Todayinstead of going to Buffalo Makiko and I tried a new technique two person door to door in Rochester and it worked like a charm we did so well. We basically walked around the East Avenue/Goodman/Park Avenue/University neighborhoods going door to door from 10:30-7pm and fund-raised. I had to do most of the talking. Makiko is still improving her English, she's from Japan. But we were a great team. She held out her bucket and flipped to the pages in the binder as I spoke.
Buffalo
AAAgh! I'm so tired! Today was our first day fundraising in Buffalo and it wasn't so great. It was cold and people weren't too friendly or in the mood to donate money.
We're still staying in Rochester due to the fact that we haven't been able to secure housing which is great for me cause I'm staying at home in a familiar bed, with good food that I don't have to fund-raise and the ability to catch-up with childhood friends.
Today we made great strides in our food fundraising efforts. Krispy Kreme donated two dozen donuts to us this morning. And i'm afraid to say, that the four of us ate them all, a half of a dozen each. There is something so alluring about that hot glazed goodness.
Then we fundraised diner at the Hard Rock Cafe in Niagara Falls. We have a Brazillian and a Japanese on our team who had never been to the falls and they really wanted to go and since we weren't exactly making money today anyhow, our team leader decided it was time for a mini-excursion. We toured the American and the Canadian sides. It was cold, but relaxing.
Long drive home, which brings me back to the beginning and being tired...
I've Been Spooked!
I am delirious right now. Want to know why? I’ve been haunted. Day three of sleeping alone in my haunted room and I had a supernatural experience. I am completely serious. Here are the hard facts:
Last night around 12:30 am I went to bed. I sleep on top of my bed in a sleeping bag now that I am alone because I get maximum coverage and it's easy for me to burrow and hide in the event of an occurrence...
So, I'm in bed, lights are off, I'm holding my flashlight and I'm trying to go to sleep, all of a sudden, my fan on the nightstand next to my head turns on. I didn't do it. My heart is pounding in my chest and I'm panicking under my sleeping bag and I'm afraid to look because I don't want to see what might be there. Then the fan goes off. Then it comes back on again. Then my bed begins to shake. It's like a slow rumbling quake. I'm freaking out. I'm still burrowed in my sleeping bag. Then it stops. I wait. All I can hear and feel is my heart beat.
Quickly, I jump out of bed, run to the light-switch across the room and turn on every light in my room. My bed is slanted on an angle, but I see nothing else unusual. I spend the rest of the night (literally) awake in bed, with the lights on, the ladybugs buzzing, listening to my i-pod writing. I didn't sleep at all. It sucked!
And now to change the subject, I will be published in "About Time" magazine this November. I wrote a travel narrative about my experiences volunteering in Ghana and my upcoming project and it will be published. You can pick up a copy at your local news stand or online.
And now it's time for me to do my malaria research...
Careful What You Wish For
Fundraising in Rochester has actually been successful. Personally I have made goal for everyday that we've been here, granted one day I made seven dollars and another two hundred and seventy eight, but so it is. Well after my rant about the weather being oppressively hot hot hot, the weather decided to become cold cold cold. We dropped from almost 90 degrees to under 50 degrees in one day, literally. I was outside to observe the shift. It has been raining also, violent thunder and lightning storms. These are crazy times! I now have to walk around with a borrowed coat from my father since my coat is on the mountain.
I got my beads and jewelry back from Studio 34 and they were fantastic. It seems I am a natural jewelry maker/artisan. My glass blown beads were particularly beautiful. If anyone is ever in the Rochester area, you should really take a class at Studio 34 on Elton street (off of University), it's a great jewelry studio.
Alright, bringing on day number six of fundraising, wish me luck...
Second Round of Fundraising- Rochester/Buffalo (The Western NY Chapter)
Fundraising part II. So far so good. Individually I've had a lot of success and am way over goal. As a team, we are under goal though :-(. I'm very lucky to be able to stay at my own house this time around instead of the accommodations provided for the team because the accommodations are sketchy at best. Once again, the team went onto globalfreeloaders.com, but instead of a nice family home with two spare bedrooms D.C. style, they ended up with an abandoned house in an undesireble neighborhood in the City of Rochester. The building looks like a former crack den- Yikes!
