Friday, August 31, 2007

Where in the world will Sojourner volunteer?

Ok, so it's official!
I just received my assignment. I will be working at the EPF Teacher's Training College in Bengela Angola.
Yay!!
This is the placement that I wanted. Bengela is supposed to be beautiful, it's in the Northwest and is apparently lush and green, surrounded by a beach. The project leader there is also rumored to be great! I will be traveling with two other people from my team, so there will be three of us living together.
Yay!!!!!!!!!

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

star

we have an old dog
13 human years
many dog years
sometimes she runs
today she staggers and shakes...

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

a little diddy

large brown roach
length of two eyes in the moonlight
ten minute scream

Monday, August 20, 2007

online again

I'm online again! This is now a rare luxury. Actually, I'm at an internet cafe in Williamstown with my team. We've had so much research to do for our fundraising trip coming up in September and our internet has been down, so fieldtrip time.
The last few days here have been busy however, this week-end was a free week-end and after finishing my papers and presentations which I will talk about later, Tamika, Valeria and I headed for New York. It's great showing people around New York for the first time. Valeria is from Argentina and her mouth was wide open the entire trip. Tamika who is from Baltimore was excited too, I think this was her second time in the City. Thanks Krista and Dawn for entertaining us on the Lower East side and super thanks to Krista for putting us up for the night. It was fantastic to be back in town, even if it was for one night only.
My time at IICD has been divided into many parts:
1) Planning the IICD Olympic Games which our school in Massachusetts will be hosting (there are two other schools in the US - Michigan and Cali). The games will be held this week-end and the activities are crazy (scavenger hunt in the woods, paint ball, sprint up the side of the mountain, biggest splash in the pool, tug of war, etc...) I'm conducting the opening ceremony and have prepared a speech and will be donning a toga.
2) Preparing for our first fundraising trip which will be to Washington D.C. from September 3-16th. We need to secure permits, accommodations, strategies etc... We need as a team to fundraise approx $86,000.00. We will have four two week fundraising events. The strategies include door to door begging in residential neighborhoods, setting up tables in front of stores such as Wal-mart and Trader Joe's, setting up booths at colleges and universities, speaking at churches, and anything else that we can come up with. (YOUR IDEAS ARE VERY WELCOME!!!!)
3) Preparing a presentation on the Berlin Conference. Basically the Berlin Conference was when the various European nations decided to get together and slice and divide the African continent. The country borders that we see today are a direct result of this conference which marked the beginning of Africa's official colonization. You'll notice that certain countries around Lake Victoria in particular are cut irregularly because every European country wanted a piece of the lake or a piece of a particular beach/coast. It was a terrible thing obviously, families were split apart, apartheid became the political norm, Africans were virtually enslaved all over again and subjugated and forced to work for the Europeans in order to make money to pay the taxes that were imposed on them, Africa's natural resources were robbed and used to fuel Europe's economy and further their industrial revolution, farmers were forced to abandon growing the crops that fed their families and were forced to grow cotton so that it could be shipped to Europe and starvation grew rampid and soil was leeched, to name a few consequences... Don't get me started, I could go on and on all day!
My focus is on Portugal and how they received Mozambique, Angola and Portuguese Guinea. Which is perfect because I will be going to Angola.
My presentation will be on Tuesday.

As I've said before the classes are very interesting and we are very busy. The people on this mountain are interesting, some are fantastic and others are completely crazy and I wonder why they are even participating in this program. Certain people and things are larger than life and you wouldn't believe me if I told you so I'll spare you those details.

Last night was so fun. A group of about ten of us decided to play flashlight tag around midnight. Have I mentioned that our mountain is pitch black at night, it was a crazy game. Then some of us went for a walk in our "haunted woods", as protection we took Bear, one of our dogs with us in case we ran into a bear or something else. So four of us, including myself are brave or stupid enough to enter the woods while everyone else waited outside. At first things are great, we're walking and joking and singing and suddenly, Bear stops leading us, he gets really quiet and still. He looks left and then right and then looks at us and whines. This crazy dog then jets, he left us, so we followed suit screaming and running wildly with vines and branches smacking us in the face. It was really funny.

Sunday, August 12, 2007

Education in Angola

Here are two essays I have written regarding educational policy and Angola. I would love to hear your feedback. As I study and learn about the issues facing various countries in southern Africa, I will share what I have learned here on the blog and it would be great if a dialogue could occcur. America is wonderful, but it is importatnt to look at what is going on outside of the country and recognize other peoples news, problems and successes as being important as well. Enjoy!

