Catching up...
Hey there Sportsfans. Sorry about the delay between posts. I've been pretty stressed out lately, and am a lousy correspondant during such times as I don't want to sound cranky, but also don't want to out and out lie about how I'm doing. Luckily, the worst is now past. It wasn't anything major; more a case of the little things compiling (job issues/concerns, a few necessary confrontations, a tinge of the inevitable post-vacation blues) than anything else. Everything just seems like a far bigger deal than it is over here, and most of my normal ways of relieving stress- calling up a good friend on the phone, going for a jog, watching the Cubs spank Yankees (or, well, it WOULD be a stress reliever if it ever happened) - aren't possible. Happily, I have loads of books, and having just finished "A Patchwork Planet" by Anne Tyler am now onto "Guns, Germs, and Steel" which should prove a good read. I've only made it through the prologue and already want to pick a fight with two or three of his major assumptions; I'm looking forward to seeing how he backs them up.
On the homefront, things are mostly peachy. Some reps from VSO came to visit last week, so in anticipation of the meeting, my boss pulled out all the stops and got Gil and I a real kitchen table complete with 6 chairs. I kid you not- it might be the ugliest thing on Allah's earth. I half-screamed when I first saw it (think Henry the 8th and Picasso's love child born in middle class America in the 1950's.) Gil's already decided that some of our precious living allowances should go into making chair covers/a tablecloth, and for once I'm not opposing her home improvement desires. Leaving that thing exposed kills all the feng shi in the house, and while I know it's the thought that counts, one can't help wondering if our boss is trying to send some sort of subliminal message here. He was probably mad because Gil and I refused to cook lunch for all the visitors (spending the morning cooking and the afternoon cleaning to serve men who invariably arrive late isn't my idea of a great day; it also sets you down a few pegs in negotiations as, well, it's hard to look like an equal when you're playing the role of server, barefoot and in an apron no less.) Luckily, everything at work is sorted for the time being; I'm focusing now on getting a jump on a few big projects before the summer holidays. Most of these projects have to do with stepping into new roles at work; I'm looking at trying to get some HIV/AIDS mainstreaming workshops in place, even as the teacher training componant of my job is finally starting to take shape. I also might be assuming the role of counselor at school, something that I'm leery of, but which is undoubtedly needed (currently the head of discipline is also serving as the school counselor- yep, just a little conflict of interest there.)
It seems almost funny that our school would have a counselor as, well, sensitivity isn't a highly prized characteristic where students are concerned. I'm not talking corporal punishment so much (although that would certainly apply as students are beaten/smacked with sticks on a daily basis here) as the public humiliation that invariably accompanies any major transgression. Today was particularly hard. The head of discipline cancelled school an hour early for an all-student meeting on the front grounds to deal with a series of transgressions that had recently come to light. By come to light, I mean that they were announcing the results of a series of secret ballots designed to get students to inform on their classmates- "Do you know any classmates who are smoking pot?;" Do you know any classmates who are having sex?" On the basis of such tenuous evidence, (the ballots were anonymous so students could report anything) 16 "sexual offenders" were identified and forced to parade around the grounds in front of 600 snickering students and teachers while the head of discipline yelled at them about how horrible and depraved they were. 15 were women. It was heartwrenching watching my girls stand there as if frozen, tears silently running down their cheeks, while their more fortunate classmates traded rude comments. Almost harder was reconciling this new, cruel head of discipline with the mild-mannered man that I have tons of respect for. You'd scarce believe it was the same person. But even if it's hell to watch, (and undoubtedly even worse to live through) I know why he was doing it; HIV infection rates continue to gain ground here, and a girl who gets pregnant and has to leave secondary school loses her only chance to rise above extreme poverty. It's tough love; you know he'd humiliate every person in that school every day if it meant they'd make it through secondary without contracting HIV. Next time kids in the states think they have it rough...today's incident is typical of the between-a-rock-and-a-hardplace type choices Tanzanians have to make everyday. It isn't just that people in the west have things easier in regards to mod cons, white-collar jobs, material goods, etc. But we also have the luxury of learning our lessons the easier, politically correct, more sensative way. I'm not saying the Tanzanian way is better; (god knows you'd have to pay off about 500 lawsuits and $500,000 worth of therapy if you tried this on kids back home) its just different in a necessary way- a way that too many westerners would be quick to condemn if they saw it in person. I know I wanted to- I could taste the words "this is nothing short of child abuse" until I realized that I knew the head of discipline too well to dismiss him as an evil old man. No, if he was doing it, then it had to be for a good reason...and it was for a good reason- to give these kids the best chance of making it that he could. I know that if he could scare off even 2-3 kids into waiting before having sex, he'd think it was worth it. And he'd be right.
