TLGers in Ethiopia

I am so excited that former TLG colleages, Jennifer and Martin, are in Ethiopia this very moment, volunteer teaching at the English Alive Academy.

Their new blog, The Beels in Ethiopia, is pretty hilarious. And I love reading about the cool stuff they're doing at the English Alive Academy in Nazret.

Reading their experiences and mine just shows again how everyone experiences a country differently. For example, where they had a fabulous time in Lalibela, I had a meltdown. I survived my mullet phase; they survived theirs.

Bates Hotel in Nazret, Ethiopia?

Books, Books, Books

I hit the motherlode of children's books at the Jefferson City Salvation Army Thrift Store today. I'll add these to my more modest stash from Goodwill that I bought last week. They're for "my" public school in Rustavi, Kvemo Kartli, Georgia.

The school library, meager by any measure, has a tiny collection of English-language books. I'm hoping I'll be bringing enough so entire classes can have individual reading time or small-group reading time. My focus is on elementary-level English.

But speaking of books, and thinking also about English Alive Academy in Nazret, Ethiopia, it's possible to buy a gift certificate for the Ethiopian school at Better World Books. This company will email you the gift certificate, which you can then email to Stephanie and Dawit at English Alive Academy here. (Email address on right sidebar of the EAA blog.) They'll be able to select the books and related materials they need most ... and shipping is free!

Georgia: Teach and Learn With Georgia - 2010-2011 Annual Report

A number of us volunteer teachers attended Teach and Learn with Georgia's presentation of its first annual report at one of the hotels in Tbilisi.

Georgia's Minister of Education was there, along with the TLG staff, teacher volunteers who work in or near Tbilisi, and, I think, some staff from various embassies. (By the way, TLG also brings native Italian and German speakers to Georgia to teach.)

There was quite a flurry of media in attendance.

 
I'm sure the Minister of Education felt disappointed that he had to depart so soon after the media left, with the consequence that he could not be with all of us as the TLG administrator presented the annual report.

After the report, we enjoyed Georgian wine, fresh juice, and some hors d'oevres. I met some really interesting TLGers at the reception. 'Course, I find most TLGers really interesting, in diverse ways, such as being well-read or well-traveled or with Louis L'Amourish serial work histories or who possess a sharp wit or who practice serenity in the face of challenge ... "interesting" is a long line of possibilities.

By the way, TLG has an offer that if an individual (i.e., me) refers someone to the program, and the new volunteer enters the program via TGL (and NOT through one of the recruiting agents), then the reference (as in --> me) will receive a bonus. Should anyone join up and use me as a reference while I'm still in Georgia, I will donate half of my bonus to the English Alive Academy in Ethiopia. Contact me for additional details.

Everything Except the Horn

Credit: Tamin-Lee at Everything Except the Horn

I was excited to come across Tamin-Lee Connolly's site, Everything Except the Horn.

Beginning in July, Tamin-Lee will travel for one year around Africa in a collaborative project with One Laptop Per Child.

As a teacher, she'll visit schools ... and hey, what better meet-up than between Everything Except the Horn and the English Alive Academy?

I sent an enthusiastic email to Tamin-Lee about her journey and about the English Alive Academy. Tamin-Lee responded quickly with a gracious intent to check in with Stephanie at the school.

One of the kids at English Alive Academy

Yay!

I've popped Tamin-Lee's into my blogroll over on the left sidebar. If you'd like to contribute to Tamin-Lee's great adventure, she'd love it!

Tamin-Lee's mission:

My mission is to circumnavigate Africa in one year, covering a crazy distance of about 50,000km and exploring 39 amazing countries that Big Mama Africa has to offer. But that’s not all, I plan on visiting war torn countries and hope to understand and experience the different African cultures along my journies.

But my goal? Well, being a teacher, my dream is to help improve education in developing countries where I can. I will achieve this by volunteering with “One Laptop Per Child” organization (OLPC), a private initiative in conjunction with sponsorships and donations privately organized for my wild expedition.

