Working with Walya School teachers

Back into action! Friday afternoon saw Gill and I delivering training on active learning methods to Walya School, a private 1^st (Grade 1 -4) and 2^nd (Grade 5 – 8) cycle school. Two teachers from the school had specifically asked us to come and give training and, during a brief visit on Wednesday, the Vice Director was very keen for us to do anything that developed the skills of the teachers. Being a private school many of the teachers do not have any teacher training. We were very happy to put something together for them as they are one of the few schools that have shown initiative and approached us to ask for training.

Over the course of two hours we worked with all 30 teachers using a variety of activities to give them some experience of active learning. Unlike may of the Gondar schools, most of the Walya staff are young and had quite good English. There seems to be a hierarchy of new young teachers starting off in rural schools, where nobody wants to work, and the older more experienced teachers graduate to jobs in towns. In our experience the younger newer teachers are easier to work with, as they have some enthusiasm and energy for learning new ideas. Walya fitted nicely into this picture and we both enjoyed working with them. I am particularly keen to work more with the science teachers and will meet them on Monday morning to discuss possibilities. Other highlights of the afternoon include the room we used for training acting like a wind tunnel, so that when anyone took their hands of their notepads bits of paper would be whipped up and sent flying across the room. There was also the older man, who looks after the school pedagogical resource centre, who Meleshew, my colleague who was participating in the training, refused to work with as he had clearly been drinking and smelled of alcohol. I tried to work with him, but from his responses I’m not sure he was on the same planet as the rest of us.

Saturday at home seemed to pass with pottering about, reading, sweating in the now daily baking afternoon heat, and listening to live coverage of the FA Cup final on the World Service.

Today, Sunday, has been, well, varied. I called round this morning to a neighbour’s house to talk with Belete, an English teacher at Fasilides High School. He has seen us around and stopped to talk with us one day to invite us to call round and chat. He’s been a teacher for over thirty years and is keen for me to visit his school and the private college he teaches at part time. We talked about many aspects to life in Ethiopia. When he talked about his experience as a child of being taught by an American Peace Corps volunteer, more than thirty years ago, I was reminded of how much impact it’s possible to have on people, often years later. The volunteer has perhaps forgotten about Belete, but Belete talked with real feeling about what he learned from their time together. As for his hospitality, Belete apologized for not being able to offer coffee as his wife and daughter had gone out!

Lunch at home was interrupted by a chicken from next door escaping into our yard and trying to eat one of the very few tomatoes that Mekdes, our day-guard, has successfully grown. The chicken’s owner and his son came round, which was the first time we had met, and after a bit of chasing and stick waving the chicken was persuaded to jump back over our fence. With the sheep that graze outside our fence, the chickens that now live next door, the cattle that wander around the streets and the hundreds of donkeys that work as pack animals carrying loads everywhere, sometimes living here is a bit like living on a farm. Of all the animals I love the birds the most. There are literally dozens of birds of prey, mainly Black Kites, which live around our house. I never get tired of watching them glide and swoop for bits of meat from peoples houses or listening to them calling when they roost in the trees by our fence.

This afternoon was quite illustrative of some of the rules of socializing here. We had made an arrangement to visit again Tesfaye (an instructor at the college) and his wife at their house. We have been invited to their house before (when their son had to cook for us because she had clearly forgotten about us coming!) and we agreed to call round at 2pm today. At 2pm their gate was answered by their maid (“servant” as they are referred to here) who told us there was nobody home, but we could come in anyway and eat some injera! We politely declined and went home wondering if Tesfaye and Co would call round at our place. Sure enough, at 4pm they both turned up. As I invited them in they said something about having been visiting people in another village. At home this would call for profuse apologies and maybe embarrassment. Not here. Time and appointments simply have different meanings here. We all chatted for a bit with a wee bit of awkwardness. When your guests have limited English there’s a limit to the conversational “flow”! After a while they said it was time to go and left us with a bag of fruit (the traditional gift when visiting somebody) and a 1litre bottle of Araki, a strong vodka-like Ethiopian spirit (definitely not a traditional gift!). Despite the awkwardness there was something really touching their visit. Their willingness to try and befriend us despite the fact that it can’t be easy for them to socialize with us is really nice.