We've been in front of Wal-Mart for the last two days and the people have been so receptive. Problem: It's October and in being autumn, the weather should be a nice mild 60-70 degrees, so why, please someone tell me is it almost 90???? It's so hot! It's too hot! I've had enough heat, enough of being outside in the scorching sun. I've got about five different erratic tan lines. I'm going to turn into a wrinkled old lady called Magda soon. Enough is enough! I'm ready to wear a sweater and romp through the leaves. My tantrum ends here!
Studio 34 in Rochester's Generous Donation
Special thanks to Studio 34 in Rochester for allowing me to learn to make jewelry. I've had so much fun creating beads out of glass and learning the ins and outs of jewelry making. I feel ready to begin planning my income generating project. It will, surprise, surprise, involve making jewelry, bracelets, necklaces and earrings.
Autumn
Oi!
It is so hot.
Hot, hot, hot...
The leaves are absolutely beautiful though. Everything is changing.
Our internet is down, has been for the last four days.
I've been going into town everyday to the cafe to get online. I feel like a Williams College student, we're around them 24/7 now. Have even been attending lectures at the University and using the Library, it's very convenient and is a nice break from the mountain.
Bear Encounter in Western Mass!
Yesterday morning I went for a nice hour long walk in the woods. The leaves were beautiful, the air was warm, the birds were singing. I trot deeper and deeper into the woods and suddenly I see this black thing the size of a four door sedan near a stream. Hmmm.. I think to myself, what could that be??? Then as if it heard my thoughts, a bear lifts it's head and stares directly at me. I'm looking at it, and it's looking at me. Slowly I began to take steps backwards. It's still looking at me, I'm still stepping backwards. Then as if I didn't even exist, it goes back to drinking the water and I turn around and RUN!!!!!!!!!
Day two of building week was yesterday as well. I painted some more ceilings. Picked some flowers and basically that was that. No injuries, no worries.
A Few Thoughts
Today, I am a painter. Once again, I have the task of painting. I feel like painting is somehow in my destiny. I’m always painting here. This time I painted a bathroom and I actually did a great job. Maybe I secretly like painting when I’m not standing outside in the burning hot sun. Today marked the beginning of building week. This happens once a month when all of the staff and Development Instructors here at IICD drop what we are doing and help to update and tweak our lovely mountain facility. It lasts the whole weekend and you learn lots. As I write, trees are being cut down, leaves are being raked, grass is being cut, carpets are being installed, the pool is being covered up and a well is being insulated??? Whatever that’s about?
I finished early and am hiding out in my room, trying not to be discovered because I don’t want another task. Our next fundraising trip is being planned and for some crazy reason, me and four other people will be fundraising in my hometown of Rochester, New York. Hmmmmm…. It was one thing to fundraise in D.C. where the likely hood of me running into people that I know was pretty low (give or take a relative here or there) but Rochester, where I know too many people yikes! At least I can go home to free food and laundry ;-)
Yesterday we had an amazing lecture on child soldiers. It was disturbing in an action rousing way. We focused on child soldiers in Mozambique, Angola and Uganda. It’s such a horrifying reality. If anyone is interested in the subject, I have a book recommendation “A Long Way Gone” by: Ishmael Bea (not sure if this is spelled correctly). It’s a memoir about his experiences as a boy soldier in Sierra Leone and it’s beautifully written.
Second recommendation, the film “Guns, Germs and Steel” we watched it yesterday as well and had a discussion and it really gives you something to think about. The film explores how guns, germs and steel along with environmental location led to Europe’s world conquer and then discusses the implications of that and the historical effects. It’s really interesting because most people don’t learn about this in school. Most people don’t take the opportunity to consider why certain people/groups have the majority of the power in the world, but it’s important to understand because it also explains why certain people have so little and in this understanding we can create solutions. Ignoring problems and accepting certain advantages without taking the personal responsibility to be informed and act in accordance may be one of the most damaging maladies of Western society today.