At the end of the day…. I just want to go out there, see as much as I can, help as much as I can, meet as many as I can, and the bottom line…have fun! I’ve got one year to live out my dream and I’m going to make the most of it, nothing is going to stop me…”one funky chic, one maxed out land cruiser, 12 months, 39 countries, 5000 laptops, and the experience of a lifetime.”

Big Things Happening at English Alive Academy

From Stephanie at the English Alive Academy ... 

BIG THINGS HAPPENING AT ENGLISH ALIVE ACADEMY

Big things are happening at the English Alive Academy:

• Campaign for 200 student sponsorships by July 1
• English Alive now a registered British charity
• A new website

 
200 student sponsorships by July 1
Did you know we have 200 students at the English Alive Academy!? And that, through the school, we employ 20 people in a country with an appallingly high unemployment rate?

We want to find sponsors for every single child by July 1. Are we crazy?! Maybe! But people thought we were crazy to open the school in the first place - and here we are, still going after five years! With 200 students!

As you know, all of the financial support for the students, the teachers, the staff and the school come from private donors and from me and Dawit. 

Dawit and I kept the school afloat for five years by donating half of my earnings to the school. But I don't have my teaching job anymore.  We need you.

A one-year student sponsorship costs:

140 pounds; or
230 U.S. dollars; or

• 152 euros

Dawit and I ask you to help:

• Donate a one year sponsorship - or give whatever you can afford, and we will apply it toward a sponsorship; and
• Share this email with your family, friends, and co-workers, and invite them to change children's lives with you.

Please click HERE to make a donation to us through The Big Give, a safe and secure website.  You make payment in pounds.


The student sponsorship covers it all: School and office supplies, uniforms, textbooks and other teaching materials, school bus maintenance, petrol for the bus, emergency and reserve funds, water, electricity, school building rent, cleaning, employee wages, taxes, and a building fund.    

 As of today, we have six student sponsorships --- 194 to go by July 1!

Dawit and I will keep you updated on the progress of this critical campaign.

English Alive Academy is now a registered British charity! 

It required lots of paperwork and patience and help from kind volunteers and it paid off - we're now officially a British charity. This means donors can take a gift deduction on their taxes and we can take a seat at the table of good organizations such as The Big Give, a reliable gateway for charitable donations.

A new website

We loved so many things about our old website, especially the warm look and feel created by our volunteer webmistress Johana.

We also love our new website, which continues to grow and develop, and we hope you like it, too. Please check it out by clicking HERE. No worries -- it's at the same address as our old one at www.englishaliveacademy.org.  We thank Gerry for his creative talents in building our new site. 

So help us sing! 

Please donate a student sponsorship today! And share this with your friends, family,and co-workers!

Thank you so much for all that you have done for us already!

Stephanie and Dawit

On Pencils

Volunteer teaching at the English Alive Academy in Nazret, Ethiopia, was very satisfying. Really, it's hard to have a bad day when greeted by dozens of smiling children shaking your hand and exclaiming, "Good morning!" Or being the recipient of serial kisses, hugs, and "I love you's!"

 

When it came to the actual teaching, though, I could not believe how much time was lost because one or two children did not have a usable pencil. Not because they didn't have one at all, but because the pencil quality was so poor, it took many futile attempts at sharpening (often with a big knife) to reveal the lead trapped within. Scrambling for one or two decent pencils held up the entire class' progress.

Evidently, there are either no good pencils to be found in Ethiopia or they are prohibitively expensive.

From Amazon

I've since learned that the decent-pencil problem exists in the U.S., too, even at private schools.

Maybe these Ticonderoga pencils would do the trick, seeing as they're "the world's best pencil."

I wonder if Ticonderoga ever donates pencils ....

At $13 USD per box of 96, yikes, that's a lot of money in Ethiopia.

If someone should be so moved to donate pencils to the English Alive Academy, (a registered charity in the UK) they may be shipped to:

Dawit Hailu

PO Box 170222

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Alerting the school in advance at stephanddawit at yahoo dot co dot uk would give them a heads-up to look for the package.

