It seems I have been emphasising the social aspect of being in Guyana just a little too much. Why would I think that? Well, quite a few people have been asking me, ‘so what exactly are you doing in Guyana?’ Yes, I have been having lots of fun along the way, although I need to be careful how much time I spend with the Cuban Doctor who takes his partying seriously, but work-wise it has been pretty full on as well. During my training, they told me it is usually a bit quiet to begin with. Well, I’m still waiting for that quiet period to begin.
One of the reasons why my time here has been so busy from day one is because my arrival coincided with a Diaspora visit, in this case a Guyanese/Canadian Poet by the name of Peter Jailall. Peter has made a number of trips back to Guyana to work with schools over the years, which was clearly evident by the number of people who came up to talk with him. On this occasion, it was three of the Riverain Schools (i.e. those along the three main rivers in the area, Cuyuni, Mazaruni and Essequibo) who were to benefit: Batavia Primary School, Karrau Creek Primary School and Makouria Primary School. The team not only included Peter and myself but also three other VSO volunteers, Vern, also from Australia, Derek from the UK and Raquel from Portugal.
The program lasted three weeks and we spent almost a week with each school. For the first three days, the whole team went to the schools, while on the Friday, each school came to the Bartica Learning Resource Centre. We focussed on using the environment as a stimulus for writing. Peter used the children’s book ‘Turtle, Turtle, Watch Out’ as the basis of telling a story about a turtle visiting each school for tuning in. All the students then wrote their own version of the story. We demonstrated how to embed the writing process into your program to improve the quality of the stories. This included one-on-one conferencing. Once the turtle stories were finished, we began the process again, using the children’s experiences with animals in their local environment as the basis, some of which were incredibly funny while others were quite terrifying.
As Peter is a retired teacher, it was great to see him in action with the students. He had a great repertoire of songs, chants and poems, which he used to hook the students in immediately. His questioning technique really brought the students’ stories alive, which helped to improve the quality of the stories greatly.
The students were fantastic to work with, as they become more comfortable with us over the week and enjoyed the experience of writing freely and about their own experiences (each student will receive a copy of the book for their school, as well as multiple copies for each school, to be used as a resource. How great it is to leave behind stories written by the students for the students), and what rich experiences they have. We had numerous stories about encounters with quite dangerous animals, including snakes on boats, hunting tigers (I’m yet to work out exactly with they are referring to when they say, ‘tiger’) and feral animals in gardens.
Having been involved in a boys’ education project a few years back, I was particularly interested in the stories they told. I was strongly reminded of a point about violence in stories and how when this is discouraged, it can be to the detriment of the boys. This was very evident here as quite a number of the boys’ stories were clearly about ‘rites of passage’ and the importance of hunting, not just for survival, but also a cultural connection between the boys and the men in the communities. If we had ventured down the ‘no violence’ path, we would not only have stifled the boys (and quite a few of the girls as well), but also, missed out on some fantastic stories.
A keen aspect of the work with the students was helping them to find their own voice. It was always a bit of a struggle to begin with, as the students were quite scared of making mistakes. As they started writing, it seemed they were doing more erasing than putting pencil to paper. However, when it became clear to them that we were interested in their ideas and would not be on their cases about mistakes, the stories began to spill out rapidly. We introduced students and teachers to the idea of conferencing and how this can be used to encourage the student to take ownership of their writing and to learn about the writing process. I also took my laptop with me and teachers quickly spotted its value as a teaching and learning tool (all these schools either had, or were about to get, at least one laptop in their school).
Each school was in a spectacular location, making the environment an obvious theme for the project. For example, just to get to each school, we had to travel along the rivers by speedboat; great if the sun was shining, and a hell of an experience if it was raining.
Batavia was the furthest away, being on the edge of the rainforest. The first thing that grabbed your attention was all the boats tied up to the jetty, which is how the students used to travel to and from school (The paddles were all lined up outside the school’s main entrance). Karrau Creek, the closest of the schools, was in an Amerindian village and the significant question we were asked upon arrival was if were we missionaries. Makouria was actually in a different region (Region 3, I am based in Region 7), and involved the longest walk to get there (after getting off the boat that is). In fact, I don’t think we took the same path to the school twice, each time discovering a shorter route to the school. There were two things of note about Makouria: the first was it was a former base for the US defence force; and the second was Eddy Grant of ‘Electric Avenue’ fame, having a house on an island just opposite Makouria. It was also when returning from this school that we had the incredible experience of thousands of butterflies flying across the river. I never know they would venture so far from land.
Upon reflecting on this experience, I have to say I couldn’t have had a better way to start my time here in Guyana. Hitting the ground running was great. The project gave me the opportunity to visit schools I would otherwise have had difficulty to get to (due to high fuel costs) and to gain wonderful insights into the cultures of the students and their communities. The teachers I worked with in all schools were very welcoming and keen participants in the process, but it was the students who impressed me the most. There were so many light bulb moments and I’ll never forget how gooey you felt when you were greeted with their big smiles each time you turned up at their school. It was one of those experiences that you struggle to determine who actually gained more from it, yourself or participants. To top it all off, how can you not enjoy going to work by speedboat! Yep it was a huge way to begin this experience that required lots of time and effort, but I wouldn’t want to have it any other way.
Oh, and I couldn't resist including the portrait one of the students did of me, totally unaware it was happening!
