Ones of the interesting things about being a TEFL volunteer is that the summer gives me the unique freedom to do other things. My school has no program or projects for me to participate in between now and September so this gives me the freedom to do other things. I say this with a mix of joy and frustration. There may be things happening at my school, but my inability to get fully involved in my school community leaves me not knowing. However, I am lucky to have found some other projects.
Each week during the school year I teach an adult English class with a local NGO. This NGO provides an amazing range of services to the local community including pre-natal care, post-natal counseling, parenting classes, food assistance and much more. My friends at the NGO, Angela and Saskia (a Dutch volunteer), wondered I might like to do something in a village outside of my town this summer. I jumped at the chance and with their help partnered with the village school (1st to 8th grade) to create a weekly activity for the students with games, sports and a tiny bit of English.
Today was my first day camp and I had 34 kids show up! We had the activities in the yard at the school. The children ranged in age from 6-13 (I think), it was a little hard to get a good sense with so many. We did some warm-ups, sang "head, shoulders, knees and toes," learned weather terminology and played a game, played chain tag, and "red light, green light." We took a break after tag because we were all getting very hot. I suggested water, thinking there would be a drinking fountain they could use, but then I realized that I realized two things. First, I have never seen a drinking fountain in any Romanian school I've visited (I think I have been in about 15 in various cities here) and second, in the village there is no running water. Thus our water break involved sending some kids down the road with a bucket to get water, then using the community cups the school has so that everyone could get a little water. After the break we played a little more and then I quizzed everyone about weather terms. I am already plotting my next visit and trying the brainstorm games to play with lots of kids in a small yard.
In general, it's hard in the middle of PC service to really take stock of what I am doing. This past school year has been a lot of things, many of them challenging. I have tried not to write too much about it in my blog because staff urges us when having challenging days to write in journals or e-mails rather than write publicly. I have been very lucky to have amazing support from friends and family back home, but have continually struggled to find purpose in my service and the ability to touch the lives of my students. Today, however, I felt a little closer to finding purpose as I was actually doing something that wouldn't have taken place if I wasn't there. In school it's difficult because even if I wasn't in school my students would still be having a English. I try to make my English classes fun, but I've admittedly missed the mark for what Romanian teenagers consider fun. Thus it was nice to do something new with a younger age group with no particular goal except running around and having fun.
In other news, the Peace Corps announced their intention to leave Romania last week. The group that is swearing-in and beginning their service this week will be the last in Romania. This is the 20th year of Peace Corps in Romania and it is now down to just the TEFL sector. You can read more about the news in the link above.
Lastly, I want to wish a very happy birthday to my brother, Matt. I am afraid my card might not make it in time, but here is a preview. I hope it makes it to you eventually. HAPPY BIRTHDAY BROTHER, I LOVE YOU!
