What are we doing here? 10.16.06
Peace Corps has 5 different sectors in Nicaragua: Health, TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language), Small Business Development, Agriculture, and Environmental Education. Brenna and I are in the Environmental Education (EE) sector and we will primarily be working in elementary schools.
Our goal is to work with teachers in at least three schools and help them to incorporate environmental curriculum into their classes. In the beginning, we will be observing classes and eventually we will teach classes about the environment. Ideally the teachers will observe our teaching and learn from us because the next step is to co-plan and co-teach with them, and finally observe them using the new teaching methods, strategies and curriculum that we have taught them. We’ll see how well it goes.
We will be working for two school years, so we will definitely get to know the schools and teachers. Here, the School year begins in late January or early February and ends in late November. So, we will get to our site just as school is ending for the “summer” and we will have a couple of months to try to get to know the community and get an idea of the people we will be working with. This will also be a great time to work on my Spanish.
Down here there are a number of environmental issues, but in most communities the major concerns are deforestation and what to do with trash. Both of these problems are greatly compounded by the economic situation of the people here. Many people are only able to think about making sure they have enough food for their families, so anything else takes a backseat. Many forested areas have been clear-cut to make room for cattle grazing and trees are also cut down for firewood, as many families use woodstoves to cook their food.
I always think about Maslow’s hierarchy of needs (basically that people have certain needs i.e. food, shelter… that must be met before others can be achieved i.e. fun, nice things, education, self-actualization) when I see the environmental challenges facing this nation. I think that until people don’t have to worry about food and clothes and shelter, it will be very hard to convince them to stop cutting down trees for firewood or to stop throwing their trash in the streets. I know that all of these problems can eventually be worked out with education, but that is another thing that costs money, which most of these people don’t have. I guess that is where our work comes in…
Check back for more rantings or random Nica tidbits.
Hasta luego.
Our goal is to work with teachers in at least three schools and help them to incorporate environmental curriculum into their classes. In the beginning, we will be observing classes and eventually we will teach classes about the environment. Ideally the teachers will observe our teaching and learn from us because the next step is to co-plan and co-teach with them, and finally observe them using the new teaching methods, strategies and curriculum that we have taught them. We’ll see how well it goes.
We will be working for two school years, so we will definitely get to know the schools and teachers. Here, the School year begins in late January or early February and ends in late November. So, we will get to our site just as school is ending for the “summer” and we will have a couple of months to try to get to know the community and get an idea of the people we will be working with. This will also be a great time to work on my Spanish.
Down here there are a number of environmental issues, but in most communities the major concerns are deforestation and what to do with trash. Both of these problems are greatly compounded by the economic situation of the people here. Many people are only able to think about making sure they have enough food for their families, so anything else takes a backseat. Many forested areas have been clear-cut to make room for cattle grazing and trees are also cut down for firewood, as many families use woodstoves to cook their food.
I always think about Maslow’s hierarchy of needs (basically that people have certain needs i.e. food, shelter… that must be met before others can be achieved i.e. fun, nice things, education, self-actualization) when I see the environmental challenges facing this nation. I think that until people don’t have to worry about food and clothes and shelter, it will be very hard to convince them to stop cutting down trees for firewood or to stop throwing their trash in the streets. I know that all of these problems can eventually be worked out with education, but that is another thing that costs money, which most of these people don’t have. I guess that is where our work comes in…
Check back for more rantings or random Nica tidbits.
Hasta luego.
posted by Mwiebe at 2:34 PM
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