A bit of reading.

I got to actually go and see a literacy class in action today!  Whoo hoo!  It's pretty pathetic, actually, how many actual literacy classes I've seen with my own two eyes.  But one of the language groups that I work with here has started up their daily literacy classes right here in town at their church, so I went along today to see how things were going.

It was actually really encouraging to see.  For starters, one of the teachers in the class was in my workshop last week, where we were training teachers in a specific literacy method.  And I was SO pleased to see him actually putting some of what we talked about and practiced last week in the workshop into actual use in the class today!  Seriously, he was doing what he learned!  Amazing.  I mean, not that I'm surprised that he learned something, but it's just quite something to actually see people learning to read because of something that I had a part in. 

I visited two classes at this church based program.  One of them was a more beginning literacy class.  There were 4 women in the class, alongside about 20 children.  I believe some of the children belonged to the women, but they were all learning together, and it really didn't seem to bother them at all.  These women were so incredibly proud of what they had accomplished.  They were showing me their notebooks and reading to me the sentence that they had written today.  And they were just absolutely beaming! 

They were doing some "shared reading" together, and they were all eager to get up and take part in the reading and the activities that went along with it.  Since it was the first time I had visited their classes, I was trying to be a bit unobtrusive - didn't want to come across as "the white girl with the big camera coming to disturb our class".  So I only took a few photos from where I was perched unobtrusively in the back of the classroom.  Next time I plan to get some better photos, once they're a bit more used to having a stranger in the class with them!

These girls were in the more "advanced" class, which was made up of a group of 17 young adults - probably they were about 16 - 25 years old.  Some of them spoke some English, but of course, the class was all conducted in their own language.  They were also doing really well, but were a bit more shy in the class.  Their teacher is one of the project staff who I work with every day, and I was also really impressed by his teaching ability.  Again, he was putting into practice some of the things that we talked about last week in the training workshop! 

It was just so encouraging to see all of these people together - over 40 total - who come each day after their own work is finished to learn how to read their own language.  The teachers don't get paid anything extra to teach, and they all provide their own notebooks and pencils.  The community came together themselves to build their classroom and provide things like desks and chalkboards.  So really, I'm very impressed with what they've been able to do.  They're using the books from the project that we edited and had reprinted last year.  And they're already getting ready to use the new primers that we've been developing over the past few months!  So exciting!

So now that I've seen them going on with their classes, I can start to think of some ways to continue to encourage them.  One thing I think I will do is to start handing over all my scrap paper to them.  I noticed that some of the smaller children in the level one class didn't have any paper or pencils.  I have a feeling they don't get exercize books because they lose them, or they don't show up regularly enough to class for them to have their own (we're talking little kids, like, maybe 5 and 6 years old). Around these parts, they'd be considered too young to be given paper and pencil to "scribble" with - it's often seen as a "waste" of good resources!  But of course, at that age, they should definitely be encouraged to write what they can and draw pictures etc. (even though that's a very foreign concept for these parts).  So if I can bring them just some old scrap paper and a few pencils to be given to the smaller ones to play with, it can go a long way in getting them started in literacy!  And it won't cost anything :) 

 Anyway, I had a great time visiting the classes.  And now that they've repaired the road to the church, it's SO easy to get there.  I plan to spend a lot more time over there, just seeing what I can do to support their efforts and learning how the teachers are using the books and other things that we're working on developing.  So pray for that little literacy school and for their teachers!