There is no excuse...really

Sorry for being a slacker in updating my blog. Really, since school has ended..I sit at a computer in a room with a fan with plenty of opportunities to update this lovely thing...so, here it goes!

May till the beginning of July, I worked on multiple projects at Sophia Special. Here are some pictures from the renovation of my "office" to make it a teacher resource room and literacy center. After a ton of cleaning and organizing as well as unpacking BOXES of brand new books...this is what happened!

I also did a little project with level 7 students where they drew representations of their life in Guyana. These drawings then went to Easthampton, MA where my dear friend, Anna is going to do drawing exchange with her students...for a possible art show sometime in September/October. Here are some pictures of some of the students working on their drawings:

Our 4th of July celebration was chock full of yummy food, water balloon fights, dizzy bat (with a cricket bat, of course!) and the incredible enjoyment of the U.S Ambassadors pool.

My 33rd birthday (gulp!) was really nice with some food adventures and nice friends. There was even a brownie cake which was delicious!

Since school is finished for the summer, I am working at NCERD on a few projects. My major project is a HIV/AIDS curriculum for all 12 special needs schools. I am doing a big 3 day teacher training at the end of August with about 30 teachers along with the HIV/AIDS Education Ministry. It is turning out to be a much bigger project then I anticipated (think press and officials!) and am excited to see how the teachers respond to the information. I hope that they take the information and really put it to use for the lives of their students. It can be really challenging when I give the teachers the tools and they just stick it in a folder and never open it up again (happens all the time!)

Anyways..that's life here Guyana..just now!

Sophia Special School

Pictures from the Sophia Special School...where most of my work happens.

Here are some of the students during morning prayer.

Some of the kids who are in my arts after school club.

Just now....

These past few weeks in Georgetown have been hot and humid with the rains sort of starting...some days it looks like it is going to pour down and not one drop of rain falls..then other days it's sunny and then we are slammed with a 10 minute downpour.

I have started back 4 days a week at The Sophia Special School with behavioral trainings for the teachers, language assessments for level 7 students, small literacy groups and even started an after school art club for students to experience visual arts, music/dance and drama.

At the ministry, I just finished working on a training for teachers/parents and educators on how to make teaching aids using grassroots materials. The teachers and educators commented that they enjoyed the information that I presented to them and I hope that I can continue to influence them to use creative arts in the classroom.

Additionally, I am planning large scale trainings for all of the teachers at the identified special schools in Guyana. I recently created a teacher survey to better understand the needs and concerns from special needs teachers in the country and am in the process of distributing the surveys and collecting the results. This information is going to help the disabilities education office formulate numbers for a comprehensive report to present to the education ministry on increasing resources for special needs schools.

As you can see...I've got a lot going on and am trying to make my remaining 5 months here worthwhile!

10 things I have learned while in Guyana

1. Corn in a cup with a random sauce is equivalent to chicken soup…AMAZING!

2. The kissy noise in Guyana is the same as hissing in Togo …I just ignore it.

3. There is such as a thing as a chip that taste like Cinnamon Toast Crunch

4. Pange can be used all over the world.

5. Bootleg DVDs are fabulous when you are trying to catch up on movies/TV from the last 2 years.

6. Uncomfortable seats, crazy drivers and horrible roads= Bush taxis/ Buses around the world.

7. Mosquitoes still love me wherever I go!

8. Street food is so much better (and cheaper) than anything from a restaurant.

9. A working iPod can make things so much better.

10. Realizing that people can understand what I am saying when I speak English.

Onward to the Rodeo

Longest bus ride of my life--check!

On Thursday night, I left with 25 other people to head approximately 13 hours to Letham, Guyana for the National Rodeo. We arrived at 5am Saturday morning…30 hours later! We experienced getting stuck in the mud,waiting for a truck to get unstuck from a bridge (for 4 hours) and a slow driver on very very bumpy roads.I was very grateful to get to Letham but the ride was really difficult. After a couple hour nap, we headed to the rodeo to experience horse riding and bull riding.

It was a really nice mix of Guyanese culture as well as Brazilian influences. I got to have my favorite Brazilian drink, a Caipirinha!We spent the rest of the day watching the rodeo and enjoying the atmosphere.

That night instead of going to the “after party”, I rested and got a decent night’s sleep.

Sunday morning, I took a nice walk around the area and then we headed to a set of waterfalls.

