DAEYANA
Elementary Education Graduate |
DAEYANA
Elementary Education Graduate |
The last day we spent saying out farewell to UNZA. This trip has given me so much more than I could’ve expected. I am beyond grateful to have this experience of a lifetime. I encourage anybody that has the opportunity to do it. Money comes and goes but the knowledge you gain will last you a lifetime. Often in our westernized culture we feel as though our way is the right way or that someone needs help. The reality is, it is us that needs the help. Help with opening our minds and our hearts to culture different from ours. Lastly, if you plan to go, it takes little to nothing to go into your own pockets and purchase $20 worth of things. If I could go back, I would’ve spent way more. When I got there I realized how much abundance we were in in the US. Get a huge pack of pencils, pack of red pens, and some sharpeners. They also use small notebooks so even if you can get those. Zambia owes me nothing and I will never forget the people I met on this trip.
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Today was the last day at Libala primary. Something extremely interesting happened. A student had a toy gun. The teacher payed no mind but it ring a bell for me being that recently a Florida woman was shot when going to a neighbor's door about her kids. When I explained how often shooting happened in the US, both teachers were in utter shock. Zambia is an extremely safe country and they are heavily Christian so for the teacher she literally saw it as just a toy. After we talked, she broke the gun into pieces. I know this is a core memory that will stick for both of us. Overall, it has been such a bittersweet experience for me. I was in a classroom with a black teacher and all black babies. That was something I’ve never experience in my life, and it made my heart so full and it hurt so bad when I had to leave. You can ask any POC when it they had their first black teacher, and some will respond that they never have. The classroom I was in symbolized so much for me. My heart will forever be with Libala.
This entire week will be spent at Libala primary. This is a government funded school. It is a cute campus with a secondary building right around the corner. They teacher students in Nyanja up until grade 3 and then they switch over to English. How cool is that to be learning in 2 different languages ?! It reminds me of being in an ENL class where everything is double labeled. I was able to sit in a grade 2 classroom where they spoke a mix of Nyanja and English. The students really got a kick out of me sitting next to them and learning with them. A difference I noticed is that teacher lecture and then have students copy into their notebooks, in comparison to us where we have students listening and writing. I think they work better because it allows students to give their undivided attention to the work being explained. The teacher will even fill in the answers but then erase it. Students are now allowed to have their books open while the teacher is teaching. It is evident that memorization is not practiced here. I feel as though education in the states has been so test driven that students are use to memorization. Lecturing then writing is something I’d like to implement in my classroom. The pupils were so precious and so sweet! Hugs and warm smiles even though their main language was different. The next day we were able to choose a grade to learn and teacher from. I was fortunate enough to be in a grade 2 classroom. My beautiful mentor teacher welcomed us with open arms. This class alternated between Nyanja and English being that there are students that didn’t speak Nyanja. There are 70 tribes in Zambia that each speak a different language. This classroom had over 40 students to 1 teacher. Could you imagine ?! The work that these Zambian educators do is out of this world.
Today is the first day at Libala primary. I was given the opportunity to observe a first grade classroom. There were about 42 kids to one teachers. Grade 4 and below instruct is Nyanja, therefore I could compare my experience to being an ENL student. I am very inquisitive on how certain sounds and letters blend together. Being that it was phonics, it was easier to pick up on, despite me not knowing the language. This forces me to only image how rough it would be if you were to come to the country as an older student trying to figure out the Language. Here at Libala, they instruct first and then have the students write. If students are slower, the teacher will erase one one section of the board and leave the rest. This is a method that I now want to incorporate in my classroom. We often have student multitasking which isn’t as effective as them focusing on one thing. And despite them being taught in their native language, there are still many English words and letters around. I will make sure you label things in both English and Spanish in my classroom. It is extremely beneficial to introduce them to another language at a young age. I noticed the whole class will call out a student if a wrong answer is given. There seems to be no harm done in that, but it is more of a correction thing. As they are copying the board, the teacher is checking that there is work done for the previous subject.
Today we went to the University of Zambia. It is a humongous Campus. It is also one of the oldest learning institutions in Zambia. We met with a few higher ups. They were extremely welcoming and eager to teach us about their school. We learned that within the last year, over 30,000 teachers were hired in Zambia. They are in the process of making school free which will be a huge deal because the are free only to a certain age. We took a walk through the library and it was so surreal. The structure looked very much like our one and only Butler library which was interesting. Walking inside was a culture shock. Each and every student was there completing their work. There was no talking and no other tasks going on. This is very different from the culture of Buffalo State University where the library is used for various things. As we walked around, we noticed that the library had rules intact that made it that you were only studying. If you were reading books in the shelves, you were fined. If you moved furniture, you were fined. If you wore headphones, you were fined. If you answered the phone, you were fined. They made it pretty much impossible to do anything other than study there. I feel as though we take our resources for granted because they had so many old books that were still being utilized. I am sure they would be extremely grateful to have the plethora of resources that we have. It humbled me and reminded me how blessed I am to be able to access the resources I needed in ordered to graduate. One thing that I enjoyed most was the binding room. We learned that every master and doctorate student would have a book created that contained their final thesis. It must be a great feeling to see a book you created in the library that you worked on. Their value of books is present all throughout the library and in their education. Overall, It was nice to see other students our age doing the same thing as us in a different part of the world.
“Just touch down ina de airport mmhmm !”
We connected in Ethiopia. The airport was pretty hectic. The food was delicious on the flight ! When we reached Zambia, it was beautiful. The nice crisp air immediately hit my face and I took in a large whiff. They drive on the opposite side here. Everyone seems to go the speed limit and I did notice one speed camera (I believe). It kind of reminds me of Jamaica. This just reassures me that we are literally one race, which is the human race. Instead of looking at our differences we should focus more on our similarities because there is more than we think. I am super excited to see what this trip is going to be like. I have no expectations and I am going with an open mind ! I hope to interact with some wonderful people and learn about a wonderful culture. I am dreading the 17 hour plane ride which is very long but I will sleep for most of it. I am anticipating that I come home with a different outlook on my life.
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