Due to the different (older-based-on-Coptic) Ge'ez calendar followed by the Orthodox and Catholic Churches, Easter is this weekend in Eritrea and (to return briefly to a previous theme) it's the time when whole families of goats tremble following 40 days of self-denial for Lent plus, just to ensure a good appetite, a day's worth of total fasting on Good Friday. In Asmara this morning it was noticeable that there was livestock being transported everywhere both dead and alive (goats, cows, chickens but no pigs – orthodox Christians do not eat pork).
Three weeks from now I may get the chance to travel to some quite remote areas of Eritrea as part of the schools' solar power project - travel permits have still to be granted, though, so this may change. What is happening is that, thanks to the efforts of a former VSO volunteer from Ireland, the Irish Government's Irish Aid charity is providing the bulk of the funds to allow solar power kits to be installed in selected remote schools.
In order to qualify schools have to be not connected to the electricity grid and also to have no prospect of being so in the foreseeable future.
The aim is to allow the running of small computer labs in order to alleviate the situation where such schools slip further and further behind in terms of the teaching of computer skills.
My role in the project will be to ensure the computers are installed and running and to provide basic computer training for selected school staff members in order that teaching of the schools' students can start once all the equipment is installed - it will mean travelling to the extreme heat of the lowlands of Eritrea but I'm really looking forward to seeing other ways of life and other peoples including the quaint way in which nomadic tribes are swapping their camels for 4x4 pick-up trucks.
My job in Asmara is ostensibly trainer for teachers at the Ministry's training centre but it has also turned out to be more since that is largely a school summer-break occupation. So, alongside my Eritrean colleagues, I am also working on the Ministry's new web-site (for the technically minded we have decided to use the well-tried triumvirate of Apache, PHP and MySQL as our core technologies). In addition we are also working on getting internal email running and working out the technical issues involved in hosting an Education Management Information database.
The good thing for me is I get to program which I still really like after all these years though I need to guard against being the only programmer working on our projects – there are, however, signs of others wishing to learn so hopefully we will be able to have our own version of "sustainable [web-site] development".
I also have stacks of research to do on education web-sites, securing internet sites properly, e-learning (which is in it's infancy in Eritrea) and education data management in general so if anybody has ideas on online resources for any of the aforementioned please drop me an email.
P
Saturday 26 April 2008
Saturday 19 April 2008
Pictures
Not much from me this week - but please try the link to our photos on the left under the VSO address and let us have any comments on album layout and we'll pass them on to our publisher.
P
P
on the subject of work ...
I work in the English Curriculum department. There are three Eitreans there, Solomon who’s in charge, Serebe and Mengesha. At the moment there’s Bethan, another vol who’s worked there for a year and leaves in six weeks. The Eritrean education curriculum is in the process of being completely overhauled, for all subjects, not just English, it’s a massive undertaking and part of the government’s commitment to making education a priority. English grades one to four, six and seven have been written although still in the process of passing through quality control and piloting. We’re working on grade five (age 9/10) at the moment, quite a slow process as other jobs (giving feedback on exams, course books) keep coming along to interrupt the process. In one sense I’m not sure about the sustainability of the job (sustainability is one of the VSO keystones, volunteers are not in a placement just to do a job, they are there to involve and help/teach Eritrean colleagues to such an extent that eventually they can move aside and are not needed any more.) But then I am helping to produce teaching resources which hopefully will benefit thousands of children over the next ten years, and these children will be the next generation of adults working for their country so …
Anyway my job mainly involves working with Word (in an often very frustrating and therefore vocal way), writing stories and trying to make the teaching exercise enjoyable and communicative. We write the Teachers Guides as well. These are very important here. We try to include as much help as we can for the teachers in terms of communicative methodology. At the moment elementary and junior school teachers may only have had less than a year of teacher training (if that) and often quite a low level of English. There are moves to improve this, the teacher training course at the training college has been rewritten, there are two volunteers working with the trainers at the teacher training college, and there are attempts to bring in a higher qualification with a longer training. The problem is that there is a huge shortage of teachers (there are two shifts at a lot of schools – morning and afternoon to accommodate all the children) and the temptation is to churn out the teachers as quickly as possible. It’s therefore important to include as much good teaching practice as possible in the teachers guides, even if only one in a hundred take it on board.
VSO is only allowed to work in the education sector in Eritrea. Phil is working with IT training within the Ministry of Education, there’s another Dutch volunteer, Saskia who’s working on setting up an educational database covering all the schools and there are two volunteers, Donnard and Fiona who work on the English language radio station. All the other vols here are working more directly with teachers and students. Some are teachers and the rest are Methodology Trainers working across a group of schools. These intrepid people are all working and living in villages and small towns across Eritrea, doing a great job, leading quite hard lives under very basic conditions. We Asmarinos are actually living a very comfortable life in comparison. We see other vols regularly as they come into Asmara either on work or relaxation at the weekend. There’s actually a café (Modka) close to the VSO office and the Ministry of Education where volunteers tend to meet up (over a capuccino and chocolate doughnut!) so it’s certainly not all work and no play I can assure you.
