Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Schools in a Century

I didn't know what I was getting myself into when I agreed to collect essays and find judges for an essay contest that Peace Corps organized. It sounds so simple, doesn't it? Yet how quickly it descended into me having a spirited exchange with one of my judges who threatened to sabotage the competition because she didn't approve of one of my other judge selections. History from previous contests factored into where this irritated judge was coming from but regardless I was frustrated by the fact that what was in the best interest of the kids was not the first priority. Fortunately, the judging was eventually completed and Bitola's winning essays will go on to the national competition.

The contest topic is "My School in 100 Years," so the 7th - 12th graders described (in English) how education in Macedonia will be different in a century. The students did a terrific job of being inventive, and yet I was also struck by how some of what they envisioned is already a part of many American schools. For instance, many students wanted a cafeteria where they could eat while socializing with friends. Students here attend either a morning or afternoon shift, so meals are eaten at home or snacks are purchased from shops near school. Swimming pools were another frequently mentioned but relatively commonplace feature of American high schools. Items like these were a reminder to me of how fortunate students in the U.S. are.

Some of the ideas were pretty fantastical--flying schools, robots as teachers, classrooms that reconstruct themselves depending on the class, German classes held in Berlin, and microchips in students for learning lessons, just to name a few. Other students pragmatically honed in on correcting some of the flaws they see in the current system, such as, "A big improvement will be if the teachers pass through a thorough teaching test...if a test is conducted, the professors will be chosen by how good they are at teaching, not by who has the friend with the highest position in the school." One essay went so far as to predict that schools would vanish all together due to neglect by greedy politicians, but the student encouraged taking action to prevent schools from disappearing. Which predictions will prevail is impossible to say but since most of the essays focused on improvements, I think their generation has the will to turn some of their dreams into reality.

Monday, January 17, 2011

Entertaining Evils


Evil spirits and costumes conjure up Halloween for Americans but in Macedonia, these are the making of the Old New Year. As I did last year, I went to the village of Vevchani where they have an incredible parade in homemade costumes. The costumes are burned after the parade, a way to rid evil going into the new year, so all new creations were on display. There is not much more to say except check out the photos on Picasa and if you do you'll see that boy, are we looking for Bin Laden in the wrong place.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Putting Macedonia's Water to the Test


"In an age when man has forgotten his origins and is blind even to his most essential needs for survival, water along with other resources has become the victim of his indifference." -- Rachel Carson

When I was in 3rd grade, my class was given a list of famous people and we had to choose someone on the list to write a report about. Somehow I chose Rachel Carson, a scientist who raised awareness about the natural world and risks to it, particularly the dangers of pesticides. Now, no one thing made me gravitate towards working on environmental issues, but I have to think that exposure to the ideas and work of Rachel Carson at a young age was formative. That's why I am excited by the success of a project that I have been organizing in Macedonia, World Water Monitoring Day.

Last summer, Peace Corps Macedonia was contacted by one of our former volunteers named Patty who works now for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). She asked if we wanted to receive kits to use with local students to test water quality. Sciences classes here rarely have the resources to do lab experiments, so this was an excellent opportunity to do something hands-on and to teach the kids about the importance of clean water. To make a long story short, I took the helm of organizing the project in Macedonia.

In eight different communities, Peace Corps volunteers led the kids through testing water from local rivers. As is apparent from these pictures on Picasa, the water testers had such a good time they almost forgot they were learning. What really impressed me was that in many communities, the youth shared the results with their peers and even local leaders. Our partners in the U.S., EPA and CH2M Hill, also put us in touch with schools in Colorado and Costa Rica to exchange photos and videos with. This international dimension helps show the kids that water is a global resource that we all need to work to protect.

Lauren and I did water testing with an 8th grade class at the primary school where she teaches. Unfortunately there wasn't time for the students to help us collect water from the river, which left Lauren and I alone attracting stares from passersby as we lowered a bucket from a bridge into the river running through town. The students did enthusiastically participate in the testing though and found the Dragor River is relatively healthy, which surprised some of them, mentioning the trash they had seen floating in the river. We are exchanging photos with students from my old school district, Aurora Public Schools, which should be interesting for the kids in both locations.

At the suggestion of my country director, this project got written up on the Peace Corps website. Already it has been pointed out that my "village" of 100,000 people is hardly that but hey, it's still a flattering writeup. It is a bit embarrassing that my name is mentioned so often because it truly was a group effort, so let me take this opportunity to thank again Dianne, Amanda, Sarah, Kerry, Jen, Lauren, Kaylee, Phebe, Lync, and Mike for being water testers extraordinaire!

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Holidaze

Three holidays in the span of one week still leaves me somewhat dazed. First there was New Years Eve, with the celebrations in Bitola drawing a crowd of about 15 Peace Corps volunteers.


We watched the fireworks in the city center and then danced to the live music, which garnered us some spectators as dancing anything but the oro here "implies something about you," as I have been told.


The guests staying at my house were treated to some Thai chicken soup, which I was told rivals "the" Thai restaurant in Macedonia, and in the morning, we taught our French friend Astrid how to make breakfast burritos.

January 5th was Kolede and like last year, I joined my neighbors (along with my sitemates Helene and Lauren) for our neighborhood bonfire.


With a drink in one hand and a fork in the other, we ate sausages and chatted, watching to make sure the cute little boy didn't careen in excitement into the bonfire.


My tutor Bile was kind enough to invite me to join her family for Christmas dinner on January 7th.


Her sweet grandparents hosted and in addition to being Christmas it was her grandfather Risto's name day. A name day is the day that recognizes the saint that a person is named after and usually close friends and family will be invited by a person to celebrate his or her name day. After a wonderful filling meal, the guests started singing traditional songs. I still find it remarkable how people here will spontaneously break into song and almost everyone takes part. Click here to watch a clip that I filmed at Christmas dinner.

More photos from the holidaze are up on Picasa.