St. Joseph’s was very different than Little Harbour. I am glad that I got to go to the Dominican school but it wasn’t as easy as I thought it was going to be. The academics weren’t the hard part, it was everything else. Just looking at the classroom made me think about how lucky we are at LHS to have newer desks, a classroom library, comfy chairs, and a tiled floor. We have so many people to help us when the teacher needs to leave the room. In Dominica, the kids get crazy when the teacher steps out for a minute. The academics seemed about a year or two behind ours because some kids don’t put as much of an effort into learning or they don’t have the supplies they need for school projects. Many of my friends came over after school and borrowed pencils or markers. They liked to see what my LHS homework was and if there was any way they could help us with it or do it too. We brought along extra math journals and we gave them out to the kids we knew. They were psyched and we felt good about ourselves. Going to Dominica every year helps us feel more grateful for what we do have and give us time away from all of the stuff that most people “cannot live without” here in NH .
Now That I Am Back at My Own School
I am happy to see my friends here but I miss my friends there. I look at the kids and wish that every one could have the experience I had. It’s nice to have after school activities
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Willow's Observations About School in Dominica
We prayed a lot during the day.
We wore uniforms to school and for gym.
There was no TP in the bathrooms or soap so we brought our own.
Instead of drinking fountains, we drank out of the pipes.
Kids walked a long way or took the public bus. Seat belts didn’t always work.
Kids got hit with rulers when they got in trouble.
It was OK to share lunch and snacks.
Kids were allowed to drink soda at school.
To buy lunch, you could go into the street. You had a long time to eat.
There were no toys for the blacktop at recess so I brought some cards and games.
Kids wandered into the street after school to find a bus or hitchhike.
Now That I’m Back at Little Harbour:
I am so happy to see my friends!!!!!!!!!!!!
I like morning routine because I know just what to do.
Ms. Freeman seems especially nice and even though she’s pretty strict, she’s funny.
We wore uniforms to school and for gym.
There was no TP in the bathrooms or soap so we brought our own.
Instead of drinking fountains, we drank out of the pipes.
Kids walked a long way or took the public bus. Seat belts didn’t always work.
Kids got hit with rulers when they got in trouble.
It was OK to share lunch and snacks.
Kids were allowed to drink soda at school.
To buy lunch, you could go into the street. You had a long time to eat.
There were no toys for the blacktop at recess so I brought some cards and games.
Kids wandered into the street after school to find a bus or hitchhike.
Now That I’m Back at Little Harbour:
I am so happy to see my friends!!!!!!!!!!!!
I like morning routine because I know just what to do.
Ms. Freeman seems especially nice and even though she’s pretty strict, she’s funny.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
The Barrels Have Made it!
I just received an email yesterday afternoon that the barrels have reached Dominica! So much for the 2-3 week shipping time from Portsmouth! It actually took 2x that. Lesson learned for next year.
We still need to work through some details to get the barrels to the school, but we were overjoyed to hear that the barrels are no longer sitting in Miami.
Next stop for the barrels: customs. Then they get loaded into a vehicle (all vehicles are generically referred to as "transport" in Dominica) and then delivered to the town of St. Joseph, where they will be opened by Ms Verne Pendanque, principal of the school, and distributed.
One of the things we talked with Ms Pendanque about as we were wrapping up our stay there was what else we could do. Was there a meaningful project that would really help improve the quality of education for the kids in the school. As we talked, we kept coming back to books and realized that what they really could use is help building the school library. The current library is a small room with just a few small bookshelves, housing just a hundred books or so.
The more we discussed this, the more excited we became about the possibility of creating a library with encyclopedias and other useful reference books. So we're beginning to investigate this in more detail. We need not only books but book shelves (ideally with wheels so they can be moved). Nothing need be new. If anyone has thoughts on sources for any of these items, please let us know!
We still need to work through some details to get the barrels to the school, but we were overjoyed to hear that the barrels are no longer sitting in Miami.
Next stop for the barrels: customs. Then they get loaded into a vehicle (all vehicles are generically referred to as "transport" in Dominica) and then delivered to the town of St. Joseph, where they will be opened by Ms Verne Pendanque, principal of the school, and distributed.