C
Anyway my job mainly involves working with Word (in an often very frustrating and therefore vocal way), writing stories and trying to make the teaching exercise enjoyable and communicative. We write the Teachers Guides as well. These are very important here. We try to include as much help as we can for the teachers in terms of communicative methodology. At the moment elementary and junior school teachers may only have had less than a year of teacher training (if that) and often quite a low level of English. There are moves to improve this, the teacher training course at the training college has been rewritten, there are two volunteers working with the trainers at the teacher training college, and there are attempts to bring in a higher qualification with a longer training. The problem is that there is a huge shortage of teachers (there are two shifts at a lot of schools – morning and afternoon to accommodate all the children) and the temptation is to churn out the teachers as quickly as possible. It’s therefore important to include as much good teaching practice as possible in the teachers guides, even if only one in a hundred take it on board.
VSO is only allowed to work in the education sector in Eritrea. Phil is working with IT training within the Ministry of Education, there’s another Dutch volunteer, Saskia who’s working on setting up an educational database covering all the schools and there are two volunteers, Donnard and Fiona who work on the English language radio station. All the other vols here are working more directly with teachers and students. Some are teachers and the rest are Methodology Trainers working across a group of schools. These intrepid people are all working and living in villages and small towns across Eritrea, doing a great job, leading quite hard lives under very basic conditions. We Asmarinos are actually living a very comfortable life in comparison. We see other vols regularly as they come into Asmara either on work or relaxation at the weekend. There’s actually a café (Modka) close to the VSO office and the Ministry of Education where volunteers tend to meet up (over a capuccino and chocolate doughnut!) so it’s certainly not all work and no play I can assure you.
C
Wednesday 16 April 2008
Saturday 12 April 2008
I'm just shameless ...
Didn’t think I’d be doing this after such a relatively short time in the country, I used to see other vols getting parcels from home with a motley content of basic and treat items and think that we’d be able to manage on what we could afford to buy locally and what was available, and if we had to do without we’d do without. However after nearly three months here I’ve given in. We are trying to live on wages + top up which is doable at a very basic level but if anyone can get round to sending one or two of the items in the list at some time in the next two years we’d be very grateful. (Roger and Fred, this doesn’t apply to you, you’ve already done more than enough – xx).
Chocolate (in any form)
Roll-on or solid deodorant
Dried yeast
Shampoo
Conditioner
Big tub of E45 cream
Chocolate
Stock cubes
Sodium Bicarbonate
Baking powder
Baked beans
Small magnifying mirror( eyebrows, yes I’m still vain)
Herbs/Curry spices
Pot noodles (or similar)
A decent corkscrew (we’re assuming wine will come back, at the moment it’s gone the way of the beer!)
Tea towel
Chocolate
On the other hand you could just donate to VSO (see sidebar). They are doing a wonderful job and are much more deserving.
C
Chocolate (in any form)
Roll-on or solid deodorant
Dried yeast
Shampoo
Conditioner
Big tub of E45 cream
Chocolate
Stock cubes
Sodium Bicarbonate
Baking powder
Baked beans
Small magnifying mirror( eyebrows, yes I’m still vain)
Herbs/Curry spices
Pot noodles (or similar)
A decent corkscrew (we’re assuming wine will come back, at the moment it’s gone the way of the beer!)
Tea towel
Chocolate
On the other hand you could just donate to VSO (see sidebar). They are doing a wonderful job and are much more deserving.
C
Rain, Keren and Steam Trains
Rain
----
It's currently the small rainy season in the Asmara region and it's been a good one so far - quite a few thunderstorms (along with the occasional consequent power-cut) and lots of much-needed rain - the associated temperature drop provides some Asmarinos with the excuse to dress like they're on a polar expedition although temperatures are still in the 20's.
I have also been forced to switch to a different wash-cycle - well, OK washing stays on the line for longer, as opposed to the usual put it out in a large bowl early in the morning to soak and warm up in the sun (this country could thrive on efficient solar-power), rinse and hang-out to dry at lunchtime and gather in early evening.
Trip to Keren
-------------
Last weekend we took a bus trip to Keren, Eritrea's second city in terms of size and the main town of the Anseba Zoba (region), to see another VSO volunteer, Catherine, who is nearly at the end of her two year stay in Eritrea and preparing to leave.
One of the restrictions placed on foreigners is that travel permits have to be obtained for travel to other cities in order to get through army check-points so we duly applied for those a few days before.
Keren is about 100km North West of Asmara and about 1,000 metres lower. Due to the nature of the terrain, the bus journey usually takes over 3 hours - we had also been warned that we could have quite a long wait to even get on a bus providing us the perfect excuse to leave work early on the Friday and join the queue ... except we got straight on a bus - it seems that the diesel shortage which forced the UN peacekeeping force to withdraw may be easing.