My favorite kitten Greylock has fleas ;-( Let’s hope for a speedy recovery
Alright, it’s lunch time. Time to creep back towards the cafeteria. Must look busy, must look busy, must look busy…
Fundraising (The Final D.C. Chapter)
Today was our final day of fundraising (yes!).We started off at the Peace March in D.C. this morning. It was great! We got signs and kinda got a little carried away. We marched with the anti-war demonstrators from the White House to the Capitol (okay, we ourselves were anti-war demonstrators) and we went the whole nine yards (sorry fundraising).
My favorite moment of the day was holding up peace signs to all of the pro-Bush/pro-War folks when our groups converged. All in all it was beautiful to see the solidarity, especially all of the returned Iraq War vets who were marching for peace (muaww...).
We made some money today (not a lot, not goal, but we tried) outside of the white house and at the protest itself. We tried evening street fundraising in Dupont Circle as well tonight. It was interesting to see all of the drunk people, however, it wasn't a money maker. Believe it or not, I can't wait to return to the mountain and jump back into work and my regular non-fundraising routine. Long drive tomorrow but I'm one step closer to Benguela!
What Can I Do?
www.ONE.orghelp fight global poverty help the world reach the millennium development goals all it takes is one person that one person is YOU!
Fundraising Again
Day number six in the hot hot sun. And it's so hot. I thought to myself today, wow, you must be really dedicated to this cause to stand outside for eight hours a day in the blazing heat asking strangers to donate money. I've done well. I've exceeded goal. I made 150.00 today ;-)
We hit the Silver Spring Jazz festival and made a killing. In five months I will be in the hot sun again, only then I will be in Benguela. Hard work +Determination = Success! My eyes are on the prize.
Okay, so maybe it's not that great...
Um, it's really hot outside!Fundraising is successful, but the initial honeymoon phase is OVER! I did manage to make $246.00 outside of a Safeway in Silver Springs yesterday. The community was so receptive and the people were lovely. That's so humbling and exciting. In these moments, you truly feel like you're directly working as a change agent, but everyday is not like this. Truth be told, I'm getting tired of begging on the streets for money. I know I'm not begging for myself and that I'm there as the face of an organization, as the face of IICD, but it's rough and kind of goes against everything we've been raised as hardworking citizens to do. Not to mention, after a long day, trying to convince restaurants to feed you for free. Our food stipend is tiny! Ten dollars a day with the expectation that we'll fundraise dinner or dip into our savings or....starve?!? A group of us did manage to get amazing Moroccan food tonight in Adams Morgan from Soussi, a Moroccan restaurant. That was however after asking seven other stores and getting NO!!!!!! Alright Boa Noite
Fund-raising
Fundraising in the greater D.C. area is amazing! I, for some odd reason, actually enjoy asking strangers on crowded streets for money? I made $115.00 today, and our team goal is $100.00/person/day. We have had so much success fundraising food also (big thanks to Chipotle Mexican Grill and Coldstone Creamery, yum... ).
It's so nice to be off of the mountain. When you're on the mountain, you don't always, at least, I don't always realize how isolated I am until I emerge and there's a world out there and life in America is happening. I almost feel on the mountain, that I'm not in the United States considering that there are so few Americans and the main language that I hear is Portuguese. It's so nice to be back home.
My team has been great so far, we're working hard and we work well together. Let's raise a toast to successful fundraising and a conflict-free two weeks. SALUT!
Where in the World will Sojourner be Working?
Ok, so it's official!I just received my assignment.
I will be working at the EPF Teacher's Training College in Benguela, Angola. Yay!! This is the placement that I wanted. Benguela is supposed to be beautiful, it's in the Northwest and is apparently lush and green, surrounded by a beach. The project leader there is also rumored to be great! I will be traveling with two other people from my team, so there will be three of us living together. Yay!!!!!!!!!
