Just sent out email to:
Bill Foster 14th District US Representative
Michael Noland 22nd District Illinois State Senator
Keith Farnham 43rd District Illinois State Representative
Richard J. Durbin US Senator
Roland Burris US Senator
Pat Quinn Illinois Governor
It was regarding the rising costs of higher education in our country. Rather sad, those tuition rates are going up faster than wages do. I can only put faith in the leadership we have and hope for the best from our state and national government as well as educational institutions of higher learning.
Stay happy and well,
ciao tutti
~your local wannabe jedi
~Shawn
23 May 2009
21 May 2009
Looking ahead
Voice update--no change. Still very hoarse. Some people say they can hear my voice getting better, but I don't hear it. If anything, I've become more cognizant of what I'd describe as a constant dryness in the back of my throat and sometimes soreness from speaking. Now before I get jumped on by those who would say--but you're not supposed to be talking, yes I know that. I don't talk if I can usually avoid it, but it isn't easy.
I carry around a small dry-erase board and marker to write out most of my thoughts. That works great for those that can read the words and read them at a pace that can actually create a conversation. If anything, this experience has enlightened me to the seriousness of the adult reading problem. I already know how poorly many of the children read and I have to talk with them. I'm still attending my meetings with various organizations and again, I might start writing but end up talking when my ideas became misconstrued. Getting a bus to stop or answering phone calls has been it's own challenge especially if there is any sort of background noise. Of course there are also those people who I write words to communicate with and they look at me as if I was stupid and inform me that I can just talk to them since they heard me talking with someone else nearby (who was one the people who don't read well). That's a fun one to explain to a person who doesn't want to work any harder than what it takes--even in conversation.
Anyways, things are still moving along here.
Not always as I'd like them to, but who says we get what we want. Half of our job is just finding a way to make it work with what we get. Hum...perhaps I might coin it Social MacGyverism. Been having the usual bought of attendance dilemmas with meetings lately, which of has been affecting the progress of various group efforts. Perhaps some of it might be attributed to the Carnival season in the air, but it is still too early for the big events to steal away the attentions of most people.
Been on that roller coaster again of the what the heck are we doing here while going through the corkscrews of love my job/hate my job. Either way, I'm here and trying to keep a balance of everything here to keep sane.
“Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.”--Buddhist teaching and quote.
The two year roller coaster really makes that lesson an interesting day to day practice. It is hard not to think of our futures after the Peace Corps--particularly on those frustrating days of waiting for an activity to start and you're missing more than half of the committed people while pondering if people are actually taking our seriously.
Either way, whether things going peachy or not I need to start looking ahead to life after service. Many of us have aspirations of graduate school and many of those would like their applications far in advance. This means that I'll be spending some of my free time hoping through grad school websites and the various programs offered. The cost of higher education is rather sad and finding creative ways to pay for graduate school might sadly take up just as much time for many a student as the time they spend in class and studying. That's just not right. Service in the Peace Corps looks great for applicants, but it would be nice to have a tuition reduction as a thank you as well.
It would be nice to have some standardized support for return volunteers and I think I'll actually contact my congressmen on that soon. The average university that I've seen tends to offer a 'discount' of waiving the cost of on average 6-18 credit hours of coursework--not very much in the scheme of things. Of course, many universities have stepped up to support return volunteers and I do appreciate that. However, many of those programs are in education or social-work and not what I'm looking to pursue. I'm looking for degree plans that will help me return to work on the international job market. Working with some of these organizations and getting a closer proximity to working with government officials (if not regularly as I'd like) has only reinforced my desire to work abroad in a composite government scene such as the United Nations.
Right now, Columbia of New York is topping my list with their Masters in International Affairs--Energy & Environment specialty track. I'm also strongly considering their law school for international law. I've taken my GRE, but I'll have to find a way to take my LSAT if I do apply to law school and that probably means I'll have to go off island for it. After seeing so many policy issues in the world and even reflecting on them back home--I'm surprised more volunteers haven't gone into law that I'm aware of and I haven't seen a Law School with a return volunteer tuition break. (not saying they are not out there, just haven't seen it yet)
Grad tuition is frightening. Columbia's Masters program is near $40k in tuition alone for the year--it's law school is much more. A couple years of that, 4 if I pursued the dual degree option and I'd be able to buy a small house. Scary the cost of education. Having a desire to work outside the US is also a very scary risk--especially if that work is not via the U.S. Government. Trying to justify living abroad where work pay might be on par with standards of living and yet make sure to earn enough to send money back home for the student loans for gosh knows how long is a scary venture.
Too bad I didn't want a degree in economics--I do want to thank Western Illinois University for their contribution to our service. I read a leaflet in our office from them and they offer a full ride tuition waiver, stipend, and internship for many of their programs. Too bad it is focused from their Department of Rural Affairs and I am looking for one that will help me connect and get the leg up into the international scene.