Ethiopia: A Sweet Coffee Goodbye in Nazret

Seble and Membre, teachers on the KG campus

I visited the English Alive Academy campuses for the last time today. Took photos to replace those lost when my camera was stolen.












The teachers gave me a beautiful coffee ceremony:

The cups are clean and ready, as is the herb to add to the cup.

Fragrant and beautiful flora grace the "stage."

Membre roasts fresh coffee beans on a charcoal brazier.

Mekdes culls poor roasted beans, leaving only the good. In the jabena is hot water.

Mekdes grinds the coffee.

Mekdes adds the freshly ground coffee to the jabena, filled with hot water.

An experience treasured. 

Ethiopia: Countdown for Landing, Nazret Again, Day 2, Saturday

A laid-back day in Nazret. Stephanie and I talked school budgets and fundraising. Dawit arrived from Addis later with the mission to repair student chairs and desks.

I took new photos of Azeb, Stephanie, and Dawit to replace those lost with my stolen camera. I used a camera someone donated to the school.

After lunch, Azeb, Stephanie, and Dawit took off for Addis, leaving me alone in "Hotel Azeb" til Tuesday.

Nazret

Walked up to the Dire International Hotel to upload these few new pictures and key in a journal entry. The work on the hotel terrace now complete, I stepped outside for my habitual cold Ambo and lemon before
walking home.

Mosquitoes again a problem at night. Damn things.

Ethiopia: From Nazret to Addis, Part 1

TMy last day at the English Alive Academy. I wanted to say goodbye at both campuses. Stephanie, Dawit, and I tooled to the Grade 1-4 campus in their cute blue minivan. I said thank you and goodbye to each teacher and administrator --Adenech, Eshet, Chibarey, Lema, Helina, Birkutan, and Bekolech. I received many child hugs and kisses and "I love yous!"

Bogalech, English Alive Academy

This morning, I saw that the creation of the "computer room" via the insertion of a new wall in the grade 2 classroom was almost complete. (It was started yesterday.)

[It's really pretty amazing what Stephanie and Dawit have created and maintained for the past five years. The maintenance of such an ambitious endeavor as this school being remarkable in itself.]

Next week, the grade school's two computers (one bought used and one donated by a previous volunteer teacher, Frazier) should be up and running.

Back to the present - Dawit became involved in the partition completion, and as the morning began sliding away from us, Stephanie and I walked to the KG campus.

Eshetu, English Alive Academy

More bittersweet goodbyes to the teachers and other staff there - Mekdes, Seble, Freiwot, Sennot, Membre, Kidust, Belynesh, and (I'm forgetting one of the teachers). I felt touched when the teachers said they wanted to have a coffee ceremony for me, and sad that I didn't have time to do so, as I needed to get to the immigration office in Addis before it closed today, to extend my visa.

When I told Sennot (KG2 teacher that my next visits would be to Awassa and the Bale Mountains, she said her hometown was in the Bale Mountains, and how beautiful it is there.

With no sign of Dawit joining us, Stephanie and I walked to Azeb's to finish pulling our gear together for the drive to Addis. We piddled about, still awaiting Dawit, who phoned three times to say he was "on his way". An hour or so later... Well, it had turned out that a very difficult administrative problem had manifested itself, which required Dawit's immediate, full attention, and which will require additional action in the coming days.

Helina, English Alive Academy

At any rate, once Dawit arrived, we all moved quickly -- and Azeb decided to join us on the trip to Addis. I was very happy about this, as I knew she wanted to spend more time with her visiting brother and other family members this weekend, but she had originally thought the partition wouldn't go up til Saturday, and she'd have to stay and oversee that operation. (Azeb, like Stephanie and Dawit, receives NO financial compensation - other than food money from volunteer teachers - for all the work she does at and for the school. I'm hoping that with the realistic student sponsorship amount, at least Stephanie and Dawit will, in the near future, actually get paid for the work they do. Currently, they worry every month about meeting payroll, and it is not uncommon for Dawit to make a trip to the bank to withdraw funds from their meager personal account to pay the teachers' salaries.)

