Just wanted to announce that Sean recieved great news in his inbox today. His grant from Apropriate Projects for funds to improve our aquaduct was approved! Check out the link to learn more...
apropriateprojects.com/node/545
congrats to Sean...maybe we will be able to bathe soon...
happy valentine's day!
Monday, February 14, 2011
Grant Approved!
Just wanted to announce that Sean recieved great news in his inbox today. His grant from Apropriate Projects for funds to improve our aquaduct was approved! Check out the link to learn more...
apropriateprojects.com/node/545
congrats to Sean...maybe we will be able to bathe soon...
happy valentine's day!
apropriateprojects.com/node/545
congrats to Sean...maybe we will be able to bathe soon...
happy valentine's day!
Saturday, February 12, 2011
No excuse on the lateness.
Where to begin?
It has been a long time since I sat down to write a post- I apologize to the faithful readers out there who check regularly for updates. In this case I can say that no news was good news- we have had an active and exciting time in site the last month and a half, so much so that I have felt overwhelmed when sitting in front of the computer. What is there to say? Suddenly I am pressed for time, so i will give you just a quick rundown of what is going on with us.
On January 4th we started our summer camp: Expolradores (explorers). Because families were still living in the schools of Boquerón Abajo, our camp ended up being only in the school of Boquerón Arriba. We have our last week next week and I can definitely say that camp was a success and it was a lot of fun!
Sean had never been a teacher before, but he picked it up very quickly and the campers love science class. His classes have been very hands on with all sorts of fun expirements (like a bottle rocket). His big project with them has been a stream survey where they sample the water daily and each day test a different aspect of it. All of the kids participated in observing and recording the date. Even cooler? Local scientists from the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) are coming to talk to the students about their tests, some of which are very similar. Some of these kids are definitely walking away from camp inspired about science- maybe they can see a future for themselves in the field.
My classes have been English,Art and Story-time. I have been able to test out some new teaching methods and encourage some much needed creativity. We of course always include time for games- I am always amazed by how easy it can be to entertain them. We have a wide range ofparticipants- from 4 to 16 years old, so sometimes it can be difficult to make sure they are all enjoying themselves/learning, but I think we have been pretty succesful with that.
We officially have a chicken! She was gifted to us by a community member who knew that we liked the chickens with feathers on their legs. Sean had made a comment that 'these chickens have pants' and she got a kick out of it. Because of her penchant for pants, we have named our chicken Hillary Clinton (or Chicken of the State) . I should point out that this not a knock on Secretary Clinton, or her pantsuits. More like an honor because we adore our chicken. We have been learning all about the care of chickens. I am definitely going to have a hard time when it is time for her to become dinner...but that is a ways away yet. Right now we are waiting for her to start laying eggs. Then we look for Bill.
Our aqueduct is still not functioning, despite hundreds of man hours spent fixing and cleaning it. Right now Sean is shifting his focus to restore water in the community and working tirelessly on this aquaduct. There is a well so we do have access to water for drinking and eating. We are able to use the river for bathing/laundry now that it is finally back to its beautiful self after the flood. It is truly the most gorgeous color of blue/green- I wish we had a picture to show you!
I just finished up a week-long seminar in the province of Cocle. There were sets of 2 volunteers in 6 provinces doing these trainings. My partner, Cait, and I trained 40 English teachers last week on different teaching methods, learning styles, classroom management techniques and approaches to teaching foreign languages. The training was a huge success and the teachers were an enthusiastic group to work with. It is really different for me to see what kind of resources other schools have- to think that these teachers are purely dedicated to English and in Boquerón we have one teacher who does everything, for all grades. I do wish I had an English teacher to work with in my site so that I could leave knowing that students would continue to learn English after I am gone. It felt rewarding to work with these teachers, hopefully impacting the quality of English education that students are recieving in Cocle.
We had a future volunteer visit us during her training. It was a great time to introduce a trainee to the real life of a volunteer (which can be way different than your very busy, very structured trainee life) and she was a good sport about our rough conditions (even when she almost drank a large hairy spider in her drink, and probably did swallow two of its legs). We took her on an awesome hike overlooking Boquerón, and htough we probably all got a little sunbunred despite our best efforts, it was definitely worth the trek once we got to the top of the hill.
