person in the room , and it seemed that all eyes were on me . It was my first such experience . There was also a distinctly different smell , a smell I had come to know as Africa . When I landed in Bujumbura , I was met by the school founder , so all was well .
My first sights of Africa — of Burundi — left me awestruck ! What an incredibly different world ! Bicycles laden with huge loads of bananas , sacks of charcoal , grass for cows , buckets and almost anything imaginable shared the road with vehicles and people . There were people everywhere — men and women working in fields of rice or vegetables ; activity of all kinds in the streets — and colour , so much colour in people ’ s dress .
When we arrived at our very comfortable gated house , I met the cook and gardener , shared a delicious , nutritious supper with my friends and then slept and slept and slept .
The school was an old abandoned seminary rented from the Catholic Church . It required some work before we were ready to welcome students on Monday . I was excited to meet the staff , particularly the Grade One teacher I would be mentoring for the next three months . She was very eager to learn , but it was obvious that , though she had taught in an English Montessori School , she would be challenged by the program we would be implementing . But learn she did ! I am sure she must have felt completely overwhelmed at times , but she persevered . And work we did ! There was so much to do and such a short time to do it all .
The teachers were amazed at our stimulating methods of instruction . Education to them meant 70 to 100 students in one class with limited supplies and equipment , sharing a few old textbooks .
Teaching and learning was by rote . Post-secondary training had been very poor and did not prepare the teachers for teaching . Because teachers are so poorly paid ( as little as US $ 60 per month ), teaching was not a job to aspire to .
Our school offered many advantages , both to the teachers and the students : very small classes , much professional development for the teachers , and plentiful supplies , books and equipment , which were sent in a container from Edmonton in 2008 . They came to know about Canada . St . Maria Goretti Catholic School in Edmonton adopted the school as their social justice project and became their pen pals and sponsors .
The children were amazing and easily won my heart ! How quickly they learned ! All the children , aged three to six , started with no English at all , but through a variety of methods , they learned vocabulary , letters and sounds . There was no opportunity for the students to get help from home , but we still sent ‘ home study ’ with them so they could practise what they had learned . During ‘ read-alouds ’ students built both vocabulary and general knowledge because their teachers could translate when needed . Both drama and songs built comprehension , and toys sent from Edmonton built bridges between our western content and their lives . These were kids just like kids in Canada , but with a different language and different customs — customs that we had the privilege of enjoying .
On weekends , we were often taken out to the country to see life outside the city , where traditional customs were more strongly observed . We saw many little villages joined with windy , rough roads that either went up a hill , down a hill or around a hill ; hillsides spotted with shacks where families lived and worked the rich , reddish-brown soil with crude , heavy hoes , growing vegetables of all kinds ; worn paths up the hills where people walked to their shacks , carrying water and other staples on their heads ; women dressed in the traditional bright colors of Burundi with babies tied to their backs , working in the
ALBERTA RETIRED TEACHERS ’ ASSOCIATION News & Views Volume 19 21 , No . 32
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