Well. the rainy season has come at last. It has been very hot and dry all day but over Thursday night and all day Friday it rained stair rods. I always say you do not see West Africa, you hear it and the rain is no exception. It bangs on the iron roofs and concrete and you can hardly hear yourself speak.
I have been teaching in the Woman's Project for most of my time here. some of the girls have very basic skills. apppaently some of the primary techers don't get paid for months so they don't bother teaching and a lot of them have no training anyway. One of the other teachers told me that one of the girls who lived in a corrugated shack near the river had her whole house washed away and now they don't even have clothes except what people have given them. We really can't imagine what it must be like to live on the edge anyway and then lose the few bits you do have.
I went to the local shopping centre today and bought two huge mangoes, some bananas, bread, popcorn, two little sponge cakes and some coconut fingers. they are like crunchy cakes. I do eat good food as well. One of the teachers brought me some wild rice they call country rice and groundnut soup. It was very tasty and she didn't put in too many peppers which the kids who cook here do. I hope I am losing weight, won't know until I get back.
I am helping the group doing the equivalent of GCSE with science and electronics at the moment and on Monday I start helping the advanced group with biology. My mind has to flip from basic phonics to helping with advanced physics and maths in the evening so obviously the heat hasn't poached my brains yet.
Will try and write a few more before I am back on 10th july.
Bye, Pat
Saturday, 26 June 2010
Sunday, 20 June 2010
Not much has happened
the last few days have been fairly uneventful. I spent an hour or so at the photocopying shop yesterday and spent the evening supervising making the last of the electronics books. We had a fantastic thunder and lightening display last night but luckily, it didn't turn into much of a rainstorm because they seem to be accompanied by high winds that are very noisy. The rain came this morning but it doesn't seem to have cleared the air much.
I have discovered they grow lovely avocado pears here. they call them water pears. Most of the rest of the fruit is past its best but some bananas are OK. I went to the supermarket and bought some triangle cheese spread and a jar of pate. Such are luxuries round here. I have to say the bread is very nice and freshly cooked at the local bakery. I think I am losing weight again. It's difficult to tell because the only mirror i have is a face mirror but the shorts are getting looser. I'm sure a health farm would be more luxurious but not so interesting.
A school has given educaid a load of computers and we are going to get a container so I should be able to ship a lot of the stuff i have collected which beats carrying it so I will be looking for any books, mainly non fiction that might be of interest when i get back.
I hope the longest day tomorrow has weather to match for you.
best wishes, pat
I have discovered they grow lovely avocado pears here. they call them water pears. Most of the rest of the fruit is past its best but some bananas are OK. I went to the supermarket and bought some triangle cheese spread and a jar of pate. Such are luxuries round here. I have to say the bread is very nice and freshly cooked at the local bakery. I think I am losing weight again. It's difficult to tell because the only mirror i have is a face mirror but the shorts are getting looser. I'm sure a health farm would be more luxurious but not so interesting.
A school has given educaid a load of computers and we are going to get a container so I should be able to ship a lot of the stuff i have collected which beats carrying it so I will be looking for any books, mainly non fiction that might be of interest when i get back.
I hope the longest day tomorrow has weather to match for you.
best wishes, pat
Tuesday, 15 June 2010
Long time.
It has been hard work since I last wrote but the main reason for the long gaps is the internet. the mains electricity is very low voltage or quite often zero and the wireless does not have the power to transmit. we were without any power fro three days last week but luckily we do have the generator for evenings or it would be impossible with 180 pupils in the dark.
We had a little 12 year old boy with sickle cell anaemia have a crisis the other night. He was in agony with his knees and miriam and I spent the night holding him and giving him what painkillers we could. His father is dead and his mother has no interest in him so he lives at the school all the time. There are lots like him round here.
I have been spending a lot of my time teaching maths to the girls in the women's project. It is quite tiring teaching for 2 hours at a stretch in this heat.
It is nothing like as wet as I thought it might be but that just makes it stickier. Miriam is away again for 10 days so they are going to repair the tank downstairs while the flat is nearly empty. I will have the one roof tank of water until its fixed so no long showers. It's hard to believe that a cold shower could be so welcoming, even though it comes in a solid stream, no fine spray.
We had some old bananas so one of the girls is making banana rice cakes for me and some of the older students. they are made from banana ( obviously) and rice flour then deep fried.
We went out to a hotel on the beach in freetown a few evenings ago. I had a plate of fish goujons and chips and a local lager called Star. I'm getting quite fond of it. It really is very nice to sit out round a table on the beach and see the stars and hear the sea, or more accurately the Atlantic ocean. On Sunday we went out to the cotton club. It sounds very colonial and posh but it is very run down. All the buildings are dilapidated and the swimming pool has seen better days and was a bit murky but still nice to swim in. Tourists used to come and stay here but no more. It started lashing it down with rain on the way and the dirt roads run with red mud streams and then it stops and all is well again and the cars swing round the new ruts.
I have finished rewriting the electronics materials and am going down soon to supervise them being bound into booklets. I am obviously a women of many talents, have to be here.
the school in Magbeni on the river is waiting for parts for the pump so apparently they have to drink river water. Nasty idea. I have decided that buying bottled water is a mugs game. The tap water is perfectly good, especially if cooled in the fridge. The power was off for so long last week my bottle of milk went sour. Still the cat seems to still like it.
Off to make some books. I do like getting e mails so don't forget to write.
