I woke up to find out that our first event today had been changed to a visit to Destiny Academy, a fairly good private school in Addis. Destiny Academy has three campuses, a kindergarten, a elementary school, and a middle school. The Academy does not have a cafeteria or a dining hall, so students all bring their lunch from home. Mrs. Turlington, Meg, Relia, Eve and I visited the elementary campus first. Eve and I sat in a math class with the 1st graders, who were learning rather complex addition. There are always two teachers in class at the same time - one is the teacher of a specific subject, the other is the assistant teacher who takes care of the students and helps with grading. It was so cute that they began their class with a song which the kids sang with all their might and passion. Also, every time the teacher posted a question, almost every kid shot up their hands at once, standing up and leaning on the desks, eager to answer the question. The small classroom has educational posters, pictures, and class rules all over the walls.
After playing with the kids during recess, we went to the kindergarten campus. According to the coordinator, there are around 150 children there ages 3 to 5 in this one-floor building. Each small room has more than 20 children. Lastly, we hopped in the van for a short ride to visit the middle school. The photos and information of the Parliament Candidates were the first thing we saw as we entered. From the group photos of each class on the wall, I'm guessing that each class has around 25 people. The headmaster showed us their library; it only has two bookshelves and the room only allows one class at a time. To my surprise, I found some English learning books that were from China. The headmaster specially pointed out a book about Ethiopia's victory over Italy to me, and said that he hoped we would like to read it sometime. I can see that Ethiopian people are really proud of their country and the fact that they have never been colonized. The headmaster also showed us their simple Lab, and computer room.
After lunch at Sishu, a modern and trendy restaurant, we rested a little and went on to the after school program Berhan Yehun. This time, we took a different route so we could actually see the landfill area on our way. As we were getting closer, we started to see little sheds and shacks built out of tin board and shabby tents on the variegated hills of garbage. We spotted people going through the trash, looking for food and things to sell.
At Berhan, we watched a video about the landfill area in Addis, and gained a closer look at people's daily lives in the "landfill district". There was a woman who begged in order to support her family. For food, she usually spends 1 birr for injera in market. But when she doesn't have money, she can only get injera from other beggars but for 3 or even 4 birr with her credit, and pay them back when she has the money. A disconcerting problem is that because their terrible living conditions, many of the people get addicted to smoking and alcohol which are the only things that can provide them some warmth. They have to swallow their scanty meals in complete darkness since there is no lighting anywhere in the area. Their kids are able to go to public schools. However, they generally do not perform well in school. People started to notice that most of the kids from the "landfill district" had poor health and empty stomaches; some of them even fainted in class. The mission of the program is to provide the kids with necessary nutrition and tutoring in order to help them do better in school so that they will be able to change their lives through knowledge.
After the kids came in from school, we divided into groups to give them a little tutorial before playing with them. Eve and I took out the animal pictures everyone drew last night and tried to teach them animals' names in English. For the penguin I drew, I tried to explain to them what it is like and where it lives. The kids learned really fast, and we soon ran out of things to teach. Eve and I also taught them about body parts. When we realized that they already knew the things we were trying to teach, we taught them geometry they were about to learn in school. The kids were such great little teachers; they taught me numbers in Amharic and tested me repeatedly so I wouldn't forget. I taught them numbers in Chinese in return, and they were so happy to learn.
After dinner, we had an amazing African contemporary dancer to teach us some Ethiopian dances. I had a hard time but everyone else was doing a great job. :) The dancer then performed for us with his fluid and amazing moves.
Today has been a wonderful day! We're all looking forward to going to the Ethiopian version of Grand Canyon tomorrow. And if this goes on for any longer, probably no one will want to proof-read for me... Ciao!
After playing with the kids during recess, we went to the kindergarten campus. According to the coordinator, there are around 150 children there ages 3 to 5 in this one-floor building. Each small room has more than 20 children. Lastly, we hopped in the van for a short ride to visit the middle school. The photos and information of the Parliament Candidates were the first thing we saw as we entered. From the group photos of each class on the wall, I'm guessing that each class has around 25 people. The headmaster showed us their library; it only has two bookshelves and the room only allows one class at a time. To my surprise, I found some English learning books that were from China. The headmaster specially pointed out a book about Ethiopia's victory over Italy to me, and said that he hoped we would like to read it sometime. I can see that Ethiopian people are really proud of their country and the fact that they have never been colonized. The headmaster also showed us their simple Lab, and computer room.
After lunch at Sishu, a modern and trendy restaurant, we rested a little and went on to the after school program Berhan Yehun. This time, we took a different route so we could actually see the landfill area on our way. As we were getting closer, we started to see little sheds and shacks built out of tin board and shabby tents on the variegated hills of garbage. We spotted people going through the trash, looking for food and things to sell.
At Berhan, we watched a video about the landfill area in Addis, and gained a closer look at people's daily lives in the "landfill district". There was a woman who begged in order to support her family. For food, she usually spends 1 birr for injera in market. But when she doesn't have money, she can only get injera from other beggars but for 3 or even 4 birr with her credit, and pay them back when she has the money. A disconcerting problem is that because their terrible living conditions, many of the people get addicted to smoking and alcohol which are the only things that can provide them some warmth. They have to swallow their scanty meals in complete darkness since there is no lighting anywhere in the area. Their kids are able to go to public schools. However, they generally do not perform well in school. People started to notice that most of the kids from the "landfill district" had poor health and empty stomaches; some of them even fainted in class. The mission of the program is to provide the kids with necessary nutrition and tutoring in order to help them do better in school so that they will be able to change their lives through knowledge.
After the kids came in from school, we divided into groups to give them a little tutorial before playing with them. Eve and I took out the animal pictures everyone drew last night and tried to teach them animals' names in English. For the penguin I drew, I tried to explain to them what it is like and where it lives. The kids learned really fast, and we soon ran out of things to teach. Eve and I also taught them about body parts. When we realized that they already knew the things we were trying to teach, we taught them geometry they were about to learn in school. The kids were such great little teachers; they taught me numbers in Amharic and tested me repeatedly so I wouldn't forget. I taught them numbers in Chinese in return, and they were so happy to learn.
After dinner, we had an amazing African contemporary dancer to teach us some Ethiopian dances. I had a hard time but everyone else was doing a great job. :) The dancer then performed for us with his fluid and amazing moves.
Today has been a wonderful day! We're all looking forward to going to the Ethiopian version of Grand Canyon tomorrow. And if this goes on for any longer, probably no one will want to proof-read for me... Ciao!
- Evelyn Qin, '15
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