Recently, our Country Director sent us an email to clarify a few things regarding Early Termination. It's name is fairly self-explanatory. We are volunteers, yes we are on a contract, but we are not bound to be here. If we follow a series of procedures, we may 'early terminate' our service and go home.
Only the volunteer can weigh those pros can cons since it is a case by case basis. What most volunteers here are grumbling about, particularly those wanting to attend grad school, is our Close of Service date. My group, EC78, has a COS date of 15 October 2010. This puts us just outside of the fall semester start time by 1-3 months. Given that most graduate programs start only in the fall, we would have to find ways to occupy ourselves for nearly an entire year. For someone who has just given 26 months of service--that is a rather crappy thank you. The start and end timing of our service is said to be part of the country assignment's needs--however this is debatable.
80% of EC76 (the group that left before we arrived) early terminated. Many of them did it those last few months before before their COS. To me this sends a clear message and not one that regards them having a direct problem with their service here. Of course an early termination is not without its drawbacks either. For those who wish to work for the government, we are granted a one-year non-competitive eligibility for employment (a handy thing to have). Early terminating denies us this benefit. For those who don't see themselves in the life of public service--giving that up probably doesn't matter. For those of us who may go into government work, that's a sacrifice.
So while I'm living here and happily for the most part and looking forward to finishing my service as scheduled, I am still trying to keep an eye on the future without disrupting the present. Looks like there is plenty to investigate and ponder for later on.
Stay happy and well
ciao tutti
~your local wannabe jedi
~Shawn
I carry around a small dry-erase board and marker to write out most of my thoughts. That works great for those that can read the words and read them at a pace that can actually create a conversation. If anything, this experience has enlightened me to the seriousness of the adult reading problem. I already know how poorly many of the children read and I have to talk with them. I'm still attending my meetings with various organizations and again, I might start writing but end up talking when my ideas became misconstrued. Getting a bus to stop or answering phone calls has been it's own challenge especially if there is any sort of background noise. Of course there are also those people who I write words to communicate with and they look at me as if I was stupid and inform me that I can just talk to them since they heard me talking with someone else nearby (who was one the people who don't read well). That's a fun one to explain to a person who doesn't want to work any harder than what it takes--even in conversation.
Anyways, things are still moving along here.
Not always as I'd like them to, but who says we get what we want. Half of our job is just finding a way to make it work with what we get. Hum...perhaps I might coin it Social MacGyverism. Been having the usual bought of attendance dilemmas with meetings lately, which of has been affecting the progress of various group efforts. Perhaps some of it might be attributed to the Carnival season in the air, but it is still too early for the big events to steal away the attentions of most people.
Been on that roller coaster again of the what the heck are we doing here while going through the corkscrews of love my job/hate my job. Either way, I'm here and trying to keep a balance of everything here to keep sane.
“Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.”--Buddhist teaching and quote.
The two year roller coaster really makes that lesson an interesting day to day practice. It is hard not to think of our futures after the Peace Corps--particularly on those frustrating days of waiting for an activity to start and you're missing more than half of the committed people while pondering if people are actually taking our seriously.
Either way, whether things going peachy or not I need to start looking ahead to life after service. Many of us have aspirations of graduate school and many of those would like their applications far in advance. This means that I'll be spending some of my free time hoping through grad school websites and the various programs offered. The cost of higher education is rather sad and finding creative ways to pay for graduate school might sadly take up just as much time for many a student as the time they spend in class and studying. That's just not right. Service in the Peace Corps looks great for applicants, but it would be nice to have a tuition reduction as a thank you as well.
It would be nice to have some standardized support for return volunteers and I think I'll actually contact my congressmen on that soon. The average university that I've seen tends to offer a 'discount' of waiving the cost of on average 6-18 credit hours of coursework--not very much in the scheme of things. Of course, many universities have stepped up to support return volunteers and I do appreciate that. However, many of those programs are in education or social-work and not what I'm looking to pursue. I'm looking for degree plans that will help me return to work on the international job market. Working with some of these organizations and getting a closer proximity to working with government officials (if not regularly as I'd like) has only reinforced my desire to work abroad in a composite government scene such as the United Nations.
Right now, Columbia of New York is topping my list with their Masters in International Affairs--Energy & Environment specialty track. I'm also strongly considering their law school for international law. I've taken my GRE, but I'll have to find a way to take my LSAT if I do apply to law school and that probably means I'll have to go off island for it. After seeing so many policy issues in the world and even reflecting on them back home--I'm surprised more volunteers haven't gone into law that I'm aware of and I haven't seen a Law School with a return volunteer tuition break. (not saying they are not out there, just haven't seen it yet)
Grad tuition is frightening. Columbia's Masters program is near $40k in tuition alone for the year--it's law school is much more. A couple years of that, 4 if I pursued the dual degree option and I'd be able to buy a small house. Scary the cost of education. Having a desire to work outside the US is also a very scary risk--especially if that work is not via the U.S. Government. Trying to justify living abroad where work pay might be on par with standards of living and yet make sure to earn enough to send money back home for the student loans for gosh knows how long is a scary venture.
