Leaving my comfort zone …
Off to Nosy Komba, a small island located half an hour by boat from the more touristy Nosy Be. That’s where I’m gonna roll up my sleeves for the next three weeks.
First exercises: 1) boarding the boat without falling into the murky port water, 2) getting off the rocking boat 3) mastering tracks and trails: steep, stony, sandy, and craggy stairs, trip-hazard up, slip and stumble down. Passed the test, even in flip-flops, never refused a helping hand though but … no bruise, no blood, no broken bone.
My home is my hut, always open to the occasional faunal intruder. Yes, I was stung in the hip by a huge buzzing insect, yes, I had a poisonous millipede in my hut, and yes, geckos are welcome. From time to time the traditional palm leaf roof needs to be repaired, then it’s totally rainproof. And when it rains, it rains!
When roughing it becomes cosy normality. Mosquito nets keep the critters at a distance and ensure some privacy. Note: upper bunks should be for the young and sporty only. After five nights I got assigned a near-the-ground bunk.
Malala Yousafzai’s most famous quote regarding education and teachers is: “One child, one teacher, one book and one pen can change the world”. Delivered during her 2013 UN Youth Assembly speech,
Teachers, bring along books, note books, pens, pensils and chalk, chalk, chalk! Forget about computers, interactive whiteboards, photocopiers, those fancy high tech blessings (;-) … find an old blackboard, hold on to it and handle it with care!
Thank you, foresightful self for packing loads of good old chalk into the luggage.
Morning course, 9 to 11, intermediate English, local community. My classroom: last table in dining area. A few young men show up, more and more over the next days, between 17 and 30 years old; motivation: better job possibilities. No girls? Where are the young ladies? Busy with chores?
Apart from Malagasy and the school language French, English is much sought-after in tourism. Textbook English, school English, my students have an idea of the language, but they lack speaking practice. I focus on games, role-playing, like working as a waiter, and important current issues like deforestation in Madagascar; for writing practice they take notes. At the end of the lesson I propose songs as a reward, and that’s where the reading comes in … thanks to tons of fotocopies in my luggage. These young gentlemen stay on and on, much longer than 2 hours … help!!! I’m running out of ideas.
Afternoon lessons: it’s me who has to move, a long and arduous walk from our camp to the village of Ampangorinana, short Ampang. When fuel is available, the organisation takes us there and back by boat. Otherwise WALK! Thank you, my guardian angels Mario and Gabriella! A young chap from the local communitiy and my favourate baby’s young mother watched over me and kept me from falling off cliffs or stumbling up and slipping down gravelly footpaths at high tide. At low tide, I could easily stroll along the beach. Safe, except once, when the tide wasn’t low enough, I hit my head on a thick branch of a tree on the beach and, much to Gabriella’s horror, bounced backward into the surf. Luckily, my cell phone didn’t get wet. No drama really: The 2 km stretch from our camp to Ampang seems to be a challenge only for me, everyone else walks, runs, or jumps effortlessly over the rocks and stones along the coast, even barefoot or in flip-flops … and after sunset! Not me!!!
Taxi-service: going to “work” and back by boat as long as there is no fuel outage.
When assigned to teach at university: I think “wow”, ride the boat to Hell-ville, Nosy Be, get picked up by a Tuc Tuc and meet my students in a building that belongs to the university. Just in case, I bring my chalk and sponge along. My inflatable globe is my best all-round working tool … These students have a working basis in English, but they too need to practise their speaking skills. They enjoy the exercises and, like all the others, love to sing a song at the end … and they say “thank you”. (come to think of it, the others did, too)
Teaching at Centre National de Recherches Océanographiques (CNRO) de Nosy Be is not only enjoyable but also very interesting: in the end one of the students gave me a tour of their museum.
Unfortunately, no fotos of my classes at the local elementary school. I was overwhelmed: 50 kids of different ages crammed into a small classroom. No books, the text of their science lesson was written on the blackboard, that’s the teacher’s job, and I didn’t want to cancel it. Some of the pupils were calm and keen to learn, others were distracted and tried everything to disturb the rest. No explaining, no teaching, no talking, no way … Gotta move it, move it! Open YouTube downloads: “stand up, stand up, sit down, sit down”. I wrote the lyrics in the small free space on the board. Half a minute later everybody was singing and standing up and sitting down and turning around. We had so much fun, even the ones outside the school. They looked through the windows and joined in. Thank you YouTube and Fun Kids English.
The elementary school teacher told us, the teachers hadn’t been paid since Covid. We would hear that over and over again.
When the pupils were taking their exams, another teaching volunteer and I went to the beach and taught the children that were hanging around there. “Hallo, what’s your name?” … like little sponges they “soaked up” the song text and started dancing and singing all over the beach. These pictures are from a video clip. With plenty of songs downloaded to my smartphone teaching along the way is becoming a habit. And the kids are always happy to learn.
I was so fond of all my students! … and so sorry to say good-bye !!! Next letter: good-bye to Nosy Komba and
a thankful report to my dear book-sponsors.
Cheers Gerburg
gerburgkamm 