Hello again! Look at me writing another update so soon. I feel all grown up. As usual, while talking to my mother she said that some of the things we talked about would be good blog topics (these are also things she gets questions about periodically from those curious folks back home) so I got I inspired and have decided to satisfy some curiosities.
First, a cool Sierra Leonean tid-bit I recently learned: towards the end of the wet season if you stand facing north you can tell the weather that is yet to come by looking at the moon. If the moon leans right it means the wet season is coming to an end. If the moon leans left it means more rains to come. If there will be more rains it means the farmers can proceed with the second planting of granat (peanuts). So everyone go out today and predict the weather from the moon. I'm assuming if you love in the good ol' PNW the moon will lean heavily to the left.
On to other topics.
Students with disabilities: Last week in our weekly chat my mother asked me about students with disabilities in my classrooms. While I'm sure that students with learning disabilities exist in my classrooms I think in general in this country (or in any underdeveloped country with lower levels of educational standards) most of the students with severe learning disabilities end up dropping out. I would also assume that, with the exception of maybe Freetown, all learning disabilities go unrecognized. I also probably would have a hard time discerning here between what might be attributed to a learning disability and what would be attributed to the teaching methods. (Most teaching here is by rote memorization. Any education theory will teach that all students learn in different ways, so rote memorization may not work for some students. But whether or not a student is struggling due to teaching methods or due to a learning disability is beyond my abilities to identify.) I also am by no means an expert on learning disabilities so that may also have a small part to play in my inability to see it in my classrooms. As for physical disabilities I have two students at my school with club foot, requiring canes to walk. But the most common form of anything physical would be poor eyesight. Essentially no students have glasses so the ones who can't see know to seat themselves in the front of class.
More about the student body: every term there are always a number of students who leave school because of illness or pregnancy. This may make me sound like a terrible teacher, but my classes are big enough that most of the time I don't notice if a student is gone. It is very common for students to miss a week if they get malaria but students also have to leave more long term for more serious sicknesses. There are always a few girls every term who leave school because of a pregnancy. Sometimes they will come back the next year, but more often after they give birth they are done with school for good.
Nutrition: I don't have any concrete data to back up any of my observations, so take this all with a grain of salt. In general I think most people get enough calories but I see a big problem in protein deficiency, especially in children. Fish is about the only protein they get, and sometimes chicken/guinea fowl, goat, or other beef (bush meat--I generally prefer not to know what it is, but could be monkey or cat or cutting grass or squirrel or any other kind of meat) but anything besides fish is usually too expensive for most families, at least to eat on a regular basis. Little kids will often eat more actual rice than I could, but they almost never get any fish or beef so while they might not have a calorie deficiency they do lack for protein. At least 70% of the kids I see have the big bellies associated with kwashiorkor. (Kwashiorkor is a protein deficiency while mirasmas is a lack of both protein and calories.) It is really important for kids to get protein because it is the 'body building' nutrient, but they don't get enough, which I think probably accounts (at least somewhat) for the smaller stature of people here.
That probably didn't answer anybodies questions but it at least made me feel better about updating my blog. Glad I could feel productive! Miss you all!
First, a cool Sierra Leonean tid-bit I recently learned: towards the end of the wet season if you stand facing north you can tell the weather that is yet to come by looking at the moon. If the moon leans right it means the wet season is coming to an end. If the moon leans left it means more rains to come. If there will be more rains it means the farmers can proceed with the second planting of granat (peanuts). So everyone go out today and predict the weather from the moon. I'm assuming if you love in the good ol' PNW the moon will lean heavily to the left.
On to other topics.
Students with disabilities: Last week in our weekly chat my mother asked me about students with disabilities in my classrooms. While I'm sure that students with learning disabilities exist in my classrooms I think in general in this country (or in any underdeveloped country with lower levels of educational standards) most of the students with severe learning disabilities end up dropping out. I would also assume that, with the exception of maybe Freetown, all learning disabilities go unrecognized. I also probably would have a hard time discerning here between what might be attributed to a learning disability and what would be attributed to the teaching methods. (Most teaching here is by rote memorization. Any education theory will teach that all students learn in different ways, so rote memorization may not work for some students. But whether or not a student is struggling due to teaching methods or due to a learning disability is beyond my abilities to identify.) I also am by no means an expert on learning disabilities so that may also have a small part to play in my inability to see it in my classrooms. As for physical disabilities I have two students at my school with club foot, requiring canes to walk. But the most common form of anything physical would be poor eyesight. Essentially no students have glasses so the ones who can't see know to seat themselves in the front of class.
More about the student body: every term there are always a number of students who leave school because of illness or pregnancy. This may make me sound like a terrible teacher, but my classes are big enough that most of the time I don't notice if a student is gone. It is very common for students to miss a week if they get malaria but students also have to leave more long term for more serious sicknesses. There are always a few girls every term who leave school because of a pregnancy. Sometimes they will come back the next year, but more often after they give birth they are done with school for good.
Nutrition: I don't have any concrete data to back up any of my observations, so take this all with a grain of salt. In general I think most people get enough calories but I see a big problem in protein deficiency, especially in children. Fish is about the only protein they get, and sometimes chicken/guinea fowl, goat, or other beef (bush meat--I generally prefer not to know what it is, but could be monkey or cat or cutting grass or squirrel or any other kind of meat) but anything besides fish is usually too expensive for most families, at least to eat on a regular basis. Little kids will often eat more actual rice than I could, but they almost never get any fish or beef so while they might not have a calorie deficiency they do lack for protein. At least 70% of the kids I see have the big bellies associated with kwashiorkor. (Kwashiorkor is a protein deficiency while mirasmas is a lack of both protein and calories.) It is really important for kids to get protein because it is the 'body building' nutrient, but they don't get enough, which I think probably accounts (at least somewhat) for the smaller stature of people here.
That probably didn't answer anybodies questions but it at least made me feel better about updating my blog. Glad I could feel productive! Miss you all!
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