SJ log for Feb 25 - teaching at the Sunshine School

Monday, February 25, 2008

The first work day of my second week alone in Bequia began and ended with periodic rain squalls, but in-between the day was sunny, warm and beautiful. I left the boat to go ashore to the Sunshine School in time for the 9am assembly which begins each school session.

Head teacher Camille Jacbos leads a lesson during assembly on volcanoes. There are a number of volcanoes in the Grenadines, and the nearest one is Soufriere, just across the Bequia Channel in St. Vincent.

I guess you could describe my work during school time as a substitute teacher. I work with several girls, ages ranging from about 12-17, and who's learning skills are at very diverse levels. The skills I teach are related to math, reading comprehension and grammar. Some days we also work on crafts like crocheting and knitting, although on those days head teacher Camille joins us because my expeience level in that area isn't much ahead of the students, so Camille is teaching me to so that I can better assist the girls.

The Sunshine School begins each day at assembly by singing several hymns, followed by a prayer of thanks, and then we go around the room and everyone describes what they did after leaving school on the previous day. Since this is Monday I heard what the students did over the weekend, which for most seemed to be a combination of what most kids do – watching TV, playing games, and for these island kids that often includes something to do with boats or perhaps going to the beach.

Assembly time begins the day with hymns and sharing experiences.

After assembly I prepare my lessons for the day while the girls are in their first class, and then they join me in the open air meeting area at the entrance to the school that also serves as a classroom when needed. Our lessons typically begin around 10:30 after their short break for milk and juice in the kitchen after their first class, and then we work on math and language skills until lunch begins at noon.

Today our math lesson consisted of learning how to both recognize and write the words to represent the names for numbers (for instance, to recognize that the number “1,505” is written as “one thousand, five hundred and five” – and the reverse). After math we moved on to grammar and matching nouns and verbs in a sentence. I am enjoying getting to know the girls with all their unique personalities, but I often feel completely out of my depth sometimes because other than my years as a software trainer which is a very different than what I’m doing here, I have no formal education training. The biggest challenge is keeping the girls who learn the fastest occupied while not leaving the slower ones completely behind and lost. It’s sometimes a daunting task, so I’m very glad that head teacher Camille Jacobs is nearby in her office just next door in case I need anything, and she often pops out to see how we’re doing which I appreciate very much. It’s obvious how much the girls respect Mrs. Jacobs because when we finish a lesson they often ask if they can go and show her their work which I find quite endearing. They address the head teacher in the more formal method by using her last name (Mrs. Jacobs), and all the remaining teachers by “Miss” and often their first name – hence I’m either “Miss” or “Miss Carla”).

From left, Leonetta, Alisha, Ashanda, Shantell and Krista.

Working with several girls all at once is an interesting challenge, especially given the differences in their ages (12-17) and their varying skill levels. One girl is so silent she will sometimes speak quietly to people her own age, but when asked a question by an adult she seems to lose her voice completely and speaks so softly you can barely hear her or simply says nothing at all. The oldest girl in the class is perhaps not the fastest learner in the group, but she is very self-disciplined and an incredibly hard worker, so her efforts to learn inspire me to try that much harder. Of course no class of females is complete without the “drama queen”, and we have one of those too. She is quite bright but perhaps a bit hyper active which is sometimes a bit disruptive to what we’re doing, and she reminds me of Samantha with the same love of attention and boundless energy. And then there is another young woman who I think must be about 14, but I’d guess her skill level to be about first grade or so, but she puts forth such a concentrated effort that it warms my heart. The mixture is often a challenge, but they are a joy to work with and I feel I’m learning much more from them than they are from me.

Left is Alisha working on her embroidery, and above right is Adiera or "Adie" crocheting a small bag. Many of the items the girls make are later offered for sale in the community.
Some days I stay and eat a local island lunch made by Miss Delnora for the students and other teachers in the large kitchen just next door to our open air classroom, but today I had some errands to run in town so I left around noon and walked the 1/8 mile back to town. Later I stopped by a local place on one of the back streets that I know sells local dishes each day. It’s just a salmon colored concrete building with no sign or other indications of food service, but it seems to be a very popular spot for lunch with native islanders. They typically sell beef, chicken, or pork dishes and palau (chicken and rice mix); and today when I asked what was offered the lady mentioned they had turkey ribs today and even brought out a dish to show me what it was like. I had heard of palau and wanted to try it so I ordered that (shown in photo). It’s sort of a stew using chicken, rice, lentils (they do a lot with lentils down here) and of course the traditional Caribbean seasonings to make it spicy. I liked it except for the fact that it included all parts of the chicken including the bones – which is a common style of cooking here, much like some places in the southern US – so once I realized what the dark specs were I just picked around them and enjoyed the rest of the dish which was quite good and very cheap ($8 EC which is about 3US for a huge serving w/cucumbers on the side).

Local dish "palau" - chicken and rice and lentils

I enjoyed my lunch sitting on a bench near the almond tree, probably the key landmark in the small village where the taxi stand is located. My lunch spot was only about 20 feet from the water, so I had a wonderful view of the harbor and ferry dock. It was the middle of the day and the amount of activity is impressive – taxis coming and going, children on break from school going to and fro for lunch, visitors shopping in the small shops along the concrete walkway which parallels the waterfront, ferries arriving and leaving from the wharf just behind me near the Visitor Center, and of course the local produce stands outside busily selling today’s fresh vegetables.

Taxi stand in the heart of the village under the almond trees.

Upon returning to Sacajawea on the dinghy I made a call on our VHF radio to contact "Fixman" about the needed repairs to my stove (see Feb 24 posting). I had heard about Fixman from numerous sources, locals and cruisers that have been here awhile alike – it seems he does everything from plumbing to woodworking to you name it. I called his workshop on the local working channel of 68, and we arranged for him to come by the boat tomorrow. What a great service -- I just pick up the mic on my VHF and call for a repairman and the next day he makes a "boat call." Pretty cool, especially since my stove is located in a boat anchored in the harbor of a tiny seven-square-mile island in the south Caribbean Sea. Until next time, cheers! cy