Star
we have an old dog13 human years many dog years sometimes she runs today she staggers and shakes...
Roach Haiku
large brown roachlength of two eyes in the moonlight ten minute scream
A Development Instructors Life at IICD Massachusetts
I'm online again! This is now a rare luxury. Actually, I'm at an internet cafe in Williamstown with my team. We've had so much research to do for our fund-raising trip coming up in September and our internet has been down, so field trip time.The last few days here have been busy however, this week-end was a free week-end and after finishing my papers and presentations which I will talk about later, Tamika, Valeria and I headed for New York. It's great showing people around New York for the first time. Valeria is from Argentina and her mouth was wide open the entire trip. Tamika who is from Baltimore was excited too, I think this was her second time in the City. Thanks Krista and Dawn for entertaining us on the Lower East side and super thanks to Krista for putting us up for the night. It was fantastic to be back in town, even if it was for one night only.
My time at IICD has been divided into many parts:
1) Planning the IICD Olympic Games which our school in Massachusetts will be hosting (there are two other schools in the US - Michigan and Cali). The games will be held this week-end and the activities are crazy (scavenger hunt in the woods, paint ball, sprint up the side of the mountain, biggest splash in the pool, tug of war, etc...) I'm conducting the opening ceremony and have prepared a speech and will be donning a toga.
2) Preparing for our first fund-raising trip which will be to Washington D.C. from September 3-16th. We need to secure permits, accommodations, strategies etc... We need as a team to fund-raise approx $86,000.00. We will have four two week fund-raising events. The strategies include door to door begging in residential neighborhoods, setting up tables in front of stores such as Wal-mart and Trader Joe's, setting up booths at colleges and universities, speaking at churches, and anything else that we can come up with. (YOUR IDEAS ARE VERY WELCOME!!!!)
3) Preparing a presentation on the Berlin Conference. Basically the Berlin Conference was when the various European nations decided to get together and slice and divide the African continent. The country borders that we see today are a direct result of this conference which marked the beginning of Africa's official colonization. You'll notice that certain countries around Lake Victoria in particular are cut irregularly because every European country wanted a piece of the lake or a piece of a particular beach/coast. It was a terrible thing obviously, families were split apart, apartheid became the political norm, Africans were virtually enslaved all over again and subjugated and forced to work for the Europeans in order to make money to pay the taxes that were imposed on them, Africa's natural resources were robbed and used to fuel Europe's economy and further their industrial revolution, farmers were forced to abandon growing the crops that fed their families and were forced to grow cotton so that it could be shipped to Europe and starvation grew ramped and soil was leached, to name a few consequences... Don't get me started, I could go on and on all day! My focus is on Portugal and how they received Mozambique, Angola and Portuguese Guinea. Which is perfect because I will be going to Angola. My presentation will be on Tuesday.
As I've said before the classes are very interesting and we are very busy. The people on this mountain are interesting, some are fantastic and others are completely crazy and I wonder why they are even participating in this program. Certain people and things are larger than life and you wouldn't believe me if I told you so I'll spare you those details.
Last night was so fun. A group of about ten of us decided to play flashlight tag around midnight. Have I mentioned that our mountain is pitch black at night, it was a crazy game. Then some of us went for a walk in our "haunted woods", as protection we took Bear, one of our dogs with us in case we ran into a bear or something else. So four of us, including myself are brave or stupid enough to enter the woods while everyone else waited outside. At first things are great, we're walking and joking and singing and suddenly, Bear stops leading us, he gets really quiet and still. He looks left and then right and then looks at us and whines. This crazy dog then jets, he left us, so we followed suit screaming and running wildly with vines and branches smacking us in the face. It was really funny.
Education in Angola
Here are two essays I have written regarding educational policy and Angola. I would love to hear your feedback. As I study and learn about the issues facing various countries in southern Africa, I will share what I have learned here on the blog and it would be great if a dialogue could occcur. America is wonderful, but it is importatnt to look at what is going on outside of the country and recognize other peoples news, problems and successes as being important as well. Enjoy!
