December 20, 2011

Happy Holidays, everyone!

Sorry it has been so long since I sent an email update. I wish I had a better excuse, but I've just really been enjoying my summer break from school. I've traveled, read, started running almost every day, gone to the beach, played with my dog, and generally just enjoyed myself. I love my Peace Corps work in the village of Angoche here in Mozambique, and it has come to be home this past year.

I have officially been living at my assigned site for over a year now. Sometimes I can't believe my service is already halfway over. At this time in December 2012, I will have just come back to the States as a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer. Wow. I can't help but look back at this past year and think about what I've accomplished--and what I have yet to accomplish in my final 12 months here in Mozambique.

One thing my sitemates and I are hoping to accomplish in the next year is to help solidify our Youth Center as a place where kids of all ages in our village can come to learn, read, and explore. We would like to start a youth literacy program to help the youngest kids learn to read. The problem is that finding children's books in Portuguese is extremely difficult, and all printed books here in Mozambique are very expensive.

So over the past few months, my sitemate Margaret (who has since finished her Peace Corps service and returned to the States) and I have written a grant to try to raise money for this new project. And in the spirit of the holidays, I would like to invite all of you to check out or website where you can choose to donate to our Youth Center and aide us in buying the books and supplies we need to help the kids in our village. Information on our grant can be found here as well as a more detailed description of our project.

Thanks in advance for any donation you might be able to make. I know things are tough economically in the States, but as my mom could tell you after she visited me here in August, most Americans, no matter what their financial situation, are incredibly blessed when compared to the people of Mozambique.

If you have time to send me an email, I'd love to hear what's going on in your lives back in the US. And I sincerely hope you all have a wonderful holiday season!

Love,

Alissa

If the link above does not work for you for whatever reason, copy and paste this URL: https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=donate.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=640-028

Alissa's Science Fair Students Go To Regional Competition in Nampula

After competing in their school's local science fair, Alissa and her students at Escola de Secundaria de Angoche took a trip last weekend to the regional science fair in Nampula, the province capital located several hours' away via bus. One of her students also won at the regional competition in Nampula -- he created a kind of universal cell phone charger that can be used with batteries in places where no electricity is available. Alissa and her students stayed in a modern hotel in Nampula, where she had internet access and was able to skype with us back in states. :-)

July 6, 2011 - A Day In My Life As A PCV

July 6, 2011

A belated Happy Independence Day to all of you Stateside. My sitemate, roommate and I celebrated together by making pizza and singing ridiculously loudly to all the cliched America songs you typically hear around the 4th. It was quite a night. Then both of them got sick to their stomachs from eating so much cheese (we rarely have dairy here). I was fine but they both missed a day of work. Oops. It was quite the experience overall.

A few of you have requested a kind of 'day in the life' type of update, and I think that's a great idea, so here is a 'typical' day for me in Mozambique (although I've found no day is really typical --haha).

5:15: Wake up with the sun

5:20: Take the puppy outside and then cook breakfast for him and myself

5:30: Eat breakfast, usually an egg and some vegetables

5:40: Heat up water to take my morning bucket bath

5:45: Take my bucket bath and do my hair/brush my teeth

6:00 Decide what to wear for the day and get ready for school

6:30 Make sure I have everything together and ready or school

6:40: Leave for school

6:45: Arrive at school in time for concentração (singing of the national anthem, announcements, etc).

12:10: Finish teaching for the day and head home

12:30: Cook lunch, usually something simple like some sauteed vegetables or a veggie sandwich or maybe a peanut butter and honey sandwich, it depends how much time I have

12:50: Eat lunch

1:00: Gather everything needed to teach at the Youth Center

1:30: Head down to the Youth Center with my roommate to set up for class

2:30-4: Intense English Class for 12th grade students at the Youth Center (Tuesday-Friday)

4:00-5:00: Answer any lingering questions from students and 'office hours' for students from school to come use books from the library or ask questions

5:00: Head home

5:15: Relax! Read & watch the sunset, write letters, type an email update, or play with the puppy. ☺

6:00 Cook dinner for myself and the puppy. This also varies quite a bit, but is often pasta and rarely includes meat. The only time I usually eat meat here is when we go to the restaurant in town and get chicken. (This happens once a week or less).