Chibarey, English Alive Academy

So we all piled in the vehicle and were on our way. In Debre Zeit, we stopped at the Genesis Farm market and bought yogurt and cheese (delicious!). We stopped at the Ankober Guest House long enough for me to drop my luggage, and then they dropped me off at the Immigration compound so I could extend my visa. This was a huge help to me, and I didn't have to trouble about finding my way there on my own.

Ethiopia: Nazret, Day 9, English Alive Academy

Spent the morning at the English Alive Academy grade school campus, teaching.

During the morning break, there was a great bustling as the 2nd graders moved all of the contents of their classroom into the grade 4 classroom, while the 4th graders moved their room's contents into another room. It took all of about 10 minutes, the children moved so quickly. I no sooner picked up an item to carry than it was whisked out of my hands by a child's hands. Eventually, I just got the hell out of the way.

This activity occurred so a carpenter and an electrician could install a new wall and wiring into the grade 2 room, creating a space for the new "computer room."

At lunch, I went to Azeb's as usual, and Stephanie and Dawit had arrived with their two little ones. (Dawit had called me earlier in the week to say they'd come in to Nazret on Thursday and bring me back to Addis rather than my taking the public bus back. This also gave the young'ns an opportunity to visit with their "Nana," and for S&D to check on things at the school.) Stephanie and I talked the entire afternoon about the school, fund-raising, planning, etc.

Stephanie and Dawit have somehow kept the school afloat for five years, at great sacrifice to themselves. To make their school dream a reality, for example, Dawit actually left his job at an embassy in Addis, a good job that would have provided him with lifetime financial stability. They lived on Stephanie's income at another school so Dawit could devote full time to their vision of a good education for poor children.

For five years, Stephanie and Dawit have used their own Spartan resources to cover gaps in payroll, respond to financial emergencies that come with building, vehicle, and regulatory maintenance; and provide school supplies. (An example of regulatory maintenance: When the government tax people saw that S&D did not operate the school in the black, the tax official said they must be hiding something, because anyone who didn't make money would have closed the school. S&D were assessed 6000 birr for taxes, which is the equivalent to 361 dollars US. This is a huge amount of money to S&D, but to keep the school open, they had to find the money somewhere from their own pockets.)

I talked with Stephanie about how she and Dawit need to at least establish a salary for themselves on paper, even if the school doesn't yet generate any money to pay for it. I used friend Pam's experience as the director of a not-for-profit adoption agency, where even though she only could pay herself if an adoption went through (and one never knew when or how often that might happen), it was important for Pam to establish a monthly salary. This has application at tax times, when applying for grants, for planning, etc. I advocated that this salary needs to be averaged across the 200 student sponsorships so that when there are sponsors, Stephanie and Dawit could actually pay themselves for their work. Besides, their two kids are young and easy maintenance now, but as they get older .... (Currently, Stephanie home schools the two kids. They call her Miss Stephanie during class.)

So Stephanie and I worked out a salary for her and Dawit, currently at half time, as administrators (Stephanie as the academic manager and Dawit as the operations manager), that will provide them with a sustainable income. The amount is so low by Western standards, it is shocking -- less than $200 for BOTH of them together! It adds only 90 cents to the monthly student sponsorship amount.

We also added some bits to the monthly student scholarship fee to start up a reserve fund (with a goal, at minimum, of three months' expenses to operate the school) and also a short-term emergency fund (e.g. building and vehicle breakdowns, etc.) The monthly student sponsorship will be $19.00 per month or $228 per year. Having the reserve fund is an organizational best practice and that, plus a short-term emergency fund will alleviate much current stress the two feel about the school's constant living-on-the-edge existence.

Another funding stream will be through teacher sponsorships, which will eventually cover the teachers' salaries (also shockingly low!), a protective lab coat, teaching supplies, and professional development. Currently, the teachers' salaries are NOT where S&D want them to be, but they can barely pay them now as it is. If the teachers get sponsored, then S&D can increase their salaries to above the going market rate, plus create a stable payroll safety net that does not depend solely on student scholarships.