1) The Education System in Angola

Angola has established an ambitious education plan. The government of the Republic of Angola in 2002 created a National Action Plan of Education For All (NEPEFA). With this plan, Angola hopes to meet the Millennium Development Goals as established by the United Nations in ensuring basic primary education (grades K-4) to all by the year 2015.
According to the Conference of the Ministers of Education of African Member States in 2002, Angola’s education policy is based on the principle that “knowledge is an essential means for the rise of the indexes of the human development and particularly the living conditions of the populations” (UNESCO- 2002). With the adoption of the NEPEFA, the government of Angola hopes to extend education and education related social services to the most vulnerable and underprivileged rural and urban populations in an attempt to reduce the level of absolute poverty in the country. Along with the reduction of poverty, it is hoped that there will be an increase in the national internal manpower, which will result in a stronger economy for Angola allowing it to compete on a global scale with other nations.

Currently, Angola is far from meeting their goal of primary education for all. There are many factors that contribute to this. It is important to take into consideration that Angola, as an independent nation is extremely young. Following Angola’s independence, the country faced years of civil war, which left the educational sector in a state of chaotic disarray. Between the years of 1992-1996, it is estimated that more than 1,500 classrooms were destroyed. There was an enormous civilian life toll that was taken as well, many of whom were teachers, professors and other educators. Angola must initially start from ground zero to re-establish and define their educational system and goals. The National Action Plan of Education For All is a first step.

The ministry of Education of the Republic of Angola has a long road to tread. They face the enormous challenge of increasing the number of children in primary schools from “an estimated 2.1 million in 2003 to 5 million by 2015 in order to achieve universal primary education while keeping up with the rapid growth of the school-age population. In 2001 UNICEF Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) showed that only 56% of the children of primary school age attend the first level of basic education (grades 1-4)”. (UNICEF study 2006). The government of Angola recognizes these key problems and is taking into consideration the fact that primary school enrollment has shown great disparities along gender and socio-economic groups. Currently it is estimated that at least one million primary school age children are not attending school, the majority of these being girls.

The government of Angola is working to meet their educational goals by 2015, however many factors are working against them. Training teachers is often expensive, therefore, the people that can afford to go to school to learn to become educators amount to a small segment of the population. There is a severe shortage of trained teachers. Those that are trained as teachers rarely can be convinced to teach in the most desperate rural areas and opt for major cities instead, therefore an entire demographic of the populations educational needs are being ignored. In addition, schools tend to lack sufficient sanitation, water may or may not be available to students and the quality may be questionable. Schools tend to be overcrowded and multi-age groups work together without any clear curriculum or guidance. Most schools lack, basic school materials and teaching and learning materials, which significantly affect the quality of education the students are receiving. The challenges that the Angolan government faces are many. Despite these challenges, there has been an increase in primary school enrollment as well as an increase in adults training to become teachers. The question at hand is will this be enough?




2) Education Policy in the United States and Angola: A Comparative Study


To my surprise, I have noted many similarities between the education system in Angola and the education system in the United States. There are of course many differences as well that account for the difference between “Developing Nation” and “Developed Nation” however the similarities demonstrate that wherever you are, there is always a segment of the population that receives a substandard education that barely prepares them to function as active and productive members of society. That being said, there is also a privileged segment of a given population that receives a quality education, which will prepare them to contribute to society and make the economic gains necessary for a comfortable existence.

Angola is a country that has just emerged from years of civil war and conflict. In that way, the Republic of Angola is fairly new and is still establishing its education system. The government of Angola believes in education for all, and is in the process of establishing an education system that educates all: girls, boys, teen-agers and young adults, but this takes time. Currently, little more than half of the children in Angola receive a primary education. Many schools require that a fee be paid and that eliminates the very poor and majority of the population from gaining access to education. There is also a shortage of qualified teachers as a result of the expense of teacher training. The government of Angola has begun to implement programs to affordably train teachers and this is helping increase the number of trained teachers, however despite these efforts qualified educators are in demand. Furthermore, to exacerbate this problem, teachers who are qualified prefer overwhelmingly to work in urban and populated areas, this has created a huge gap and inconsistencies in education.

In the United States, a country that has been independent of colonial rule for over two hundred years, education is free and is mandatory for every individual from the age of five through at least sixteen. In every state, in every city, in every remote rural town, you will find free public schools designed to educate students from Kindergarten to the 12th grade. This is a great advantage and has helped establish and maintain the United States of America as a developed and affluent country. Upon further examination however, there are many gaps and inconsistencies in the American educational system. As in Angola, there is a shortage of qualified teachers. The teacher shortage is not as extreme in the United States, however it is a problem that the government is addressing. Of the certified teachers in the United States, the majority prefer to teach in affluent private schools, affluent suburban public schools or affluent urban public schools. Low-income urban and low income rural areas in the United States are suffering from a lack of qualified teachers, a lack of educational funds, a lack of teaching and learning materials and supplies and a lack of governmental support. In response to these problems, organizations such as Teach For American and Teaching Fellows have made the attempt to recruit young pre-professionals right out of college, to train them to become teachers free of charge. Such individuals attain free masters degrees in exchange for at least two years of service in low performing underprivileged urban and rural areas. Overall, these programs have proved to be successful, but they are still young and the achievement rate as determined by test scores and drop-out rates of students in rural and urban impoverished areas is still quite low in comparison to the national average.