6:45: Eat dinner

7:25: Heat water for my second bucket bath

7:30: Take my second bucket bath

7:45: Prepare lessons, grade papers, etc.

8:45: Check that everything is ready for school the next day.

9:00: BEDTIME

So while they do vary, that's a general outline of my days here. On the weekends I have REDES and JOMA meetings as well as meetings with my computer club at school. Those usually take all of Saturday morning. Sunday is day to relax, go to the beach, and lesson plan for school. Monday I don't have school (lucky!) so the morning is spent cleaning the house and doing laundry and the afternoon is spent with my sitemate and roommate planning the youth center lessons for the week. We usually go out to dinner on Monday evenings to celebrate finishing our planning for the week and also because we usually finish kind of late and it takes awhile to cook things here.

Well that should give you a good idea of a typical day/week in my life in the Peace Corps in Mozambique. I am really excited for this coming weekend because my counterpart and I are taking four students to the regional science fair which should be really exciting. I organized (with my counterpart) a science fair for my town that happened last week, and the students with the best scores are going to represent Angoche this weekend in Nampula. It should be a lot of fun. We had 14 kids participate this year and I hope next year I can up that to closer to 25.

Well I'm off to cook dinner. I hope all is well with you and hope to hear from all of you about how your life is going!

So much love,
Alissa

Internet Is Back On -- June 15, 2011

June 15, 2011

Well, so much for the internet coming back on quickly. Finally, over a month and a half later it has started to work again (sporadically). However, as frustrating as it was to be without internet for so long, in some ways it was also kind of nice. Sometimes I feel that when the internet is working, I spend too much time in my room instead of experiencing everything around me. I'm only going to be here in Mozambique for two years and I feel like I need to experience everything I can while I have the time.

Not that I have all that much time. I've already been in Angoche for six months, in Mozambique for almost nine -- that means I have 18 months left, which really isn't that many. Every weekend between now and the end of the second trimester, I have something big happening. This coming weekend we have an experienced artist coming to teach our art group some new techniques and help them paint another part of the wall they painted earlier in the year. The topic this time is gender equality. The pictures the boys drew are really amazing, so I'll be sure to take pictures so you can all see their great work.

The next weekend is Mozambican Independence Day, June 25th. This is a huge holiday and there will be tons of partying and celebrating here in Angoche. A bunch of volunteers from all over the country are coming to experience one of Angoche's famous beach parties. It should be a lot of fun. Again I will try to remember to take lots of pictures so you can all see how people party it up here in Mozambique.

The weekend after that, the first weekend in July, is the Angoche Science Fair, which I am organizing. We have had three meetings already and I've spoken with a few other professors who will help, as well as local scientists who will help judge the projects. The students all seem really excited. I think I will probably end up with about 30 participants. Four will be chosen as winners, two girls and two boys, one each from 8-10th grade and 11-12th grade. Those four winners, a fellow professor, and I will then travel the following weekend to Nampula for a regional science fair. This science fair will include winners from the four northern provinces of Mozambique and will also have regional winners. Maybe some of my kids will be among them. We'll see!

Following the science fairs, the next weekend is the weekend of training for our REDES conference. REDES stands for Raparigas em Desemvolvimento, Educação, e Saude (Girls in Development, Education, and Health). Every year each region in Mozambique (North, South, and Central) have a conference for each REDES group in the region. We will have guest speakers and five full days of activities for the girls to participate in. This year the conference is being held in a place called Naoela in Zambezia province. Each of the 15 REDES groups in the North will bring two girls, one counterpart (a Mozambican woman who helps with the group), and a volunteer to the conference. Our group will actually have two volunteers, my sitemate Margaret and I.