Eventually, there will also be a building campaign. The Ethiopian government promised S&D to give them free land if they collect the money to build a school on it. S&D are in the process now of pulling information together to estimate the cost to build a school. One dream here is to have dorms so children who live too far from a school can live on campus during the school week.

In a meeting with Adenech this evening, Dawit and Stephanie and she made their decision to add grades 5 through 8 next year! Whew! They are fearless in their dreams. They just do stuff and assume it will work out OK.

And so far, it has.

Ethiopia: Nazret, Day 8, English Alive Academy

Two English Alive Academy teachers

I took pictures again today at the English Alive Academy to finish up. I regret that I probably missed a few children, so their parents won't get a photo, but I did the best I could. I also took photos of the teachers, the administrative staff, and the cleaners.

Enjoyed three great classroom teachings at the grade school. I love how the teachers laugh (and then the children) laugh when I push my mouth into various contortions to demonstrate proper English pronunciation. Amharic has the lovely rolling r's like Spanish and the charming "z" sound, like French, when pronouncing "th." Nevertheless, I must insist on the plainer English r's and th's.

An English Alive Academy teacher

After school, I had an appointment with school administrator Adenech, who'd invited me to her house for a coffee ceremony. We walked to her compound, which was a pleasing shady oasis providing relief from the throat-closing dustiness of Nazret's side streets. Adenech lives there with her husband, son, daughter, mother, and maid. Because of the ever-rising cost of living in Ethiopia, Adenech and her husband have rented one of the compound's outbuildings to a woman. Inside the compound are a couple of coffee shrubs, fruit trees, and flowers.

The maid was making injera, and that was fun to see the entire process laid out before me: the large container with the grain teff in it, a bucket with the teff/water mixture that had been fermenting for three days (like sourdough), the maid scooping out the teff dough and placing it on a hot skillet, and a completed injera cooling atop a holder.

An English Alive Academy teacher with students

Adenech had prepared a charcoal brazier over which she placed green coffee beans. She used a special tool to continuously move the beans over the heat, roasting them til they darkened and the coffee oil emerged to the surface, making the beans glisten. Habtom, Adenech's son, then placed the roasted beans into a special container and ground them with what looked like an immense, heavy flat-top screw. Pound! Pound! Pound!

When Habtom completed the coffee grinding (pounding), Ruth finished the coffee-making process by adding water to filter through the coffee, using the traditional jabena.

A large platter of popcorn appeared (now we're talkin'!), and I was instructed that one does not eat the popcorn until after the injera. Injera? Appeared before me fresh, fresh injera, followed by shiro and gomen (cooked greens or cabbage). I wasn't hungry, but ate anyway. THEN the popcorn! The coffee was delicious!

Joining us in the coffee ceremony were Adenech's best friend, a high school chemistry teacher at the public school named Abebesh; the renter, Addedesh; Adenech's mother; Ruth, of course, and Habtom; and later, Adenech's husband, Haile Gyorgis.

An English Alive Academy teacher

I learned that this late afternoon meal-coffee is called mextus (or mexta?). I think it is akin to a British high tea. Anyway, we enjoyed a lazy, pleasurable chat in the breezy shade on Adenech's veranda.

Replete with coffee, injera, and popcorn, I made my way back to Azeb's, where I said I couldn't possibly have any dinner.

Ethiopia: Nazret, Day 6 at the English Alive Academy

Really hard to get up and at 'em this morning. Maybe because no coffee. More likely because I'm kind of fish out of water when it comes to teaching young kids.

I decided I needed to get on the ball with taking photos of the kids at school. These will be key to help people outside Ethiopia make a personal connection with the little ones who could use their help in staying in a good school.

Mekdes

I asked Mekdes, the KG campus director, for permission to take the photos, and she OK'd it. I let her know that when I get home to the U.S., I'll send the prints to the school for distribution to the parents.

