Tuesday 25th January
I get up around 6.30a.m., make myself a cup of black tea and then maybe some breakfast, toast, sometimes an egg and then get ready to go. We usually walk for about 20 minutes to catch a bus and it is really pleasant at this time of day, cool and quiet. On the bus for nearly an hour as it rattles it way in and out of small streets. The road system here is a grid one and we go round in squares to get back to where we want to be as they are often one way. I don’t mind the journey and at one point we go through a local market, the huge speakers blaring out music outside the food stalls. Once we get to our stop, which is not a stop at all; you have to look out for the building with the big terracotta arch and then on the right hand side you will see three trees with stone surrounds, that’s where we get off. We then walk for about 20 minutes down a long straight open, dusty track to where the girls are staying in a ‘safe’ house.
These girls have had some terrible experiences and they are now being looked after by ‘mamas’. When we get there a woman unlocks the gates and we go into a large Mexican house where the girls are already seated around two large tables and after greeting each other we start the lesson. We teach them English and we are lucky having Pia with us who is very organised with lesson plans and procedures. We have been doing sessions using working in a shop, restaurant or café and we split the girls into three groups and we get them to write down questions and answers in English. After that we ask them to play out a small scene each asking the other a question in English. Not only does it get them using the words we are hoping to improve their confidence. Often these girls have low self esteem and they need to be lifted. There are 16 of them and I can remember my group names very well. I am working on learning the rest!
They are lovely girls and I enjoy the work enormously. Unlike Uganda this is more like serious teaching as without preparation it would be a long two hours. We also introduce a little levity by playing a game, charades for example and today we did a pass the parcel game. As they unwrap a layer of paper it will has an English sentence written on it and they have to read it out. I know it is quite difficult because I am trying to remember Spanish phrases and can’t believe that I can’t remember from one day to the next. But the more you do it, the better it becomes. There is no break and so by the time we finish you feel quite tired but exhilarated and the girls will often come up and say goodbye and kiss you on one cheek. We then start the long journey home, only the sun is higher in the sky and it is hot, very hot. That’s why I often get the bus to Progressa and go for a swim in the sea, or go to the Hotel Trinidad and swim in their pool. Today my friend Anna is in Merida and so I am going to meet her in the square at four o’clock; I’m looking forward to it. Now I must get writing those English sentences in readiness for my lovely class!
The Working Day
Advertisement
