A number of weeks ago, I was beginning to look for a way that CRC Primary could be involved in some sort of community service. I decided to visit the Kabala School for the Blind after JT (the headmaster) and the visiting pastors made a trip up there (I say “up” because the school is located at the top of the hill). They had mentioned that the school was operating under a series of constraints, and JT had reiterated the deplorable living conditions that they witnessed.
First of all, I should give a brief history of the school. It was established in 1986, and in 1989 became a partially funded government school. The school started with 10 or so students, and grew to around 30 or so at one point. All the students live on the school grounds as well as go to school. The primary students go to school at the same location, and the secondary students walk (with a guide) to one of the 3 local secondary schools in town. Along with the help of NGOs in the community, it was doing OK in a permanent location 3 miles out of town – the school was receiving three meals per day, was growing, and had a good music and crafts program.
The school has never been the same since the rebels attacked it in July, 1998. Their structure was destroyed, and for 7 years they were moving from place to place with no government support. Finally in 2005 they were allowed to stay in their current location, which is horrible but at least it gave them some stability.
For the last year, the school has received hardly any government funding and is desperate. Local community stakeholders, as well as the NGO that Adrienne works for, CITA, has been the school’s only sources for daily needs like food. But even with CITA’s help the school is currently only getting 1 or 2 meals per day.
So one day I drove up there myself to visit the school for the first time with the intention of simply meeting the headmaster and introducing myself. Since then, I have visited the school a number of times with other people, and every visitor has the same reaction: a compelling need to help them somehow. The reasons for this are numerous. First of all, they really are living in terrible conditions. Their building (which they are only allowed to stay in temporarily) is old and damaged with many problems such as huge windows without glass and things other similar problems. They don’t have a well, so during the dry season they have to haul water up the hill every day – an extremely demanding feat for anyone, let alone someone who is not able to see. Also, they have next to no materials for their school, including no musical instruments or craft supplies. The other main need is accommodation help such as beds, mattresses, clothes, etc., as they are sleeping 3 to a “bed” in many cases right now. The second and even stronger reason that one feels the urge to help is the wonderfully endearing character that these students and teachers show. They are very warm and welcoming, and they treat each other like family – even poking fun at each other.
While I was visiting there for the first time, I knew this was a great opportunity for CRC Primary to bless the community in a profound way, and I decided to visit the school more regularly, so I told them I would come a few days later with Adrienne. On that visit, I mentioned that I would come the next week with my 29 class 4 students and 4 visitors from Canada, and on that visit I mentioned I would come the next week with Adrienne’s parents. With each visit, I could feel their confidence in me growing. When I visited the 5th or 6th time with a couple of workers from CAUSE, their confidence had turned into full-fledged hope that I was their Saviour. I felt a lot of pressure, because all I had done was visit, and although I want to help them, I hadn’t told them I would because I don’t really know how. Adrienne reminded me that they put their hope in me not because I had given them grand promises but because their situation is hopeless. When I say I am going to come back and I do, they almost have no choice but to put their hope in me.
Having said that, I do want to find out how that school’s situation can improve, and I’ve spent a lot of time researching the school, and trying to find out the best way to move forward in terms of relieving some of their constraints.
One thing I am really excited about is that a partnership is developing between the Kabala School for the Blind and CRC Primary School. JT and the teachers are excited about helping that school out, because all the teachers are aware of their constraints. So far we have just been brainstorming ways to help, and JT had the idea of the students at CRC going without food periodically throughout the year (one day per month or so) and donating that ½ bag of rice to the School for the Blind. We were discussing putting a name on that day where we go without food – I suggested “thanksgiving day,” or “neighbor day,” or “blessing day.” JT suggested “blind day.” We settled on brainstorming a little more for the name of that day.
As I talk to more and more people about the school, I have become increasingly touched by how people in the community really want to help the school, and in fact the only reason it has survived the last number of years is because people in the community have made contributions. At the same time, I have become progressively more frustrated that the government money, for whatever reason, hasn’t come in consistently. I have heard that schools for the blind across the country are experiencing the same funding problems.
