in high esteem amongst the participants, but honestly, their lack of understanding and the fact it added 3 more men for me to deal with made me resent them at first. Then seeing them so keen to join in the active learning games and answering questions like 5 + 5 made me happy for them to be there.
These men are community people who have been selected by the religious leaders and village heads to teach children English, maths, Hausa and social studies. At present the children in these villages are only learning the Quar’an so ESSPIN (Educatioin Support Program in Nigeria) has brought this project to introduce secular education to provide the children with their basic primary education.
This week I followed some of the teachers to the villages to support them. . .
On Tuesday I was feeling very disheartened as I visited 3 teachers and only saw classic Nigerian chanting and ‘chalk and talk’ learning.
I am very impressed when I see these children learning a Hausa counting song.
I am very happy to see children counting with bottle tops.
These children are matching numbers with dots and lining up in order 1-10. Also notice the children’s work on display in the background (plus the children learning through the window!)
Out of 6 teachers that we visited, 5 of them were doing something that I had taught them and providing some sort of child centred teaching methods. So I am back to feeling positive and ready for the second week of training which starts on Monday.
20kms of grassland takes us to one village.
I almost get a camel ride! Next time I will definitely say 'yes.'
Check me out. Demonstrating some teaching under a tree with a straw fence providing shade! 30 children on the mats, plus another 30 watching behind, along with all the “prominent members of the village” (only men) checking what I am doing. The children are writing in the air.
I have never taught reception children before but I guess that this must be a classic example of children when they are having their first go at writing the letter ‘a.’ There is a very good one in the middle. These children have never held chalk and written in English or Hausa before, but they learn the Quar’an in Arabic by firelight, using ink and quills on boards, writing the opposite way from us -from right to left.
3 men from the Education Authority were invited to attend to find out what the project is all about. They were old and wise and in high esteem amongst the participants, but honestly, their lack of understanding and the fact it added 3 more men for me to deal with made me resent them at first. Then seeing them so keen to join in the active learning games and answering questions like 5 + 5 made me happy for them to be there.
These men are community people who have been selected by the religious leaders and village heads to teach children English, maths, Hausa and social studies. At present the children in these villages are only learning the Quar’an so ESSPIN (Educatioin Support Program in Nigeria) has brought this project to introduce secular education to provide the children with their basic primary education.
This week I followed some of the teachers to the villages to support them. . .
On Tuesday I was feeling very disheartened as I visited 3 teachers and only saw classic Nigerian chanting and ‘chalk and talk’ learning.
Black board, chalk, mats, slates, exercise books, etc have all been provided by ESSPIN.
With 60 children (when there are only supposed to be 30) plus 20 adults watching (all male – parents, religious teachers, people from the Education Authority, and who knows who else – “prominent members from the village”) I didn’t know how to support the teachers so didn’t interfere much. Although the project has been accepted by the village, some people don’t like the thought of ‘Western Education’ and ‘Western culture’ in the village, plus me being female made me want to tread carefully.
When this teacher chanted ABCD in Hausa followed by EFGH in English I was so depressed I asked for them to take me home, obviously trying to hide my feelings as these teachers were “trying.” I tried to remember that this is their first ever try at teaching after only one week of training.
So on Wednesday I set off to a different government area expecting the worst, but feeling slightly more positive as I had thought of strategies on how to support these teachers (with help from mum). I arrive at the LEA (Local Education Authority) with alphabet charts, songs and number cards tucked under my arm but the LEA officials had different ideas for me. They wanted to take me to all the villages to meet the village head, village elders, religious leaders and other “prominent people of the village” – all men.
A village in Birniwa, Jigawa State. The Village’s religious leader in the centre holding the prayer beads, village head behind him to the left, LEA officials on the right, the rest “prominent members.”
So I just follow, flick of my slippers (flip flops) climb onto mats that I have only ever seen men sit on and just sit. Then after a brief translation of a long discussion I am asked to say something. And I am not good at this type of thing normally and I know they think that I have brought this project to them when I haven’t – I am ‘just’ training the teachers so I have no idea what to say. So I thank them for welcoming me to their village and hope to return soon to support their teacher.
People say things like – ‘the fact that you can greet them in Hausa will make them accept this project.’ And that really annoys me. So I try to tell them, politely, that they should accept the project (lead by ESSPIN, not me) because they want to educate the children of the village, to enable them to be literate, have choices in the future etc. Not because of me. I am only training the teachers. In 2 years I will return to England and know that my children will be educated.
So, again on Thursday, armed with my teaching resources we set off to support the teachers with their teaching.
I am very impressed when I see these children learning a Hausa counting song.
I am very happy to see children counting with bottle tops.
These children are matching numbers with dots and lining up in order 1-10. Also notice the children’s work on display in the background (plus the children learning through the window!)Out of 6 teachers that we visited, 5 of them were doing something that I had taught them and providing some sort of child centred teaching methods. So I am back to feeling positive and ready for the second week of training which starts on Monday.
20kms of grassland takes us to one village.
I almost get a camel ride! Next time I will definitely say 'yes.'
Check me out. Demonstrating some teaching under a tree with a straw fence providing shade! 30 children on the mats, plus another 30 watching behind, along with all the “prominent members of the village” (only men) checking what I am doing. The children are writing in the air. 
I have never taught reception children before but I guess that this must be a classic example of children when they are having their first go at writing the letter ‘a.’ There is a very good one in the middle. These children have never held chalk and written in English or Hausa before, but they learn the Quar’an in Arabic by firelight, using ink and quills on boards, writing the opposite way from us -from right to left.
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