Get Thee to Una Escuela

Heather and Shelly have 'adopted' three kids who come to pick up their garbage. When these kids found out that they are teachers, the kids asked if Shelly and Heather could teach them. It turns out that their mother can't afford the 150 pesos per month for school and the cost of the uniforms. Altogether it seems that it will cost $100 USD to send all three kids to school. They have paid the fees and several of us have offered to help cover the costs. If this family knows other children who can't afford to go to school and you are interested in helping cover their costs, email me at glenn_kachmar@yahoo.com. Or just email me to say hi.

I will also post links on my blog to Shelly and Heather's blogs, so you can find out more (and so you don't think I am scamming you). You also get a different perspective from their blogs than mine. Or maybe you have a life and have better things to do. Nah.






These are the uniforms spread out on the couch for the kids. The kids just love Heather and Shelly. Although it occurred to me that once they find out what school is like, they might not be as excited. (kidding)




Some Details for Those of You Curious About My School (ASFC)

School starts at 8:00. Monday begins with a somewhat militaristic drill (Canadian perspective here) in which we salute the Mexican Flag, sing the Mexican anthem, sing the Chiapanecan anthem and sing the Star Spangled Banner (I am now more tempted than ever to sing “Jose can you see”). The other days we just have an announcement or two and go up to class. After the morning drill, we head up to my classroom and I teach Language Arts, Math, Science, Social Studies and Computer. Trying to describe the logistics of teaching two classes of twenty children these subjects in English, particularly when the kids actually know almost no English, would overwhelm you. In fact that is more or less the effect it is having on me. But in general I have a book that contains a section for each subject and there is a CD for spelling words and vocabulary. I work through the book with the students and include as many games, hands-on experiments and activities as I can, given the time and language constraints. Except for the occasional spare, I have the students until 10:50 at which point it is lunch. I always at eat the cafeteria. It has delicious food that is very affordable. It also happens to be my favourite kind of food - Mexican (what a coincidence). Lunch is over at 11:20. In the afternoon I teach the same subjects to the other class of grade three students. My morning group is then with Miss Rocio, my Spanish counterpart. Besides the language and time constraints, I now have to deal with the fact that it is hotter and the kids are very tired. (The difficulty just increased by a factor of four). All this probably makes it sound like I am not enjoying the teaching, but I actually like it a lot. I like a challenge. The kids are really nice. They are very friendly and we have lots of fun. At 2:15, the kids come down and we herd them into the foyer of the school. Given how many kids are crammed into the foyer, the use of the word ‘HERD’ is sadly appropriate. The primary teachers supervise the kids until the parents pick them up or 2:30, whichever comes first (2:30).