Girls Just Wanna have Fun!

This past week my students have been writing (taking) their exams including mine for ICT. Usually class tests are written on the blackboard but end of term exams are printed on paper but we found out too late this term that the district (think county office back home) wouldn’t be setting (creating) the questions. So we had to write our questions on the blackboard. My exams had three parts: practical, theory (open-ended questions), and objective (multiple choice). The practical for ICT includes a picture that the students are supposed to label. For example Form 1 named the various parts of the computer, form 2 the graphical user interface (desktop, icons, etc.), and form 3 a browser window. I then of course had almost 200 papers to mark (grade). At times marking papers is encouraging such as when one of my form 1 students made a perfect 100. Then sometimes it’s humorous especially because of spelling mistakes such as ouputer perhaps formed as a combination output and computer, handle divice instead of handheld device, and bragging instead of dragging the mouse. But then it can also be quite disheartening and downright depressing because of excessive spelling and grammar errors, dismally low scores, and zeros on the objective portion. As my fellow Volunteer Adam texted a group of us this week ‘I don’t know whether to laugh or cry when a student gets below what statistical guessing should score.’ Although our school won’t vacate until sometime this week I already feel as though I’m finished and can celebrate making it through my first term as a teacher here.

I keep forgetting to post about my student roommate maybe perhaps somewhat consciously because I wanted to see how the housing situation was going before writing about it. When I came to visit my site way back in July the headmaster mentioned I could decide to have a student come stay with me if I like since I have an extra bedroom and so I’d have company. I dismissed the thought but once I moved here one of the form 3 students Felicity asked me if she could come stay so she could use the lights to study at night since her house is far from the school. At the time everything was very overwhelming so after getting advice from fellow Volunteers and my supervisor I told her I would think about it again in November once I was more settled in. Long story short, after much thought I decided to have her come stay. It’s a win-win situation since it helps her be able to study more and hopefully do well on the big exam in April to proceed to senior high school. She’s 15, is quiet in class and with me but not with her friends of course, and wants to be a teacher in the future. For me it’s nice to have the company, help around the house, and maybe helps me fit in a bit more since people don’t really live alone. Two of Felicity’s friends and fellow form 3 students also spend a lot of time at my house. Gifty likes cooking, going to church, and is the health prefect at the school. Last week she showed me how to make cosi which is a local fried treat made with bean dough and served with pepe (red pepper). Diana has dimples like her sisters Joyce and Rachel who I’ve posted about previously, has a father who speaks impressively good English even though he never attended school , and wants me to become ‘obolo’ (large) before I go back home. I think I’ve gained 2 kgs since the girls started cooking for me so I am on the way. This week she wore a wig that belongs to her mother to the house and all the girls took turns trying it on. Including me…so, for your entertainment, a photo.

Last week on the way back from the Fumbisi market there was another white lady who boarded the same lorry I was on and I was so shocked that I called her ‘felika’ (white person in Buli). Even though this term isn’t meant offensively, sometimes I take offense to it especially if I think the person knows my name. So you can imagine how embarrassed I was for letting that slip out. We ended sitting next to each other and had a nice chat about life in the Builsa district. She’s from Europe and is in Sandema for 2 months working at a children’s home. When I returned home I told the girls that I saw another ‘felika’ and so there were ‘felisa’ (plural version of felika) on the lorry and they thought that was pretty funny. She and a friend went to the market and were returning with watermelons, which are in season right now. Speaking of watermelon, Friday night I was sitting on my front porch eating some and spitting out the seeds and it dawned on me how bizarre this activity is for December back home. I really cannot believe it’s a week away from Christmas! But my paper countdown chain and the calendar do not lie…