Too bad I didn't want a degree in economics--I do want to thank Western Illinois University for their contribution to our service. I read a leaflet in our office from them and they offer a full ride tuition waiver, stipend, and internship for many of their programs. Too bad it is focused from their Department of Rural Affairs and I am looking for one that will help me connect and get the leg up into the international scene.
Recently, our Country Director sent us an email to clarify a few things regarding Early Termination. It's name is fairly self-explanatory. We are volunteers, yes we are on a contract, but we are not bound to be here. If we follow a series of procedures, we may 'early terminate' our service and go home.
Only the volunteer can weigh those pros can cons since it is a case by case basis. What most volunteers here are grumbling about, particularly those wanting to attend grad school, is our Close of Service date. My group, EC78, has a COS date of 15 October 2010. This puts us just outside of the fall semester start time by 1-3 months. Given that most graduate programs start only in the fall, we would have to find ways to occupy ourselves for nearly an entire year. For someone who has just given 26 months of service--that is a rather crappy thank you. The start and end timing of our service is said to be part of the country assignment's needs--however this is debatable.
80% of EC76 (the group that left before we arrived) early terminated. Many of them did it those last few months before before their COS. To me this sends a clear message and not one that regards them having a direct problem with their service here. Of course an early termination is not without its drawbacks either. For those who wish to work for the government, we are granted a one-year non-competitive eligibility for employment (a handy thing to have). Early terminating denies us this benefit. For those who don't see themselves in the life of public service--giving that up probably doesn't matter. For those of us who may go into government work, that's a sacrifice.
So while I'm living here and happily for the most part and looking forward to finishing my service as scheduled, I am still trying to keep an eye on the future without disrupting the present. Looks like there is plenty to investigate and ponder for later on.
Stay happy and well
ciao tutti
~your local wannabe jedi
~Shawn
13 May 2009
my month of silence
ok, so my month won't be exactly silent--but fairly close.
For those that don't know, I've 'lost' my voice and very rather hoarse the past couple weeks. My voice was getting softer since I've gotten here and now I sound like I've swallowed a frog in my better moments. So today I went to an ear/nose/throat (ENT) doctor as suggested by my Peace Corps Medical Doctor on St. Lucia.
The visit was rather quick, perhaps 20 minutes, and his office was very well kept. Anyways, he checks my ears and all is good there. That was rather fun because he had a tv hooked up to his 'ear-scopes' and I got to see a rather clear picture inside my head. ^_^ Then he goes into the throat with a little mirror and he has me trying to make high-pitch 'eeeee' sounds. Of course I certainly didn't sound like Josh Groban with a mirror in the throat helping me rediscover my gag reflex.
He didn't really tell me what he saw until he finished making a few sketches on the paper records. The results were not good--let's hope not really bad, just not good.
Thought I'd add a few images to help explain:
What you see here are healthy vocal cords. They are spread apart when not in use and close up as we make different sounds.
From what the doctor said, I have a good-sized polup on my vocal cords. He didn't really say which, but I doubt that matters. It would look something like this:
He doesn't believe it to be cancerous or anything serious like that since I don't smoke and I don't know of any such histories in the family. A problem like this isn't uncommon and is often happens to singers, teachers, and others who raise their voice frequently. He believes my polyp is most likely bacterial or viral in nature and major cause for alarm. Still stinks. >.<
His treatment for now will consist of me trying not to talk for the next month unless I really need to do so. (Good thing I have a 8"x10" dry erase board.) He also prescribed a few pills for me to take a daily histamine tablet of 5mg Neoclarityn for 10 days. I have a follow-up appointment with him for next month. If the polyp hasn't gotten better...well let's hope it does. Otherwise he said he might have to opt for an easy surgical procedure to remove it.
So let's all hope for a quick and quiet month.
Stay happy and well
ciao tutti
~your local wannabe jedi
~Shawn
For those that don't know, I've 'lost' my voice and very rather hoarse the past couple weeks. My voice was getting softer since I've gotten here and now I sound like I've swallowed a frog in my better moments. So today I went to an ear/nose/throat (ENT) doctor as suggested by my Peace Corps Medical Doctor on St. Lucia.
The visit was rather quick, perhaps 20 minutes, and his office was very well kept. Anyways, he checks my ears and all is good there. That was rather fun because he had a tv hooked up to his 'ear-scopes' and I got to see a rather clear picture inside my head. ^_^ Then he goes into the throat with a little mirror and he has me trying to make high-pitch 'eeeee' sounds. Of course I certainly didn't sound like Josh Groban with a mirror in the throat helping me rediscover my gag reflex.