1) The Education System in Angola
Angola has established an ambitious education plan. The government of the Republic of Angola in 2002 created a National Action Plan of Education For All (NEPEFA). With this plan, Angola hopes to meet the Millennium Development Goals as established by the United Nations in ensuring basic primary education (grades K-4) to all by the year 2015. According to the Conference of the Ministers of Education of African Member States in 2002, Angola’s education policy is based on the principle that “knowledge is an essential means for the rise of the indexes of the human development and particularly the living conditions of the populations” (UNESCO- 2002). With the adoption of the NEPEFA, the government of Angola hopes to extend education and education related social services to the most vulnerable and underprivileged rural and urban populations in an attempt to reduce the level of absolute poverty in the country. Along with the reduction of poverty, it is hoped that there will be an increase in the national internal manpower, which will result in a stronger economy for Angola allowing it to compete on a global scale with other nations.
Currently, Angola is far from meeting their goal of primary education for all. There are many factors that contribute to this. It is important to take into consideration that Angola, as an independent nation is extremely young. Following Angola’s independence, the country faced years of civil war, which left the educational sector in a state of chaotic disarray. Between the years of 1992-1996, it is estimated that more than 1,500 classrooms were destroyed. There was an enormous civilian life toll that was taken as well, many of whom were teachers, professors and other educators. Angola must initially start from ground zero to re-establish and define their educational system and goals. The National Action Plan of Education For All is a first step.
The ministry of Education of the Republic of Angola has a long road to tread. They face the enormous challenge of increasing the number of children in primary schools from “an estimated 2.1 million in 2003 to 5 million by 2015 in order to achieve universal primary education while keeping up with the rapid growth of the school-age population. In 2001 UNICEF Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) showed that only 56% of the children of primary school age attend the first level of basic education (grades 1-4)”. (UNICEF study 2006). The government of Angola recognizes these key problems and is taking into consideration the fact that primary school enrollment has shown great disparities along gender and socio-economic groups. Currently it is estimated that at least one million primary school age children are not attending school, the majority of these being girls.
The government of Angola is working to meet their educational goals by 2015, however many factors are working against them. Training teachers is often expensive, therefore, the people that can afford to go to school to learn to become educators amount to a small segment of the population. There is a severe shortage of trained teachers. Those that are trained as teachers rarely can be convinced to teach in the most desperate rural areas and opt for major cities instead, therefore an entire demographic of the populations educational needs are being ignored. In addition, schools tend to lack sufficient sanitation, water may or may not be available to students and the quality may be questionable. Schools tend to be overcrowded and multi-age groups work together without any clear curriculum or guidance. Most schools lack, basic school materials and teaching and learning materials, which significantly affect the quality of education the students are receiving. The challenges that the Angolan government faces are many. Despite these challenges, there has been an increase in primary school enrollment as well as an increase in adults training to become teachers. The question at hand is will this be enough?
2) Education Policy in the United States and Angola: A Comparative Study
To my surprise, I have noted many similarities between the education system in Angola and the education system in the United States. There are of course many differences as well that account for the difference between “Developing Nation” and “Developed Nation” however the similarities demonstrate that wherever you are, there is always a segment of the population that receives a substandard education that barely prepares them to function as active and productive members of society. That being said, there is also a privileged segment of a given population that receives a quality education, which will prepare them to contribute to society and make the economic gains necessary for a comfortable existence.
Angola is a country that has just emerged from years of civil war and conflict. In that way, the Republic of Angola is fairly new and is still establishing its education system. The government of Angola believes in education for all, and is in the process of establishing an education system that educates all: girls, boys, teen-agers and young adults, but this takes time. Currently, little more than half of the children in Angola receive a primary education. Many schools require that a fee be paid and that eliminates the very poor and majority of the population from gaining access to education. There is also a shortage of qualified teachers as a result of the expense of teacher training. The government of Angola has begun to implement programs to affordably train teachers and this is helping increase the number of trained teachers, however despite these efforts qualified educators are in demand. Furthermore, to exacerbate this problem, teachers who are qualified prefer overwhelmingly to work in urban and populated areas, this has created a huge gap and inconsistencies in education.
