Life and Model Kits

This blog post is going to seem a little random as it's inspired by some random pictures that I thought were worth sharing.

The first is a map of Mozambique, showing the location of my site, Moamba. Moamba is located only 40km from the South African border and 51km from Maputo. Although we are closer to Komatipoort than Maputo, since it is part of South Africa, we still have to get pre-approved permission to travel there. Also notice, Moamba is nestled right next to the infamous Kuger Park. Someone told me that because poachers cut the nets of the park, animals sometimes wander near my site. 

The second picture is of my yard during laundry day. This was a big "load" so I needed all three lines to hang my clothes.

This is a picture of me playing crab tag with some kids during reading activities. We are still holding reading activities every week with primary school kids. 

Photo credit: Amy Mallozzi

These next pictures are my 10th grade students working with some molecule models. My former coworkers at the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene sent me a package FULL of science teaching materials. One of my biggest challenges in teaching chemistry last year was trying to teach the concept of atoms and molecules without any materials. This year, I have periodic tables, pictures of atoms and molecule model kits.

We are learning simple alkanes, alkenes and alkynes and as an exercise, I made six models of various molecules. The kids had to go around to each molecule and do the following: draw the molecule, write the chemical formula, and name the molecule. The really liked the activity because it broke up the monotony of teaching with chalk and chalkboard. I think they also liked it because they really understood how molecules are organized and the difference between the various hydrocarbons.

Only three months left at site!! I will try to update as often as I have interesting things to share!

District Science Fair

Science Fair is an initiative started by Peace Corps Volunteers in Mozambique.  It has since grown in popularity and was adopted by the Mozambican Ministry of Science and Technology. My job as a Peace Corps Volunteer is to assist my counterparts at the district and provincial levels to realize local and provincial fairs. The fairs are not only intended to increase science knowledge, but also to educate the communities about the prevention of HIV/AIDS. At all of the fairs there is an HIV/AIDS educational component as well as free HIV testing and counseling.  

The district fair took place on "Dia de Moamba" or Moamba day. The whole park was filled with people displaying their works. Our fair was part of this day. 

Here are some pictures from the district fair.

Here is my setup. As a chemistry teacher, I had a display of water, ethanol, sugar, and propane molecules. I also did the good old blow up a balloon with baking soda and vinegar. However, since the fair focuses on HIV/AIDS prevention, I used a condom instead of a balloon. We also partnered with a local organization to have condom distribution, testing, and counseling at the fair. 

Here are the kids that participated. 

Everyone was very interested in my experiment and excited to test their science knowledge. 

The judging

Magnesia, a 9th grader, won with her remedy for throat sores. She wowed us with her knowledge of vitamin content and function in her remedy. Here she is receiving her prize (backpack, notebooks, pens, and a Capulana) from the Administradora in front of the whole town.

1st 2nd and 3rd place. 2nd place was paper recycling by making really cool baskets with the rolled up paper. 3rd place was research into catching mosquitos using various attractants. They will all be going to the provincial fair. 

My counterpart standing next to our sign at the end of a long day.

LEIA Moamba

LEIA stands for Lendo e Escrevendo, Iremos A Frente (Reading and Writing We Will Go Forward).

As you may know, my sitemate and I are involved in an early grade reading project at our site. We were given 150 children's books in Portuguese and instructed how to teach early grade reading. In Mozambique, primary education is not succeeding in teaching kids how to read and write. There are many causes for this problem, including lack of infrastructure, teachers, and resources. Both Sam and I have students in 8th grade who cannot read or write. We always say we think we could help the most kids if we were teaching primary school. Therefore, we are doing our best to help the kids of our local primary school with weekly reading activities. 

This past week, the primary school director handed out notebooks and pens to all of the kids in our program, and because of this, 63 kids showed up to our activities this week. Normally we have about 20. 

We always start our day with silent reading time where the kids get to choose books and read by themselves or with a friend. 

Reading Time. We don't encourage jump roping while reading so I quickly needed to take that away.

Then we sing the alphabet and introduce a couple of letters.

Singing the alphabet. They don't have an alphabet song like we do in English so we made one.

Quick stretch with our volunteer Jill before read aloud.

We read a story out loud.

Jada, a 12th grade volunteer, doing a great job reading a story.

