We were at school on time but there was no sign of Jimmy or
the data projectors we needed. As the participants began arriving we had to
tell them where they were to go and what group they were in. They are now
identified by one of the colours of the flag – green, blue or yellow. When
Jimmy did show up he gave me the attendance folder for the yellow group which I
had yesterday. So, I had to go to both George and Irnice and swap attendance
registers. Many of the participants arrived late and apologized loudly for
being late which further interrupted the class. Wendy led the workshop today.
She presented an introduction to Early Childhood Education by PowerPoint. ECE
is defined as up to the December babies of grade 3. She led them through the
rational and methodology. Mavis (who also came in late) and I jumped in where
we could or when asked. We repeated the workshop three times for the three
groups. George experienced frustration with a computer lab where about half of
the computers don't work or are not connected to the internet and the computer
that is connected to the data projector has a password that he doesn’t know.
Apparently there is a better equipped lab but we don't have access to it.
Irnice tried an ice breaker game where the participants had a piece of paper
taped to their back and they had to mingle and ask others two questions in
order to figure out the word. There was no room in the classroom for them to
move around and mingle and when encouraged to step out of the class no one did
and most didn't want to participate.
When the participants were eating I watched one woman take
another woman's leftovers and then go through the garbage bucket and empty all
of the leftovers into a couple of containers and a bag and take them away, I
can only surmise why. Our lunch was a similar fare to yesterday: fish, beef
(actually Indian flavoured), mac and cheese, basic salad and rice.
After we ate we debriefed the day and tried to make Jimmy
hear a couple of things that we think he didn't organize well. He left in a
huff when we said that the participants shouldn't be allowed to bring their
children (about five did) and we told him it was not our job to tell them that.
Then we met with one of the women from the ministry who left last week. She
brought another woman and the two of them told us what they'd like to do. So
George and I talked to them (Irnice was planning with her team) and we hammered
out a plan. They are keen to do subject specific stuff and they told us that is
what the participants have signed up for. So we agreed to let them led two
subjects – math and science. Irnice will work with one woman on science and I
will work with the other on math. The ministry women will teach how to teach
the curriculum and we will try to inform them of how to include kids with exceptionalities.
That will be Monday. On Tuesday they want the teachers to plan a lesson in one
of those subjects and on Thursday they want them to teach the whole class the
lesson they have planned. Since they are keen to do this and see it as an area
of need, it's their country and education system and frankly it makes our job
easier, we have agreed to it. So we will finish this week and then help them
next week. On the Wednesday we have the union directed workshops of AIDS,
gender equity, union activism and Canada Day and Friday is short as it is the
day of closing ceremonies.
After that meeting we went up to the union offices and George
settled up our bill for our accommodation and the food they provided for us. He
found out we are paying less the $60 Canadian per day for our guesthouse!
When Wayne picked us up George had him take us to Fort
Charlotte. It is a British fort built to defend the island from the French and
the Caribs (local natives) who they had defeated earlier. It is built on top of
a hill seven hundred feet up and has a commanding view of the harbour. As soon
as we got there I saw two men who were obviously tourists, so I approached them
and tried to get them to join our boat cruise on Sunday as we need numbers.
They were Germans but unfortunately won't be around on the weekend. However, as
we were being guided around the fort and told about its history, they talked to
Wayne and managed to get a ride with us back down to Kingstown!
When we got home we chilled, talked and I had a nap. I told
George that Simonique was unhappy and threatening to pull out. The rest of the
evening was the same, George went to bed by eight and Irnice and I talked for a
while before turning in.
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