Career Week – Dream Big

We incorporated careers in this week’s classes. The theme for the week was “Dream Big. I could be anything!” After morning prayers I introduced the theme on Tuesday (as Monday was a holiday).

Morning prayers
I started by showing the students a picture of the most important resource on the island – my camera was turned on selfie mode and the screen was large enough so the students could see themselves. They loved it.

I believe the people are critical resources to the world, much more than money. I’m fortunate at this point in my life to be able to be a Peace Corps volunteer and put that belief into action.

I believe people are created different but equal – each has the potential to excel. If the world is going to thrive and if we are going to solve our problems we need as many people as possible pursuing their potential. Most poor people are poor because of circumstances beyond their control not because they are lazy. All people need help along the way. The problem with some people is they don’t know how lucky and how much help they received along the way.

Still, people have to work and accept responsibility for their actions. We encouraged the children one not only to dream big, but reminded them that study and hard work was also required.

Some who will shape the future for Grenada and the world

We spent some time each day to have others teach the students about jobs around them. On Tuesday we went to the local Post Office and to a carpentry shop.
Post office at Munich

Mail is sorted by zones to be kept for pickup or delivered

Mahogany and white cedar are harvested on island and pine is imported

Some of the equipment in the shop

The elementary school, before Hurricane Ivan, had a woodworking shop and that is where the owner got his start

Some of the furniture in various stages 

Nearly finished for the customer

Rough wood shavings used as a poultry bedding.  Now, if only I could start growing mushrooms.
On Wednesday we went to a farm. We had to skip a visit to the health center due to last minute scheduling issues on their side.

Looking at the shade house to protect the peppers from sun burn.

Describing this part of the 6 acre farm to the students

A field with lettuce in the foreground and cucumbers just starting in the background

A gravity feed water system from a river higher up supplies the water

On Thursday we went to a radio station, a water treatment plant and the police station. We had planned several other visits, but time was not on our side.
Line up to load up in the buses

Real FM is in the basement of a house

Control room explained to the students

Students "on-air"

This directional antenna points to Grand Etang where the primary transmitting antenna is located for the island
Hold hands and be careful, the principal doesn't swim and is nervous about the water treatment plant

Let's just walk across carefully, what could happen

Water comes from a dam higher up and first enters this 80 foot deep sedimentation tank

Describing the various stages of the process

Slow sand filtration, a popular method, is used with parallel units before chlorine gas treatment 
High enough up and the sea/ocean is generally in view - like I"m on a island or something
And this is how handcuffs works

Hugs and handshakes after the tour
On Friday representatives from a bank came by to explain how a bank works. The rest of the day the students worked in groups and individually to prepare for an assembly to tell what they had learned during the week.

All in all a successful week.

Goodbye for now
Love always,
John

Comments

  1. JimMay 27, 2018 at 8:25 PM

    Such a great idea John! Thanks for sharing. Let's just hope I remember it when I get to Nepal. :)

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Pito – brewed millet

Image
Corn, rice, and millet are the common grains grown in my region of Ghana. All three are used food, but millet is also used to produce the local brew – pito, or daa in the local language. “N nyu daa” - in Dagaree means “I drink pito.” There are several varieties of millet grown here – a red and white varieties have loose heads. These are used for pito and other foods. There is also a smaller seed variety with a tight head of seeds that is mainly used for porridge. (Don't have a picture of that variety yet.) In all varieties millet grows on a stalk with the grain head at the top of the stalk. White and red millet in the field Two bundles of while millet to be used for seed next season Converting a grain to alcohol is a common practice in various cultures. It provides a way to capture and digest the nutritional value of the grain. In some places, like Germany and the beer brewing monks, the making a beer was a way to preserve the harvest. In Ghana the millet is
Read more

Yam harvesting

Image
Roger and I went to farm to harvest yam on Saturday morning, September 13, 2014.  In Ghana a yam is a root crop that is different from a sweet potato.  We have sweet potatoes here as well. Yam recently harvested Preparing a yam for boiling The yam has a white flesh – softer than a white potato. In this area the yams are planted between April and June.  Harvest continues into December and January depending on the weather and pigs getting into the field. The plant is a vine – which is grown on stakes rather than allowed the spread out.  The plants are placed on a raised bed about 2 feet high.  The beds are surrounded by flat trenches.  This allows the rains to flow around, but not wipe out the yam crop.  Intercropping seems to be common practice with yams planted in the raised bed, soybeans around the edges, and rice in the trenches.  The occasional corn or okra plant is also among the yams – although the bulk of those crops are in other fields.   Row of ya
Read more

Mid-service Training

Image
This past week was mid-service training (MST). The conference was held on St. Lucia at the Mount of Prayer Coubaril run by the Benedictine Nuns. It was a lovely place with hospitable people as you would expect from Benedictines. A couple of years ago in Ghana I was able to spend a little time at a Benedictine Abby (popular with volunteers) – so it was a nice connection with the two Peace Corps services. I got a little spoiled with the great meals and the WiFi. I intentionally don’t have WiFi at my house so I’m less tempted to stay inside. I do have better data service than Dondometeng in the Upper West - no complaints there and so none here. Their Church Their view Their conference room Getting ready for a meal My room was the only one with a television.  It did work, but I didn't watch anything. My guess is the picture was a little fuzzy because of all the estrogen, but that's just a guy theory with a dirty phone This was actually my firs
Read more