Savanne Paille Primary School

Today I got to see what a Dominican "Primary" (elementary) school is actually like and it is more of what I envisioned things being like down here. I went with a group to help at Savanne Paille (pronounced Sav.on.Pie) and it broke my heart. Unlike the Elementary Prep School, a lot of kids couldn't read. I helped two 8 year olds who were behind in their class. One of them read fairly well, the other wasn't sure of all of the letters. I was surprised when they brought the boys out that I would be working with and one of them was white. I am guessing he has lived on the island for most of his life and I am pretty confident I saw his Dad at the market last week selling vegetables. His name was Obed (sp? Pronounced O-Bed) and he had just as strong of an accent as any of the natives. I tried to have him read "Green Eggs and Ham" to me but quickly realized that we would have to start from the basics. When the other volunteers told me that I would be working with 8 year olds on the basics, I imagined words such as "they" "when" "are" basic 3-4 letter words, but these children need the basics as in the ABC's and what sound each letter makes. I read them a book about snakes and didn't realize how much they have never seen when they thought that the gazelle a snake was eating was a cow. They've never seen deer and they are limited in the books that they have, so I did my best to explain what a gazelle might look like and how big it would be. There were multiple things that I figured all children new about but these kids had no clue about. (even some of the basic "farm animals") It broke my heart to see the lack of education in these children's lives, especially compared to the children at the Prep School. The 5 year olds I was helping yesterday were probably a couple of reading levels above these 8 year olds and one of the volunteers said that she helps a 12 year old who struggles with 3-4 letter words as well. Some of the other volunteers think that some of the children we help tutor are dyslexic or have learning disabilities, but there is no one here to test them and no help (other than volunteers) even if they do struggle with one thing or another. I think that Obed has problems with his eyes, when I would point to a word, he would always try to read the word above it. I would cover up every other word on the page, and he would put his face right next to the page and still struggle. I am making ABC flashcards to use next time and we are starting at the basics and hopefully before too long, it will make at least a little bit of a difference. We do only go for 45 minutes once a week but I wish we went more often. If it were closer, I would go by myself but it's too far and as of right now, not really an option.
I went and helped with the English classes again tonight but I went into the intermediate class this time. Since Leigh is helping Blake in the beginning class, I thought I'd help Sis. White upstairs. This way, when the Whites and Blake and Paul leave, Leigh and I can still each teach a class and be familiar with the people in them. I really enjoyed the intermediate class and laughed at least half of the time I was in there. The natives like to joke about everything and although it made me extremely uncomfortable at first, (I couldn't understand them) I am starting to better understand them and laugh along. Every week a couple of the "students" are assigned to write 3 full sentences about their lives to present in front of the class the next time. This week about tore my heart out. The first guy got up and said that when he was little he dreamed about being a doctor. He worked hard in all of his studies and did well in school. When he graduated, his family did not have enough money to send him to a university and so he still works here on the island and dreams about being a doctor. The second man got up and said that when he was little, he wanted to grow up and be a rich man (as in, that would be his profession) so that he could have money for his family. His parents told him life is hard but he didn't believe it and thought that if he worked hard enough, he could be a rich man. Now, he knows his parents were right, life is hard, and he is not a rich man. The third guy got up and made up some sentences (he had not done his homework) and said that he wishes he had money to take his wife (somewhere I couldn't understand). They all have positive attitudes, but it's sad to see people who want to do things with all of their heart, work so hard and earnestly to achieve their goals, and get the shut down because of their economical situation. The next 15 months are going to be such a humbling experience as we continue to get to know the natives and spend more time learning about their lives and culture.