He didn't really tell me what he saw until he finished making a few sketches on the paper records. The results were not good--let's hope not really bad, just not good.
Thought I'd add a few images to help explain:
What you see here are healthy vocal cords. They are spread apart when not in use and close up as we make different sounds.
From what the doctor said, I have a good-sized polup on my vocal cords. He didn't really say which, but I doubt that matters. It would look something like this:
He doesn't believe it to be cancerous or anything serious like that since I don't smoke and I don't know of any such histories in the family. A problem like this isn't uncommon and is often happens to singers, teachers, and others who raise their voice frequently. He believes my polyp is most likely bacterial or viral in nature and major cause for alarm. Still stinks. >.<
His treatment for now will consist of me trying not to talk for the next month unless I really need to do so. (Good thing I have a 8"x10" dry erase board.) He also prescribed a few pills for me to take a daily histamine tablet of 5mg Neoclarityn for 10 days. I have a follow-up appointment with him for next month. If the polyp hasn't gotten better...well let's hope it does. Otherwise he said he might have to opt for an easy surgical procedure to remove it.
So let's all hope for a quick and quiet month.
Stay happy and well
ciao tutti
~your local wannabe jedi
~Shawn
12 May 2009
Digital Photography & Internet course ideas....
Alright, so I've been teaching basic computer classes here in my village. They are small classes, only 4 people at the most per class--1 per computer. I looked around at a few instructional sites I found online for computer classes and ended up creating my own set of 'study sheets' & exam for the class by merging many of the examples and adding my own flavor.
I've wanted to teach classes at the next level up with subjects like office software, internet skills, and digital photography--but I don't always have the time or the computers are not always available during those times. Still, I'd like to start creating additional study sheet and learning materials for those types of courses. I teach directly from those sheets--so if a student was late or missed a lesson, they would be able to make up any materials on their own. I hope, I would able to put together the learning material for intermediate level work. Then self-motivated people would be able to pick up the study sheets and work at their own pace.
Office learning material is easy enough to find. Heck, so many things are available through sites like Microsoft's Office website, Alison.com, and similar sites that I shouldn't have to worry about any of that coursework.
However, I'd really like to teach a class on intro to digital photography & one on mid-level internet skills. I only know these topics based on personal experience, but even then I most likely know a bit more than most people here in my village. There are not many digital cameras and those in use are most point & shoot with no regard for light, position, or other aspects. Most internet users here don't really know how to modify search information to target what they want to find or use the internet beyond social sites. Hi5 is the BIG thing here and no I do not have a profile on it.
So I was hoping to use this blog here as a chance to solicit some feedback from my wonderful readers. If you have any ideas, advice, or other things to contribute--drop some comments below or send me an email (address is on the sidebar to the right). I'm listing below some topic points. If you think I should add or remove any further topics--just say so. If you know a bit about a particular topic or where I can find some great info to help make a study sheet--add some feedback.
Thanks! ^_^
Here are a few topics I was thinking of covering in the Internet course:
Here are a few topics I was thinking of covering in a digital photography course:
well, that pretty much exhausted my idea list for now. Of course, I'll still need to fill in the details for each on the study sheets--but hopefully you'll drop your thoughts first. ^_^ Thanks again.
Stay happy and well
ciao tutti
~your local wannabe jedi
~Shawn
I've wanted to teach classes at the next level up with subjects like office software, internet skills, and digital photography--but I don't always have the time or the computers are not always available during those times. Still, I'd like to start creating additional study sheet and learning materials for those types of courses. I teach directly from those sheets--so if a student was late or missed a lesson, they would be able to make up any materials on their own. I hope, I would able to put together the learning material for intermediate level work. Then self-motivated people would be able to pick up the study sheets and work at their own pace.
Office learning material is easy enough to find. Heck, so many things are available through sites like Microsoft's Office website, Alison.com, and similar sites that I shouldn't have to worry about any of that coursework.
However, I'd really like to teach a class on intro to digital photography & one on mid-level internet skills. I only know these topics based on personal experience, but even then I most likely know a bit more than most people here in my village. There are not many digital cameras and those in use are most point & shoot with no regard for light, position, or other aspects. Most internet users here don't really know how to modify search information to target what they want to find or use the internet beyond social sites. Hi5 is the BIG thing here and no I do not have a profile on it.
So I was hoping to use this blog here as a chance to solicit some feedback from my wonderful readers. If you have any ideas, advice, or other things to contribute--drop some comments below or send me an email (address is on the sidebar to the right). I'm listing below some topic points. If you think I should add or remove any further topics--just say so. If you know a bit about a particular topic or where I can find some great info to help make a study sheet--add some feedback.
