Teach a man to fish, but make sure his lake isn't sacred...

I'm not sure why I titled this post the way I did.. I guess because I'm a little frustrated these days about how development is looked at. So much teaching but not enough learning.

Take the example people use for effective charity: "Give a man a fish, feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, feed him for a life time. " It goes something like that. It sounds great, but it's not that simple. What if the man has no water to fish in, or what if there is a lake and but he can't fish in it because it's a sacred lake, and so fishing is not an effective way to produce food in that culture?

For there to be any help given, learning has to happen on the part of the helper about the culture of those being helped. That's my point.

I'm sitting on a chair in my room with my legs to my chest because there's a mouse the size of a cat under my bed. He's not so scary as he is fast, and the fastness is what frightens me and makes me throw things every time he decides to run back under the closet.

I'm back in Kudus, with my pink room and little table next to the door that barely reaches the ethernet chord that stretches up to the ceiling in the living room. But I am connected and this is an awesome fact.

I started teaching today.

I thought I was just going in to the school to get my schedule but no, they wanted me to start. Which is no problem, just takes a lot of thinking on the spot. I have my own desk :) Pretty excited about that. Also got the feel for what the school is like and the flexibility I will have in working with the students. Right off the bat I see that I'm going to need creativity and assertiveness to make the most out of this year. It's not going to fall into my lap. There are two long breaks and I'm starting to think about possible English camps or conversational classes that could happen then. Also, I'm seeing that I will usually be given a topic and then asked to lecture/teach on it for the entirety of the class time, so I will need to have stuff prepared beforehand and be creative in how I deliver the information. If I'm not careful I can easily start lecturing instead of teaching and these kids get enough lecturing. They need interactive teaching. So right now I'm off to look for some materials for tomorrow. Today I started at 9am but tomorrow I start at 1pm and will be teaching Intensive Course D and Speaking 2. I dont know what I'll be asked to teach or what those classes are about but I want to be prepared with something... Pronunciation is one of the biggest difficulties for them. But pronunciation takes interactive practice and thats something difficult in a classroom of 40. Thus the need for creativity. I was pretty pooped after teaching today and ended up coming home and taking a 3 hour nap. Then I woke up and realized I was really lonely which is another issue that will require creativity to address. There's another SALTer in town which I appreciate, and there is internet. And there are the friendships that I will create after a while here.

And there is the mouse under my bed.....