Saturday morning, following a few drinks and overnight thunderstorms, first impressions are of a town set in the middle of mountainous semi-desert, lots of white, flat-roofed, buildings and definitely a more Muslim feel to it than Asmara - the Eritrean way is for the different ethnic and religious groups to just get on with it, by the way, though there are reports that "unofficial" religions are not tolerated too well by the govenment.
We just wandered around for the day. The town has a biblical, middle-eastern air - camels and donkeys are still in use as beasts of burden (alongside large lorries and buses) and traditional clothing is seen much more than in Asmara. As is always the case we were greeted by cries of "you! what is your name?" from children and, occasionally, "Ts'ada n'a!" which roughly translates as "here whitey!".
Train Trip
----------
The train trip was actually a while ago (March 23rd) but since, it seems, we may be about to get some photos posted online (Un grand merci a un certain M. Fiquet de Guildford pour son aide) just a few words.
The trip was a fairly short one as far as the station at Nefercit and back and it took a morning and most of an afternoon.
It was a great day, some of the engineers on the train had worked on the railway 60 years ago and spoke some Italian (andiamo! was a frequent cry), there was also an Italian engineer working in order to pick up experience to allow him to teach others. The line is so steep in places that the small tank locomotive couldn't make it back up the section without stopping to build a head of steam.
Merciless sun, glorious views across the valleys and the drop-off to the coast, desert plants and dry (seasonal) river valleys, children at the stations armed with big smiles - get the picture? No? Well we'll add the link soon!
P
----
It's currently the small rainy season in the Asmara region and it's been a good one so far - quite a few thunderstorms (along with the occasional consequent power-cut) and lots of much-needed rain - the associated temperature drop provides some Asmarinos with the excuse to dress like they're on a polar expedition although temperatures are still in the 20's.
I have also been forced to switch to a different wash-cycle - well, OK washing stays on the line for longer, as opposed to the usual put it out in a large bowl early in the morning to soak and warm up in the sun (this country could thrive on efficient solar-power), rinse and hang-out to dry at lunchtime and gather in early evening.
Trip to Keren
-------------
Last weekend we took a bus trip to Keren, Eritrea's second city in terms of size and the main town of the Anseba Zoba (region), to see another VSO volunteer, Catherine, who is nearly at the end of her two year stay in Eritrea and preparing to leave.
One of the restrictions placed on foreigners is that travel permits have to be obtained for travel to other cities in order to get through army check-points so we duly applied for those a few days before.
Keren is about 100km North West of Asmara and about 1,000 metres lower. Due to the nature of the terrain, the bus journey usually takes over 3 hours - we had also been warned that we could have quite a long wait to even get on a bus providing us the perfect excuse to leave work early on the Friday and join the queue ... except we got straight on a bus - it seems that the diesel shortage which forced the UN peacekeeping force to withdraw may be easing.
Saturday morning, following a few drinks and overnight thunderstorms, first impressions are of a town set in the middle of mountainous semi-desert, lots of white, flat-roofed, buildings and definitely a more Muslim feel to it than Asmara - the Eritrean way is for the different ethnic and religious groups to just get on with it, by the way, though there are reports that "unofficial" religions are not tolerated too well by the govenment.
We just wandered around for the day. The town has a biblical, middle-eastern air - camels and donkeys are still in use as beasts of burden (alongside large lorries and buses) and traditional clothing is seen much more than in Asmara. As is always the case we were greeted by cries of "you! what is your name?" from children and, occasionally, "Ts'ada n'a!" which roughly translates as "here whitey!".
Train Trip
----------
The train trip was actually a while ago (March 23rd) but since, it seems, we may be about to get some photos posted online (Un grand merci a un certain M. Fiquet de Guildford pour son aide) just a few words.
The trip was a fairly short one as far as the station at Nefercit and back and it took a morning and most of an afternoon.
It was a great day, some of the engineers on the train had worked on the railway 60 years ago and spoke some Italian (andiamo! was a frequent cry), there was also an Italian engineer working in order to pick up experience to allow him to teach others. The line is so steep in places that the small tank locomotive couldn't make it back up the section without stopping to build a head of steam.
Merciless sun, glorious views across the valleys and the drop-off to the coast, desert plants and dry (seasonal) river valleys, children at the stations armed with big smiles - get the picture? No? Well we'll add the link soon!
P
Friday 4 April 2008
Friday
We have a cold shower every morning. Never thought I’d say this but I’m almost used to it. It’s just that nanosecond when the water first hits you that I have a few problems with. Once a week we treat ourselves to a few hours of electricity for a warm shower and a hair wash.
Going to Keren for the weekend.
C
We have a cold shower every morning. Never thought I’d say this but I’m almost used to it. It’s just that nanosecond when the water first hits you that I have a few problems with. Once a week we treat ourselves to a few hours of electricity for a warm shower and a hair wash.
Going to Keren for the weekend.
C
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