New computers and a messy birthday weekend!!
on Kev in Tanzania (Tanzania), 24/Feb/2010 07:52, 34 days ago
Still up and down in Pembaland…Tuesday 16th FebruaryThere was no sign of the rodent this morning, always a good sign! At college I continued teaching publisher with the guests, they struggle with the boxes and changing back ground colours, we are getting there. The older women are the best students, the 2 young lads seem to want to change the desktop and screensaver all the time (would be better if they paid attention to demos…) I added some culturally relevant clipart (Muslim families and Islamic icons) so that they can put in some images into their work that means more to them.The principle came up to me and told me we had 3 new computers, I think the ministry sent them over to us and he asked me to set them up once they have been checked in. It was very exciting as they would be for my classroom!Power went at noon so I made some more posters and stuck them up in my classroom. It is a losing battle as they always fall down due to the heat which stops the masking tape from sticking but it makes the room look nice and inspires the students (well it makes them ask for the posters at least…)They put the generator on for my diploma lesson which was great, we split them into 2 groups and Liz did practical with them upstairs in the classroom and I did theory down in the hall with the projector and my laptop.Wednesday 17th FebruaryMr Daudi (the clerk and one of the few hard working guys at the college) checked off the computers and got a student to bring the boxes up to my classroom. I setup the computers on the 3 spare desks I moved in there. The computers came with UPS (uninterruptible power supply– which stop surges and can be a battery when there is no power) it was good because the computers had XP pre-installed which saved me time and I was able to get them up and running quickly, despite the students and Ramala wanting to get their hands on them as I took them out of the box!With the diploma class I decided to get them all together and tell them about the new computers, I then did a lesson about health and safety and setting up a computer room. The principle sat in on the lesson and seemed keen. He did ask if I gave them handouts but the college charges 700tsh per page (even to the staff and students!)Had no power at home and Liz cooked homemade burgers using the chilli beef fake meat– it sounds horrible but they were yummy!Had a bad headache so went to bed early, was feeling a bit feverish and did not sleep well– the lack of power did not help…Thursday 18th FebruaryFelt a bit better this morning, maybe I was not drinking enough, who knows?Continued with Publisher with the guests, they will have an‘exam’ soon so they can move onto the next topic, I have no idea how this course with them is meant to be organised (the plan has programming on it – like they can do that with no English…)I installed software on the new computers, I put on Office 2003, Acrobat, Avria Anti-Virus, Firefox and some media players. I also set up the user accounts, I have one for the guests, an admin, a diploma account and a second year account.Power went, I cannot remember when so I went into the library to look at the atlas, I have decided to try and learn all the countries, where they are and their capitals…Back home I felt rough again, I had no dinner as feeling bad and during in the night I was sick a few times…Friday 19th FebruaryBirthday!! Yay!! But sick and diarrhoea!! Boo!!I stayed at home and opened my mail from Mum which was very nice. Liz and I had planned to go to Mkoani for the night for some yummy food and then to Misali Island but as I was ill we had to cancel. I had some nice messages on facebook and txts which was very nice.I rested and felt sorry for myself a bit but had Liz to cheer me up. I decided to have a few beers anyways as it was my birthday, what’s the worst that would happen?Saturday 20th FebruaryStill unwell but as not eating I was feeling a little better. Liz had become ill which made me feel bad but it happens when you live close to people and one of them is ill.We watched‘scrubs’ finishing series 5 and I have been reading ‘Wind up bird chronicles’ by a Japanese guy, it is a bit weird but interesting, I cannot put it down!Sunday 21st FebruaryRecovered now but Liz was still a little ill… We had power so watched some ‘scrubs’ series 6 (nearly finished…) until we were rudely interrupted by two people who were here to spray the house for mosquitoes. Now I hate the little bastards and spraying the house is a fab idea but please next time give us some notice! They wanted tospray it right there and then and we had to take down ALL the pictures and posters from the walls, move EVERYTHING out of the kitchen, move all items into the middle of the rooms so the guy could spray the walls. Liz was angry as they did not warn us and we had to mess up the house then wait 2 hours before going back inside!! It made it worse that the people just laughed (what’s customer service?)We eventually got most of the house back to normal but have decided not to waste the effort putting all of our photos and posters back on the wall.So it was a stressful afternoon, we made up for it by having some wine for dinner and chatting out in the courtyard, that was really nice and we finished the weekend on a good point.Monday 22nd FebruaryAt college today I was timetabled to teach 2 classes of second year students but no one attended so I spent my time organising resources and trying to sort out the intranet/VLE I am making in dreamweaver for the ICT students so they can study when I am gone.Liz was not sick anymore but I suffering from abdominal pains, it might be a appendicitis or urinary infection, a little bit worrying but she is a tough Aussie! She a had a call from VSO about Alain, a new Filipino volunteer coming to Wete, as the rep they were asking her to meet him at the airport in Chake as they are flying him from Zanzibar to Pemba (why they decided to fly him I don’t know…) It made us a little annoyed as she is meant to be teaching with me on Wednesday and also why does he get to fly to Pemba when we have to get the boat? Mickey got the same treatment when he was here, VSO should keep it consistent.Liz cooked tuna and potato fish cakes for dinner which were yummy and we have now moved onto the last series of scrubs that we have. It is nice watching it together and laughing.Tuesday 23rd FebruaryAt college the guests said they want a publisher helpsheet, the problem is there is no toner in the photocopier so I cannot get copies for them. They asked to move onto Excel soon so next week we shall and it will be difficult!!I finished the ICS part of the intranet/VLE, ICS is Information Computer Studies Pedagogy (basically how to teach ICT) It is a really badly written unit from the ministry that is meant to be taught in addition to ICT, the problem is there are no materials for it and the ministry guide is useless. Still I have copied up the ministry guide (bad grammar and all) and put them on the intranet so the students can read it.The lesson with the diploma students I did about networks and Liz did the practical on making a newsletter in word.It was good to see Hamadi, Amina and Ramala sitting round and doing nothing all day, always good to see we are sharing skills and they are keen to help… (oh sarcasm…)Liz still in a little pain so I went shopping, cooked a curry for dinner and made some brownie (making sure the brownie is safe in a tub from the rodent!!)We are both a bit tired of Pemban life; having power cuts every second day, water coming and going, a tough week at work then a crap (literally) weekend– but we know it is good to have each other!That’s the update for now, its dinner at Juanito’s tonight, Liz will talk to the Cuban doctors about her pains and we get to the meet the new volunteer.Take care