Back to work after a couple of days training with VSO. The first one was a call back workshop for those of us that have been in country for three or four months, with the volunteers and our local counterparts. We were looking at our expectations before we came and our experiences during this first part of our placements. The workshop came up with quite a few issues, and we gathered that many of them are recurrent issues for each group. I think VSO are nibbling away at some of these issues, but many of them are resistant to nibbling. Yesterday the workshop included some training in gender, as well as how literacy, special needs and disability volunteers could work together more closely. The idea of all this is a drip drip system, hoping that we can make small steps of improvement.
I had a busy weekend with various volunteers visiting to attend the training. So there were lots of good chats - I am increasingly aware that many of the volunteers in whatever region seem to experience the same challenges/frustrations that we do. It is all part of the experience!
On my Saturday morning walk in the Botanical Gardens I saw a toucan really close up, sitting in a tree - massive yellow beak, it was just hopping around looking ungainly. I also saw one of the large kingfishers again hunting along the creek. I think when you know what to look for and where to look for it, you are more likely to see it. A bit like life really....

Goodies and Running Around

Well I was in the lap of luxury on Sunday, I was invited for tea and cheesecake and a game of cards (rummy) with someone who works at the American Embassy - the cheesecake was the biggest I have ever seen and was delicious, there was real coffee and a host of other snacks. I told them about pudding evenings in the UK and they thought could be a good idea for Guyana. I am going round there this Sunday for a bridge evening, so the may be a possibility of more goodies. Treats have a bigger hit when you are living off bean stew and rice for the rest of the week.
Things at work have gone a bit potty, as we have been asked to write a training course for teachers in special needs schools IMMEDIATELY. That is really the problem, we get almost no management input for four months then suddenly the minister says something and everyone has to run around. Still it does make sense for us to leave a good solid course which covers the skills that we have. Fortunately one of us VSOs has the skills to transfer it into distance learning format, and they have time to do it (if their work doesn't take off by the time we have got the material together).
Also today a couple of us were called in to assist in a fact finding visit to the unit for the blind where I have been working mainly. We were told that it was to investigate a complaint that they were not doing anything, but in fact the person from the Ministry of Education was very fair, very interested and supporting change. He said he would try to get a separate grant from the ministry instead of having to go through the two mainstream schools all the time. So that may just work out well.
Tomorrow Friday and Monday we have VSO training days, which is a bit of a holiday really, so I'm looking forward to that. Cheers!

Had a good trip to Linden. The training on Thursday went well, there were 19 teachers who attended out of possible 28. I did an hour of activities about inclusion, both of the pupil with visual impairment as well as other pupils with special needs. I had 10 teachers who wanted me to do some follow up with them, I saw five of them on Friday. I also did some follow up with the two staff in the support unit for the blind, about Jaws, which is the speech programme for the blind. I am writing them a noddy guide for the basics, and persuading them that it would be good to do a little bit every day with at least one pupil, so that it becomes normal. At the moment they either write the work bigger and ask the pupils to copy it, or they like to record it onto cassette - but they don't have a cassette player at the moment. So I am trying to get them to see that if the work is on the computer then it can be accessed any time - for revision as well. Then it transpires that what the support staff really need is IT support, as they don't have much idea about word processing basics. The longer you work with people the more needs they seem to have! I suppose it is a question of confidence to be able to admit that you don't know something.

At the other blind unit in Georgetown, I discovered that although they have a couple of computers with Jaws, none of the pupils use them. So I think I will try to get going on getting some of those staff to see the importance of opening the door to computers for these kids. The main barrier is that I am not much good at Jaws myself, but then I guess that is quite a good starting point as I can appreciate that a noddy guide is needed. If I can understand it then maybe they can...

Had a birding outing this morning with a group called Feathered Friends. They give guides in the Botanical Gardens to see the birds. As I go there every Saturday morning I already have quite a good knowledge of the birds and where you see them, so that made it easier to tune in to what they were showing us. They had a brilliant big telescope for getting a real close up - which is great - if they sit still long enough. The highlight for me were these really massive kingfishers, which we saw fishing in the trench, also peregrine falcons which were diving after parrots which were bigger than they were! I also got the names of some of the common birds that I am familiar with.

We had a walk along the sea wall afterwards, and admired the JCB which is stuck in the mud on the beach. You can see half the cab above the mud, and the big arm. It was trying to dig a trench for the new broadband cable. Someone will be in trouble... I cannot think how much it would cost to have a JCB transported to Guyana.