It seems I have been emphasising the social aspect of being in Guyana just a little too much. Why would I think that? Well, quite a few people have been asking me, ‘so what exactly are you doing in Guyana?’ Yes, I have been having lots of fun along the way, although I need to be careful how much time I spend with the Cuban Doctor who takes his partying seriously, but work-wise it has been pretty full on as well. During my training, they told me it is usually a bit quiet to begin with. Well, I’m still waiting for that quiet period to begin. 
One of the reasons why my time here has been so busy from day one is because my arrival coincided with a Diaspora visit, in this case a Guyanese/Canadian Poet by the name of Peter Jailall. Peter has made a number of trips back to Guyana to work with schools over the years, which was clearly evident by the number of people who came up to talk with him. On this occasion, it was three of the Riverain Schools (i.e. those along the three main rivers in the area, Cuyuni, Mazaruni and Essequibo) who were to benefit: Batavia Primary School, Karrau Creek Primary School and Makouria Primary School. The team not only included Peter and myself but also three other VSO volunteers, Vern, also from Australia, Derek from the UK and Raquel from Portugal. 
The program lasted three weeks and we spent almost a week with each school. For the first three days, the whole team went to the schools, while on the Friday, each school came to the Bartica Learning Resource Centre. We focussed on using the environment as a stimulus for writing. Peter used the children’s book ‘Turtle, Turtle, Watch Out’ as the basis of telling a story about a turtle visiting each school for tuning in. All the students then wrote their own version of the story. We demonstrated how to embed the writing process into your program to improve the quality of the stories. This included one-on-one conferencing. Once the turtle stories were finished, we began the process again, using the children’s experiences with animals in their local environment as the basis, some of which were incredibly funny while others were quite terrifying. 
As Peter is a retired teacher, it was great to see him in action with the students. He had a great repertoire of songs, chants and poems, which he used to hook the students in immediately. His questioning technique really brought the students’ stories alive, which helped to improve the quality of the stories greatly.
The students were fantastic to work with, as they become more comfortable with us over the week and enjoyed the experience of writing freely and about their own experiences (each student will receive a copy of the book for their school, as well as multiple copies for each school, to be used as a resource. How great it is to leave behind stories written by the students for the students), and what rich experiences they have. We had numerous stories about encounters with quite dangerous animals, including snakes on boats, hunting tigers (I’m yet to work out exactly with they are referring to when they say, ‘tiger’) and feral animals in gardens. 
Having been involved in a boys’ education project a few years back, I was particularly interested in the stories they told. I was strongly reminded of a point about violence in stories and how when this is discouraged, it can be to the detriment of the boys. This was very evident here as quite a number of the boys’ stories were clearly about ‘rites of passage’ and the importance of hunting, not just for survival, but also a cultural connection between the boys and the men in the communities. If we had ventured down the ‘no violence’ path, we would not only have stifled the boys (and quite a few of the girls as well), but also, missed out on some fantastic stories.
A keen aspect of the work with the students was helping them to find their own voice. It was always a bit of a struggle to begin with, as the students were quite scared of making mistakes. As they started writing, it seemed they were doing more erasing than putting pencil to paper. However, when it became clear to them that we were interested in their ideas and would not be on their cases about mistakes, the stories began to spill out rapidly. We introduced students and teachers to the idea of conferencing and how this can be used to encourage the student to take ownership of their writing and to learn about the writing process. I also took my laptop with me and teachers quickly spotted its value as a teaching and learning tool (all these schools either had, or were about to get, at least one laptop in their school). 
Each school was in a spectacular location, making the environment an obvious theme for the project. For example, just to get to each school, we had to travel along the rivers by speedboat; great if the sun was shining, and a hell of an experience if it was raining. 
Batavia was the furthest away, being on the edge of the rainforest. The first thing that grabbed your attention was all the boats tied up to the jetty, which is how the students used to travel to and from school (The paddles were all lined up outside the school’s main entrance). Karrau Creek, the closest of the schools, was in an Amerindian village and the significant question we were asked upon arrival was if were we missionaries. Makouria was actually in a different region (Region 3, I am based in Region 7), and involved the longest walk to get there (after getting off the boat that is). In fact, I don’t think we took the same path to the school twice, each time discovering a shorter route to the school. There were two things of note about Makouria: the first was it was a former base for the US defence force; and the second was Eddy Grant of ‘Electric Avenue’ fame, having a house on an island just opposite Makouria. It was also when returning from this school that we had the incredible experience of thousands of butterflies flying across the river. I never know they would venture so far from land. 
Upon reflecting on this experience, I have to say I couldn’t have had a better way to start my time here in Guyana. Hitting the ground running was great. The project gave me the opportunity to visit schools I would otherwise have had difficulty to get to (due to high fuel costs) and to gain wonderful insights into the cultures of the students and their communities. The teachers I worked with in all schools were very welcoming and keen participants in the process, but it was the students who impressed me the most. There were so many light bulb moments and I’ll never forget how gooey you felt when you were greeted with their big smiles each time you turned up at their school. It was one of those experiences that you struggle to determine who actually gained more from it, yourself or participants. To top it all off, how can you not enjoy going to work by speedboat! Yep it was a huge way to begin this experience that required lots of time and effort, but I wouldn’t want to have it any other way. 
Oh, and I couldn't resist including the portrait one of the students did of me, totally unaware it was happening!
WOW what a wonderful experience! The stories sound very interesting! Would be a good book to bring back to the Australian Children!
ReplyDeleteGreat portrait Kane, I will copy this entry and read it carefully at home. Things are good here - have just started a round of school visits. Best wishes, Jenny
ReplyDelete