Week 3 is coming to an end as we battle the Mozambican weather…and by battle, we mean complain that the temperature doesn’t rise above 20 degrees Celsius on rainy days. Ha ha ha.
This week has brought many changes to our lives here in Mozambique. The first being the departure of our fearless leader, Joanne (aka “Mother Bird”) and her husband David (aka “Handyman”). The loss of Joanne has forced the group to become more self-directed in our learning activities, which has been challenging. Lynn’s guidance and input has been an invaluable resource to us in planning and getting through our week.
The second big change around camp has been switching team roles. The Geckos have gone from focusing on the Health Post and home visits with Lynn, to teaching in the school. The Bush Babies have switched locations and instead of being at the school, they are now focusing on the nearby Health Post, along with taking over teaching the women’s health class.
The Geckos had to change their focus and teaching strategies to be more appropriate for a school-based setting.
It was a definite challenge to determine how much content to deliver, and how to tailor that content to individual grades. Input from the Bush Babies on their experiences teaching at the school proved to be valuable, and all in all, the Geckos thoroughly enjoyed their week at the school. Using last week’s lesson of “Safety” as a spring board, the Geckos created a story and skit to demonstrate basic first aid – what to do when they get hurt. The kids really enjoyed themselves, and from their answers to our questions based on the skit, we could tell they pulled out most of the main points we wanted to get across. The Geckos are now considered to be “true Mozambican women” as they enjoyed a traditional lunch with the male teachers of the school (sadsa with some very salty fish sauce), while sitting on the ground. This proved to be an eye-opening experience showing the Geckos the male-dominance in this culture, as the men sat on the only available chairs. This has sparked much discussion amongst the group regarding male-female relationships in this cultural context.
The Bush Babies were eager to have their first experience teaching a women’s health class as they heard great stories from the Geckos about traditional songs and dancing that welcomed them to each class. The Bush Babies were not disappointed, and they participated whole-heartedly in clapping and dancing along with the women. The Bush Babies’ experience was slightly different from that of the Geckos’, as their class was delivered underneath a tree, with the women and children sitting on grass mats. The Bush Babies gave gifts of nail files to each of the women in attendance at the class, allowing them a little luxury in their lives.
This week has brought many changes to our lives here in Mozambique. The first being the departure of our fearless leader, Joanne (aka “Mother Bird”) and her husband David (aka “Handyman”). The loss of Joanne has forced the group to become more self-directed in our learning activities, which has been challenging. Lynn’s guidance and input has been an invaluable resource to us in planning and getting through our week.
The second big change around camp has been switching team roles. The Geckos have gone from focusing on the Health Post and home visits with Lynn, to teaching in the school. The Bush Babies have switched locations and instead of being at the school, they are now focusing on the nearby Health Post, along with taking over teaching the women’s health class.
The Geckos had to change their focus and teaching strategies to be more appropriate for a school-based setting.
It was a definite challenge to determine how much content to deliver, and how to tailor that content to individual grades. Input from the Bush Babies on their experiences teaching at the school proved to be valuable, and all in all, the Geckos thoroughly enjoyed their week at the school. Using last week’s lesson of “Safety” as a spring board, the Geckos created a story and skit to demonstrate basic first aid – what to do when they get hurt. The kids really enjoyed themselves, and from their answers to our questions based on the skit, we could tell they pulled out most of the main points we wanted to get across. The Geckos are now considered to be “true Mozambican women” as they enjoyed a traditional lunch with the male teachers of the school (sadsa with some very salty fish sauce), while sitting on the ground. This proved to be an eye-opening experience showing the Geckos the male-dominance in this culture, as the men sat on the only available chairs. This has sparked much discussion amongst the group regarding male-female relationships in this cultural context.
The Bush Babies were eager to have their first experience teaching a women’s health class as they heard great stories from the Geckos about traditional songs and dancing that welcomed them to each class. The Bush Babies were not disappointed, and they participated whole-heartedly in clapping and dancing along with the women. The Bush Babies’ experience was slightly different from that of the Geckos’, as their class was delivered underneath a tree, with the women and children sitting on grass mats. The Bush Babies gave gifts of nail files to each of the women in attendance at the class, allowing them a little luxury in their lives.
As we have become more comfortable teaching our First Aid group, we ventured into new territory in planning our lesson and included a hilarious skit to close it off. Our team was able to integrate feedback into the skit from during the lesson about the treatment of burns, as some members of the class use raw eggs, instead of cool water, to put on the burn. The Bush Babies were able to re-iterate that cool water is the best treatment, and made their class members howl with laughter at the same time. (If we can post the video, we will) 
First Aid classes for both teams have continued on, and as we become more comfortable with class members it becomes easier to connect with them and shift our teaching strategies to maximize learning. For example, the Geckos’ First Aid class notoriously runs for 3 hours instead of 2 as we have been providing Portugese notes for the class to take down (a time-consuming process). Although Portugese is the official language in Mozambique, the Geckos’ and the Bush Babies have learned not to assume everyone in their First Aid class can read Portugese. The Geckos and Bush Babies have teamed up to create English notes for past and upcoming First Aid classes that will be translated both into Portugese and Shona (local dialect). We are hoping this will meet the learning needs of the classes and provide them with a resource to refer to.
Planning for next week’s First Aid graduation extravaganza has begun, with hopes of purchasing snacks and decorations on our trip into Chimoio on the weekend. We have created “official” Portugese certificates of completion (“Certificado”) to give to each class member, along with their First Aid Kit. The First Aid Kits have been planned based on what we have learned from teaching the classes. We have created the kits in hopes of them being appropriate to address common health challenges in the community (e.g. providing a home-made rehydration mix of salt and sugar to help fluid loss from diarrhea), as well as being sustainable, in terms of purchasing items for the kits locally.
First Aid classes for both teams have continued on, and as we become more comfortable with class members it becomes easier to connect with them and shift our teaching strategies to maximize learning. For example, the Geckos’ First Aid class notoriously runs for 3 hours instead of 2 as we have been providing Portugese notes for the class to take down (a time-consuming process). Although Portugese is the official language in Mozambique, the Geckos’ and the Bush Babies have learned not to assume everyone in their First Aid class can read Portugese. The Geckos and Bush Babies have teamed up to create English notes for past and upcoming First Aid classes that will be translated both into Portugese and Shona (local dialect). We are hoping this will meet the learning needs of the classes and provide them with a resource to refer to.
Planning for next week’s First Aid graduation extravaganza has begun, with hopes of purchasing snacks and decorations on our trip into Chimoio on the weekend. We have created “official” Portugese certificates of completion (“Certificado”) to give to each class member, along with their First Aid Kit. The First Aid Kits have been planned based on what we have learned from teaching the classes. We have created the kits in hopes of them being appropriate to address common health challenges in the community (e.g. providing a home-made rehydration mix of salt and sugar to help fluid loss from diarrhea), as well as being sustainable, in terms of purchasing items for the kits locally.
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