Thanks! ^_^
Here are a few topics I was thinking of covering in the Internet course:
- How the internet works--hardware & software overview
- What is a network--compare local, wireless, and personal networks
- General internet usage--compare major topics--social, business, educational, etc.
- Search Engines--web, image, refining results, etc.
- Email
- News
- Chat & Social Networking
- Shopping & Banking
- How to use the internet as a tool for learning & personal growth
- How to use the internet as a business tool.
Here are a few topics I was thinking of covering in a digital photography course:
- Intro to the digital camera (point & shoots)--how does it work, types of cameras, handling & basic care
- Mega-pixels & resolution--what does that really mean to the user
- Memory Cards--compare types, storage amount & it direct relation with mega-pixels
- Zoom--digital vs. optical and how they affect the image
- Discuss a few concepts: shutter-speed, aperture, using a flash, focusing, ISO
- Things to think about--shooting at night, shooting at day, fluorescent light, water reflection (polarize),
- How to transfer pictures from a digital camera to a computer
- General image file types & compression--jpg, tiff, raw
- Very basic intro to image editing software (software to be used, yet to be decided)--cropping, resize, retouch, red-eye, color settings
- Things to consider when buying a digital camera & perform comparisons with current camera models on the internet
well, that pretty much exhausted my idea list for now. Of course, I'll still need to fill in the details for each on the study sheets--but hopefully you'll drop your thoughts first. ^_^ Thanks again.
Stay happy and well
ciao tutti
~your local wannabe jedi
~Shawn
11 May 2009
Did you know?
Amy dropped me this video in a chat.
Way cool....informational.
Stay well and happy
ciao tutti
~your local wannabe jedi
~Shawn
Way cool....informational.
Stay well and happy
ciao tutti
~your local wannabe jedi
~Shawn
06 May 2009
Youth Explosion
So when my recruiter asked me how I'd feel walking through a village and constantly being greeted as if I was a celebrity. She asked me how I'd feel if they wanted to hold my hand and let them follow me. For many who know me from back home--that is a tough one to answer nicely, but I sucked it up and said sure, why not.
Since then, those very things have indeed come to pass and I've learned that I'm really not so bothered with it. Well most of them are alright and they do indeed call out to me as if I am some sort of neighborhood celebrity. Several do like holding my hand and one even calls me her best friend--of course that stops as soon as I tell her she can't use the computers.
What I wasn't prepared to deal with was running youth groups. My official title role is NGO/Institution developer, which seems to suggest a wide variety of duties. It really means be ready to do just about anything. Our PC training covered several major topics, but in my opinion was preparing us to deal with youth--not sure if it was even meant to do that either. So with little formal youth training and limited youth group experience, I quickly found myself immersed in activities I admit I started for the kids of Spring Village. From after school studies to the ECHO drum and dance crew, they have become a part of my regular schedule here.
Now I've been a boy scout and afterwards a boy scout leader. I suppose the big difference between the experiences then and now is the activity structure & participation. Back then, there were many adult leaders to divide up the work, organize the boys, and keep things running smoothly. The boy scout program was well established and had systems in place to help those leaders stick to a general framework and activity guide. Here, for the most part it's been dicey.
I've been very fortunate to find a couple people here in the village that are interested in the remedial reading part of the after school studies program and I'm grateful for them. Still we find ourselves stumbling along as we try to develop our methods & programs--without much support from the local school environment. ECHO has been a mixed bag. On one hand, there is some great support outside the village from another drummer--but he is a very busy person and hard to reach for the times ECHO will meet. Adult support for ECHO here in Spring is limited as best, although the youth coming to the meetings has been growing weekly. Now I'm faced with a group that has become perhaps too large and I've been unable to control.
Despite the size of the group, I find some of the youth are getting very good at knocking me from my center and I find myself rekindling aggressive urges. This is something that needs to be stopped now. It took me a long time to find the quiet inside and uncover a well-spring of patience. Most days I can undergo most rigors and not be bothered, yet some of these activities are starting to find quick ways to unnerve me. So I'm at a cross-roads and currently sitting back chewing on the idea of which road to walk.
One road follows an extreme change to discontinue these youth activities altogether. Doing so would allow me to focus more intently on other projects, such as the village council and teaching computers. I often find myself wondering if/how they might last without me after service anyways--given that I've been continually searching for others (adults) to help supervise activities such as ECHO.
