Appreciating the 100th (Written 11/19/07)

Last Thursday (Nov 15) it was time for me to make yet another visit out to the trainees in their village of Lalomauga. I was taking part in the third session of their teacher training sessions which mainly dealt with classroom management and corporal punishment within the Samoan school system. Helping out in this session were Jeff (Group 77), Beth (Group 73), Laura (Group 77) and myself. We covered the 4 areas that these trainees will be going into – Vocational, Adult learning, Special Needs and Computers. During the first part of the session we had little breakout sessions where the trainees could come to each of us and ask very specific questions about the areas that they would be stepping into in just a few months. There were a lot of good questions from the trainees about how to teach Samoan kids, but I did have to curb their enthusiasm a bit and state that the emphasis put on education in Samoa isn't the same as it would be in the States – at least in the schools that they would be going in. After the breakout sessions we came back together as a group and had a panel discussion about corporal punishment in Samoa and how we have dealt with it. Before the panel started, Kevin (one of the trainers) read how there is a law in Samoa against teachers physically punishing Samoan students – from what we all have experienced, that's a law that's not really enforced. We all shared our personal experience encountering corporal punishment within the school system and how we handled it – going off the handle about it and being overly aggressive about not doing does not work, for the most part we have all had to lead by example. We have all used non-physical ways of controlling our classrooms and getting our kids to be cooperative in class so hopefully in the future when these kids grow up to be the leaders of this country, they will know there is a better way to handle problems other then resorting to physical violence. I think Kevin thought that this topic wouldn't take very long, but it took up almost 90% of our discussion time – it was just that important of a topic. The main point we wanted to get across was that (unfortunately) they will encounter it in their schools and they (the trainees) need  to come up with a way of handling that will improve the situation in the long term, not just temporarily (while they are at that school) or make the situation worse.

On Friday (Nov 16), I worked in my lab in the morning doing the ultra fun work of reformatting my lab hard drives and reinstalling the OS, while also cleaning lab 1 up a bit. Once I was done with that fun task (and school was done for the day, we only had a half day on Friday) I biked down to the Marist Sports Complex for the All-Volunteer Conference.  This is a yearly conference where all the volunteers get together to learn how things have gone over the past year – it's been a pretty complicated, tumultuous and interesting year to say the least. We hear from Kim (our country director/main boss) about the State of the Post (which is Peace Corps Samoa), from Teuila (our medical officer) we hear about the medical statistics from the past year and from Fono (our safety and security officer) we hear about the security situation at the Samoa Post. There are also other aspects of the conference, but these are the main three points. It's basically an all-day affair and I just was not in the mood to be there all day, so I showed up at the halfway point of the conference. Since this was my third conference (one during training, one at the year mark, one at the end) I just didn't feel like being there all day for the 3^rd time. My timing was perfect, though, as I arrived just when they were serving lunch – so I got there for the most important part. After lunch, the staff performed a volunteer appreciation skit (about Samoan Peace Corps serving in America, this was actually the same skit we [Group 75] saw when we were in training) and after that they  gave each of the volunteer groups a gift box. In order to get the box, you had to answer a Peace Corps related question. The question our group answered was 'What is the name of the medical form you have to take with you overseas in order to get a medical checkup'. I didn't know the answer, but we have a person in our group who is virtually a permanent resident in the medical office – Julya – and she knew the answer (I can't remember what it was, it was just some crazy combination of letters and numbers).  In our gift box we got a whole bunch of laundry detergent – just what all of us needed to get our clothes clean for the next part of our journey.

Saturday (Nov 17) was the Peace Corps Thanksgiving meal at the US consulate. I didn't go because A) I wasn't in the mood for it and B) I had to move some newly bought tables and put them into the 4^th lab – just one of the few things I have to clean up before I am officially done with Chanel College. So no turkey for me this Thanksgiving – I'll make up for it at Christmas when I'm home!

Sunday (Nov 18) was a milestone moment for me. My bike ride down to church and back home was the 100^th time I have made that trip in my 2 years here. My 100^th time biking up and down Mt. Doom – wow, it has not been the easiest task in the world to do that and there have been plenty of times when I wanted to get off my bike and just walk (because this heat, combined with the humidity can do a number on trying to get oxygen into your lungs) but the perseverance has paid off. When I first began biking up and down Mt. Doom, my goal was to get to 30 (before I came to Samoa, I had no ridden a bike in years so 30 was a reasonable goal) but once I got use to biking (and got past 30) my goal was placed at 100 because it showed a commitment to completing the task and looks more impressive then 30. So I made it and every time I bike after this is just a bonus – I doubt I get up to 150 before leaving the country, but who knows….110 isn't out of the question. We'll see.

On Monday (Nov 19) we had our staff tea with the Peace Corps Staff to show our appreciation for all their help and love over the past two years. Everyone in the group made some meal for the occasion (sans me, I chipped in with moral and financial support) and we all showed up about an hour or so early. This was funny because it's one of the few times we were all gathered together in one place – I don't think this has happened since Holly's going away dinner. Most of the newer groups (78 and 79) who saw us in the office were like 'Wow, we haven't seen all of you together – ever – in the office'. Anyway, we gathered all the staff up in the kitchen area – I gave a little thank you speech on behalf of the greatest group ever/Group 75 – and then let them have at it. It was a good time of just hanging out with the staff and talking one on one with a lot of them because most of us have not been frequent visitors to the office this year (unlike last year where we showed up pretty regularly, it's all a part of being in the Corps for 2 years). This was also a farewell tea for Dianne and John who are leaving on the flight to the states tonight. It has been a great two years knowing these two folks – I'll never forget Dianna and I travelling alone together during training and John for his amazing biking abilities. With these two leaving tonight, that leaves only 5 of us left (Candice, Bryan, Julya, Sara and I). Group 75 is slowly fading away – it's kind of sad folks. But I don't look to far ahead – it makes my remaining time here that much harder. This week will be jam-packed with activities, so stay tuned. L8r.

Note: I have uploaded pictures corresponding to these events in the Group 79, Samoan Scenes and Volunteer Life. Volunteer Life is where you will find the pictures about the morning tea. Enjoy!