I spent the whole day relaxing in a pool of cold water straight from the waterfall. It was fabulous! That night, we got on the road to head back to Georgetown and arrived 18 hours later…sigh, a trip I will never forget but something I never want to repeat again!

It was really nice to meet some new people and to get to see a different part of the country. A funny story is that I met a girl on the bus that works for USAID who also served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in TOGO! She was there about 6 years prior to me and lived in the regional capital that I frequented about once a month. It was a fun conversation and small Togo world!

I am still off this week from working at the school and am at the disabilities office where we are prepping for a teacher/parent training on Thursday and Friday. We are going to be presenting simple ways to present education concepts to students with disabilities by using physical objects. For example, using hands on materials to teach students with visual impairments how to count or making visual flashcards for students with learning disabilities. I’ll be posting pictures after the training so, everyone can get a better idea on what we have going on.

This weekend, I will be helping out at an Autism fair that the Special Needs Autism School is putting on to raise money for the school. I will be doing the face paint and should be a nice time celebrate Autism Awareness month.

Round the wicket

This past weekend was filled with fun activities here in Georgetown. On Saturday I was able to meet up with a great NGO called Ve'ahavta based in Canada. My friend Sarah works for them and connected me to them because they had been doing health work for underserved communities in the interior of Guyana. Check them out and see the great work they have been doing all over the world:http://www.veahavta.org/ We had a great Chinese dinner and even did Havdalah!

On Sunday I went to a cricket tournament that featured 30+ teams over the course of the day. It was a lot of fun and I sort of learned to understand how cricket works.

One of the nice things about the game was that most people didn’t have a particular team they were routing for; it was just whoever scored or got someone out.

It was also great to see GIRLS teams playing and the crowds being just as excited to see them. Being able to see gender equality in sports is such a great thing to see after being in Togo!

Here is a video of some of the excitement of the game!

Work has still been challenging but I am getting to know the routine and I have scheduled two teacher trainings in my school during the month of May. Starting Friday the schools are closed until May 2^nd for the Easter break with will allow me to work here at the Education Center for the next two weeks (Yeah, internet!). I am working on a survey for special needs teachers as well as working on a behavioral module that will be given to teachers to help them better understand Special Education needs.

Today, myself and other response volunteers helped to celebrate the 50^th anniversary of Peace Corps at the swearing in ceremony for the new volunteers. Some of the girls had traditional Indian saris and I am now determined to get one made here in Georgetown before the end of my service! J

Have you ever heard of a Peace Corps Volunteer who has....

-A refrigerator with a freezer

-A TV with American TV shows

-A store with American food in walking distance

-3 fast food restaurants around the corner

-Attended an aerobics class at a gym!

Well, that PC volunteer is ME in Guyana!

To say the least, this position is on the other spectrum then my service in Togo! I live in a really cool house:

I also have a great roommate, Andrea who is another response volunteer. She served in Cameron and we have lots of West Africa similarities and it's fun to say things in French to each other.

As for work, there are two places I am currently working at. On Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays I am working at the Sophia Special School here in Georgetown. It is a school for children with behavioral challenges as well as learning disabilities. There are approximatively 175 students at the school but on average only 100-130 show up on a daily basis. The kids range in age from 11-17yo. Over the course of my 2 days there, I realized that about 75% of the students can not read or write. There is no structure for the students to follow to pass into the next grade so no matter if they pass or fail, they automatically move up. Over the course of the next month, I am going to be meeting with each child individually (I hope!) and do an evaluation to see where they are academically in language and math. This will give us a better idea on accommodations and interventions that can be used in the classroom to help these children succeed. Also starting in May I am going to be doing a arts program with visual arts, dance and drama 2x a week after school. My hopes is that these students will connect with some informal education which will inspire them to continue good behaviors during the official school time.

There are other programs I hope to impliment at the school and I hope I can get most of it done before my 6 months are up.

On Wednesdays, I am over here at education resource center in the Ministry of Education.

Right now, I am working on a survey for teachers who work at the special needs schools to find out there needs and where they need the most assistance.

The numbers from the survey will be added into

a report for the education ministry in order to request more services for students with disabilities. As well, there are more things I will be working on....

Guyana is really tropical and there are short rains about 3x a day which makes the weather more humid. Other then the challenges at the school, things are fine and I'm enjoying my time here :)