A teacher of sorts

Sadly, all but three of my schools are STILL on strike. This is going on week 4 of strike meaning almost a month of no classes for so many students. The end of the school year is rapidly approaching in October, and September has the pleasure to host not only the controversial presidential and mayoral elections but is also the month thats holds Guatemalan Independence Day. In Guatemala, that translates as excuses to either cancel classes (some are required to close due to election polls being hosted at schools) or to host activities and events at school in honor of the independence, which means no classes. This constant absence from classes used to drive me crazy (and still does a little bit) but I have grown to accept it because that is just the way Guatemala is and I am not going to be the one to change it (let's be real here). Instead, I have been adjusting and flowing to work with what I got. 


For instance, since school vacation is around the corner I know that means that these next few months until October are my last ones to get any work done in the schools until the next school year starts in January. That also translates to mean that November and December are long months with lots of free time for volunteers. I don't want to be twiddling my thumbs for 2 months so I have been trying to plan for ways to keep myself busy during that time. I have previously mentioned that I was trying to start some women's groups and what but a perfect time to really get them going. Last Friday I had a meeting scheduled with all the mothers in the community where my favorite school is to go over what they wanted from the meetings/workshops and to pick our first date to meet. The meeting, however, wasn't until 1pm and since there is no transport on non-market days this meant I had to leave at 7am with one of the teachers and stay there all day to wait for the meeting. Well, knowing Guatemala I knew I wasn't going to pass the time sitting in a room by myself. And, of course, I was right. 


The school has four teachers as follows: one for Kindergarten, one for first and second grades, one for third and fourth grades, and finally one for fifth and sixth grades. The teachers are all friendly and really welcoming and I enjoy visiting them. My day started by being asked by the third and fourth grade teacher to work with his class for a little while since I had never worked with them (last time I was there I worked with the fifth and sixth graders). I didn't have material or lessons planned because I didn't know what grade I'd end up working with. Therefore, I ended up just playing some games with them and teaching them a song about brushing your teeth. It proved to be successful for such an impromptu lesson plan. Afterwards, I went to the classroom that the director teaches (first and second grade). She had told me she wanted me to help her with her second grade lesson plan on the difference between natural and chemical medicine. I agreed since I was interested in natural medicine and thought it might be an opportunity to learn. Well, things turned out a little differently. She gave me her lesson plan book and showed me the page on natural and chemical medicine. It literally had about two sentences for each type of medicine and a couple of examples. She said okay just work with them on that and I'll work with first grade. What?? I didn't know I was going to be teaching a class by myself to second graders on this! So improvise Natalie. And so I did. It went fairly well and some of them seemed to grasp the difference. Others did not but that may have been due to other things. 


Spending the whole day with the director in her classroom meant sharing stories about all the students and their families (everyone knows everything in these small villages). I soon realized that story after story was equally as disheartening and sad. Many of the kids in the class suffered from malnutrition and as a result had a hard time learning. Malnutrition causes the brain to not fully develop as it normally should many times leading to not only stunted growth but a decrease in learning capabilities. To top it off, almost every child in that room either lived with only one parent that barely managed to support the family (most of the kids were one of 8 or 9) or had an alcoholic father that didn't contribute much to support the kids or the mother. Some of them were from abusive families and others had to take care of younger siblings. One story hit me the hardest. There are two sisters that are both in the second grade. One of them is 8 and the other 10. Both suffer from malnutrition and are from a family of 8. The 10 year old has gotten left back twice in the second grade because she has not been able to advance and grasp the material. Their one year old sister just passed away a month ago due to malnutrition. They are beautiful young girls full of energy and life and somehow manage to get through each day. Their story is not unique in this community or even in Guatemala. From what the teacher told me, the problem, at least in this community, stems often from the men. They are the sole providers of the house and usually give very little to their wives to buy food and whatever other necessities for the family. Some of them are alcoholics and spend most of their money on booze. Others are prone to the common machismo culture and abuse their wives either physically or verbally. Most of the mothers have little to no self-esteem and it kills me because I can see the same developing in their daughters. The teacher told me she has gotten in fights with fathers before because they don't want to send their daughters to school because they say they are stupid and it will serve them no use. The teacher fights for them to stay in school and many have as a result. It's a terrible thing to hear and see all of these stories take place. Yet, here they are, still children, still eager to learn and go to school, still excited to play with each other. School is their escape from daily life. Therefore, after hearing most of these stories I felt honored to have the opportunity to have an impact, even if small, on these little humans' lives.


I later was asked to be the gym teacher for the first graders and had a great time exercising and playing games with them. After school ended, the director and I were invited for lunch at one of the families' houses. After finishing our bowls of rice and tamalitos we headed back to the school to prepare for the meeting with the mothers. The meeting was successful in that we chose our first meeting date and I had 31 mothers sign up! That is more than I expected and so I guess we will see how many actually show up. I'm excited to work with them especially after hearing the daily troubles and obstacles they have to deal with. I also spoke with the director and am planning a girls' day camp for 3-5 days during the school vacation to work on their self-esteem, puberty, and reproductive health. At the end of the day, I got home and had one of those Peace Corps days where I feel satisfied and moved by my day and remember why I am here. You might have some bad days but then you remember you only live like this for 2 years while others live a lifetime of it. Peace Corps never seizes to surprise and challenge me. Who knew I was a teacher of many wonders after all? Here are some pictures of the beautiful first and second graders I had the opportunity to work with. And here is an article that I read when I got home that day and rang true with my day: http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/health/110714/ghi-targets-chronic-malnutrition-guatemala 

Handwashing for snack time - yay Healthy Schools!

The handsome boys of first & second grade

The whole bunch