Struggling students
Hey everyone! I've been out of touch for a while. I've been sick and abandoned and left for dead in the middle of the rainforest. But it's all getting better. Here's a short recap of where we are so far and a review of what needs to be done here and why.
Okay, just in case you don't have a good idea where I am, I am about 20 kilometers south of the Nicaraguan border, in a small settlement on the outposts of the Aguas Claras district in the Upala region. There is a long dirt road leading out of Aguas Claras that eventually ends just near the Nicaraguan border, and the fourth colony on that road is called Colonia Libertad. I am teaching English to students from Aguas Claras, Colonia Blanca, Valle Verde and Colonia Libertad.
I have been organizing the English lessons since I arrived here. When I arrived, there was confusion in the community about when I would be arriving and where I would be staying. At first, people thought that I was from the Peace Corps and that I was there to do infrastructure projects. It took me almost two weeks to nail down a solid place to stay, which ended up being at the exact house that I was told I would be staying in--but only thanks to a strange turn of events that replaced one teacher with another who lives close by, thus freeing up a space at la casa de los maestros (the teachers' house). After that, I tried to establish an afternoon schedule with Mayra, the schoolmaster, only to eventually find out that the majority of the students aren't at school in the afternoons. School ends after "lunch;" lunch is at 10 or 11 am, depending on the day. This means that the students have an average of 3 hours 20 minutes of actual instruction each day. My English lessons usually last about an hour, which means that the students must take that hour out of their other studies. Subjects that the students study in school are not reinforced in their homes due to a lack of general education in the community. I have established a new tentative schedule with the schoolmaster. More about this in a minute.
I have also traveled to Aguas Claras to talk with the director and the head English teacher there about the problem that the students are having with graduating from high school. Both of them agree that there is a problem, but they have been exceedingly bureaucratic about letting me teach there. The two times that I have taught there, it has been to conversational English students who don't really (in my humble opinion) need additional help. I have come to the conclusion that maybe I can solve the Aguas Claras graduation problem closer to home by holding English workshops here in Colonia Libertad.
In addition, I am now teaching two days a week at the high school in Colonia Blanca. In this case, when I say "high school" I am talking about a single-room building where students sit in different groups to learn subjects. The high school collaborates with the Ministry of the Environment and Energy so that they can have extra space in which to show videos and teach classes outside of the Common Room. I am there Wednesday and Thursday. Thursday I lead a practice discussion with students from three grades. When I came there, the students were paying attention to everything but the discussion; now, they seem much more animated to learn.
I have encountered the same basic argument every step of the way here: It would be nice to do more, but we can't. We can't have more than three hours of school. We can't hold students after school, even if they are in sixth grade and don't know their multiplication tables. We don't have money to fix the chalkboards. The students can't learn how to use the computers because the parents complain that certain students are being treated with preference. I have seen children being written off as having "learning disorders" who can understand and reproduce basic grade-level ideas perfectly well. I have been called a "tourist" instead of a volunteer by the regional director of the Ministry of Public education. And honestly, I am infuriated. I am infuriated because I see that these children are being robbed of their future, and nobody seems very much disposed to doing anything about it.
I have talked with the owners of Finca La Anita about this and they say that they struggled for a long time with the bureaucracy here before finally deciding to send their children to school in Liberia, 2 hours away. I can see why. I don't know that I have all of the solutions to the problems here, except I must admit that I am constantly forced to acknowledge how lucky I am to have had the opportunity to attend and work in schools with much better infrastructure and with much greater focus on high achievement for all students. Every day here, I have no choice but to look at myself as privileged; privileged economically and privileged in terms of education. Privileged because I come from the United States. People here equate my abilities with my nationality; those of you who know anything about my political leanings must know how infuriating that is. But I can't deny it here. I can't deny that I had a better chance, and knowing that is precisely what keeps me here. Because if my beliefs in solidarity and egalitarianism mean anything at all, it is that I have an obligation to stay here and share what I know with the students and those who are in charge of their futures.
At least we have internet now; I will be able to download some resources for the students and I will try to post again soon. When I get around a better connection I'll try to put some pictures up too! The valiant students who are braving these rough seas deserve to be known. :)
From Colonia Libertad,
Chaim Eliyah
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