In the United States, a country that has been independent of colonial rule for over two hundred years, education is free and is mandatory for every individual from the age of five through at least sixteen. In every state, in every city, in every remote rural town, you will find free public schools designed to educate students from Kindergarten to the 12th grade. This is a great advantage and has helped establish and maintain the United States of America as a developed and affluent country. Upon further examination however, there are many gaps and inconsistencies in the American educational system. As in Angola, there is a shortage of qualified teachers. The teacher shortage is not as extreme in the United States, however it is a problem that the government is addressing. Of the certified teachers in the United States, the majority prefer to teach in affluent private schools, affluent suburban public schools or affluent urban public schools. Low-income urban and low income rural areas in the United States are suffering from a lack of qualified teachers, a lack of educational funds, a lack of teaching and learning materials and supplies and a lack of governmental support. In response to these problems, organizations such as Teach For American and Teaching Fellows have made the attempt to recruit young pre-professionals right out of college, to train them to become teachers free of charge. Such individuals attain free masters degrees in exchange for at least two years of service in low performing underprivileged urban and rural areas. Overall, these programs have proved to be successful, but they are still young and the achievement rate as determined by test scores and drop-out rates of students in rural and urban impoverished areas is still quite low in comparison to the national average.
Both Angola and the United States of America, have a long road ahead of them in terms of improving their educational policies. Angola of course, considering it’s history and current circumstance has a much greater struggle ahead of it, in order to establish it’s goal of providing basic primary education to all by 2015. Angola however, considering where they are in their development is in a similar place most currently developed countries were in at the onset of their independence or as in the case of Europe during the dark ages. With time, we will get a better sense of where Angola needs to make improvements in their education, because currently they are still establishing a system. Unfortunately as is the case in America, social class, gender and economic status, directly affect the quality of education that an individual will receive and this education directly affects the economic future of an individual.
IICD Massachusetts Development Instructor
I can't believe my team just started on Tuesday.
Busy, busy, busy... I'm so excited about what I will soon be doing, but there is a lot to do in the meantime.
There are 15 of us on my team, it's huge considering that we are together as a group from 8am to 10pm with few breaks. We will love each other and we will hate each other and my team is full of interesting characters (which putting it mildly). Before we go to our various countries in Africa, we must as a team fund raise $96,000.00. This will occur in a series of four two week long fund-raising trips. Our first trip will be in Washington D.C. in September. ;-) Living on a mountain in a commune-like community is growing on me day by day. At first I suffered from culture shock (post-honeymoon period of course) but things are really good right now. I've met some of the most amazing people from all over the world, people I would have never encountered otherwise. One of my favorite people here is my friend Valeria from Argentina. We are so similar! We've got the same sense of humor, share a love of yoga, music and spontaneous dancing, we just don't really speak the same language even though we communicate very clearly. I can't explain it.
I discovered a path through the forest that I've been walking for about a half an hour every morning. It's so peaceful and beautiful and damp and green I really love it. There's a bridge and a creek and one of my favorite activities is standing ankle deep in the freezing cold water in my flip flops letting the water rush over my feet. My senses are more acute here.
Yesterday, I swear I heard a bear. I don't know what they sound like, but I was splashing away just happy as pie and something somewhere made a noise and I fled.
Greylock, my favorite kitten is helping me write this right now. He has found his way over the bridge and into my building. There are five of us, sitting outside on the internet. Everyone is excited to have it, a weed-whacker ran over our connection chord not too long ago and ppppplllllltttttt... gone!
I began my capoeira class yesterday. What a work-out, but so much fun. I learned two variations of the jingha.
I taught a yoga class on Monday and will teach another one next Monday as well. Vinyasa style all the way.
There is nothing more peaceful than a sleeping cat/kitten and since I have one on my lap right now, I've gotta say tchau...
