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Published: September 21st 2006
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Had a brilliant weekend as I joined a three-day trek in Cotopaxi National Park. A very international group it was too: 3 Swiss, 1 German, 1 Belgian, 1 French (Could I speak any French? Could I heck! Sorry Mum, it's all disappeared under a layer of bad Spanish) 2 Canadians and little old me. I felt a bit intimidated when the rest of the group all turned up kitted out from head to toe in goretex and brandishing walking poles, but they turned out to be a great bunch and I managed to keep up, just about!
On Friday we started with a gentle walk around a lake and some Inca ruins and I got my first proper look at Cotopaxi close up, which is even more beautiful than from a distance. We were sleeping in cabins which were very picturesque framed by the mountains and lots of stars at night. Unfortunately they were also bloody freezing and my hired sleeping bag didn't quite fulfill the role it had been paid to do. I was so cold I didn't think I slept but obviously did because I woke up the next morning to find the girl next to me had
moved during the night due to my snoring! How embarrassing! Must have been the altitude....
The next day we had a 6 hour hike up and down Rumiñahui (4400m) although the group set off at such a pace we made it up in much less time than expected. The views across the park were superb and there was a fun rock scramble at the summit (less fun on the way down). That night we managed to get some extra blankets so I was completely toasty; and the girl next to me had found her earplugs, so everyone was happy. On Sunday we hiked up to the glacier on Cotopaxi which was my first taste of air above 5000m. It was pretty hard going but I could just about manage pigeon steps without hyperventilating. It was snowing when we started so we weren´t hopeful of seeing much but then suddenly the clouds cleared and the views were spectacular. The surface in that area is red and against the white of the glacier and the blue sky it looked stunning. The glacier is massive and I was thoroughly in awe. Others in the group were staying on to do the
night climb (the only way you can get to the summit as the snow melts and becomes dangerous during the day) but I wasn't quite ready for that just yet. Still contemplating it though....
Awe and wonder weren´t quite so much in evidence back at the centre on Monday morning. Steadily getting wiser to the way things are here, I wasn't too surprised when I arrived to find lots of new children wandering around aimlessly. Classes had apparently started but the first day simply involved registering which took all of half an hour. On Tuesday the children had to clean the classrooms, which was no doubt very educational. Lessons did eventually start on Wednesday. I arrived at 9 and had been in the class for a whole ten minutes before the teacher asked me to take over as she had a meeting to go to. I was left to try to keep a very diverse and unruly class occupied for the next hour and a half. I'd half been expecting something like that to happen so wasn't all that surprised unlike a young American volunteer in the class next door whose second day it was. He didn't come back
after that! And neither did the teachers for the rest of that day. Honestly, this lot really do give teachers a bad name.
Having waited eagerly for classes to start, hoping that the children would finally be given something constructive to do, I found the rest of the week completely disheartening. I won't go into too much detail else I won't be able to get down off my soapbox but a couple of examples should give a flavour of it:
*In my class there are two children with special needs (or as the teacher put it, "They have something wrong with their brains") so they are given nothing to do. Nothing, not even a pencil and paper. And seemingly they are supposed to just sit there while the others work.
*A maths lesson involved simply copying numbers from 100-150 off the board when it was blatantly obvious that most of the children could not even read or recognise two-digit numbers.
*A PE lesson consisted of sweeping the yard and then spending an hour (yes, really, Im not exaggerating) following instructions like "Raise your right arm" whilst standing on the spot. For an hour.
You get the picture.
Believing, as I do, that a good education is the only possible way out of life of poverty for most of these children I found it all rather bleak and was frustrated by my lack of time and possibility of effecting any change. The most heart-breaking thing of all was that every single child I asked said that they liked school; how shit must the rest of their lives be, if this passes for a good time?
In the afternoon the children are supposed to do their homework and then can play. I enjoy these times a whole lot more as it's a chance to work individually with those who really need it. However I'm usually quickly surrounded by my possé of little ones all peering into my bags and demanding "Que vamos hacer?" ("What can we do, now?") as I try hard to think of something different to do with the limited resources I have bought. The children are very good at interpreting my pitiful attempts at Spanish phrases when I'm trying to encourage them to share, not hit each other, wait their turn etc but I have to work hard at getting them to take any notice!
This part of the day is all good fun though and, without meaning to sound too precious, its all worth it when one of them flings their arms round me with a great big smile and thanks me for helping them.
The condensed version: Even if you hated school, be thankful you weren't born poor in Ecuador.
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cath rossner
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you're doing a brilliant job
don't get too disheartened.. am sure the kids need and enjoy your enthusiasm and tenacity as a teacher.. its gotta be better that just cake and cleaning! The climbing is getting very impressive my dear, take care...