Another road would be to either divide the groups into smaller chunks or eliminate some of the youth from attending. Both have their own merits and flaws. By splitting the kids into smaller groups, I would be able to manage them more effectively and they would be able to share some of the limited resources (like the drums) better. However, I don't have any extra time during the week to bulk up on the number of ECHO meetings I can have, so the kids would have to settle on coming to a biweekly instead of a weekly session (each group would alternate weeks). This in-turn slows their learning progression skill development for performance-based activities. By eliminating some of the kids from the youth activity, then I would have to specify/select how many kids I will keep active and how many should be dismissed. I can already see that to be a sticky situation, trying to find fair methods to select a few and be able to rationalize to community parents why I all of a sudden told their children they can't participate regardless of how well they might have behaved.
The third road walks the path of the wait and see. Stick it out a bit longer and see if any other opportunities present themselves. It is nice to remain optimistic and try to keep driving others in the community to get involved, but reality takes its toll and I worry about changes in my personal attitude/behavior. While this road is a nice thought--it will probably remain a thought.
In the end, I accept the fact that I made an awfully big sandwich and am currently taking big bites out of it. In hindsight, I'm not sure if I would have really been able to make a smaller sandwich or if I would have just had to go without one. But the day moves forward and I've got some plans to consider. It would have been so much easier if I would have had a functioning CBO to work with when I arrived as it should have been--but we make due with what we have and move onward making the best of things.
Stay well and happy
ciao tutti
~your local wannabe jedi
~Shawn
Since then, those very things have indeed come to pass and I've learned that I'm really not so bothered with it. Well most of them are alright and they do indeed call out to me as if I am some sort of neighborhood celebrity. Several do like holding my hand and one even calls me her best friend--of course that stops as soon as I tell her she can't use the computers.
What I wasn't prepared to deal with was running youth groups. My official title role is NGO/Institution developer, which seems to suggest a wide variety of duties. It really means be ready to do just about anything. Our PC training covered several major topics, but in my opinion was preparing us to deal with youth--not sure if it was even meant to do that either. So with little formal youth training and limited youth group experience, I quickly found myself immersed in activities I admit I started for the kids of Spring Village. From after school studies to the ECHO drum and dance crew, they have become a part of my regular schedule here.
Now I've been a boy scout and afterwards a boy scout leader. I suppose the big difference between the experiences then and now is the activity structure & participation. Back then, there were many adult leaders to divide up the work, organize the boys, and keep things running smoothly. The boy scout program was well established and had systems in place to help those leaders stick to a general framework and activity guide. Here, for the most part it's been dicey.
I've been very fortunate to find a couple people here in the village that are interested in the remedial reading part of the after school studies program and I'm grateful for them. Still we find ourselves stumbling along as we try to develop our methods & programs--without much support from the local school environment. ECHO has been a mixed bag. On one hand, there is some great support outside the village from another drummer--but he is a very busy person and hard to reach for the times ECHO will meet. Adult support for ECHO here in Spring is limited as best, although the youth coming to the meetings has been growing weekly. Now I'm faced with a group that has become perhaps too large and I've been unable to control.
Despite the size of the group, I find some of the youth are getting very good at knocking me from my center and I find myself rekindling aggressive urges. This is something that needs to be stopped now. It took me a long time to find the quiet inside and uncover a well-spring of patience. Most days I can undergo most rigors and not be bothered, yet some of these activities are starting to find quick ways to unnerve me. So I'm at a cross-roads and currently sitting back chewing on the idea of which road to walk.
One road follows an extreme change to discontinue these youth activities altogether. Doing so would allow me to focus more intently on other projects, such as the village council and teaching computers. I often find myself wondering if/how they might last without me after service anyways--given that I've been continually searching for others (adults) to help supervise activities such as ECHO.
Another road would be to either divide the groups into smaller chunks or eliminate some of the youth from attending. Both have their own merits and flaws. By splitting the kids into smaller groups, I would be able to manage them more effectively and they would be able to share some of the limited resources (like the drums) better. However, I don't have any extra time during the week to bulk up on the number of ECHO meetings I can have, so the kids would have to settle on coming to a biweekly instead of a weekly session (each group would alternate weeks). This in-turn slows their learning progression skill development for performance-based activities. By eliminating some of the kids from the youth activity, then I would have to specify/select how many kids I will keep active and how many should be dismissed. I can already see that to be a sticky situation, trying to find fair methods to select a few and be able to rationalize to community parents why I all of a sudden told their children they can't participate regardless of how well they might have behaved.
The third road walks the path of the wait and see. Stick it out a bit longer and see if any other opportunities present themselves. It is nice to remain optimistic and try to keep driving others in the community to get involved, but reality takes its toll and I worry about changes in my personal attitude/behavior. While this road is a nice thought--it will probably remain a thought.
In the end, I accept the fact that I made an awfully big sandwich and am currently taking big bites out of it. In hindsight, I'm not sure if I would have really been able to make a smaller sandwich or if I would have just had to go without one. But the day moves forward and I've got some plans to consider. It would have been so much easier if I would have had a functioning CBO to work with when I arrived as it should have been--but we make due with what we have and move onward making the best of things.