Uh, oh. In pulling out my camera, I again generated havoc. There were times when I was literally covered in children, each eager to pose for a pictures. I got many, many good photos. I didn't get any of the nursery kids, though, so I'll do that on Wednesday.

Azeb returned from Addis this morning, and when I came home for lunch, she had prepared the best tibs I'd had anywhere in the country. And, as usual, she prepared coffee in the traditional way, grinding the coffee beans, roasting them, brewing them, and serving the coffee from the traditional jabena.

I was tired, so took a small nap before heading to the Grade 1-4 campus around 2:00 p.m. Azeb also took a nap.

I've become quite the pro at taking the minibus taxis, which run up and down the main thoroughfare. When I take the bus to the Grade 1-4 campus, I call out "WAH-dahch!" when we approach the corner by the Adama Mekonnen Hotel. WAH-dahch means, roughly, "here's my stop!" The bus assistant bangs on the side of the bus outside his window to alert the driver to stop.

At this intersection, there are generally several garis (GAH-rees), which are the horse-and-buggy taxis. They and the little blue tuktuks (bajaj) are only allowed to ply Nazret's side streets.

It cost one birr and 20 cents to ride the blue minibuses. In dollars, this works out to about 13 cents.

I presented an English class to the Grade 1-4 teachers. Then one of the 4th graders, Nahomi, escorted me to Ruth's beauty salon (Adenech's daughter's place) for a hair washing. Nice.

For dessert tonight, Azeb had bought a mango for us to share. Interesting about mangoes: the mango juice I've had in Ethiopia has been delectable - thick and luscious. When I've tried mango in the U.S. a couple of times, I found the texture and flavor completely distasteful. The mango Azeb bought - wow. Had a hint of coconut in the flavor plus the slightest sense of a gritty pear texture, with a soft sweetness in the balance. Azeb said there are several different types of mangoes, and this was number 4. Not sure I understood completely what she was saying. Regardless, this was a hellava mango.

[Here is a beautiful essay on mangoes, at Cock and Bull Stories, written by a Kenyan expat working in Addis.]

Started a book by Kathy Reichs (the Bones TV show catalyst), Deja Dead. Good brain candy.

No school tomorrow, as it's a Muslim holiday celebrating Mohammed's death. Or birth? Yikes, I forget. I'll use the day to upload the kids' photos and get caught up on my trip log emails.

Ethiopia: Nazret: Fourth Day at the English Alive Academy

TGIF!

Karma from yesterday's shrug about indulgences bit me in the butt today. Again I was in the 1st grade - but holy mother of God! A madhouse! A riot!

Similar madness occurred in every single class I was in today.

To make things even worse in the first grade, remember how some little punk sibling or friend would copy you when you were a child... repeating everything you said until you exploded (which meant they "won")?

OK - rote learning, right? The kids are trained to recite and repeat. Loudly. In chorus.

So, here's sort of what it was like in 1st grade today (though I've taken some creative liberties):

Me: OK, quiet please.

Class: OK!! QUIET PLEASE!!

Me: No, I mean, time to be quiet now.

Class: NO!! I MEAN, TIME TO BE QUIET NOW!!!

Me: I mean it! Sit down! Quiet!

Class: I MEAN IT!! SIT DOWN!! QUIET!!!

Me: OK, I'm really getting mad now!

Class: OK!!! I'M REALLY GETTING MAD NOW!!!

Me: Stop copying me!

Class: STOP COPYING ME!!!

OK, I didn't really say all that, but it was pretty close....

Once child even motioned me to blow the whistle. Like that was going to do anything in this melee.

In third grade, I was working with the kids on predicates. I experienced some difficulty in maintaining their attention. One boy was turned around in his seat, nonchalantly whittling his pencil lead with a very large serrated knife while talking with the kid behind him. Without even thinking twice about it, I gently turned him around in his seat and gently removed the knife from his hand, then placed it on a box in front of the room. At the end of class, I returned the knife to him. Didn't occur to me til that night, while dining with Azeb, that in the U.S., this "incident" would have prompted all sorts of major reactions, including a call to the police and perhaps an article in the paper. Again, I wasn't even thinking about the knife except that it was distracting the student from the class work. But as Azeb pointed out, five year-old farmers' kids in Ethiopia are responsible for managing 10 head of cattle every day.