Then we have a "tutoring" session where the kids practice reading, writing or coloring. Things get crazy during this time and I don't have any pictures.

Part of our project is also to make books accessible to the community. Moamba has an existing library, but no one knows about it and the books are extremely outdated, in many languages, and covered in dust. Today Sam and I worked to organize the books. Here is a before picture. Those boxes are old school books that no one uses.

Organizing our existing Library

Looking better!

Kid's Books

Adult books and school textbooks

We are working on making a "kids corner" with not only books but also fun activities like letter matching. We also plan to advertise the library withs signs and radio spots. Luckily we have a motivated librarian and our own copy of the key to the library.

Mês de Luta Contra a Malária / Malaria Month

In honor of World Malaria Day I am writing this blog to let everyone know what I have been up to in terms of malaria prevention and awareness.

As part of Peace Corps' effort to fight Malaria, an organization of Peace Corps volunteers was formed called Stomping out Malaria. The purpose is to raise awareness on prevention and treatment of malaria in Peace Corps countries where malaria is prevalent. Here in Mozambique malaria is a huge problem and is responsible for 45% of deaths among children under 5. All of us Peace Corps volunteers are put on malaria prophylaxis for the two years we are in country. Being a volunteer in Mozambique, I often hear about cases of malaria or even see my friends with malaria. It is not uncommon for my students to miss class because of malaria. Since April 25th is World Malaria Day and the month of April is Malaria Awareness month, I tried to do my part and educate the people around me. Here is what I did.


-In the Classroom-

In each of my classes I spent one class period (1.5 hours) teaching about malaria. We started with a true and false quiz, followed by reading a fictional story about malaria. I then explained the biology of how malaria is transmitted. We then talked about prevention and treatment and I gave the kids the option to draw pictures to make a picture wall for the whole school to see.

Working on a skit

Using a malaria comic as inspiration for their drawings

One of my classes with their malaria learning materials. No that is not a bird on the chalkboard, its a mosquito :)

Reading aloud the story about malaria

Picture wall

-Weekly Reading Activities-

Every week my site-mate Sam and I hold reading activities for 2nd and 3rd graders. USAID provided selected Peace Corps volunteers with 150 children's books in Portuguese. Through their research USAID found in Mozambique, children in primary school were severely behind in their reading abilities. Therefore, it is our job to use these book and hold reading activities with these kids. Our weekly sessions go as follows:
Arrival, find name-tag, read silently
Sing alphabet and introduce a theme for the day (maybe a letter or vowels)
Story Read aloud - one of our 12th grade volunteers will read a story to the whole group
Split for structured activities - we split the kids by grades and do activities to work on literacy

Since April is Malaria Month we decided to use this "captive audience" of primary school kids and teach them about malaria. We kept the same schedule but altered it so every activity was malaria related. The day went as follows:
Arrival, find name-tag, read silently
Sing alphabet, vowel song, introduce malaria and transmission
Read the story about malaria
Learn a song about using a mosquito net
   Mosquito, Mosquito, Mosquito Mosquitao. Eu vou dormir na rede e nao vais picar-me nao. 
   (Mosquito, Mosquito, Mosquito Mosquitao. Im gonna sleep in a net and you're not gonna bite me, no)
Play mosquito tag

Silent reading time

Singing the Alphabet. One kid always points to the letters as we are signing. We usually sing it about four times.

Sergio using that ball to explain malaria transmission 

Esperanca reading the story about malaria to the kids

Mosquito tag safe-zones

If they got tagged by a mosquito they had to go to the hospital and get treatment before they could keep playing

EVERYONE ran to the mosquito nets

The Reading activities with the kids was extremely successful. We were a little overwhelmed because I had the great idea (or maybe crazy idea) of telling their teacher to remind the kids to come that day. We ended up with ~80 kids! Luckily we had a lot of 12th grade volunteers to help us.

If you're interested, here is more information about malaria in Mozambique and more information about Stomping Out Malaria.