Stay well and happy
ciao tutti
~your local wannabe jedi
~Shawn
01 May 2009
Gosh they really hate lines.
Ok, so my buddy Will in New York sent me this chain email with a terrible pun...
Apparently someone had said that the day we had a black president, pigs will fly. Well right around the 100 days, the swine flu.
Tasteless, sure--but that's life. ^_^
Being sick stinks--the flu especially. I got it probably late last week, but it didn't really hit me till Sunday & Monday. You know the kind that makes your who self ache whenever you move your head. I'm fine now and no it wasn't swine flu. Just regular, good 'ol make the life miserable flu. Figure I most likely got it from doing all those reading assessments at the school the past couple weeks. Coming into close proximity with more than one kid sniffing back his cold is a fairly reasonable guess. And for the worry worts out there (cough...mom...cough), the Peace Corps has issued us special tablets to go into our medical kits to be taken if the avian or swine flu should outbreak here.
Outside of a brief run-in with the flu, I've still been keeping busy. Sunday night I went to the larger venue of Gospel Fest in Kingstown. I went to show support and take some pics for the Super Kidz group from Spring. This larger gathering was to bring together all the top performers from the zonal areas; our zone was from the blog I detailed in Chateau. There were many performances, some of them very cool. Now although I'm not a Christian--I know a good performance and these were very entertaining. I must admit, the swing dancers really through me for a loop when I saw that!
Here's a few videos of the other groups. I'm not putting up the pics/videos from the Super Kidz--although they were great, it was the same songs & dance from the other show and available on an earlier blog.
The photo albums from that night are here:
Part 1
Part 2
This one should be a group called KLT, somewhere from the Windward side
This one is a dancing couple from the Marriaqua Valley on the Windward side
This one features Jason Mighty--that night's special performance. Hailing from Jamaican, he is well known in the Gospel circles and the crowd ERUPTED for his hour or so long performance. This was his closing song and one that is extremely popular here. Alright, I admit I don't know the name of the song. Gospel was never really my cup of tea.
The stands are overflowing with Vincentians at Victoria Park
In other updates--
ECHO, the drum and dance group is coming along slowly. The kids want to do a sponsor walk to raise some funding for more drums. They should be doing a sponsor walk from Chateau to Spring Village--roughly two hours along a mountainous highway road. They plan to grab the drums and play along the way. I'll be hoping for a good turn-out, although I'm not to sure how driven they are to walk around and ask for their sponsors. Oddly, I'm finding a bit of a reversal on this one... The kids that are normally very motivated to do the drumming and activities don't really want to do they walk and complain it's too hard/far. Many of the other kids--the ones who often don't take things seriously and goof off seem more determined to make this walk work.
Time will tell.
We'll also be expanding into the dance section very soon...getting a small boombox would be great and is on the equipment to get list. The kids caught me watching some breakdance and beatbox stuff and have decided they really want to give that a try. Oh my...yet another skill I have very little talent or knowledge and will be relying on the WONDERFUL resource of Youtube. The most & best beatboxing I ever did is a rather nostalgic moment of youth--I must have been 16 or 17. I recall there were either 11 or 13 of us packed into by buddy Greg's station wagon, also called the shag wag with the winter orb air conditioner. We drove around and everybody made a different sound effect or rhythm line and complied it into this cacophony that might have bordered music. Good times. The breakdancing...is entirely all new turf for me, but I'll admit I've got interest in learning.
I think I've found a semi-effective punishment for the kids that misbehave around me--typically during the Tuesday/Thursday after-school study sessions. They call them 'lines'. That's right, those wonderfully monotonous line after line repetition of some idea to reflect the ideal behavior or reminder of what they should not do again. The kids seem to really squirm at the idea of even 10 or 20 lines. Lucky them...I remember getting them by the page--front & back--at a time. Of course, I don't know if I should stick with regular lines. I'm considering carrying around a dictionary with me and have them copy definitions--maybe learn something along the way. Yeah, I understand it's a negative punishment and we are supposed to be doing positive reinforcement practices but if the PC wants to get on my butt about it then they should have sent a person with more experience working with youth.
Got another village council meeting tomorrow night...crossing my fingers for good turnout on this one. We are voting in the constitution framework and hopefully putting some things in place to start mobilizing and working the various sub-committees of the council. We will also be listing the ad-hoc committee to start putting together what we'll be calling the "Spring Village Enhancement Project" which will contain several smaller development efforts in a wide variety of areas across the village. I'll do a full blog on that alone once we settle on more specific details.
On an entertainment note--I watched to very good movies in the past week or so...
Normal and The Children of Huang Shi. Normal is a gender-affairs drama and The Children of Huang Shi is a war drama and I recommend them both.