So far, I am just in the researching and learning phase. I have a meeting tomorrow with JT and the School for the Blind’s School Management Committee Chairperson (named Mohummed Alie!), so I am hoping to hearing his thoughts on how the school can move forward most effectively. Adrienne and I would welcome your prayers on this issue. Thank you so much and we will keep you posted.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Some Sports Day Pics
Alaharrkan Primary School, which is a new Muslim school located right beside CRC, just had their sports day. They asked me to be Sports Supervisor, and I was sure to get a few pics of the academic events that they are doing as well. The finished product of the above pics was almost correct.
The announcer and other spectators intensely observing the alphabet scramble
One adjustment that made it way better was to get fellow teammates to hold the pocket chart instead of arranging them on desks.
Red house standing in front of their booth. One thing that pictures don't capture is the dancing that goes on. The sound system plays Salone (Krio for Sierra Leone) tracks all day long, and the kids just dance continuously in front and inside their booths.
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Sports Day
Sports Day
It really isn’t possible to describe the magnitude of each school’s sports days here in Kabala. Typically, each school puts on a 2-day event (although CRC’s really turned into more like a 4 day), which slightly resembles an inter-school track meet back home. Each school in Kabala and the nearby villages make sure that their sports days fall on separate days so that people from the community will not have to choose between which event to go to (and yes, most of the community comes to watch each school’s meet).
CRC Primary’s Games and Sports Committee (which included myself, 2 other teachers and JT the headmaster) basically had to plan for around 3 months in order to get everything together in time. Just a few examples of things we had to get ready: going to Freetown for $200 worth of photocopies for advertisements, certificates, programs, and many other materials needed, paying for and reserving a PA system for both days, building 4 temporary shelters (“booths”) for each of the houses and one large booth for dignitaries, honored guests, etc., turning our field into a track with lanes using garden tools, and reserving a band from the local high school to help us with the “match pass.” A match pass, by the way, is when the whole school (students, teachers and most parents) gathers in their house colors on one end of town, and marches/dances/sings/cheers/yells its way behind a generator-and-sound-system-carrying pickup truck all the way through town for a couple hours until they reach their school.
As the Sports Day Supervisor, I obviously had to be present the entire time at our event, which went from around 11 am to 7:00 pm both days, which happened to be the hottest days of the year (around 45+ degrees).
I am going to try and explain how these sports days “look,” which is pretty much the same for all the schools. All the students are divided into one of 4 houses: red, orange, blue, and green. They hang out, all day, underneath their booth they have constructed in one of the 4 corners of the field with their “house master” - the teacher representing that house. There’s also a larger booth for tables, trophies, a sound system, the announcer, and a bunch of VIP’s, officials, and honored guests. In the middle of the field (in the sun) there’s around 20+ volunteers in charge of judging, scorekeeping, calling the events, and so on.
The events. Mostly track-type events…sprints, high and long jump, etc, but there are also a number of “fun” events like egg-and-spoon, musical chairs, and a dancing competition. So for example, picture 8 6 - year - old kids all dressed in their specific colors in the middle of the field playing musical chairs with hundreds of people watching and cheering. The crazy thing is that people aren’t only cheering because it’s really cute, funny, and so on. They actually care who wins. Well, “care” is a drastic understatement. Even Fraser Valley Christian’s athletic department doesn’t get this competitive. There was one moment during musical chairs where a red house competitor (and by “competitor” I mean cute little innocent class 1 boy) fell and straddled the chair before a blue house kid came and sat on the chair. All eyes fell to me, as supervisor, for a decision, and red house actually threatened to leave when I ruled in favor of blue house. Cries came from all sides for established written rules as to what exactly is meant by “sitting.” I said a better idea would be to take a collective chill pill. These sorts of moments neither few nor fart between.
Academic events. Every school has pretty much the exact same events at their sports days, but I came up with a few academic ones at CRC’s, all of which looked pretty much the same. At “go,” the kids from each house run halfway across the field to a pocket chart, where they unscramble a word or the letters of the alphabet, or do a times table, or spell a word correctly, or arrange tins with letters on them in alphabetical order. I thought the events went OK, but could have easily been improved upon, but apparently everyone else thought they were amazingly innovative. The interesting part is that every school which is having their sports day after our own is doing all the exact same academic events. No other schools have pocket charts, so 2 have already called dibs to use ours (most of our trophies are currently on loan as well). I guess it’s possibly that these events could be fixture in Kabala sports days for years to come. Too bad I missed my opportunity to call them after myself….
