February and March were great months for me work-wise because I started to see the fruits of my labor and I would like to share them with you all today.
In February, three volunteers (Brenda, Laara and Andrew) and myself created a environmental workshop that we ended up doing with kids first in Brenda's Site, then Andrew's and then mine. In my site, we had arranged with the principal of a local public school to work with the kids for two mornings, from 7 to around 11am... The first day the focus was trees. We created trees out of things found in nature, sang songs, played a game to teach about photosynthesis, did a small theater about deforestation with the kids and ended with tree planting in front of the school. The second day the focus was trash and recycling. We did a timeline about decomposition of different kinds of trash, alternative uses for recyclables and then we made trash-cans out of old plastic bottles and grain sacks. It was very successful and the kids had a lot of fun. Here are some pictures!
One of the groups presenting their tree art, aren't they cute?!?
Theatre time to learn about deforestation!
Laara is in that group of kids somewhere explaining the timeline of trash.
First step in the trash-can- making: poke holes in the bottles and string them with wire.
second step: cut a rice/grain bag to fit the bottom and then attach it to the bottles with wire.
Even the principal was helping out with the trash-cans!
What did we learn with Andrew Porter, hehe.
As you all know, I taught the first part of an "Introduction to English" summer class in the local woman's center called "Kuna Kyre'y" or hard-working woman! There were two classes, one of students ages 8-12, and another of students 13-20, about 50 kids in total and we met twice a week for an hour each time and they learned a lot in a short amount of time! There were two exams and at least a homework assignment a week and if they passed they received a certificate! Summer here ends at the end of February so we had the culmination to our three-month English class the first week in March and it was really a beautiful event! The parents collaborated on food and drinks, each person brought something. We borrowed the stereo system from the school and the school librarian became our DJ! We had a "cultural moment" (Andrew singing a Beatle's song in English) and the younger kids sang the colors song to show what they were learning and two kids from the older class performed a dialogue in English. It was really great and I was super proud of them. At one point I almost cried because on of the moms of one of my students got up to speak on behalf of the parents and said some really sweet things about me. It's nice to feel appreciated :D We took a break until the end of March and started the class up again the beginning of April!
A lot of parents came out!
Small guys on the left and Big guys on the right.
Momma's working hard to prepare the plates of food for the guests.
Kids getting ready to show off their singing skills.
The director of the hard-working women, Josefina.
Giving out certificates.
The bossman Elisa, director of my sector of Peace Corps, saying a few words.
Cake made for the occasion.
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