15 Months Later....

So.... as it turns out, having a blog was more of a good intention. My last blog post was my first day in Mozambique. A LOT has happened in the last 15 months. Here is a little preview:

• October-December 2012: Pre-service Training

• I lived with a host family in this little house for 10 weeks. 
• Our training site was Namaacha, a little town on the border of Swaziland.
• We had sessions on how to be a teacher, mozambican culture, Portuguese, and safety and security in Mozambique. 
• December 2012: Moved to Moamba, Maputo

• I moved into the house pictured above which was located inside the walls of my school, the Escola Profissional de Moamba. 
• I lived with another Mozambican teacher and a Portuguese volunteer. 
• January-November 2013: Taught Chemistry
  
• I taught 8th and 10th grade chemistry for the school year.
• I was also the "homeroom" teacher to the kids pictured above. 
• March 2013: Trip to Vilanculos with my cousin Lee

• We stayed at Archipelago Resort in an amazing house right on the beach. 
• We took a boat trip out to see the famous Bazaruto island
• Saw a family of dolphins swimming right beside our boat
•  January 2014: Moved houses
  
  

  

  The Porch. My neighbor's door is on the far right side of the picture.

  

  Kitchen Area

  

  Finally got a bed!

  

  Bathroom. No running water here!

• I now live in a one room cement house with a bathroom on the side (shared with the other people that live in my yard)
• I moved because the previous house was FULL of bats and I was having health issues





Hallway in my old house after TWO days



My pillow after two days

• I get my water from a spigot in the front yard that runs in the morning and at night 

• I live outside of my school and in a nice neighborhood near my school
• My landlady is a teacher at the primary school and is an awesome person
• February 2014: Teaching Chemistry (again)
• I will be teaching chemistry again this year.
• I have less hours so it will leave me lots of time for other projects like our library, science fair and a health project in the makings. 
• Aaaand to finish the blog post, here is a picture of a cute baby :)
  
  

The Posh Corps: Our First Days in Mozambique

I started this blog because I figured it was the easiest way to keep everyone back home informed of my progress as a Peace Corps volunteer. I resisted at first because I am not an avid write and it is not something I would consider a hobby. Therefore, these posts, while informative, may not be the most intriguing composition you have ever read. However, I do hope you find them entertaining and use them as a way to share my experience.

After 26 hours of travel, myself and 55 other education volunteers arrived in the capital of Mozambique, Maputo. Our travel composed of a 2 hour bus ride from Philadelphia to New York, 6 hours of waiting in the airport, a 15 hour flight from New York to Johannesburg and another 1 hour flight to Maputo. The picture below is a view of the Maputo airport and one of our first views of Mozambique.

After going through immigration and customs, we spotted two Peace Corps workers who were awaiting our arrival. Our bags were quickly packed into an enclosed trailer and we were loaded into various vehicles.

 

We were whisked away to our luxury hotel. En route, we got a glimpse of Maputo and from what I saw, it looked like a really neat city. Our hotel is unlike what I imagined my Peace Corps experience to be. We are staying at the  Hotel Cardoso  which is a luxury hotel on the bay complete with two pools, various conference rooms and an amazing restaurant, not to mention the running water, hot showers, electricity and wifi. 

Half of our luggage lining the hotel lobby

The first day we had a brief orientation which included meeting some Peace Corps Mozambique staff members, receiving our training manual and allowance for the next two weeks. We wasted no time and received a few vaccinations as well. After that, we had an amazing buffet lunch. This lunch was not a typical buffet lunch. The food was elegantly prepared and amazing in flavor. There was everything from vegetable salads, amazing seafood salad, fish, chicken, beef, cooked vegetables. Not only was the quantity impressive but also the quality. 

Today included more orientation and training. First was a safety information session from an employee of the US embassy here in Mozambique. This session was meant to scare us and it worked. Next was some health training. The most exciting part was receiving our medical kits, which include everything to keep us healthy over the next two years. We also practiced assembling out 18 liter water filter. Last was more shots and the beginning of our Malaria prophylaxis. It turns our, we are expected to take malaria medication for the duration of our service.

Tomorrow we are leaving Maputo and moving to Namaacha where we will begin our 10 weeks of pre-service training. I will be living with a host family with 4 kids in their upper teens and early 20's, which I am excited about. I will not have internet readily available for most of my time in Namaacha. I will be able to use my phone with internet to access email and, of course, Facebook. They will be distributing our sim cards soon so stay posted.

View of the hotel from our balcony. The pools are behind the beautiful palm trees.