After the weekend of preparation and training for the conference, it is our last week of school for the trimester which means I will be giving a final and finishing up grades. After I turn in my grades, I will be traveling again to Nampula for the weekend. This time I will be attending PDM (project design and management) training from the Peace Corps. This is where we learn how to write all different kinds of grants to fund our secondary projects like our youth center, girl's group, etc. We are taking our counterpart for the youth center, Mussa, who is quite possibly my favorite Mozambican. He is so nice, speaks wonderful English, works very hard, and never tries to hit on or sleep with any of us volunteers which makes him unique of all the Mozambicans I've met so far.

After the PDM conference, I have a week off where I think I will be traveling somewhere (the destination is still TBD). After that week of traveling I will head back to site to pick up the two girls from our REDES group to head to the conference which is the first week of August. After the conference I will head back to site for a few days to wait impatiently for my mom to arrive in Mozambique on the 11th! She will be staying for 11 days and I am SO excited for her to visit. We will visit Mozambique Island, Ribaue, Nampula, and my site of Angoche. Hopefully she will return to the States with plenty of interesting stories and pictures to share with you all.

And now I have to teach at the youth center so that is all I can write today. I hope you are all well. I miss you all so much!

Amo-vos,

Alissa

Happy Friday, May 13th from Mozambique!

May 13, 2011

I can't believe it's already mid-May. This time last year I was graduating from Smith (CONGRATS to all the ladies graduating this weekend!) and other than a 3-month summer internship in DC, my future was more or less a mystery. I don't think I would have ever guessed I would be in sub-Saharan Africa a year after graduating, to be honest. If I were going into Peace Corps, which was my first choice, I thought I would be going to Central or South America (as that was the region from my Peace Corps nomination). However, I could not be happier with how everything turned out

I absolutely love it here in Mozambique, especially in my town of Angoche. Of course things aren't easy, but that makes each little success even sweeter. Between classes at school and the youth center, our girl's empowerment group, our youth art group, and the computer club I started, I am keeping pretty busy. This is definitely my preferred method of operating (if any of you knew my schedule during college, you have an idea). If I have free time now, I usually spend it playing with and training my new puppy, reading a book, or cooking something new.

My roommate and I got a puppy a couple of weeks ago and are currently trying to house break him which is proving rather difficult in our apartment. We named him Pequininho (tiny one in Portuguese) or Nino for short. He was so small when we got him we had to bottle feed him for the first week or so, but he is doing wonderfully now and growing fast.

I'm in the middle of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, which I am enjoying a lot, but I don't have nearly as much time to read it as I'd like. I took a break from Zen and sped through a quick read called Do Fish Drink Water? which was really interesting. It's a book of random questions and answers, and I recommend it as a highly entertaining collection of fun facts. For example, if you took all the pennies the U.S. Mint has ever produced and lined them up edge-to-edge they would circle the globe 137 times. Or the reason we say 'god bless you' (or the German version, gesundheit) when someone sneezes is that during the Middle Ages when people were suffering from the last stages of the plague, they would have sneezing fits. So if if you heard someone near you sneeze, you knew they were about to die so you asked god to bless their soul. The children's song 'Ring around the Rosey' is about the plague also.

I've had some baking successes recently too, including some great banana bread and delicious peanut butter cookies. The next challenge will be baking a pizza in my dutch oven (aka a large covered pot with rocks and dirt in the bottom to insulate and then the baking dish inside. It's all done over charcoal). My site-mate is heading down South for a couple weeks and on the way back she's going to pick up some mozzarella cheese in the provincial capitol as that is really the one pizza ingredient we can't get here.

