May 2013 - Lions Clubs New Zealand
May 2013 - Lions Clubs New Zealand May 2013 - Lions Clubs New Zealand
At the end of the day these comments of theirs do not matter; the problem is I cannot seem toget them to co-operate. Only two or three students wish to join in class discussions and otherswill sit and write notes of other classes. I was happy going on attempting to change theclassroom environment to one where I was able to teach effectively, until it came to the end ofterm and I was forced to consider the effects of it and the truth that I had not made any progress.The students have fallen behind in their syllabus, and the frustration I have felt has caused myenthusiasm for teaching the form ones classes to diminish. Which infuriates me because this isin no way fair, they already have little and now the situation with the form three’s is causing theform ones to have even less. It’s not the form three’s fault; in fact it’s sad that in most countriesthis is bad but doesn’t have such serious consequences because no one’s future would bejeopardised to the same extent as it is here.At first I blamed the difficult time I was having on the fact I was different and the students did notwish to accept me as their teacher. But the teachers began to share the problems they werehaving in teaching the form three’s. I shared my concerns with the other teachers and theyexplained steps were being taken to solve the problems in class management the teachers werehaving, although this only amounted to suspending one student.Until the last week of teaching I was coping fine making attempts to teach the form three’showever futile they were. But I became very upset when I realised that it’s quite likely I won’t beable to make any progress with the form three’s and that my time might be better spent doing thebest job I can with the form one’s. Or that I need to suck it up and keep trying and just realise thefact that I shouldn’t let my struggle with the form three’s affect my teaching of the form one’s.As I began to end lessons a little upset and ready to rant to Grace for a good hour to let out myfrustration, it was just before Matt and Sharon (latitude country managers), would be coming toour Ngara village to check up on us. Fortunately Matt was in the position to influence theheadmaster to quicken his actions in disciplining the form 3 class, and told me I can choose if Iwish to continue teaching this class. He recommended I keep teaching the class for a week afterI get back and if they shape up continue and if they don’t, explain to the headmaster that I wouldlike to stop. As he has taught in Malawi himself and is a lecturer on education in Malawi he wasable to also recommend a few techniques Malawian teachers use. For example if the class ismisbehaving tell them I will not teach them when they are behaving like this and to come get mewhen they are ready to behave.Grace (my placement partner) and I have big plans for next term we want to start a girls clubwhere we will spent time doing fun activities with the girls and discuss important issues affectingthe girls. We also wish to spend a few afternoons a week opening the library for students tocome and study. Hopefully we will be able to help the students who will be sitting exams in thecoming month. We will also be coaching netball on Saturday mornings.Prayer over these things would be much appreciated.I am glad to have some time to gain some energy before I will go back to teaching. I’m half waythrough my travels now. We started out visiting other volunteers at their Malawian home. Wewere greeted with home-made biscuits and electricity, it was beautiful. When I got to myplacement I was surprised by how quickly I was content with the little I had compared to just howmuch I had before. But when we get the luxuries back, oh man! …we make the most of them. Iate myself sick with those cookies.From there we meet the other volunteers from the north and drove to the capital in a car a few ofthem had hired. We had four in the back seat and another four in the boot, for the five hour drive.We spent 3 nights in Lilongwe where everyone volunteering with latitude met and enjoyed a fewSilverstream Lions Lines Page 16 May 2013
nights catching up. We took a 14 hour bus trip to Lusaka the capital of Zambia. When we arrivedin Zambia it was about eight at night.You could expect nothing else for a bunch of junk food deprived teenagers for KFC to be the onlything on our minds. When we asked how far away it was of course we were repeatedly told itwas very far. So we got in a taxi and paid about four dollars to travel around the block to a closedKFC. I missed Malawi already, as at the very least they would have told you it was closed andmost would offer to walk you.That night we slept on a bus that was to leave for Victoria Falls the following morning. Most ofthe other’s did the big bungee off the bridge at Victoria Falls, the third highest in the world. Mumand dad were glad to hear I’d passed on this one. Even if it was only that I knew I could do ahigher one in New Zealand. I spent the day walking around the paths and enjoying the views. Wecheekily stayed in the park all day and past dark to avoid paying a second fee to see a lunarrainbow over the falls. It was worth the wait.On a day trip to Botswana I saw a lion up close in the wild for the first time, and so manyelephants you could get sick of them. From there we headed for Windhoek the capitol of Namibiaand though roughly enjoyed a few days of junk food - sorry mum. Yesterday we reached theAtlantic Ocean in a ghost of a town called Swakopmund. The morning’s here are blotted out withmist and you can’t see more than two blocks into the distance. But by mid-morning it cleared andin the distance we could see a haze rising from the dunes on the other side of town. Tomorrowwe plan to go dune surfing. Wish me luck. Apparently sand isn’t as forgiving as snow.Much love RosinaSilverstream Lions Lines Page 17 May 2013
- Page 1 and 2: May 2013Winner of District 202M Bul
- Page 3 and 4: From the DesktopApril has seen anot
- Page 6 and 7: Projects CommitteeHULL CREEKThe bri
- Page 8 and 9: SOCIAL REPORTWe have returned from
- Page 10 and 11: Diary DatesMay 2013 July 20131 Lion
- Page 12 and 13: HAPPYBIRTHDAY!5 th - Bernie Mulholl
- Page 14 and 15: TAIL ENDMy father always used to sa
- Page 18 and 19: Dear Lion,In my 32 years as a Lion,
- Page 20 and 21: On a Fence:"Salesmen welcome! Dog f
- Page 22 and 23: Committee Chair and Members2012 -20
nights catching up. We took a 14 hour bus trip to Lusaka the capital of Zambia. When we arrivedin Zambia it was about eight at night.You could expect nothing else for a bunch of junk food deprived teenagers for KFC to be the onlything on our minds. When we asked how far away it was of course we were repeatedly told itwas very far. So we got in a taxi and paid about four dollars to travel around the block to a closedKFC. I missed Malawi already, as at the very least they would have told you it was closed andmost would offer to walk you.That night we slept on a bus that was to leave for Victoria Falls the following morning. Most ofthe other’s did the big bungee off the bridge at Victoria Falls, the third highest in the world. Mumand dad were glad to hear I’d passed on this one. Even if it was only that I knew I could do ahigher one in <strong>New</strong> <strong>Zealand</strong>. I spent the day walking around the paths and enjoying the views. Wecheekily stayed in the park all day and past dark to avoid paying a second fee to see a lunarrainbow over the falls. It was worth the wait.On a day trip to Botswana I saw a lion up close in the wild for the first time, and so manyelephants you could get sick of them. From there we headed for Windhoek the capitol of Namibiaand though roughly enjoyed a few days of junk food - sorry mum. Yesterday we reached theAtlantic Ocean in a ghost of a town called Swakopmund. The morning’s here are blotted out withmist and you can’t see more than two blocks into the distance. But by mid-morning it cleared andin the distance we could see a haze rising from the dunes on the other side of town. Tomorrowwe plan to go dune surfing. Wish me luck. Apparently sand isn’t as forgiving as snow.Much love RosinaSilverstream <strong>Lions</strong> Lines Page 17 <strong>May</strong> <strong>2013</strong>
Change language