There was running water last night, so I had a shower, though truthfully, the shower set-up is really more the illusion, the suggestion, of a shower, than the reality. Even so, it was a nice boost.

I did an English class for the KG teachers this afternoon, then hurried up to the Dire International Hotel in hopes of internet access before the office closed at 6:00. No luck. Thus I walked out to the terrace for my cold Ambo and lemon in my paradise hideway. Of all things! Men were chopping up the marble terrace floor! Hell.

Walked instead to the Rift Valley Cafe where I was able to get a Diet Coke in a refreshing garden environment.

Rift Valley Cafe

Returned home to Azeb's where I learned the outlet in my bedroom went bad today. There's another outlet in the bedroom, but it's a three-hole outlet, so I'll need to get a special adapter for it. Why so important about the outlet in my room? The fan.

Compared to Stephanie and Dawit, though, I don't have it so bad. Their neighborhood in Addis Ababa has been without electric power for several days.

Ethiopia: Nazret: Third Day at the English Alive Academy

Ah, having the fan last night was wonderful!

No running water this morning.

Azeb made me a nice bowl of oatmeal, plus I had a cup of Nescafe coffee for breakfast. Azeb, a very gracious hostess, also washes my clothes, for which I am very appreciative. She does it in buckets of soapy and clean water from the yard faucet.

There is a family who lives in a good-sized, adobe outbuilding in Azeb's yard. They cook their meals outside in a brazier with wood or charcoal. They fell on hard times and Azeb lets them live there at no cost - parents, two children (and one on the way), and a relative who serves as the family's maid. Very nice family, and the two children go to the Academy.

I spent the morning at the kindergarten-nursery campus (GC campus). First I worked with KG2 on the word of the day ("four") and making a sentence with "find" as in "find the yellow paper". The KG2 kids are about 5 or so, though this can range upward.

Then I worked in KG1 (about age 4 or 5) drawing spider webs, and I finished out the morning in the nursery (approx. 3 years old), playing songs from my mp3 player and speaker, getting them to listen for the beat, and using ordinary things (such as spoons) to make music.

Another delicious lunch at Azeb's (cabbage/tomato/beet salad, mixed rice, some leftovers of various things + bread). I finalized the lesson plan for the teachers' English class and then went to the Grade 1-4 campus. There I taught 1st graders about when to use "who" and "what" in questions.

A challenge at the Academy is that, though it is MILES ahead of the typical Ethiopian school in NOT relying on rote learning, such learning does still comprise a large component of the Academy's teaching style. Stephanie and Dawit strive to move away from this, but it is so ingrained in the educational system, it is a struggle for the teachers (though they try) to move away from what they know best.

Rote learning definitely has its place in, for example, memorizing multiplication tables and the alphabet, and important historical dates, but otherwise, it runs counter to creative thinking, questioning, exploration, and analysis.

So there are incongruous gaps of understanding I encounter at times. A basic example might be that even the youngest students can recite the months of the year in English - IN ORDER - but if you ask what month it is now, they might really have to think about it. Students can sight-read many, many, many words, but may be clueless about the meaning of lots of these same words.

We had a raucous afternoon in the 1st grade, so much so, another teacher came in to quiet things down a bit. I'm guessing this is pretty common when the volunteers come to town. I wasn't too worried about it myself, much in the same vein that a favorite auntie blithely indulges the little ones with goodies and privileges and lets the parents suffer for it later.

Well, no, I did get out my whistle once. THAT got everyone's attention.

This afternoon's English lesson for the teachers used Johnny Cash's "Wayfaring Stranger" song as its basis. A listening/speaking class.



Afterward, I hopped the minibus taxi for the Dire International Hotel where, disappointingly, I couldn't access email or Facebook. So straight to my Ambo and lemon on the hotel terrace for my little hideout time.