Well as I explained I'm really busy lately and I am about to head off to school, but hopefully the internet will come back on long enough for me to send this sometime this weekend. It keeps going on and off and we don't really know what the problem is. It hasn't worked well in over a month. Oh well. So it goes in Mozambique

Love, Alissa

New Puppy - May 4, 2011

May 4, 2011

A few things:
1- Yay for the internet being back on for the first time in two weeks.
2- It's 75 degrees and I am FREEZING. I dug my sweater out of storage this morning.
3- Living in an area that is mostly Muslim made receiving the whole Osama news really interesting.
4- Alex Breedlove (PCV sitemate) and I got a new puppy. Be jealous. Pictures to come.
:-)

[Alissa and her PCV roommate adopt an abandoned puppy, which they had to take turns feeding with infant formula every four hours, as it was not yet weaned. They named him Nino - "little boy"].

April 11, 2011 - List of Firsts in Mozambique

Sorry it's been so long since I've written. The first semester is ending this week and it's been getting pretty chaotic around here. I might be able to skype or call people with better luck this coming Saturday-Wednesday because I will be in the capitol of my province, Nampula, for a PCV conference, so let me know if you'd like to talk and we can find a time that works.

Instead of a journal-esque email today, I have a list of my firsts in Mozambique, as a summary of my now over six months in the Peace Corps.

In Mozambique, I've done these things for the first time:

--killed a chicken
--taught a high school class alone
--received a marriage proposal (the answer was no, as with all the other countless offers of marriage I've now received here)
--lived somewhere where English is not the spoken language
--cooked nearly every meal for myself
--spent Christmas away from home
--cut all my hair off
--washed my laundry by hand (and hung it to dry)
--made cookie dough with the express purpose of eating it raw (no eggs, don't worry)
--lived somewhere where I was such an obvious minority
--been fully appreciative of shade, or a nice breeze
--gone so long without seeing my family
--written a diary regularly
--swam in the Indian Ocean
--had people honestly think I was in my late thirties and tell me so
--bathed at least twice a day every day
--been so happy that a 170 km (or 100 mile) car trip took only 4.5 hours
--been really cold when it's just below 80 degrees outside
--cooked with charcoal on a regular basis
--baked without an oven
--smoked a Cuban cigar
--had clothes tailor-made regularly
--had people be appalled I wasn't married with children at the age of 23
--have seen and swam in bio-luminescent water at night
--have taken a malaria test (which was thankfully negative)
--had people tell me I was looking fat today as a total compliment (it means you have enough money to eat, so it's a good thing here)
--had people tell me I was looking skinny today and mean it negatively
--been so completely refreshed by an ice cold Coke
--lived within walking distance of the beach
--been able to greet someone in three different languages in the same conversation
--felt scandalous in shorts that come nearly to my knee
--painted a mural that a whole town sees everyday...

So that should give you an idea of how life here in Mozambique is different, and how it's changed my perspective on some things already -- and usually always for the positive.

Thanks for taking the time to keep up with my adventures while I serve in the Peace Corps, and please let me know what you're up to as well! I love hearing from my friends and family about what's going on back home.

Love from Africa,
Alissa

March 19, 2011 -- First Illness, First Test & First Student Debate

March 19, 2011

Time sure does fly here in Mozambique. I can't believe it's been so long since I last wrote an update. Sorry about that. I also cannot believe it has been almost 6 months since I left the States. So much is going on both here and at home, and I've been quite busy.

This past week, sadly, I have been been sick, which was no fun at all. I was practically bedridden for five days and couldn't eat more than bread and water. Not a good time, let me say. I was bored and tired and just miserable. I did read Lord of the Flies and started reading Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance as well as watch a few movies, but overall it was a long and terrible week.

Thankfully, I am feeling much better now. I am sitting out here on the back balcony, enjoying the gorgeous view of the Indian Ocean and islands off Angoche, while I read and write and listen to James Taylor. First I was writing in the handsome journal I received as a gift (thank you to the Krauses) before leaving for Peace Corps, and now I am penning this update to let you all know I am still alive and well and doing my best to keep busy.

Teaching is going fairly well. School is difficult but satisfying. I gave my first test at the end of last week and it was quite the episode. I caught around 15 kids cheating (which means they will receive zeroes), and many other students were looking at each other's papers and whatnot during the test as well. It was quite frustrating. However, despite it being stressful to proctor, the students who didn't cheat did quite well, and I was pleased. The test covered school subjects, professions, family members, and the verb 'to be.' I have a few more tests to finish grading but overall the effort was admirable.