The Haiti earthquake is on the news all day - it seems quite close emotionally to people here, but is physically a long way away. Guyana is off the danger zone for earth quakes as well as hurricanes, although it does do a good line in flooding as Georgetown is below sea level - hence VSO give us upstairs flats. The last massive flood was 2005.

Getting work moving

Things are getting going at work.
I have finished setting up my latest project which is about motivating teachers by finding and sharing good practice of inclusive methods, within special schools and between special schools. The idea is that this would help special school build up their good practice so that they can eventually become centres of good practice, and so could advise other schools. At the same time I am introducing the idea of a functional skills system which is about breaking down simple skills (like arrival at school) into a sequence of small steps where progress can be tracked with different levels of guidance/support. I hope some teachers will pilot this with a pupil in their class. Another idea is using P-Levels which is used for pupils with learning difficulties in the UK who are working below the National Curriculum level 1. Again I hope this can be piloted in a small way.
I went to a school today to introduce these ideas and the head teacher is keen. So that is great.
Today I also did a training for mainstream teachers at the school which has a unit for the blind. Five teachers came which was better than expected, plus most of the support staff from the unit. Three of the teachers want to have further support, so that gives me a way in to try to get some small changes in methodology towards including the blind child in the class more.
Tomorrow and Friday I am off to Linden to do a similar training with staff in that mainstream primary school, also to do more support in the unit for the blind there. I won't be on a computer again for a few days.
It is a good job that I like being busy!!!

Quiet Weekend

Had a peaceful weekend.
I have been doing my new hobby. I have borrowed a book from a friend which is called Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain. It is about how practising drawing exercises can increase awareness of switching from the left (verbal) side of the brain to the right (visual) side. I have been doing some of the exercises, which include copying drawings upside down (which pushes you into drawing what is actually there rather than what you think is there). Also drawing things when you are only allowed to look at the object, not the drawing. And the latest is about drawing the negative spaces around the object, not the object itself. Again this is so that you are concentrated on the shapes and spaces you are seeing, and not drawing from your idea of what the object should look like.
Had a party with choir on Saturday night, which was a big sit down meal, and afterwards some dancing. I did a couple of dances which went down quite well, and they did some group dances, one of which is called que que, which they do at weddings. It involves making up verses about people who are present and calling back the lines. I'm hoping to get someone to explain it so I can understand how it works. Last night I had a good bridge evening with VSO pals and cooked them a meal.

Busy busy.

Had a busy week, we have had to quite a few reviews, planning documents, mission statements, objectives, budgets and so on. We were also interviewed for the newspaper. They reported me saying lots of things that I didn't say, but the picture looked quite good.
On Saturday evening we have a party for choir, which is a meal out. I've been asked to organise some dancing afterwards - I don't have any music, so I'll have to sing. Should be fun anyway.

New Year

Happy New Year to blog readers all.
Fantastic fireworks on Old Year's Night - the best fireworks I have ever seen. The army were setting them off. Is that good use of resources in a developing country? Well I'd say not really, but other people say that giving that boost to uplift people's spirits at the start of a new decade is worth it. Apparently last year there were meant to be fireworks, but they did not happen.
Had a lovely weekend break in Bartica, staying over with some other VSO vols. It is down the Essequibo River, so involved speedboat rides, which was great on the way down, but a bit overexciting on the way back as the boat engine was having problems. We got grounded on a beach while it was fixed. Fortunately once we did get going the engine kept going, and it did not go dark on us.
One of the VSO friends is working on getting computers into schools in remote areas by using solar power - and pretty successfully too. The other vol is working in a Learning Resource Centre, which was already set up, but she has improved and developed the work with teachers and classes. It was the best place I have been in while I've been in Guyana, and is acting as a model for a resource centre in each region, with some aid funding. The problem is always having someone to run it who can keep control of the resources as well as using it to run activities to improve the teaching and learning.
We walked to a monastery where there was mass in a little room overlooking the river. An idyllic setting. After the mass we walked with some people who attended down to their little golden beach on the river bank. Another idyllic place where we had a swim alongside some local children. Places like this are not public places, so if you go there you are walking over someone's space. You have to have long chats with the owners/occupiers to make sure they are OK about you going on their beach. They may well feel threatened, and as there are so many cows (with horns) and dogs galore, it is not very comfortable if you don't feel welcome somewhere. I took some photos, so next time I get some loaded I hope to include them on the blog.
Back to work today, the schools are back so I should be able to get moving on my various projects. We are being interviewed for the newspaper and radio on Wednesday.