Big Brother Mouse

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I have been working with some of the university/teacher training college students on their English. None of their teachers are native English speakers, and they can read the words, and even write a fair bit, but their pronunciation is just horrible-truly awful. And, come to think of it, their written skills are only good by comparison-I would say they are at a grade 5-6 level. In many cases, they are in their last year of training! But, they are very keen to learn, and so grateful to have a mother tongue English speaker around. Most of them are really bright, and catch on very quickly. The "sh" and "th" sounds are the hardest, so we all sat at the table going sh, sh, sh and then th, th, th. I love the teaching-I really do.

Two of the students, Thong and Tai, are especially bright and eager. Unfortunately, they can only come on Saturday, because they are in school four hours a day and then working a 9 hour shift. School is only five days a week, so they will come in on Saturday. They work 7 days a week...Thong wants to practice "restaurant English" because he is now working in a hotel, but would like to get a waiter job in one of the high end restaurants. He sure is cute enough-like many places, the high end restaurants only hire good-looking staff-and they wear all black....ANYWAY, I will keep you updated on Thong's progress. Of course, he may never show up again, but I think he will. Had not planned on working Saturdays, but could not say no to him. Will see if there is another day I can take off, or perhaps a half day. And, Sunday BBM is closed. Sunday will be my temple explore day.

One of the jobs Sasha has given me is proof reading a Loas/English dictionary that BBM is putting together..is it ever hard to proof read this stuff-in some cases the words are not in alphabetical order (good thing I know my a,b c's) and in other cases the definitions have a word that is in the wrong tense, or plural instead of singular, and then there are periods after phrases, and no periods after sentences....ARGHH!!! But, it is fun, really.

Today (Monday) BBM had a book party at school in a village about an hour and a half out of Luang Prabang. The drive out was amazing-this is a beautiful country-very green, hilly and lush.

The book party consists of games, songs and stories, all centred on the theme of: " reading can be fun". Except for one game, which was to encourage oral hygiene-the kids were in pairs, with their legs tied together-a la three legged race. One set of kids were given masks, and they were the bacteria. They were to chase all the "teeth" around. The winners of this game, and all the other games, were given tooth brushes. Kids not too excited by this, but they did not refuse.

The in-classroom activities-the stories and songs-were age appropriate, and as with kids anywhere, all references to poo and pee were greeted with great hilarity.

The day ended with, of course, each child choosing a book. The school was presented with 15 other books, and the idea is this will create a small library, where kids can exchange their books for another.

The BBM staff is just wonderful with the kids. I sat beside one of them on the way out, and could hardly get a word out of her. Of course, her English is not great, so that made things difficult. But, once she was with the kids, she was animated, funny, engaging and a great motivator. The rest of the staff are equally skilled. Once the event was over, Sasha and I and two of the staff came back to Luang Prabang. Six other staff are on an eight day "road trip" to remote villages to do book parties. They will sleep in the villages as they travel.

Last month, four staff members did a six day river trip, visiting villlages that have no road access. They had to unload the boats and portage the books and all their supplies around rapids-several times.

I am so impressed with the dedication and skills of the staff. They work really well together, as a great team.

Before we left, we had lunch at the head teacher's house. His home had no windows, a dirt floor, and no running water. Cooking is done over a habachi-like pottery thing, in one corner of the ground floor. We all sat on mats on the floor, and ate from communal platters. Before the meal began, a bowl of tepid water and a none too clean towel were passed around. I am grateful for Purell, which came to my rescue. Those of you who know me well are probably smiling now-I'm not the most adventurous eater that ever was. But, I do love sticky rice. You make a little ball of the sticky rice and use it to pick up other things-in this case fish and an eggplant dish. The food was, I am delighted to report, very good. And, I have been back in Luang Prabang for several hours, with no ill effects.

Sometime this week I will be meeting with Sasha to talk about what else the Canadian contribution should support. Will keep you updated. Be assured, your donations are being very well spent.

I took photos at the Book Party, and will try to figure out how to send a few of them on to you.

I have been told, with the exception of my family in Managua, that I cannot complain about the heat. Today was much cooler, so no complaints.

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