Our secondary projects are also going quite well. Last Saturday we went to the beach with our REDES and JOMA groups. It was such a nice day. We brought some snacks and swam and ate, and Audie taught a bunch of the kids how to make friendship bracelets. Quite the successful outing. But even more rewarding to me was the debate we had with them before the trip to the beach.

The previous week we had been talking to the boys after the REDES meeting and one boy said, “Sao poucos mulheres que tem couragem.” (There aren't many women who have courage.) This spurred my colleague Margaret to ask him what he thought courage was. The boys agreed that courage was when someone does something dangerous, like robbing a bank. Then one of the REDES girls who was still in the youth center who had overheard the boys asked, "What about when a girl turns down a teacher who is trying to sleep with her so she can pass to the next grade? Doesn't she have courage?" The boys listened, and although rather taken aback by her viewpoint and willingness to speak up, agreed that this, too, was courageous. Later, while discussing this interaction amongst ourselves, my sitemate, roommate and I agreed that we should host a debate with the girls and boys of our groups to discuss courage and the difference between men and women in Mozambique.

So this past Saturday before our trip to the beach, we had both groups come to the youth center and had two teams (each with girls and boys) debate the truth of a handful of different statements. Some of the statements/questions were:

* There are few women who have courage.
* It is women's job to take care of men.
* A woman can be a soldier.
* Women in Mozambique have a harder life than men.
* If a wife and husband both get home from work at the same time it is the wife's job to cook.
* If you had the strongest man and strongest woman in the world, who could lift more?
And other things of that nature.

The teams took turns arguing the pro and con of the different statements, and it went quite well. I think all of the kids got quite a lot out of it, and it was one of the first times I think they had ever had discussions like that -- especially with the boys and girls participating together equally. It was quite possibly the high point of my month. :-)

Now it is getting dark and I need to go cook dinner (I'm going to make fried rice), but I hope this update finds you all well and enjoying the spring that is coming (I know a few of you have just returned from a week in GA rowing on Lake Lanier, and to you I say I MISS YOU and GOOD LUCK THIS SEASON).


Lots of love to you all!

~Alissa

Feb. 21, 2011 - You know You're In Mozambique When...

Sorry it's been so long since I've emailed. It's been a crazy couple of weeks. Here's a list to entertain you and explain some of the things I've seen recently:

You know you're in Mozambique when:
1- People seem to think the rain will do them bodily harm. They avoid getting wet at all costs.
2- Kids, instead of walking dogs on leashes, walk goats with lengths of rope. Or sometimes cows.
3- Mowing the lawn consists of using a tool that's a mix of scythe and machete, and hacking at it a little bit at a time.
4- You see more young men walking and holding hands with each other in one day here than you would see in a year in America.
5- People are in winter clothing whenever it's below 80 degrees.
6- A bicycle is wasted if it only has one person on it without tons of cargo. I've seen up to six kids on one bike.
7- The boys are way better dancers than the girls. I have never seen people with better rhythm or more ability to move their hips in crazy ways than high school Mozambican boys.
8- Clothes aren't mandatory until a child is at least 6. And if it's raining or they are swimming, then not until past puberty.
9- Obama's name or face can appear on ANY article of clothing. I've seen Obama on hats, shirts, belts, watches, shoes, and underwear.
10- Everyone is deathly afraid of dogs and thinks you are weird if you don't yell at or kick a stray as you pass -- and especially if you stop to pet one.
11- People are seen walking down the street with all manner of items on their heads: from 20 liter water containers to giant fish they've caught, to massive bundles of wood and sticks and even tables with boxes of cookies and crackers on top.
12- Your school schedule changes completely a month after classes have started.

