Long ago, I promised to write a blog detailing more about my worksite. I figured I would wait until I got more into it to explain it, so, roughly 6 weeks in, here I go.
My main work site is at a school called Nuevo Mundo. This is a school designed to help poor children receive good education by also providing education to the rich families here. The rich kids go in the morning to a bilingual school, and it's probably the best school in the Guayaquil area for them. It's a K-12 school, and the high school has a very rigorous IB program, which, as you can imagine, opens a lot of doors for people living here.
The afternoon school is still the best considering where else really poor families can send their children--as in here, a public school, or a similar set up at a not as good private school--but it's unfortunately not as good as the morning school. It's not bilingual since it's only class in English is English, and they learn it at a much slower rate. There are not as many resources and opportunities available to them, but it's still a lot better than what they would otherwise receive. It used to be a K-12, as well, but not enough people stayed on through high school, so they had to close down the high school option a few years ago. The reason being is that the criteria to stay here is fairly rigorous. The students must average a 16.5 out of 20 (the Ecua grading scale) at the end of the year, and if they don't, they very well may be out. A lot depends on the support of the family and what is going on externally in the child's life, but they do need to maintain pretty good grades. Something that is cool about this school is that it provides services to the children and their families outside of only education, like counseling or helping the parents find jobs (I think). They try to ensure the parents' involvement by having them come in once every few months to help cook, clean, etc, sicne they realize children learn much better if the parents are there supporting them.
If a student does particularly well in the afternoon school, they have the opportunity to go to the morning school for high school as a becado, or scholarship kid. There are 10 spots open to this, but all have never been filled--instead, there are usually around 5. Catching up to the morning school kids can be hard, especially since classes like history are taught in English and these students may still have a lot to learn. Yet we try to help with that. We tutor the becados in history, English, or whatever else they may need help with, and in the 'summer' months (January-March), we provide intensive tutoring sessions for the becados so that they can be as up to speed as possible. If they do well and try hard, they can graduate with an IB diploma, as one senior is hoping to do now. With this, they can probably even go to school in the US if they are determined enough, so it is truly an incredible opportunity that they are receiving.
On a day to day basis, I teach the novenos and decimos, which is the equivalent of 8th and 9th grade. Chris, the other Mundo volunteer, and I split these classes so that they aren't too big. I have 10 people in my novenos class and 15 in my decimos. I have the top half of the students for novenos, and the bottom for decimos (which unfortunately means none of my kids will be becados next year...breaks my heart. But here's hoping for the novenos!) I love my students so much--even though they can be crazy, particularly the novenos, they all try really hard and they fill me up with such joy. It can be really tough managing a classroom, and I definitely do not have it down, but every day I learn and I do my best. And considering I never have even taken an education class before, I think I'm doing a pretty good job. Yes, I think it would be much easier had I studied education--especially in terms of fun ways to get them to learn--but a lot of them did fairly well on the last test so I'm happy for that!
So, there's a basic overview of my main job here at Mundo. Since this school is in the afternoon, my mornings are fairly free. Yet 3 days a week, I do something else associated with Nuevo Mundo. In addition to this school, they also run a guarderia, clinic, and a homework room. No, I don't work in the guarderia (preschool), although it is literally right below my house--on the same property and right out my window. But I do get to hear the kiddies screaming and singing almost every day, so that can bring me both pleasure and pain.
However, one day a week, I monitor the homework room in Arbolito (the other neighborhood where we have an RdC house). While this sounds easy and tranquil, I can assure you, it can actually be stressful and hectic. At times, it's rather boring, but I swear those kids load up on sugar before they come. They're supposed to do their homework, but instead they run around, yell, and throw things most of the time...talk about trying my patience. So, not always my cup of tea, but I know that the kids need a good place to do their homework, get help from me, and even run around freely with their friends.
Tuesdays and Thursdays, I also teach English classes in the clinic, which happens to be next door to our house. I teach the employees, which is a lot of fun. Some have learned English or even have lived in the US, some have never taken it before, and a lot know at least a few phrases and concepts. It can be tough since they're all at different levels, but I'm starting with the basics and working from there. For instance, we learned the alphabet the other day, and naturally made everyone sing the song (and the average age is probably 35). I love doing this because it is so different and because the staff are all incredibly nice to me, so it brings me a lot of joy.
Mondays, Fridays, and for a few hours before class Tuesdays and Thursdays, I have time to be in the neighborhood. Some of this time I will take for myself--whether planning, with God, or relaxing after a crazy week--but I try to get out and go to neighbor's houses as much as possible. For example, yesterday before my clinic class, I went to a neighbor's house that I had yet to meet and sat with her for about 45 minutes which was a good challenge but proved beautiful, and then went to one of my favorite neighbor's house to sit and chat with her for the 30 minutes before my class at 10:30. When class ended an hour later, I went to a family's house that lives across the street, was served lunch by them, and took part in the craziness there (there are a lot of kids, and I love them all to death). After that, it was time for me to change and go to Mundo! There I teach, tutor, plan, and hang out either until 4 or 7 when I take a bus home!
So there's a typical day in the life, as far as work sites is concerned. Sorry this is so long, I thought it would be shorter! But now you have more insight into what I do.
I think my next blog will be more reflective, but I figured this would be easy to get out now. So, I hope you enjoyed this, and until next time, paz y amor.