Both Angola and the United States of America, have a long road ahead of them in terms of improving their educational policies. Angola of course, considering it’s history and current circumstance has a much greater struggle ahead of it, in order to establish it’s goal of providing basic primary education to all by 2015. Angola however, considering where they are in their development is in a similar place most currently developed countries were in at the onset of their independence or as in the case of Europe during the dark ages. With time, we will get a better sense of where Angola needs to make improvements in their education, because currently they are still establishing a system. Unfortunately as is the case in America, social class, gender and economic status, directly affect the quality of education that an individual will receive and this education directly affects the economic future of an individual.

Friday, August 10, 2007

A day in the life of a mountain dweller

I can't believe my team just started on Tuesday. Busy, busy, busy... I'm so excited about what I will soon be doing, but there is a lot to do in the meantime. There are 15 of us on my team, it's huge considering that we are together as a group from 8am to 10pm with little breaks. We will love each other and we will hate each other and my team is full of interesting characters (and that's putting it mildly).
Before we go to our various countries in Africa, we must as a team fund raise $96,000.00. This will occur in a series of four two week long fundraising trips. Our first trip will be in Washington D.C. in September. ;-)
Living on a mountain in a commune-like community is growing on me day by day. At first I suffered from culture shock (post-honeymoon period of course). Things are really good right now though. I've met some of the most amazing people from all over the world, people I would have never encountered otherwise. One of my favorite people here is my friend Valeria from Argentina, we are so similar, we have the same sense of humor, however, we don't speak the same language and yet we can communicate very clearly.
I discovered a path through the forest that i've been walking for about a half an hour every morning. It's so peaceful and beautiful and damp and green I really love it. There's a bridge and a creek and one of my favorite activities is standing ankle deep in the freezing cold water in my flip flops letting the water rush over my feet. My senses are more accute here.
Yesterday though, I swear I heard a bear. I don't know what they sound like, but I was splashing away just happy as pie and something somewhere made a noise so I fled.
Greylock, my favorite kitten is helping me write this right now. He has found his way over the bridge and into my building. There are five of us, sitting outside on the internet. Everyone is excited to have it, a weed-whacker ran over our connection chord not too long ago and ppppplllllltttttt... gone!
I began my capoiera class yesterday. What a work-out, but so much fun. I learned to variations of the jingha.
I taught a yoga class on Monday and will teach another one on Monday as well. Vinyasa style all the way.

There is nothing more peaceful than a sleeping cat/kitten and since I have one on my lap right now, I've gotta say ciao...

Monday, August 6, 2007

I don't know why I can't publish more pictures, but here's a picture of the snake I painted brown accidentally. It popped out of the side of the house and scared me at first, so I splattered brown paint on it's once yellow face.

Today is a free day! I'm going into town. My team officially starts tomorrow.

ciao ciao

Saturday, August 4, 2007

on the move!



SOJOURNER HAS MOVED ONCE AGAIN
AND THIS TIME IT WAS PROMISED THAT IT IS FOR GOOD!!!!!

Today was IICD’s 20th Anniversary celebration!
The weather was perfect, the food was great and I start my official team next week (Tuesday).
Excitement is in the air!

We performed two songs:

1) NDOFIRA ZIMBABWE
(Beautiful Zimbabwe)

Ndofamba Ndofamba Ndofamba
Ndofira Ndofira Zimbabwe
Inyika Inyika yababa isina nenhamo

Majaya majaya mustatye
Kurwisa Kurwisa mabhunu
Zvinoda Zvinoda vasimbi kurvisa mabhunu

Mandara Mandara musatye
Kurwisa Kurwisa mabhunu
Zvinoda Zvinoda vasimbi kurvisa mabhunu

Hey wena hey wena hey wena
Hey wena hey wena hey wena
Hey wena hey wena hey wena hey wena hey wena

Yu Yu Yu yu yu yu yu
Yu Yu yu yu yu yu yu yu
Yu Yu Yu yu yu yu yu yu yu yu yu yu yu yu

Ndofamba Ndofamba Ndofamaba
Ndofira Ndofira Zimbabwe
Inyika Inyika yababa isina nenhamo

2) TIENDE PAMOZI

Tiende pamodzi ndimutima umo
Tiende pamodzi ndi ti ma omodzi

O limpa
O limpa moyo, O limpa moyo
Tiende pamodzi ndi ti ma omodzi

Tifike Zambezia ndi ti ma omodzi
Tifike Zambezia ndi ti ma omo

Tifike Nampula ndi ti ma omodzi
Tifike Nampula ndi ti ma omo

O limpa
O limpa moyo, O limpa moyo
Tiende pamodzi ndi ti ma omodzi

GOOD TIMES!
Ciao cioa