5 liters of water for the school today. There was a pretty nasty scene
in the office, and I was completely powerless to help them. A group in
the community has turned off the school's water supply (see Monday's
post for more on this) and the teachers are pretty furious about this
(they all take their water from the school, which may or may not be
legit).
Yesterday, one of the teachers decided that the students would each be
responsible for bringing 5 liters of water for the school, regardless
of their circumstances. This morning, there was a large group of
students standing outside the gate when I arrived who were not allowed
to enter until they found the water (the water situation is pretty
desperate in the area). I was trying to take some excerpts from
Obama's speech to students earlier this week, since I knew that they
would find it pretty inspirational and were having a pretty lousy
week. As i prepared to deliver these words, the only other teacher who
had arrived announced to the students that all the teachers were
indifferent to their situation and didn't care if they failed their
exams and berated them a bit. I made a cursory glance at the part of
the speech about the responsibility of teachers to inspire students
before folding the paper and putting it in my pocket. Maybe next week.
I knew I couldn't openly oppose the other teacher in front of the
students, but as soon as he left, I visited all of the classes and
reminded them that I wanted to see them succeed. I talked about how
hard the week had been and how glad I was with the way that they had
handled everything. I reminded them that next week is a new week and
that we need to make sure to put this week in the past and make next
week positive. Several students were not actually present for this pep
talk, since they were looking for water.
Mercifully, the exams started for all of the students who had brought
water (I will probably be the only teacher to allow make up exams). I
tried to take my mind off of things by setting the school's timetable
for the term, unwittingly sitting next to the office where everything
was about to unfold. Right after the first exams of the day ended,
several students were hauled into the office for returning home and
then bringing the water (the assumption was that these students were
attempting to subvert authority since they presumably had copious
amounts of water that they were hoarding). The beatings were all
pretty fierce (remember, girls get caned on their hands, even though
it means they will barely manage to hold a pen for their subsequent
exams) and the students were not allowed to get a word in edgewise
(apparently, trying to explain their circumstances was tantamount to
talking back to teachers). The students who tried to explain
themselves were shoved with a lot of force and then outright expelled.
It didn't help that the other teachers had decided that some students
were troublemakers from the first day they set foot at the school. The
only teacher who was not violent showed her approval by smiling and
sometimes laughing during all this.
I tried to file a plea for mercy on behalf of the students, but the
other teachers just laughed me off. I tried to point out the
unfairness of the policy and they told me that this was their way of
fighting back against the community over water and then they ended the
discussion. I tried to muster energy for another pep talk with the
students, but I have to admit that it was pretty pathetic.
The day dragged on, but I tried to at least put my third years on
track by running a chemistry demonstration and giving them a math
assignment. I was overjoyed when the bell rang for the students to
leave for the day.
I don't know if I was actually on duty this week. I had the keys for
the school and was running a lot of things since I am in charge of
exams, however since I was taking care of lots of different things all
week, I'm guessing they'll try to tell me that I didn't actually get
my week out of the way. That will be unfortunate.
Then, there was the other matter from this week. Apparently the
administration told the swahili teacher that they were looking to
replace her. Although she filled a large void, they decided that they
wanted someone with a slightly different skill set. (She teaches
history as a second subject and we already have a history teacher on
staff. This should not matter, since the swahili lesson load is enough
for her to shoulder.) She has already found a new job and now the
students will not have another swahili lesson until we get a new
teacher (this will probably not be a fast process, since we requested
an agriculture teacher and Christian Religious Education teacher back
in January and are still waiting).
On the plus side, I spoke with Peace Corps Medical today, and they can
always brighten anyone's day. Sometimes, I don't know where I would be
without them.
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