Course, Concert and Cake
on Kate in Guyana (Guyana), 28/Jun/2010 19:09, 34 days ago
I am pleased today to get most of the assignments handed back, so I have getting a sense of completion which is great. Next I am doing support for the half module option in visual impairment which is only being done by a few teachers, so it is more manageable.Recently at work we have been running around to get the final accounts done for our training. We got Unicef funding so we had to do the accounting ourselves. My local counterpart was in charge, which left me to stand at the photocopier for ages getting copies of travel claims and receipts.We have written a report on the training which I finished today including challenges and recommendations. I came up with three challenges. We were told to run a distance learning course, but some of the teachers who work in special schools do not have the academic ability to learn by this method. So I am recommending that additional training should be done with them to teach them the content. The second challenge is that the motivation to study is low. We are recommending that teachers get salary points for successful completion of the course. The third challenge is that there is no replacement for me when I leave, and I have been doing this full time for the last four months or so. So who will write the modules, produce them, go round the schools to support the teachers, organise the training days?We had quite a quiet weekend. Yesterday we went to a concert run by a visual impairment cultural association - there were one or two good items, but otherwise it was rather an endurance test, including starting 50 minutes late - but that is not a surprise in Guyana. Last night I cooked a meal for a group of us including our VSO Australian friend who we visited in Mabaruma. She cooked us such a lovely meal in a pretty appalling kitchen, so I wanted to make a special meal for her. I did pancakes with lots of bits and pieces. But I think the pineapple and cinnamon cake was the best bit. Pineapples are dead cheap at the moment, you can get a small one for 30 pence. The main problem is that they make your teeth jump unless they are really ripe.Tomorrow is police check day, it takes about four hours of standing in queues I understand...