...just vent for a moment. Today I got a phone call from my counterpart telling me that school has been shut down nation-wide in an attempt to conserve energy and water. We have been experiencing a bit of drought in the beginning of what should be the rainy season. As a lot of the country depends on various hydroelectric dams to provide power, and the levels of a few dams are "dangerously" low, the government has decided to conserve energy any way it can. So they shut down all the schools and government agencies have shortened work hours.
First of all, I'm gonna safely assume the main usage of power is air-conditioning. They are asking people in both the public and private sector to turn off their machines from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Seriously? A country dancing between first-world and third-world really has its head in the right place...Turn off the A/C. How about that?
The real issue that hits home, though, is the cancellation of school. One of the roots of this country's many problems is its educational system. Yet, whenever there's a holiday, event, or any sort of political unrest, school is cancelled. Now, in a time when kids are just getting into the groove, classes are thrown away again. The third trimester (September-December) is so filled with free days and holidays that it's almost a lost cause. So every day is precious. Although that's all the principals and teachers seem to talk about, no one seems to realize it, or truly internalize it. And fewer seem to realize the irony of their words at the Monday assembly every week about education being the highest priority. Someone at the top is making very odd decisions.
And on a personal level, this is ridiculous for many reasons:
1) I was supposed to start preparing the kids for the Spelling Bee, which takes place at the end of the month. I've already discussed my serious disdain for the whole idea of the Spelling Bee, but I am now committed to working with the kids. I mean, it's something to do. Without school, the kids have no meeting place or scheduled practice. And they sure as heck won't come to school just to practice spelling in English for an hour. Get real.
2) I had an important meeting tomorrow with one of my bosses. I was going to use her presence as a sort of back-up to have a serious discussion with my teachers and professors. I've felt a bit underutilized at my schools, and I wanted to discuss how to collaborate better with my English teachers. I wanted to talk about how having a native English speaker is a huge resource--currently going to waste, in my opinion, as no one is willing to truly dive into the work involved with having me, a Peace Corps volunteer. That chance to get the ball rolling? Gone.
3) My community has been without consistent water for about two weeks now. Huge inconvenience. In order to get water, I've had to carry buckets to and from the school, which is only a 3-minute walk. On the way back, though, with full buckets and at peak hours of the early afternoon, it quickly goes from a pleasant stroll to a sweltering chore. When the water at the school theoretically runs out, then what? And where in heaven's name is the rest of my community getting its water?
That's where I am, though. No more school for the rest of the week. On one hand, three days off from school is good. I can get some errands done, like taking my cat to the vet to get his vaccines and prepare for important seminars I have next week. However, I've been here for a year and some change, and this sort of thing has happened so often that it no longer fazes me. Idle time is so common that I've started to find ways to fill it. However, the real, sector-related work in English Teaching and education in general is slipping away for reasons beyond my control. I can't handle much more of this failure because of problems with the system.
I'm starting to think we volunteers should just take over the Ministry of Education. Only the purest of minds capable and willing to sacrifice, to dedicate time to the well-being of our great country, i.e. no muggles. Just kidding.
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