A bump in the road

This week we had some bad news here in the village. We were informed that due to vacation time we would now have to give back our key to the school since no one is allowed to use it during these two months. This came as quite a surprise since we had already asked permission to use it and since volunteers from Li Ch’utam have used the school during vacation for a number of years.

The reasons we are given for this decision are very vague, just as we have not been able to get a clear answer as two has made it. We have so far contacted the director of the school as well as members of the COCODE, neither of whom can give us clear answers except that we should talk to someone else about it if we absolutely insist to take it further (which, of course, we do). So next step is to take the issue up with the Parents’ Committee and hope they can help us get back the key.

This unfortunate turn of events makes it quite difficult for us to keep up our usual routine. Because while sports activities might be perfectly fine to carry out in open air, reading, mathematics and computer classes are another story. And with 10-30 kids every day we have no other location available.
Determined to keep on with lessons we have therefore had to come up with new ways of teaching, today we learned math by searching for geometrical shapes in nature and then creating the same figures with rope.

In spite of this bump in the road, we are still in good spirits, and hoping that both children and volunteers will learn something new from using alternative teaching methods, while fighting our way back into the class room!

To be continued…

Sad volunteer and sad student outside school

Hexagon made with rope and students

Sports day