Seminars...

In the following days I had several seminars, starting with a meeting with the headmasters of all partner schools. In former meetings we often had the problem, that they do not talk about problems..I guess it is a general problem. So I tried to do some group activities. I was really surprised..but it worked:)

After that meeting I went to Kizimkazi.. a lovely place...just a few steps from the beach. There I met the four volunteers. We had a lot of discussions about life in the family and the situation in school. There were a lot of cultural aspects we talked about. As I did the same program, I remembered similar situation..being frustrated that things are just going slower (polepole)here etc. Then we went back to town in order to have a meeting with all volunteers and their tandem teachers. Tandem teaching is one of the main ideas of the program. Working in a team to exchange ideas etc. We talked about the experience, the problems, etc. As some cultural problems came up and also the discussion about the punishment of students came up, I divided the group in volunteers and tandem teachers. The volunteers discussed about alternative punishment to beating..as this is still common in most of the schools. It was interesting as some teachers really do not see an alternative. Not everything is possible in all schools...as the class size varies from 18 to 70, but still good ideas were collected. The teachers discussed about cultural aspects..what a volunteer should know...from clothes, communication, the idea of sharing.. Very interesting and a good exchange. At the end new ideas and plans for the second half of the volunteers' stay were discussed..