A Year in Retrospect: Beginnings

One year. A landmark time frame. The scale often used to muse over the happenings and experiences of the past.

I now stand one year into my service in Lesotho, and it truly makes me reflect deeply on my time here so far. I can say with certainty that this year was the most adventurous one of my life, overflowing with new experiences. It wasn’t without challenges, of course. I still remember clearly when I first arrived in my village, ripe as a green tomato, stumbling about the strange land. It makes me chuckle when I think about the immense contrast between my comfort level then and now. The strangers’ foreign faces and the incomprehensible sounds coming out of their mouths gradually transformed into friendly, familiar faces speaking words that no longer went over my head.

As I wipe the spider webs and dust off of this blog, I’d like to finally talk about some of the things that I’ve been experiencing throughout the year. Let’s start where we left off -- in the warm, rainy summer of January.

Being greeted by sunflowers on the way to town

Jan. 26, 2015: The Beginning of School

My village from above the adjacent mountain

Fast facts:

Number of students: ~450

Number of teachers: 20

Religious Affiliation: Lesotho Evangelical Church

Secondary school (grades 8-10) established in 1992, and high school (grades 11-12) established in 2007

Annual school fees per student: M1350 (~$90)

Corporal punishment used? Yes

Subjects taught: Math, English, Science, Sesotho, Bible, Accounting, Economics, Agriculture, and Developmental Studies (Social Studies)

Teachers and the school board celebrating last year's results

“Sir! When are we getting a female teacher?” an older boy hollered during break time. A teacher promptly waved a stick at him, and he instantly vanished back into the classroom. Being the third, male, and last volunteer at the school, I laughed internally at the student’s dismay. It was the first day of school. There were a myriad of questions floating above my head. Will I be able to teach these students successfully? What can I do to improve this school? How can I control these students without corporal punishment? Will I be able to fill in the shoes of the previous volunteers?

Surely enough, I encountered challenges on the first day. For my younger Form A (grade 8) students, I tried using a math icebreaker as an introductory activity. I told them to rearrange themselves and sit from youngest to oldest. To do this, the students had to communicate with each other their birthdays and correctly order themselves. The problem I hadn’t considered was that the age range of rural Lesotho classes is expansive due to students starting school late or repeating grades; this class in particular had students between the ages of 13 and 19. The older students, unwilling and ashamed to share their age, sat glued to their desks. The intimidated, younger students were hesitant to go on with the activity truthfully and seemed to sit in a random order. Finding that my encouragement had little effect, I gave in and told the students to return to their seats. They immediately responded by sitting in the exact same seats they were in before the activity, as if to rub in how unsuccessful the activity was.

Me sitting at my desk in informal attire (it was a holiday!)

I realized very early how important it is to keep an open mind and accept mistakes head-on in order to learn from them, especially since I was teaching for the first time in a classroom setting. It’s easy to overlook factors that can make or break an activity. In this case, I found that I need to be sensitive to things that students may find uncomfortable such as their age. This was just one of several lessons I learned from plans and ideas that didn’t fall through, each one molding me slightly into a better teacher. Even now, I still feel that I have an ocean to cross before being able to be satisfied with my teaching. Only through more raw experience can this be achieved.

Having been a student myself for so long, I really gained a different perspective by being on the teaching end of a classroom. It’s essential to try to put yourself in the shoes of the students to ask questions such as: Would I understand this if I were learning English as a second language? Would this lesson bore me to no end? I often look back at the teachers I had during my own stint as a student and mimic and avoid certain attributes that I found in great teachers and dreaded teachers, respectively.

Posing boys

Regarding the school rules, all students must wear maroon uniforms. In addition, students must have their heads shaved clean, including girls. Virtually all the men in Lesotho normally shave their hair anyway, so it’s nothing new for the boys. But why do the girls have to shave their heads? This is to prevent more well-off girls from showing off extravagant hair and consequently making the poverty-stricken girls feel inferior.

Girls, or "banana" in Sesotho

Here’s what a day in the life of school looks like:

7:00 AM: Morning study -- Students arrive at school to study. Those that are excessively late are punished (usually a lash to the hand). Some students who live at distant villages walk for up to two hours just to get to school.

7:45 AM: Morning assembly -- Every morning before classes, the school comes together for an assembly for the national anthem, the Lord’s Prayer, a hymn, and announcements.

The daily morning assembly

8:15 AM: Classes begin -- Each period is 40 minutes, and there are single and double periods (80 minutes) for each subject.

10:55 AM: Break time -- Students have 20 minutes to get some fresh air or buy some snacks at one of the nearby shops.

Students receiving tuition scholarships through the Tuition Assistance Program

1:10 PM: Lunchtime -- The students and teachers are provided a Basotho lunch.

2:00 PM: Afternoon assembly -- Another, albeit shorter, assembly is carried out where only the national anthem is sung, and further announcements are made.

2:10 PM: Classes resume -- These afternoon classes are often the most difficult to teach because students are mentally drained and undergoing food coma from lunch. Toss in the heat of a hot summer day and you have an easy recipe for sleazy, sleepy students.

3:40 PM: Afternoon study – Students are given one hour to study and complete assignments. Contrary to most developed countries, “homework” is not a prevalent practice here and it’s understandable. Once students get home in the rural villages, they have to do household chores or take care of animals. There’s also the problem of textbooks not being available for every student. Consequently, math scores are consistently the lowest out of all subjects. Regular practice is essential for developing and retaining mathematical ability, and thus the lack of practice has a chokehold on math results. Students at least get some practice in the form of assignments, but these are usually short due to the limited amount of study time (which is used to study all subjects, not just math).

4:40 PM: School out! And on that note, blog out!

One of my New Year’s Resolutions is to breathe life back into this blog and to record my thoughts and experiences more often. The problem for me is that I write at a snail’s pace, so many blog attempts have ended in half-finished jumbles of disorganized thoughts. I’ll tell myself: Just write, write, and write. The speed will come naturally.

Here’s to another adventurous, fulfilling year. Happy New Year!

Up Next: Cultural Day!

The chief showing her approval during a cultural performance