Question:
I plan to be placed this December or January as an ESL or health ed. teacher
and I wanted to contact PC volunteers who have had experience in these areas.
Did you teach in a school with other americans, in a school with native
teachers, or by yourself? Were you placed in a city or small village?
Did you live with a family, with other americans,
or alone? What were the best/worst things about the position? How quickly
did you learn the language?
Answer:
I was a PCV in Lesotho '79-81 and taught English and maths. It was a big
school with a German volunteer for a term and a Canadian CUSO volunteer
for one year overlap. The school was at the edge of a large village, but
there were people in the capitol city - Maseru. I spent my first few
months living in the hallway of another teacher waiting for a place to
move into. Most folks that I know of lived by themselves.
The best part of the position was the freedom - you could do almost
anything. The worst part of the position was the freedom - you could do
almost anything. Yep, quite a pardox, but at times I was too shy to ask
colleagues for help when I should have.
I didn't learn as much language as I should have. That was a mistake.
Only through knowing your partners' language do you learn their culture.
As a PCV you are a partner with the people you have come to work with.
Advice - jump in with both feet, but don't point them at or put them on
anybody. Learn the language, ask questions to learn how and what others
think. No matter what your partners say you are not THE expert. You
have a few skills that you are coming to share in exchange for learning
more about them and life in general.
Have a good time and work hard.
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