Enjoy the summer!! Pat
We had a little 12 year old boy with sickle cell anaemia have a crisis the other night. He was in agony with his knees and miriam and I spent the night holding him and giving him what painkillers we could. His father is dead and his mother has no interest in him so he lives at the school all the time. There are lots like him round here.
I have been spending a lot of my time teaching maths to the girls in the women's project. It is quite tiring teaching for 2 hours at a stretch in this heat.
It is nothing like as wet as I thought it might be but that just makes it stickier. Miriam is away again for 10 days so they are going to repair the tank downstairs while the flat is nearly empty. I will have the one roof tank of water until its fixed so no long showers. It's hard to believe that a cold shower could be so welcoming, even though it comes in a solid stream, no fine spray.
We had some old bananas so one of the girls is making banana rice cakes for me and some of the older students. they are made from banana ( obviously) and rice flour then deep fried.
We went out to a hotel on the beach in freetown a few evenings ago. I had a plate of fish goujons and chips and a local lager called Star. I'm getting quite fond of it. It really is very nice to sit out round a table on the beach and see the stars and hear the sea, or more accurately the Atlantic ocean. On Sunday we went out to the cotton club. It sounds very colonial and posh but it is very run down. All the buildings are dilapidated and the swimming pool has seen better days and was a bit murky but still nice to swim in. Tourists used to come and stay here but no more. It started lashing it down with rain on the way and the dirt roads run with red mud streams and then it stops and all is well again and the cars swing round the new ruts.
I have finished rewriting the electronics materials and am going down soon to supervise them being bound into booklets. I am obviously a women of many talents, have to be here.
the school in Magbeni on the river is waiting for parts for the pump so apparently they have to drink river water. Nasty idea. I have decided that buying bottled water is a mugs game. The tap water is perfectly good, especially if cooled in the fridge. The power was off for so long last week my bottle of milk went sour. Still the cat seems to still like it.
Off to make some books. I do like getting e mails so don't forget to write.
Enjoy the summer!! Pat
Monday, 7 June 2010
A long time
Sorry I haven't posted in such a long time. I did write one a few days ago but he net wouldn't allow me to post it and the electricity has been off for long periods some days. it went off at 8 am this morning and has not come on since so we are on the generator. Ours is quiet but the one next door is doing my head in.
I have been upcountry, one of those very early days. We stop for breakfast about 8.30 and it is a bit weird to sit outside a roadside hut eating beef stew. Mind you, they call all meat beef so it could be anything but it is tough and the stew is hot in the pepper sense but the rice helps. It was nice to meet old friends again.
There have been some spectacular storms, mainly in the evening or at night with wind, torrential rain and lots of sheet lightening. The roads upcountry are stating to become impasable. the road to the school at Magbeni was fine until it was 'improved' by digging drainage ditches on either side. Unfortunatly the contractor dumped all the soil on the road surface so now it is a sea of mud and Miriam is away delivering 3 months supply of food to them because the village will be cut off soon. Not even a four wheel drive will be able to go down there.
Over in the primary school at Maronka, I met a sad little girl whose mother was in prison. there is no provision for the children and she had been left with someone who really neglected her and she just hangs on to any adult who arrives but doesn't speak to them, she only speaks to children. She is being looked after in the chief's family now and hopefully she will recover. There is no social safety net here at all and their children are their wealth who will look after them in the future so many children!!
I did a training session in the local primary school explaining phonics to them and trying to convince them we didn't hit our children or make them squat down or stand with their arms up, all used here all the time but not at educaid, there is no physical punishment at all, just more work.
Its a quarter to eleven so I will go to bed with the generator and my radio and see which one wins. I have the fan on while we have electricity and it is not as hot as it has been at the moment. the locals say it is cold but they have never actually been cold, its still about 25 degrees now and I am in my sleeveless top.
Bye for now, will try and get on sooner next time,
Pat
I have been upcountry, one of those very early days. We stop for breakfast about 8.30 and it is a bit weird to sit outside a roadside hut eating beef stew. Mind you, they call all meat beef so it could be anything but it is tough and the stew is hot in the pepper sense but the rice helps. It was nice to meet old friends again.
There have been some spectacular storms, mainly in the evening or at night with wind, torrential rain and lots of sheet lightening. The roads upcountry are stating to become impasable. the road to the school at Magbeni was fine until it was 'improved' by digging drainage ditches on either side. Unfortunatly the contractor dumped all the soil on the road surface so now it is a sea of mud and Miriam is away delivering 3 months supply of food to them because the village will be cut off soon. Not even a four wheel drive will be able to go down there.
Over in the primary school at Maronka, I met a sad little girl whose mother was in prison. there is no provision for the children and she had been left with someone who really neglected her and she just hangs on to any adult who arrives but doesn't speak to them, she only speaks to children. She is being looked after in the chief's family now and hopefully she will recover. There is no social safety net here at all and their children are their wealth who will look after them in the future so many children!!
I did a training session in the local primary school explaining phonics to them and trying to convince them we didn't hit our children or make them squat down or stand with their arms up, all used here all the time but not at educaid, there is no physical punishment at all, just more work.
Its a quarter to eleven so I will go to bed with the generator and my radio and see which one wins. I have the fan on while we have electricity and it is not as hot as it has been at the moment. the locals say it is cold but they have never actually been cold, its still about 25 degrees now and I am in my sleeveless top.
Bye for now, will try and get on sooner next time,
Pat
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