I am also excited to tell you that I was elected VAC secretary for this coming year (April to April). VAC is the Volunteer Advisory Council and serves as a voice between the office and the volunteers. The board, which consists of 4 members, also sells merchandise to raise money for grants which are given out throughout the year for projects. I am really excited to be a part of the board! It does take me out of site from time to time, but for good reason.
So that is a non-exhaustive rundown of what we have been up to. To sum it up: life is amazing. we are happy. we are healthy. we are busy in the best way. we miss and love you.
one last cool pic from our latrine:
It has been a long time since I sat down to write a post- I apologize to the faithful readers out there who check regularly for updates. In this case I can say that no news was good news- we have had an active and exciting time in site the last month and a half, so much so that I have felt overwhelmed when sitting in front of the computer. What is there to say? Suddenly I am pressed for time, so i will give you just a quick rundown of what is going on with us.
On January 4th we started our summer camp: Expolradores (explorers). Because families were still living in the schools of Boquerón Abajo, our camp ended up being only in the school of Boquerón Arriba. We have our last week next week and I can definitely say that camp was a success and it was a lot of fun!
Sean had never been a teacher before, but he picked it up very quickly and the campers love science class. His classes have been very hands on with all sorts of fun expirements (like a bottle rocket). His big project with them has been a stream survey where they sample the water daily and each day test a different aspect of it. All of the kids participated in observing and recording the date. Even cooler? Local scientists from the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) are coming to talk to the students about their tests, some of which are very similar. Some of these kids are definitely walking away from camp inspired about science- maybe they can see a future for themselves in the field.
My classes have been English,Art and Story-time. I have been able to test out some new teaching methods and encourage some much needed creativity. We of course always include time for games- I am always amazed by how easy it can be to entertain them. We have a wide range ofparticipants- from 4 to 16 years old, so sometimes it can be difficult to make sure they are all enjoying themselves/learning, but I think we have been pretty succesful with that.
We officially have a chicken! She was gifted to us by a community member who knew that we liked the chickens with feathers on their legs. Sean had made a comment that 'these chickens have pants' and she got a kick out of it. Because of her penchant for pants, we have named our chicken Hillary Clinton (or Chicken of the State) . I should point out that this not a knock on Secretary Clinton, or her pantsuits. More like an honor because we adore our chicken. We have been learning all about the care of chickens. I am definitely going to have a hard time when it is time for her to become dinner...but that is a ways away yet. Right now we are waiting for her to start laying eggs. Then we look for Bill.
I just finished up a week-long seminar in the province of Cocle. There were sets of 2 volunteers in 6 provinces doing these trainings. My partner, Cait, and I trained 40 English teachers last week on different teaching methods, learning styles, classroom management techniques and approaches to teaching foreign languages. The training was a huge success and the teachers were an enthusiastic group to work with. It is really different for me to see what kind of resources other schools have- to think that these teachers are purely dedicated to English and in Boquerón we have one teacher who does everything, for all grades. I do wish I had an English teacher to work with in my site so that I could leave knowing that students would continue to learn English after I am gone. It felt rewarding to work with these teachers, hopefully impacting the quality of English education that students are recieving in Cocle.
We had a future volunteer visit us during her training. It was a great time to introduce a trainee to the real life of a volunteer (which can be way different than your very busy, very structured trainee life) and she was a good sport about our rough conditions (even when she almost drank a large hairy spider in her drink, and probably did swallow two of its legs). We took her on an awesome hike overlooking Boquerón, and htough we probably all got a little sunbunred despite our best efforts, it was definitely worth the trek once we got to the top of the hill.
frog sean spotted on the hike
I am also excited to tell you that I was elected VAC secretary for this coming year (April to April). VAC is the Volunteer Advisory Council and serves as a voice between the office and the volunteers. The board, which consists of 4 members, also sells merchandise to raise money for grants which are given out throughout the year for projects. I am really excited to be a part of the board! It does take me out of site from time to time, but for good reason.
So that is a non-exhaustive rundown of what we have been up to. To sum it up: life is amazing. we are happy. we are healthy. we are busy in the best way. we miss and love you.
one last cool pic from our latrine:
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