One of the big problems with work like this (VSO) is that you do some training and it gets forgotten and nothing changes. Well I’m glad I started with simple teaching aids training – something that can be tried out and used straight away as it seems to be having an impact. Last week I saw a teacher who had made her own count stick, another school we went to are using number fans and have made their own, and today, on a tour of a couple of the schools, I observed one teacher using Letter fans of English letters that she had got the children to make. Not only was it a new idea that I didn’t train for directly, but this teacher wasn’t actually at my training, the information had been passed on by teachers who were, so this is great.
On the way back the bus stopped suddenly. The driver had forgotten to check the fuel and we had run dry. There were about 40 of us on a bus designed for 30 and we all disgorged and stood under trees while we waited the hour for a guy to come from the college with fuel.
The power is going off regularly now, often early evening (around 19:00) and staying off until the next morning. It’s just gone off again and I am really glad I have a laptop where the battery takes over immediately. I’m also glad I bought a spare battery before I left.
The temperature has taken a turn for the worse in the last couple of weeks. My room pretty much doesn’t go below 30C overnight. During the afternoon the temperature outside is between 35 and 40C. I actually am not really noticing the heat directly. As it is always hot, my body has adapted. A bit like when you go in a room that smells and after a few minutes you don’t notice the smell. I now don’t really notice the heat. What I do notice is the constant sweat. It’s dripping down me constantly at the moment. When I wash in the bowl, it doesn’t take long before I’m covered in sweat again.
Another weather phenomenon is wind. For the last week or so, there have been weather fronts passing over around dusk. Lots of cloud, wind (which brings with it cooler air (28C instead of 33C!!!)), storms in the distance and a few spots of rain at times.
I heard today that the family will return to the house at the end of the week. I’ve become used to living on my own and it’s going to be hard living with a family again. I am going to start off with some house rules this time. Last time I was trying to fit in and didn’t want to offend anyone, but now I’m settled I’m going to insist on a few basic things – mostly related to hygiene (like using the buckets of water I bought to flush the toilet when there is no mains water, not spitting in the sink I use for washing up – that kind of thing.)
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