Well, everything is going well here, more or less. If you haven't seen them, I posted some pictures on facebook. They are photos of my students painting a wall mural and my sitemate's 25th birthday! Oh, and I have a new cell phone. My other phone was stolen at school: :-/

Anyway. I'm off to grade my first set of essays. Busy busy! Wish me luck!
Love,
~Alissa

Jan. 29, 2011 -- Getting In Touch With My Artistic Side

Feb. 1, 2011: First, I want to say a big HAPPY 12th BIRTHDAY to my amazing niece Madison Mackenzie Kulow!! I can't believe you are already 12 years old, and I cannot wait to see you again and see how much you've grown. I love you Madi, and I miss you SO much.

January 29th, 2011

Today I got in touch with my artistic side, and it was fabulous. Usually Peace Corps volunteers don't start working on our secondary projects (things like REDES, a girl's empowerment group; JOMA, a youth art and journalism group, etc.) until after the first trimester of school. ThF way you can settle in and determine what the community's needs are and how to best suit their needs. However, as there have been previous volunteers in Angoche, including the amazing Margaret who started here last year and is therefore still here, we have already started ours. Our REDES girls are starting meetings next weekend but this weekend we got started with the JOMA boys.

The main road coming into our town is quite a site to see. Despite the fact that 80% of the road leading to Angoche from the capitol city of Nampula is nothing more than packed dirt, the road leading into our town is a massive divided street that could easily fit six cars across its wide berth. The main area of the city looks more like a ruin than a town packed with people. It is full of concrete buildings in various states of disrepair, some to the point that they look near collapse. You get the distinct feeling that this town has long since seen its hayday and has fallen into shambles, forgotten by its previous inhabitants.

And in some ways, this is exactly the case. Angoche was once a thriving Muslim trading post, founded in the 1490s, (one of the reasons the local dialect is a mixture of Arabic and Swahili). The town was a huge metropolis filled with impressive buildings, gorgeous houses, and rich foreigners who ran everything. However, since Mozambique gained independence in the 1970s, much has changed. Nearly all of the foreigners have long since gone, and while others have come in (many "lojas," or stores, are owned by Chinese or Indian families, for example), the town is more or less in the hands of the native Mozambicans.

This means, since the government of Mozambique is already extremely poor and also fraught with corrupt officials who embezzle what little money there is, that most everything here is run down and poorly cared for. There are a few exceptions of course, but the point is the main area of town has the feeling of lost grandiosity and is now falls far short of that former beauty.

As a good project for our JOMA group, some of the previous volunteers had the boys paint a mural on a concrete wall on the main road leading into town. Since then the mural has since been ruined by Frelimo, the only real political party active in Mozambique currently, when they put up a bunch of campaign posters before the elections in November. So today we began redoing the mural. It has about 16 panels in total and the boys decided they wanted to focus on two topics important here in Angoche and all of Mozambique: malaria and domestic violence (the last mural was about HIV/AIDS). The boys spent the last two weeks drawing up their ideas for the mural, which include a couple panels each about the causes, problems, and solutions for each of these problems.

Today we finished scraping off the old paint and primed, drew, and painted the first half of the mural. Between my roommate, site-mate, the 5 boys, and me, it took from 6 a.m.-6 p.m., 12 full hours. It was quite a job. We haven't completely finished the first half of the mural and that is the goal for tomorrow. Then next weekend we'll do the second set of panels, about domestic violence.

Overall the day was a success. However, despite the complete overcast (and therefore bearable temperatures) and my sunscreen, I got completely fried. Figures. But the day overall was a much needed break. While we were working all day, it was a soothing and very concrete job with very visible results. Being here has really made me appreciate how nice it is to be able to see the results of the work you're doing. It was backbreaking and I'm sure I will be sore everywhere tomorrow, but it was almost relaxing to be soothed by the scraping of the metal on concrete and calmed by the rub of the paint brush over the wall, bringing with it new color and purpose.

Overall, a successful day if there ever was one in Mozambique.
:-)
And now, for a little dinner and some well-earned rest.

Miss you all!