Predictably, the schedule ran overtime (thanks in part to a lengthy opening ceremony which took place a couple hours before the end of the whole event), so the closing awards ceremony had to take place on the following Monday. Luckily, I was in Freetown and missed the ceremony where 1st, 2nd, and 3rd for every event was individually presented with a certificate. wow.
Thoughts on the day: a cool insight into Kabala culture, and I’m glad to have been a part of it, and it certainly was like no event I’ve seen before, but I’m glad I don’t have to plan one every year, and if it was up to me I wouldn’t keep score. I’ll suggest it, but I think people care way too much who wins to go for it.
ps. I have a million pictures of the match pass, but not a single one of our sports day, as we used our parents' camera on those days. We will try and get our hands on them and post a couple.
It really isn’t possible to describe the magnitude of each school’s sports days here in Kabala. Typically, each school puts on a 2-day event (although CRC’s really turned into more like a 4 day), which slightly resembles an inter-school track meet back home. Each school in Kabala and the nearby villages make sure that their sports days fall on separate days so that people from the community will not have to choose between which event to go to (and yes, most of the community comes to watch each school’s meet).
CRC Primary’s Games and Sports Committee (which included myself, 2 other teachers and JT the headmaster) basically had to plan for around 3 months in order to get everything together in time. Just a few examples of things we had to get ready: going to Freetown for $200 worth of photocopies for advertisements, certificates, programs, and many other materials needed, paying for and reserving a PA system for both days, building 4 temporary shelters (“booths”) for each of the houses and one large booth for dignitaries, honored guests, etc., turning our field into a track with lanes using garden tools, and reserving a band from the local high school to help us with the “match pass.” A match pass, by the way, is when the whole school (students, teachers and most parents) gathers in their house colors on one end of town, and marches/dances/sings/cheers/yells its way behind a generator-and-sound-system-carrying pickup truck all the way through town for a couple hours until they reach their school.
As the Sports Day Supervisor, I obviously had to be present the entire time at our event, which went from around 11 am to 7:00 pm both days, which happened to be the hottest days of the year (around 45+ degrees).
I am going to try and explain how these sports days “look,” which is pretty much the same for all the schools. All the students are divided into one of 4 houses: red, orange, blue, and green. They hang out, all day, underneath their booth they have constructed in one of the 4 corners of the field with their “house master” - the teacher representing that house. There’s also a larger booth for tables, trophies, a sound system, the announcer, and a bunch of VIP’s, officials, and honored guests. In the middle of the field (in the sun) there’s around 20+ volunteers in charge of judging, scorekeeping, calling the events, and so on.
The events. Mostly track-type events…sprints, high and long jump, etc, but there are also a number of “fun” events like egg-and-spoon, musical chairs, and a dancing competition. So for example, picture 8 6 - year - old kids all dressed in their specific colors in the middle of the field playing musical chairs with hundreds of people watching and cheering. The crazy thing is that people aren’t only cheering because it’s really cute, funny, and so on. They actually care who wins. Well, “care” is a drastic understatement. Even Fraser Valley Christian’s athletic department doesn’t get this competitive. There was one moment during musical chairs where a red house competitor (and by “competitor” I mean cute little innocent class 1 boy) fell and straddled the chair before a blue house kid came and sat on the chair. All eyes fell to me, as supervisor, for a decision, and red house actually threatened to leave when I ruled in favor of blue house. Cries came from all sides for established written rules as to what exactly is meant by “sitting.” I said a better idea would be to take a collective chill pill. These sorts of moments neither few nor fart between.
Academic events. Every school has pretty much the exact same events at their sports days, but I came up with a few academic ones at CRC’s, all of which looked pretty much the same. At “go,” the kids from each house run halfway across the field to a pocket chart, where they unscramble a word or the letters of the alphabet, or do a times table, or spell a word correctly, or arrange tins with letters on them in alphabetical order. I thought the events went OK, but could have easily been improved upon, but apparently everyone else thought they were amazingly innovative. The interesting part is that every school which is having their sports day after our own is doing all the exact same academic events. No other schools have pocket charts, so 2 have already called dibs to use ours (most of our trophies are currently on loan as well). I guess it’s possibly that these events could be fixture in Kabala sports days for years to come. Too bad I missed my opportunity to call them after myself….
