Class 101

Thirty-four kids. Some are vaguely attentive, most are blatantly not. They are taking some species of a test today, although the environment couldn’t be less conducive towards an exam. The kids speak freely; they turn around in their chairs to consult their neighbors. Some simply don’t bother with the test but instead draw, daydream or gossip about the two gringas in the classroom. The doors are wide open as are the windows, and a boisterous volleyball game resonates from the patio.

Five minutes pass and most students haven’t written a single word on their worksheets. I watch Katy and she is struggling. It seems apparent that she doesn’t know the conversion from meters to centimeters, nor the steps of the scientific process, and a large part of me feels tremendously guilty. The test constitutes information that Katy has never showed me before, and I’m struck by the realization and fact that if the girls choose not to tell us what they study in school, we remain ignorant and useless.

The test itself is both drole and worrisome. The teacher wants to feel as if his students have retained some information, so he repeats clues, gives solutions, illustrates ideas, and still the students don’t seem to capture that he’s gifting the answers. They simply stare at him blankly.

As the end of the exam nears, all the student’s sheets remain blank and they look at each other quizzically pleading for a response. We have our work cut out for us. Not just for Katy, although I am understandably most concerned about her, but for all these students.

Once the test comes to an end, the teacher reviews the information in a self-interested manner. He announces that if one student can respond correctly to a question on the dry erase board, then he will give credit to all the students. The concept of the individual and of comprehension seem utterly obsolete in this classroom, and I can’t shake the notion that 90% of the class will never comprehend the information simply because one of their classmates did.

Of course not all classes follow this prototype. Some must be better, and others worse. But what becomes clear is that we need a methodology for rightly knowing what the girls are studying inside of school hours. Currently I’m working towards building a strong rapport with the school director in hopes that this liaison will help both to track our students and to build a more dynamic program in the future. A small step towards one of the many long term and daunting goals of this novel process.


ps... and completely unrelated: I apologize for the lack of photos currently on our blog. After our “photo shoot” with the girls, my camera mysteriously broke. Unfortunately, I have to travel to the big city (Cusco) to get it fixed, and at this moment I simply can’t be bothered. I’ll try harder.


-Bianca

Great People

Shiva's art class


I think you can tell from the bios below, but these young women are great! Besides being sweet, they are incredibly hard working and serious about their studies. No matter how hard their math homework is, they spend as long as it takes to understand it.

Every Tuesday and Thursday is art class. The girls get out their sketchbooks and push the study tables together. Class is taught by Shiva, a South African woman who is spending a year in Peru before going to University. She is a great art teacher and has been an incredible help to the dormitory. She is there most afternoons, helping with homework or serving lunch. She has a great connection with the girls. They are starting to understand the concepts of shading and depth, and their drawings come out really cool.
We also have a volunteer named Gaby with us this week. She’s helping while she researches the rural high school education system for her study abroad program. It’s been great to have both her and Shiva. They’ve really helped in providing the support the girls need.

I can’t say enough good things about Señora Bianca. While we look for a house mom she’s been living at the dorm and taking care of the girls, and she’s doing a wonderful job. She wakes up at 5:30 to give Dina extra help with her math homework. The homework is so hard that I’ve seen Bianca spend her free time learning math so that she can teach it. The girls know they can count on her when they need her and she’ll always be there to support them. Plus, they know that she can be tough if they act out of line. But that doesn’t happen often, especially when you consider that they’re 12-14 year old girls. Every afternoon, when I get to the dorm, the group I find finishing up lunch seems happy. When they sit down to do homework, there’s a seriousness to their work. Of course they get rowdy (Marie Elena is a little jokester) but they are organized and diligent, and everything else I wasn’t when I was 12. Dina got a perfect score on her math test. I’m very proud of them.





-Eli

Mini Bios & Photo Shoots

I believe that it was weeks ago in which I promised all of you lovely individuals that I would post haste be sharing more information about our six delightful ladies. It would seem that I had failed in my promise and good will, but alas, I manage to pull through. Instead of my prattling on about how ingenious or stubborn or silly or hardworking these six individuals are, I’ve decided to let them speak for themselves. So, after a photo shoot, a convoluted lesson in Photoshop and seminar in the follies of the imac and it’s many programs, the girls generated the following photos and mini bios (of which I translated, attempting to stay as true to the original text as possible):



My name is Maria Elena. I live in Socma with my parents. I like to study and to draw and I love eating chicken. One day I would like to travel to Lima. I like to listen to Cucho Macano, and I like to watch El Rostro de Analia on TV.



My name is Katherine Cabrera Surco. I live in Kamicancha with my parents. I like to draw, play volleyball and to look at photos. My favorite kind of food is rotisserie chicken. One day I’d like to visit Cusco. I like learning math, I listen to Agrupocion Marilyn, and I like to watch El Rostro de Analia on TV.



My name is Yesica Mayhua Solis. I live in the community of Pallata with my mother and my siblings and I go to the Ollantay School. My favorite food is rotisserie chicken and I like all types of songs. One day I would like to go to Lima.



My name is Dina. I live in the community of Pallata and I study at the Ollantay School in Ollantaytambo. I would like to finish my secondary schooling and then go to university to be a math teacher. My favorite dish is chicken and rice and I would like to travel to Arequipa. I like all types of music.



My name is Nohemi Orihuela Aguilar. I live in Socma and study at the General Ollanta School in Urubamba. One day I would like to visit the United States. I like the music of Grupo Cinco and I like watching El Rostro de Analia on ATV. I like to play volleyball and soccer and the food I like best is causa rellena.



My name is Yanet Ortiz de Orue Ugarte. I am twelve years old, I have six siblings and I live with my parents. I study at the Agropecuario Technical School and am in my first year of secondary school, section E. My favorite class is communication and my favorite food is trout.