Final Exam Answers

The first week of December marked the end of the first term of Life Skills for my Form 1 (9^th grade) and Form 3 (11^th grade) students.  It also marked the end of my first EVER term as a teacher.  I prepared the final exams (even as my computer burned out and several projects picked up during the same week) and hoped for the best.  What I got was…something else.  Let’s just say, there was a bell curve (so that must mean my teaching is actually pretty spot on, right?) however, those who scored low, scored very low.  Let’s take a look at their answers, shall we?  Keep in mind, this is Life Skills - basically a mandatory health class that all students must take in order to receive their certificate from secondary school.  It is taught in English (not the students’ first language) and the exam is in the form of multiple choice, short answers and essays.

1.  I don’t remember the questions that went along with these answers, but these are the points that students made.

“Smoking causes a disease called blindness”

“Young people are drinking because they want the removal of shyness”

2.  Describe a moral dilemma in your community

“Favoritism is a moral dilemma in the community, for instance our parents love the girls so they buy them clothes”

“Maybe someone wants to destroy property.  He can get drunk so he has an excuse”

3.  List emotional/mental changes that happen during puberty:

“Boys sperm production will reduce when you live together and girls you feeling this.”

“Boys are discussing girls and girls are discussing boys.”

4.  List two characteristics of someone with high self-esteem:

“Supply and demand”

“Sexual intercourse and smoking/drinking”

5.  List a disadvantage of self esteem:

“Everybody hates you”

6.  List physical changes for males and females during puberty:

“Hair around in the ground”

7.  List two democratic values:

“hunger and thirst”

On top of these answers that were provided, some students chose to circle several of the options for a multiple choice question.  They kindly put the word “or” in between their selection so that I knew they were trying to get the right answer, if only they could call a friend.  Also, I had two boys hand in identical exams – verbatim!  And they chose to hand in their exams together so I knew right away that they had cheated.  If there were other exams in-between the two, I may not have noticed.

 

Oh the joys of teaching!

Video Blog of my Homestay Home

This is where I lived the first 5 weeks in Malawi in Mkomeko village with the Lemonyi family...

Baking in the Vil

Recently I have been getting into baking (cookies, breads, desserts, even pizza dough) since I have acquired 10 kg of flour and I’m not quite sure what else to do with so much flour.  You may wonder how one bakes in the village without an oven.  Well, my friend, it is quite simple.  There are many methods, but I will share with you how I bake.

Materials needed:

-Large pot with a lid

-sand

-baking tin

-heat source (fire, coal, hot plate)

In a pot large enough to hold your baking tins, place fairly clean sand to a depth of two inches.  Set pot on top of your heat source, place baking tin on top of sand and cover with lid.  Baking time will depend on what you are cooking as well as your heat source.  Things tend to cook faster than you think so check often.  Adding a tablespoon of water to the sand before baking may help if your baked goods are coming out dry.

There you have it! Who needs an oven when you have a big pot of sand?!

Back in Business

Back in the village and I feel like I am exactly where I should be.  Did I scare you with my whiny post-holiday uncertainty?  I hope not.  Before I left for Germany, I felt empty and sad and walked anxiously through my house like it was the last time I was going to see it.  I couldn’t fathom leaving, even if it was for only two weeks.  What, am I crazy?!  I know, so strange.  And then while I was in Germany, I enjoyed all things pleasant and easy to access and then felt sad and guilty about what I was enjoying.  I wanted to stay in Germany and felt even more guilty about those feelings.  When I came back to Malawi, I was struck with grief and confusion and was not myself.  It took a few days, a handful of pep talks from my friends here and finally after consuming a large amount of German chocolate I smuggled into Malawi, I am back to myself. 

I think there is always a degree of transition when leaving one culture and going back to another.  Plus, it’s difficult to balance your life.  Malawians will never truly understand me and at times, that makes me feel lonely.  Family and friends back home can never truly understand my life in Malawi and that frustrates me.  I feel like I will never be at peace with my two lives – always in limbo.  I am starting to understand this and I am trying to just appreciate each day as it comes to me.  Whether I am in Malawi, Germany, America or Thailand, I will always face this sense of not truly belonging somewhere, but it won’t stop me from traveling as much as I possibly can.  I got the travel fever and the only prescription is more cowbell – er, traveling.

Happy 50th Anniversary, Peace Corps

Peace Corps’ 50^th Anniversary was in 2011 – I am excited to be a part of Peace Corps’ 50^th year and I can’t help but appreciate those volunteers who served before me – especially in the first few years when Peace Corps had no idea what they were really getting into.  Cheers to 50 more years!

How to Make Wine ala Peace Corps

So you want to make your own wine, but you don’t own a vineyard?

Ingredients:

Fruit or flavorings (amount vary – see below)

4 kilograms sugar

9 tablespoons of yeast (Brewer’s yeast is best, but baking yeast works too)

½ cup strong tea

1 liter Sobo (any flavor)

Water

Materials:

Two 20-liter plastic buckets with lids

One bandana or similar piece of cloth

Bottling Materials (Optional):

18-20 old booze bottles

18-20 small squares cut from plastic bags

18-20 rubber bands

Funnel

Instructions:

Determine what you want your flavor your wine with. Almost any fruit or edible herb will work.  The amount varies for the type of flavoring you have chosen.  Large fruits, such as mangoes, guavas, or bananas will take about 20 individual fruits.  Smaller things like mint leaves, lemon grass or chidede will take about 8 loosely packed cups.  There are no set rules for these measurements, so play around with them as much as you like.  For large fruits, cut them into smaller pieces or mash them up a bit.  For things like mint, bruise the leaves so that the flavor will be released.

1)      Dissolve the 4 kgs of sugar with warm water in a clean plastic bucket

2)      Add the flavorings that you have decided on

3)      Add ½ cup of strong tea (this adds tannin that helps mellow the wine)

4)      Fill the bucket within 2-4 inches of the rim with warm water (leave room for foam)

5)      Sprinkle the 9 tablespoons of yeast on the surface of the water (stir in if desired)

6)      Cover and leave for 7-10 days

7)      Strain contents through CLEAN cloth into second CLEAN bucket to remove solids

8)      Leave for another 7-10 days and it’s ready for drinking

Bottling Option

1)      Take the finished product and funnel into clean old booze bottles

2)      DO NOT CAP! Fermentation is still taking place and the bottles will explode

3)      Seal the mouth of jars with plastic squares and rubber bands.  This will allow room for expansion

So far I have made papaya, banana and lemon grass wine.  Delicious!  Play around with flavors and enjoy!

THANK YOU!

My motherboard crashed – ooh no!

Special thanks to…

Stefan for taking my computer to the computer guys for diagnosis and salvaging my photos and videos of Malawi!

Dee for the new computer!  It’s lovely and fresh and thank you, thank you, thank you!

Dad for the hard drive to back it all up!  Let’s hope this doesn’t happen again, but Dad always has the pre-problem solution.

John for receiving my wild anti-technology e-mails with a smile (at least I hope you’re smiling – you could be rolling your eyes)!

And now I’m back and blogging and life is good again! Gotta catch up…