Predictably, the schedule ran overtime (thanks in part to a lengthy opening ceremony which took place a couple hours before the end of the whole event), so the closing awards ceremony had to take place on the following Monday. Luckily, I was in Freetown and missed the ceremony where 1st, 2nd, and 3rd for every event was individually presented with a certificate. wow.
Thoughts on the day: a cool insight into Kabala culture, and I’m glad to have been a part of it, and it certainly was like no event I’ve seen before, but I’m glad I don’t have to plan one every year, and if it was up to me I wouldn’t keep score. I’ll suggest it, but I think people care way too much who wins to go for it.
ps. I have a million pictures of the match pass, but not a single one of our sports day, as we used our parents' camera on those days. We will try and get our hands on them and post a couple.
Kabala Team #2
So cool to have the group from FVC and SCS hang out in Kabala for a few weeks. The students (Elisabeth, Joey, Madison, and Rachel) really seemed like they enjoyed their time. Adrienne and I were totally impressed with the way they carried themselves and represented FVC during their time here. There were a lot of long, hot days – especially during the sports days, but they were always positive and energetic with the students, and the students loved them. In fact, it was rare to see one of them walking around the school without around 20 little CRC kids hanging off them. They read stories, played games, sang songs, and helped out the school in some practical ways. I thought often about what a life changing experience for them this would most likely be for them.
Carrie and Janice, the teacher chaperones, did an amazing job. I was reminded on our first visit together in Kabala when Carrie mentioned to the girls to let them know any time they go anywhere that they aren't just visiting…they're visiting and chaperoning. It’s not easy to soak in this kind of travel experience on your own, let alone while being responsible for 4 high school students. It’s hard as a chaperone to know when to give freedom and when to pull the reigns, and they walked this line really well. Also, it was great to chat with them about their experiences here, things back home, and so on, and Adrienne and I really loved showing them around Kabala a little bit.
Everyone at CRC and other people have told us to extend greetings to this group, so if they are reading this…greetings from Kabala.
Carrie and Janice, the teacher chaperones, did an amazing job. I was reminded on our first visit together in Kabala when Carrie mentioned to the girls to let them know any time they go anywhere that they aren't just visiting…they're visiting and chaperoning. It’s not easy to soak in this kind of travel experience on your own, let alone while being responsible for 4 high school students. It’s hard as a chaperone to know when to give freedom and when to pull the reigns, and they walked this line really well. Also, it was great to chat with them about their experiences here, things back home, and so on, and Adrienne and I really loved showing them around Kabala a little bit.
Everyone at CRC and other people have told us to extend greetings to this group, so if they are reading this…greetings from Kabala.
Erin and Travis' pet deer...no name yet. Any suggestions (other than "bambi")?
Here is Kabala team #2 hanging out one night at Choices restaurant
Foray delivering a couple of chickens strapped to his handlebars
One day some of my students came by and started "bluffing" (showing off) with our sunglasses...made for some good pics.
All of the following match pass pics were taken by my prefect Kari Fala while sitting on the back of the motorbike I was driving. He has sickle cell, so it is difficult for him to walk some of the time. He took about 1 picture every 10 seconds for about 2 hours....which equals a heck of a lot of pictures
Class II teacher Finah - I forget which house she belonged to....
JT loved....LOVED having the microphone broadcasting throughout the town, it was great. Note the jubilating parents in the background.
Match Pass Pics
Kabala Senior Secondary's band which we hired for the day
A lot of parents came looking snazzy for the day
CRC's head boy Mohummed in Green, and another class 5 boy.
Nice shot of the CES truck complete with a sound system for the match pass
Riding in the back of the pickup 5 hours to Freetown on what must have been the hottest day of the year. The upside: it's fun and actually very comfortable. The downside: I got heatstroke.
Us and our friends Erin and Travis, who work for CAUSE.
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