One of the things we talked with Ms Pendanque about as we were wrapping up our stay there was what else we could do. Was there a meaningful project that would really help improve the quality of education for the kids in the school. As we talked, we kept coming back to books and realized that what they really could use is help building the school library. The current library is a small room with just a few small bookshelves, housing just a hundred books or so.
The more we discussed this, the more excited we became about the possibility of creating a library with encyclopedias and other useful reference books. So we're beginning to investigate this in more detail. We need not only books but book shelves (ideally with wheels so they can be moved). Nothing need be new. If anyone has thoughts on sources for any of these items, please let us know!
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Alden's Last Day
Willow and I are going to school on Friday at Little Harbour and we are really exited to see all of our friends. We had some bad luck before we left, the containers did not come! The principal is going to pick them up and give the books, backpacks, and other things like that to the kids but also keep the school supplies and some of the books to the school. Next year, we are not going to give the books specifically to the students, we are going to build a library in the school for kids and adults. There are going to be magazines also. We are also going to work on building shelves for the books to go in. The library will be open to the public.
All of our teachers came to Mero beach to say goodbye to us. They gave us gifts and we had dinner. My friend braided my hair and it turned out really good, they were doing it in the dark. My dad brought his guitar to the beach and he played some music. All of the kids were interested in playing. We spent the next morning going to the school to say goodbye to all of our friends. We spent the rest of the morning playing DS with our friend Keicy. Then, we hopped on the plane and left. We are in Puerto Rico right now and we are going to sleep on our own bed tonight. Sad but happy.
All of our teachers came to Mero beach to say goodbye to us. They gave us gifts and we had dinner. My friend braided my hair and it turned out really good, they were doing it in the dark. My dad brought his guitar to the beach and he played some music. All of the kids were interested in playing. We spent the next morning going to the school to say goodbye to all of our friends. We spent the rest of the morning playing DS with our friend Keicy. Then, we hopped on the plane and left. We are in Puerto Rico right now and we are going to sleep on our own bed tonight. Sad but happy.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Barrel Disappointment
We received bad news yesterday. The barrels that we sent on February 1, with a 2-3 week delivery timing promised, will not arrive until next week. This is a huge disappointment for all of us. One of the major reasons we’re here is to distribute the books and school supplies to the students in St. Joseph. And now we will not be able to participate in the delivery of the barrels, the sharing of the books, not here to see the smiles on the childrens’ faces as many of them receive the first book they have ever owned for themselves.
Yesterday afternoon the teachers from the school came to the beach here in Mero and brought sandwiches, drinks and gave us several presents of thanks for our efforts. We were really happy to see so many teachers show up and a bit surprised by the outpouring of thanks. That thanks really goes out to so many friends and family members who helped us by contributing supplies, and supported the cost of shipping the barrels.
We spent some time at the school this morning going over details with the principal, Ms Pendanque about how to collect the barrels. It’s sad that we will not be here to get them, help unload them and distribute the donations, but Ms. Pendanque will no doubt see that everything is handled well.
We also discussed the possibility of helping build the school library, which is very limited today, so we have more plans to discuss with her and look forward to figuring out how to make that happen next year.
While we’re very sad not to receive the barrels while we were here, we leave here feeling very good about the impact these supplies will have for so many kids. They are eager to learn and yet many of them do not have the resources to support their curiosity. We hope to post pictures from the barrel unveiling that Ms Pendanque said she’ll send.
Yesterday afternoon the teachers from the school came to the beach here in Mero and brought sandwiches, drinks and gave us several presents of thanks for our efforts. We were really happy to see so many teachers show up and a bit surprised by the outpouring of thanks. That thanks really goes out to so many friends and family members who helped us by contributing supplies, and supported the cost of shipping the barrels.
We spent some time at the school this morning going over details with the principal, Ms Pendanque about how to collect the barrels. It’s sad that we will not be here to get them, help unload them and distribute the donations, but Ms. Pendanque will no doubt see that everything is handled well.
We also discussed the possibility of helping build the school library, which is very limited today, so we have more plans to discuss with her and look forward to figuring out how to make that happen next year.
While we’re very sad not to receive the barrels while we were here, we leave here feeling very good about the impact these supplies will have for so many kids. They are eager to learn and yet many of them do not have the resources to support their curiosity. We hope to post pictures from the barrel unveiling that Ms Pendanque said she’ll send.
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