So luxuriously cool and breezy here in the evenings. I lament the lack of window screen in Nazret!

Ethiopia: Nazret: Second Day at the English Alive Academy

Last night was uncomfortable - we close the windows and doors at 6:00 p.m. because of the mosquitoes ("bimbies"), so although there is a restorative cool breeze outdoors, the interior air is close. The closeness was exacerbated by the mosquito netting I had over and around my bed last night. Then I started coughing some time in the night, a loud, annoying, dry cough that kept me (and probably Azeb) awake.

No running water in the morning. This frequent condition is why there is a large bucket in the bathroom, filled with water from the yard spigot. One uses this water as needed for the toilet (though I haven't quite got this process worked out), handwashing, or spit baths.

Speaking of water - because buying water for all of one's drinking need is prohibitively expensive, Azeb boils tap water for this purpose.

Azeb

Azeb made me a good, simple breakfast of a plain omelet and bread with peanut butter. Plus hot water into which I poured Nescafe instant coffee.

I went to the Grade 1-4 campus in the morning. The grade 4 teacher was absent, so I had the pleasure of teaching the seven delightful 4th graders until he arrived just before the morning beak at 10:30 (that's 4:30 a.m. Ethiopian time). We had high drama during "circle time", when some of the students took issue with Kalkidan's referee call on a learning-game play. She suffered the consequences that all leaders must when making unpopular decisions. I told the kids that since Kalkidan was the leader on this game, it was her call, and I stood by her decision. Then Nahomi, another student, registered his disgruntlement by tossing his cards into the middle of the playing field - the universal language for "flipping the board" that we all know. Later, when he wanted to rejoin the game, I said he couldn't as he'd already chosen to bow our via his earlier protest.

We went through a small vocabulary/phonics list from today's lesson plan. Each child took a card and explained the meaning to the class. It turned out that the students could pronounce the words, but didn't know their meaning. Nahomi drew the word "fuss". He looked to me and checked to be really sure I wanted him to demonstrate the word's meaning to the class. "Oh, yes", I responded. At which he proceeded to fart with gusto. The kids laughed, of course, and I learned that "fuss", in Amharic, means to fart.

At lunch, I returned to Azeb's, where she had prepared a refreshing cabbage and tomato and beet salad, plus shiro and a fish stew. When we don't finish all of the food from a meal, I've tried to encourage her to serve the leftovers to me at the next meal. I do not need a brand new preparation of something at each meal.

In the afternoon, I went to the nursery-kindergarten campus. Wah! Although one could possibly die from exposure to an overdose of cuteness among these sweeties, one is more likely to be overcome by their high energy. I don't envy the teachers.

Fortunately, I'm also not TOO much of a germ-phobe, else the constant state of toddlers' runny noses and other grit and grime that attaches to little ones might be too much. As it is, it's only ALMOST too much. For snack time, the teachers lay out a large tarp on the floor; the kids open up their lunch pails and literally dig in a shovel in. Oh yes, I'm much better suited to teaching adults.

At the end of the school day, I gave an English class to the teachers. We covered some basic commands helpful with students, such as "stand up", "sit down", "wash your hands", etc. Some of the teachers know this stuff; a few new ones do not.

Afterward, I got a little time on the internet, enough to shoot out a couple of emails and dally on Facebook. WOW! I was so warmed by the response to my previous Facebook notice about the English live Academy. Cousin Sarah had already contacted Stephanie about donations and Cat had already announced a fundraising Thirty-One party!

When I arrived home at Azeb's, the smell of kerosene permeated the house. Azeb cooks on one small kerosene stove in her kitchen. She sits on a low stool while doing so. One dish at a time. With closing all of the windows and doors at 6:00 p.m. the odor had no escape. I don't know why it was so today and not previous days.

I worked on my lesson plan for tomorrow's teacher training. We set up a fan so I can get a semblance of a breeze at night. I am very grateful for this.

No running water tonight, thus another sink bath with water from the bucket.

Hopefully, this doesn't sound like complaining. Just explaining what is. For me, it's new and different.