On the homefront, things are mostly peachy. Some reps from VSO came to visit last week, so in anticipation of the meeting, my boss pulled out all the stops and got Gil and I a real kitchen table complete with 6 chairs. I kid you not- it might be the ugliest thing on Allah's earth. I half-screamed when I first saw it (think Henry the 8th and Picasso's love child born in middle class America in the 1950's.) Gil's already decided that some of our precious living allowances should go into making chair covers/a tablecloth, and for once I'm not opposing her home improvement desires. Leaving that thing exposed kills all the feng shi in the house, and while I know it's the thought that counts, one can't help wondering if our boss is trying to send some sort of subliminal message here. He was probably mad because Gil and I refused to cook lunch for all the visitors (spending the morning cooking and the afternoon cleaning to serve men who invariably arrive late isn't my idea of a great day; it also sets you down a few pegs in negotiations as, well, it's hard to look like an equal when you're playing the role of server, barefoot and in an apron no less.) Luckily, everything at work is sorted for the time being; I'm focusing now on getting a jump on a few big projects before the summer holidays. Most of these projects have to do with stepping into new roles at work; I'm looking at trying to get some HIV/AIDS mainstreaming workshops in place, even as the teacher training componant of my job is finally starting to take shape. I also might be assuming the role of counselor at school, something that I'm leery of, but which is undoubtedly needed (currently the head of discipline is also serving as the school counselor- yep, just a little conflict of interest there.)
It seems almost funny that our school would have a counselor as, well, sensitivity isn't a highly prized characteristic where students are concerned. I'm not talking corporal punishment so much (although that would certainly apply as students are beaten/smacked with sticks on a daily basis here) as the public humiliation that invariably accompanies any major transgression. Today was particularly hard. The head of discipline cancelled school an hour early for an all-student meeting on the front grounds to deal with a series of transgressions that had recently come to light. By come to light, I mean that they were announcing the results of a series of secret ballots designed to get students to inform on their classmates- "Do you know any classmates who are smoking pot?;" Do you know any classmates who are having sex?" On the basis of such tenuous evidence, (the ballots were anonymous so students could report anything) 16 "sexual offenders" were identified and forced to parade around the grounds in front of 600 snickering students and teachers while the head of discipline yelled at them about how horrible and depraved they were. 15 were women. It was heartwrenching watching my girls stand there as if frozen, tears silently running down their cheeks, while their more fortunate classmates traded rude comments. Almost harder was reconciling this new, cruel head of discipline with the mild-mannered man that I have tons of respect for. You'd scarce believe it was the same person. But even if it's hell to watch, (and undoubtedly even worse to live through) I know why he was doing it; HIV infection rates continue to gain ground here, and a girl who gets pregnant and has to leave secondary school loses her only chance to rise above extreme poverty. It's tough love; you know he'd humiliate every person in that school every day if it meant they'd make it through secondary without contracting HIV. Next time kids in the states think they have it rough...today's incident is typical of the between-a-rock-and-a-hardplace type choices Tanzanians have to make everyday. It isn't just that people in the west have things easier in regards to mod cons, white-collar jobs, material goods, etc. But we also have the luxury of learning our lessons the easier, politically correct, more sensative way. I'm not saying the Tanzanian way is better; (god knows you'd have to pay off about 500 lawsuits and $500,000 worth of therapy if you tried this on kids back home) its just different in a necessary way- a way that too many westerners would be quick to condemn if they saw it in person. I know I wanted to- I could taste the words "this is nothing short of child abuse" until I realized that I knew the head of discipline too well to dismiss him as an evil old man. No, if he was doing it, then it had to be for a good reason...and it was for a good reason- to give these kids the best chance of making it that he could. I know that if he could scare off even 2-3 kids into waiting before having sex, he'd think it was worth it. And he'd be right.
posted by Katie at 12:59 PM
1 Comments:
oh katie... i think perhaps only one who teaches can know how heart wrenching that must have been for you.
your wisdom and insight have served you well.
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