Saturday, March 10, 2012

A week in the life of...(part 1)

A few of my colleagues (really just one) and I have found our personal time more and more become students/events/clubs time, leaving us constantly busy nearly seven days a week. It obviously gets exhausting, but why else move to the middle of the Pacific Ocean while working at a private school in a developing nation? We try to offer options to the students; to show them possibilities, concerns and the difference they can make to the world around them. It ends up consuming us, but we love every moment of it.

The week:  Saturday, February 25th - Saturday, March 3rd

* I am not including anything about actual teaching, but that is 7:45am - 3:45pm, Monday thru Friday, and prep for five completely different classes. That takes up just a small amount of time...

SATURDAY

C.L.E.A.N. Club

This club was created by David and the students. I cannot remember what the acronym stands for, but we go to different parts of the island and pick up trash. Since it is a developing nation, recycling and throwing garbage into containers rather than on the ground are still not permanent ideas. Some people do it, but more often than not one will find plenty of trash all over the place. So, to understand the effects of this on the environment, as well as help their community, students pick certain areas to clean.

We went to Rita, the end of the island to the East.
Some of the crew before clean up began.

It is so interesting!

The shore is always the worst. Trash from people on land and on boats all builds up here.
Group shot half way through the clean up.

Group shot at the end of our clean up.

How comfortable it looks...
Jambo Arts

This is a whole island group, not just something offered to students at Co-op. Having said that, the woman that runs the group is a parent of two students at Co-op and many students are a part of it. It is an art club that puts on two exhibits per year, as well does other activities throughout the year. On this particular day, we had a live modeling drawing session. This is definitely not my forte, but other students involved have amazing artistic abilities. I wish I had pictures to show you all of their work...

This was our poster for the exhibit in November.

Most of the members at a meeting back in November.

Leah's piece that was auctioned off at the exhibit.
Board Games Club

This one is exactly what it sounds like...There is very little for young adults to do on this island other than go to school. This of course leads to them getting into things they really should not. So, this is an activity that I hold every other Saturday to give students something to do on a Saturday night. The actual board games come second to them just socializing as young adults love to do. So far we have played Monopoly, Sorry, Cranium, and Scrabble, and I just bought Bananagrams and Pass the Pigs. Any other suggestions?
The first five students to show up. Usually about 10 to 12 students come for the festivities.

After a few more showed up, and they got to enjoy soda and cake.

Love this one...

SUNDAY

Weight Lifting Club

There are many students (just as there are anywhere in the world, especially the U.S.) that know nothing about taking care of their bodies. Many students that are not involved with sports are lazy because they do not do much of any physical exercise. Here, playing sports is not the same as it is back home. I was used to having practice for two hours, Monday through Friday, September to June. It was intense and kept me in shape. Sports here are much more casual, resulting in students that are even playing sports to be out of shape.

Diabetes runs rampant here as well, with statistics that are just staggering. As of June 2011, "the world's highest diabetes prevalence was seen in the Marshall Islands, at about 28.5% for both sexes combined" (Gever, 2011). The worst part though, is that they are getting it in their 30s and 40s! Preventative measures include losing weight, eating less (or just better), and exercising relatively regularly. Hence this club which helps at least two of the three. I also try and give them advice regularly during classes so they can keep up with these preventative steps at home. 
Henry working that chest.

Mizbah and Zoya getting a little jogging in.
Sylvia working on the triceps.

Merlyn (who already had his own routine going) working on the biceps.

Henry, Joseph and Kyle pretending to do something.
Group shot.
 We try and go at least three times per week. These pictures were not actually from Sunday. Most students could not go because its Sunday, a holy day, and they are expected to do nothing all day but go to church and eat a ton of food. That is a whole other discussion I may or may not get into in the future...