I am finished with the first year of school! Exams are
graded, grades are compiled and I am on summer vacation!! So pumped. This
summer my plans consist of going to Bo to help train the new group of
volunteers, hanging out in Kamabai, traveling to visit friends and having my
mom and three sisters come and see Salone. Don’t worry Peace Corps, it won’t be
all fun and games. I have plans to really make my library awesome before the
opening of school. I want to decorate it with academic posters, fix up some
broken furniture and come up with some fun activities that will help kids get
to know the library. In addition to that I want to prepare lesson notes since I
will most likely be teaching Chemistry in addition to Biology and Integrated
Science next year. Also there is a grant that I am writing to help fix up our
science lab, but that has been a bit of a struggle to get going, so if the
community doesn’t start showing more interest I might just drop the project.
The great part about summer break so far is the rainy days
where I can put on a t-shirt and sweats (cold weather attire) and read a good
book. Also now I have more time to cook and my family hooked me up with some
bomb seasonings so my food can actually taste a little bit like home which is
nice. I now can make a killer bean, cabbage and sweet potato soup which is
perfect for cold rainy days. I even have my neighbor kids liking this strange
“American chop” as they call any food that I make. To get people to eat
anything other than rice here and have them think it is good is a struggle, so
I’m so happy that my kids like my food now and aren’t afraid to try it.
As far as the end of the school year is concerned, it went
alright. We had to cut teaching short because of the BECE (the exam kids have
to take to get from middle school to high school) which is currently going on
right now. Because my school is a testing site we had to finish exams before
the BECE started, even though school is not supposed to close until the middle
of July. Scheduling is a major struggle in this country. But my kids for the
most part did better on this term’s exams, which is encouraging. Unfortunately
a lot of them failed. For the high school students it doesn’t really matter as
long as they can get a passing average in all of their classes, since Biology
isn’t a core subject for them. But for the middle school kids in order to go to
the next grade they have to pass my subject, which only about 25% of them did.
We will see if my school holds to their promotion criteria and my class next
year is small, but I have a feeling that some kids will slip through, that’s
just how it works here.
My principal and I did have a really great meeting a few
weeks ago where we reviewed this academic year and discussed our strengths and
weaknesses. We then made up an action plan about how to fix those weaknesses
and we were able to come up with some really great ideas that I hope are able
to try and create solutions to these problems. I am so grateful that I have a
principal that is willing to sit down and have these conversations and actively
try to make a change in the school. Development is never going to come to
Sierra Leone unless Sierra Leoneons want to make a change and I am thankful
that I get to work with a staff that for the most part falls into that
category.
With the ending of the school year comes the anniversary of
my arrival in Sierra Leone. It’s crazy to believe that I have been here for one
entire year. I think that life back home has been put on pause, but anytime I
get on the internet or talk to my family I know that’s not true. My baby sister
just graduated high school for goodness sakes, how did that happen? I am so
thankful that God brought me to this country and I am happy to be doing this
work, but at the same time I am ready to go home at the end of my contract.
Being here has really made me realize what priority family and friends take in
my life and how I really don’t like being disconnected from them. At the same
time I have come to realize how location and culture can impact and change a
person and I am grateful for the opportunity to constantly challenge and shape
my attitude, my worldview and my identity. This experience so far has been one
of the most fulfilling and difficult things I have ever done and some days I’m
so happy I did it and other days I think I am crazy for moving 7,000 miles away
from everything I know. But, I value learning about the world outside my
limited Midwestern American experience and if there is anything I have done
here, learning is it. As much as I want to go home next year, I can’t imagine
leaving this place, especially my new family and friends here. With the first
group of volunteers getting ready to head home in a few weeks at the conclusion
of their two years in Sierra Leone, and the new group just arrived, a change in
my family is coming. Also PC Sierra Leone is getting a staff alteration with
our Country Director, Medical Officer and Programming Manager all being
changed. This upcoming year will be a different experience than my first year
and I hope a better one. So much of creating effective change comes with
knowing the community you live in, how to make things happen, who you need to
work with etc. Now that I have that down I hope that I will be able to be more
successful in my projects this year. I’m sure this next year will be full of
new challenges but I think that now I am better equipped to handle them. At
least I hope I am :)