Jan. 25, 2011 -- Beginning the Second Week of Teaching in Angoche

January 25th, 2011

Well, the internet here has been out for over a week. Apparently this is not that unusual for Mozambique but it's definitely a first for me here. It did, however, give me a lot of time to work on lesson plans and read. We are into our second week of school here, but the first week was pretty much just practice because out of my classes (which are supposed to have around 80 students) each one only had about 10 kids, and none of the other teachers taught any classes.

This week I had more like 40 students per class, which is already more than we have chair, so today a few kids had to sit on the floor. I can't really imagine how another 30 kids are going to fit in my rooms, which are basically the size of the typical American classroom. Definitely not built to hold 80 kids in their mid-to-late teens. That might end up being the biggest challenge of all. How to keep everyone in the class involved when only half the students even have desks.

I started yesterday and today by introducing myself and telling the kids a little about my background (I purposefully did not tell them my age, though every class asked). We then talked about the rules and expectations in my classroom, the most important of which I told them was Respect. I respect them and they respect me. They seemed to understand that pretty well -- by which I mean, they speak almost no English and I had to teach almost entirely in Portuguese, but they understood the concept. We also talked about my other very important rule: NO CHEATING. Yes, in all capital letters. The use of cheat sheets ("cabulas" in Portuguese) is rampant in Mozambican schools. The other teachers completely allow it because both the students and the other teachers are convinced that the kids cannot pass without them. What's worse is this idea has some truth to it because the students take so many different disciplines every year and have never really been taught critical thinking or problem solving skills. If they don't have the fact/number/verb/etc memorized, they give up.

Anyway, in the second half of the blocked class (we have two blocked classes and one normal length, aka 45 minute, class each week), we then talked about what they wanted to learn this year. Their previous teachers were so bad. They have been taking English for six years now and literally cannot say anything other than greetings, which they have to know because the students greet the teacher every class. There are a few exceptions -- those who either have someone who has taught them outside school or were lucky enough to have had one of the previous volunteers and then actually worked hard and remembered what they were taught. However, their lack of experience is almost easier for me because I am going to start from scratch.

After deciding what they wanted to learn this year, we started at the beginning. Yes, with the alphabet. We practiced pronunciation, because some letters and sounds are really difficult for them ('r' for example), and then I taught them the ABCs song. It was a huge hit. Every class loved it. Kids were clapping like I'd performed a fantastic magic trick or something else equally amazing. Their enthusiasm was great. Next we practiced the numbers, writing them out up to twenty. Even these two tasks were not easy for them. And after six years of a language, that's really unfortunate. But after seeing that the other English teachers aren't even really fluent themselves, I can't say I'm all that surprised.

However, the kids did seemed excited to learn, and I think I did a good job keeping them in line. There are a few kids who I can already tell are going to be problems, but having been one of the smart kids who just can't stop answering questions, and being friends with the people who are always making jokes and whispering, I know how to handle it and keep them in check. We'll see how much harder it gets once half the class is sitting on the floor.

The other thing worth noting is that today when I was just about to start my first class, I noticed a crowd of students all gathered around something out on a slope/hill behind the school. As none of the other teachers seemed to notice or care, I went out to investigate. A student was lying on the ground, apparently unconscious. My fellow volunteer, Audie, also came down and she had discovered from some of the students that he had epilepsy and was having a seizure. We made sure to make everyone back away after resting him on his side. But after a few minutes he was still unconscious, and finally another teacher came over. He had one of the older boys carry the unconscious boy over his shoulder to the hospital, which is thankfully just up the road. I don't know yet if he is all right, as no one seemed to know once my classes we over for the day, but I will obviously try and find out more in the coming days. What a welcome to the world of teaching and a start to the first full week of school!

Well now I must go and write up my pre-test questions on some poster-sized paper because the school doesn't have copiers and it's the easiest way to give a test without wasting half the period writing the questions on the chalkboard. Tomorrow I will really find out what my kids know, and what they don't. Hopefully it won't be too upsetting, but I guess I shouldn't get my hopes up too high. Hope to be able to send another update in a week or two, once I've gotten into the flow of classes and lesson planning.

