Hello Everyone!
I just had my two-month anniversary in Nicaragua this past
Saturday and cannot believe it has already been two full months!
As I mentioned in my last blog post, I will continue
describing each of the 4 pillars of the NPH philosophy. Today I will talk about
the topic most relevant to my work: education. Many of us have been taught in
the US that there is no better key to a good future than a good education and
Father Wasson was in complete agreement. Yes, all of these kids have been dealt
a rough hand in life, but they have also been given the secret to turning it
into a winning hand: a mind of their own.
In order to secure each of the children a solid education
and chance at a bright future, NPH runs its own school in each one of the
international homes. They are technically private but other local children can
attend at a small (merely symbolic) cost, which means that NPH serves many more than just the children who
live here. Although our school is one of the best in the country, compared to a
school in the States, it is still quite a shock (as I have already mentioned).
What is really great about NPH is that rather than come in and try to change
the system here and input all of our ideas about education, they work with the
local system. It would be easy for me to say that the current education system
is broken and ineffective but that would be a lie. Before I can judge how
classes are here, I must first understand the system in the country and how
teachers are trained, the local pedagogy and the manner in which students are
taught to learn. NPH hires mostly local teachers (I am the only foreigner) and
is beginning to train them in different teaching styles in order to help them
with finding success in the classroom. However, education does not only occur
in the classroom and everyone here supports the students outside of class with
homework, projects or finding books to read in our library (can you believe we
have a library??!?!?).
Along the lines of education, I am pleased to announce my
classes have definitely been improving in the past few weeks. I decided to alter my approach to
teaching and focus on more student involvement, more games, more activities and
more speaking. In the end, more fun. Because in the end of the day, you learn
when you’re having fun, right? So whether it means making giant flashcards for
every new word and racing through them as a class, pulling out a ball and
playing catch or singing “Head Shoulders Knees and Toes” when we get bored, I’m
trying it! I have had less disciplinary problems and feel less exhausted after
teaching all morning so I think it’s working!
As for what is going on in the house…I finally introduced Ultimate
to the home! On Independence Day the volunteers organized a massive scavenger
hunt for all of the kids. Each volunteer was responsible for running one
“prueba” or challenge that each team had to complete in order to get another
clue. Obviously, I pulled out my discs and designed mine around passing down a
field. I had to teach quite a few frustrated kids but at the end most of them
managed more or less. One of the girls even came back to play with me later!
Here are some pictures of her throwing the disc (check out her form!).
I will shamelessly admit that I am trying to spread the Ultimate
bug and hope they all catch it so I can share the wonderful game.
(And-selfishly-so that I have someone to throw with.)
Last but not least, the food of the week…. “Vigoron”
Vigoron is a dish that has yucca, beef and a salad (shredded
cabbage, carrots, chili peppers and other vegetables) wrapped in a plantain
leaf. It is a very common street food that you can find in almost any park,
especially around dinnertime. Well as I was waiting for a bus back to the home
this weekend, I happened to sit down next to a vigoron vendor. I was not planning
on eating but couldn’t resist the alluring smells. So I bought one and enjoyed
every last bite of it. I still haven’t gotten used to the culture of eating by
hand so the “Handi” tool I got for my birthday came in handy!! Check out for
yourself…
And here I am at the beach relaxing a bit and climbing the surrounding hills on my weekend off...
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