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We jumped into a taxi with Baboucar. He drove us down the road and towards a hospital. We passed a YMCA, and down and on the left was Banjul Upper Basic - where we would be teaching for the next couple weeks. We walked in to a courtyard with several single story buildings and one two story building. We walked into a sea of students wearing brown uniforms. They were all in groups - some playing soccer, others hanging out and eating lunch, and most just hanging around inside and outside of the classrooms. We walked into the Principal's office to find that he wasn't there. As we pushed the patterned curtain to walk back out into the sun, he was running across the yard saying "I'll be right with you!". He made his way back over and we stepped into his office. A lot of small talk occurred while we were waiting, and soon two teachers joined us. One, a math teacher that I would be shadowing, and the other, an English teacher that Jevi would be working with. We discussed the schedule and what we should expect for the next few weeks (did I mention that their spring break holiday started today and goes until April 19th? We leave May 3rd) and that they would be scheduling remedial classes starting around April 6th. We then took a tour of the school. He showed us the 7th, 8th, and 9th blocks and even took us into some of the classrooms to give us an estimate of class size. We walked into one classroom and a group of kids were hanging out. A young girl approached us, shook our hands, and the Principal had her introduce herself. She did (although I forgot her name) and then she described her role in the classroom. Apparently, she was voted as the one who was to look after the classroom and make sure it was clean, nothing was broken or missing. She also is responsible for the noise level. I was pretty impressed, thought this was a neat system, and began to wonder if this is how it is in every classroom. As we made our way around, our last stop was the art building. We walked in and on the teacher's desk was piles and piles of wood that displayed artwork. It was all around the room hanging, and they even continued to pull art from out of the back! There were soooo many types! Bead work, stitching, instruments made out of materials found everywhere, paintings, drawings, and sculptures. It was beautiful! There was this one sculpture that I was handed that fascinated me...it was a shark made out of a screwdriver handle, a bull horn, and some other materials I can't identify just yet.
I was asking all sorts of questions, then all of the sudden he told me to take it! I insisted that I couldn't and we moved past the subject for a little bit, but then once we were getting ready to leave he insisted again. I couldn't say no :)We were then on our way to our second school - New town. This was a primary school where all students wore blue uniforms. Each base of every tree was painted like the flag of the Gambia and the entrance was very colorful and welcoming. We again made our way to the Principal's office. When we walked in she greeted us and had us shake her hand. We also had to sign the guestbook (which we did at the Upper Basic). Looking around her office I was very impressed. They had a mission statement, qualities of a good leader, and statistics of student performance were also hanging up on the walls. I was very impressed. She had some paperwork due at noon, so she had a senior teacher lead us around. The kids were very cute, waving to us as we walked by. We again walked through some classrooms and Julia took some pictures. We said our goodbyes and thank yous and were on our way again.
Our last and final stop was at a Nursery school - Agi Awa Bah. The headmaster was wonderful. She welcomed us with a big hug. These kids were so little and yet so well behaved. When we entered a classroom, they all stood and greeted us. When they were told to sit down, they said thank you. She then introduced us as students from America. She reminded the students that they had two MAT students here the year before and that they helped to paint and teach nursery rhymes and numbers. She asked them if they were excited. They said yes and she asked the students to sing a rhyme or song to show their enthusiasm. We heard all sorts of songs! Ones about friends, ones about thank you, ones about spiders (itsy bitsy ones), and ones about subtraction! It was heartwarming! The headmaster stopped in every classroom but in one classroom we spent the most time. She began telling us a story of a boy whose Mother has not paid fees for the past two semesters. She told us that she owes 1,000 Dalasi. She then told us that she punished the boy the other day. She told him that his Mother has not paid and so he needed to stay home. He showed up the next day and she took him by the ear to punish him further. But then she thought about another student...one who just approached her recently and thanked her for giving him books earlier in his life. He's now attending college and so she thought to herself, why should I punish this boy if he wants to learn? It's not him who can't pay, it's his Mother, but if he wants to learn I should not punish him for that. And just as that boy remembered me for the good things I did for him, this boy could just as well remember the bad things I did as well. And I don't want that, and so he will stay. After we were done our classroom visits, we found out exactly how many parents couldn't afford the 1,650 yearly tuition (about $75). It was about half of the parents...Julia then decided to give money for the boy whose story she heard. She donated enough to sponsor him in his education for a little over a year. The headmaster was so excited, she grabbed the boy and brought him out and had him speak with Julia. The teacher, headmaster, and the boy all celebrated with Julia by taking pictures. It was a very neat experience.
We then headed home. We had some lunch and relaxed for a bit before Imam came over to teach us about Islam in the Gambia. We then also met with Yamai and the security guard to talk about safety and awareness. Last major portion of the day - we drove around town, highlighting the supermarket, banks, and the beach that was not too far from the house. It was gorgeous!!! Pictures will be coming soon :)
Later that night, Sarah invited us to get some ice cream at a local store that she really enjoys. It was awesome ice cream for 50 dalasi (2 bucks). We sat on the balcony and talked until midnight. Many people wandered in and out in beautiful clothing. We thought that they had just come from a wedding. The taxi cab drivers were pretty interesting fellows. Both offered to give Sarah their numbers in case she ever needed a taxi driver ever again, and one of them gave Jevi and I Gambian names and asked if we all were married. Of course we're all married! All in all, a busy, awesome, and exhausting day. More tomorrow!
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