Miss you all!
Hope everything is going well in the States!
Love,
Alissa

Jan. 15, 2011 -- Death of a Child

January 15, 2011

There is absolutely no sound like the crying of a mother who has just lost her child. I had never heard that sound before last night. But death is just one of the many terrible things that is far more common in Mozambique than it should be. My adorable little 5 year old neighbor died yesterday. She had been sick her whole life apparently, but she was doing more or less okay until yesterday when she collapsed suddenly. Her family took her to the hospital but she died a few hours later. I sat up most of the night hearing her mother's cries outside my window. It's something I will never forget.

Today I watched from above as they loaded her much-too-small coffin into a truck at the head of a line of cars full of people to go to bury her. The cries of her family followed the procession down the street and away from our apartment, but the sound still lingers in my mind.

This sound is the reason. The reason why people like myself are willing to spend two years away from their family and friends, everything they know in life, to try to help people they have never met. If I can do anything to try to educate or help even one person in this country, convince them they can become a doctor, or make an honest living to feed their family, or go get help when they need it without the stigma attached to certain illnesses, then it will make all the difference. If I can prevent even one mother from having to make the sounds I heard for the past 24 hours, then how can I not? How is that not worth two years of my time? How can I not want to give back in any way I can to help those less fortunate than myself?

Everyone can do their part. I'm just playing mine. I hope you all take some time today to think about what yours can be. What can you do to help those less fortunate, be they the ones on this side of the world or the ones who live right down the street from you.

I need some time to think. So that's all for today.
Hope you are all well.

~Alissa

January 10, 2011: Happy New Year from Mozambique

So here it is, my first email of the New Year. So much has happened in the past couple weeks. I spent New Year's on Ilha de Mocambique (Mozambique Island) with a group of friends. It was so much fun! I have attached a picture of my friend Megan and I in front of the old fort on the island. The island was one of the first places settled in Mozambique. It actually served as the capitol during most of the Portuguese rule, until it was later changed to Maptuo, down south. Half of the island is really built up and touristy, and the other half is a barrio (think poverty, huts, traditional Mozambican living). It's quite a sight to see.

Upon arriving back to our site a few days into the new year, we set about trying to find out what we will be teaching this coming school term, since we still didn't know. I finally found out a couple days ago what I'm going to be teaching -- 11th grade English. So not any chemistry [original assignment when accepted into PC] or math! Okay. Interesting. Typical Mozambique. But considering how well even the English teachers here speak English (or don't speak it, I should say), it's probably not bad to have native speakers teaching the upper grades. My roommate, who was actually sent here to teach English originally, will be teaching 12th grade. That's an exam year, so she has a bit more pressure than I do. Whew. So now I have exactly one week to prepare before classes start. Awesome. And also very typical for Mozambique. But hey, I'll be teaching almost entirely in English, so now I'm a little less nervous. Now I just have to worry about managing my class and the fact that some of my students will be my age or older. No problem, right?

Also, today was the day. I cut all my hair off. Well, nearly all of it. A picture is attached, and I LOVE IT. It is SO much cooler and easier to deal with. Plus, I think it looks decent considering my roommate did it with some regular scissors... haha. I'm so glad I decided to do it. I've wanted to cut it off for awhile now and really, if I don't do it here I never will. Let me know what you think.

Anyway, I have to spend the next week working on my lesson plans. Some of the topics are kind of ridiculous, like a unit on the coconut tree and its importance in local culture and trade. Okay. But some are actually super exciting like the unit on democracy and another on politics and elections. Those should be amazing to teach. I'm going to be getting a copy of the syllabus on Friday, though I saw one for a minute yesterday. I think the first week will mostly be review and getting to know my class, especially because a lot of the students don't show up the first couple weeks, for whatever reason.

Well I'm off to bed now, and tomorrow have to start planning my lessons. Wish me luck!

Miss you all!
~Alissa