And on that note...I'm out for now. Plenty on the mind to go ponder.
Stay happy and well
ciao tutti
~your local wannabe jedi
~Shawn
Apparently someone had said that the day we had a black president, pigs will fly. Well right around the 100 days, the swine flu.
Tasteless, sure--but that's life. ^_^
Being sick stinks--the flu especially. I got it probably late last week, but it didn't really hit me till Sunday & Monday. You know the kind that makes your who self ache whenever you move your head. I'm fine now and no it wasn't swine flu. Just regular, good 'ol make the life miserable flu. Figure I most likely got it from doing all those reading assessments at the school the past couple weeks. Coming into close proximity with more than one kid sniffing back his cold is a fairly reasonable guess. And for the worry worts out there (cough...mom...cough), the Peace Corps has issued us special tablets to go into our medical kits to be taken if the avian or swine flu should outbreak here.
Outside of a brief run-in with the flu, I've still been keeping busy. Sunday night I went to the larger venue of Gospel Fest in Kingstown. I went to show support and take some pics for the Super Kidz group from Spring. This larger gathering was to bring together all the top performers from the zonal areas; our zone was from the blog I detailed in Chateau. There were many performances, some of them very cool. Now although I'm not a Christian--I know a good performance and these were very entertaining. I must admit, the swing dancers really through me for a loop when I saw that!
Here's a few videos of the other groups. I'm not putting up the pics/videos from the Super Kidz--although they were great, it was the same songs & dance from the other show and available on an earlier blog.
The photo albums from that night are here:
Part 1
Part 2
This one should be a group called KLT, somewhere from the Windward side
This one is a dancing couple from the Marriaqua Valley on the Windward side
This one features Jason Mighty--that night's special performance. Hailing from Jamaican, he is well known in the Gospel circles and the crowd ERUPTED for his hour or so long performance. This was his closing song and one that is extremely popular here. Alright, I admit I don't know the name of the song. Gospel was never really my cup of tea.
The stands are overflowing with Vincentians at Victoria Park
In other updates--
ECHO, the drum and dance group is coming along slowly. The kids want to do a sponsor walk to raise some funding for more drums. They should be doing a sponsor walk from Chateau to Spring Village--roughly two hours along a mountainous highway road. They plan to grab the drums and play along the way. I'll be hoping for a good turn-out, although I'm not to sure how driven they are to walk around and ask for their sponsors. Oddly, I'm finding a bit of a reversal on this one... The kids that are normally very motivated to do the drumming and activities don't really want to do they walk and complain it's too hard/far. Many of the other kids--the ones who often don't take things seriously and goof off seem more determined to make this walk work.
Time will tell.
We'll also be expanding into the dance section very soon...getting a small boombox would be great and is on the equipment to get list. The kids caught me watching some breakdance and beatbox stuff and have decided they really want to give that a try. Oh my...yet another skill I have very little talent or knowledge and will be relying on the WONDERFUL resource of Youtube. The most & best beatboxing I ever did is a rather nostalgic moment of youth--I must have been 16 or 17. I recall there were either 11 or 13 of us packed into by buddy Greg's station wagon, also called the shag wag with the winter orb air conditioner. We drove around and everybody made a different sound effect or rhythm line and complied it into this cacophony that might have bordered music. Good times. The breakdancing...is entirely all new turf for me, but I'll admit I've got interest in learning.
I think I've found a semi-effective punishment for the kids that misbehave around me--typically during the Tuesday/Thursday after-school study sessions. They call them 'lines'. That's right, those wonderfully monotonous line after line repetition of some idea to reflect the ideal behavior or reminder of what they should not do again. The kids seem to really squirm at the idea of even 10 or 20 lines. Lucky them...I remember getting them by the page--front & back--at a time. Of course, I don't know if I should stick with regular lines. I'm considering carrying around a dictionary with me and have them copy definitions--maybe learn something along the way. Yeah, I understand it's a negative punishment and we are supposed to be doing positive reinforcement practices but if the PC wants to get on my butt about it then they should have sent a person with more experience working with youth.
Got another village council meeting tomorrow night...crossing my fingers for good turnout on this one. We are voting in the constitution framework and hopefully putting some things in place to start mobilizing and working the various sub-committees of the council. We will also be listing the ad-hoc committee to start putting together what we'll be calling the "Spring Village Enhancement Project" which will contain several smaller development efforts in a wide variety of areas across the village. I'll do a full blog on that alone once we settle on more specific details.
On an entertainment note--I watched to very good movies in the past week or so...
Normal and The Children of Huang Shi. Normal is a gender-affairs drama and The Children of Huang Shi is a war drama and I recommend them both.
And on that note...I'm out for now. Plenty on the mind to go ponder.
Stay happy and well
ciao tutti
~your local wannabe jedi
~Shawn
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)