Another Day in the Life of School at Azama

March 11^th-18th

Esperanza de Azama

Rucco at home.

     Routine.  We haven’t really had much of a regular routine since we arrived at the end of January, but our second week here in Esperanza de Azama has now provided one.  We wake up soon after 6:00 with the sun, unless the dogs or roosters have woken us already. Breakfast is self-serve, usually tea, a platter of fruit and a bread roll.  Emma and I, both Celiacs, were of course delighted to learn that at least one bakery in Otavalo makes bread rolls from maize (corn), edible for us, so we no longer have to rely on dwindling gluten-free supplies from home. We then have an hour or so to read, write, or, as on a couple of mornings, prepare posters for the classes at school.  The house has a small but charming courtyard where we can sit and watch for humming birds, or get on with the business of preparing for the day. 

     Our commute is a thirty-yard walk from the house to the school next door, past a small field of corn.  We have two minutes to admire the view of mountains over the nearby greenhouses that supply flowers for the North American market before stepping through a small iron gate into the school compound.  Just inside the gate is a stone water trough at which children are usually washing hands or brushing teeth for the start of the day. Nan and Emma head across to the 1^st grade class while I go to the 7^th grade room.  I pass a small kitchen, about 8’ x 10’ in which a woman is usually preparing food and drink for the day, typically stirring a large pot over a stove, and assisted by a handful of older students.

School Kitchen

     The school day starts at 7:30 announced by an air-raid style siren, and goes on until 1:00 with a 35 minute break at around 10:20.  The structure of the day is quite traditional, officially broken up into forty-minute periods that include math, writing, English, science, social studies and Quichua, the indigen language here.  In practice, the day is often less structured, depending on how the teacher wants to proceed.  At some point around 9:00, two of the younger children deliver a small vat of a hot, murky looking drink that I have yet to try, but which the kids seem to enjoy. They each have a mug by their desk and the teacher ladles out portions as they work.  Another delivery of snack bars arrives at about the same time, ensuring that the children do not go entirely hungry for the day.  As is typical even in the ‘rich’ North America, there are all too many children who are not provided with sufficient breakfast at home to start the day.

     The three of us largely act as assistants in each class.  Nan and Emma spent much time last week creating multiple copies of worksheets for the kids by hand, there being no functioning copier in the school.  A job that might take 5 minutes at home can take several hours. We do also get involved directly with the children.  Alvaro Mosquera, the 7^th grade teacher, is quite happy to get me involved with the class, especially with the English and math lessons.  This week, we worked on the names of animals and fruits, and the use of that, them, these, those (demonstrative determiners apparently), here, there and everywhere. I tried out Old MacDonald had a Farm to three different classes, although I suspect that the only part that really sunk in was the e i e i o.

1st grade students show their work

     The challenges of education are all too apparent, perhaps more obvious than usual to me because I have a chance to observe here as much as to participate.  I read through the English workbooks, and find notes that the children are covering some quite sophisticated English with sentence structure in both present and past tense, and a wide range of vocabulary.  However, it is readily apparent that most of them struggle to use anything more advanced in the spoken form than “Good morning, how are you.”  It appears that the children are very adept at copying material from the board, but have very limited comprehension in this area. Given that for many of them, English is their third language, I am not surprised, but it is a reminder once again of just how inefficient education can be, and I’m not just referring to Ecuador here.

     The tone of the class is mostly very friendly and relaxed.  The 7^th grade class is more like a small hallway than a full room, but despite the cramped quarters, the children seem to get along with each other very well, and I see very little aggravation, though no doubt it does go on.  The teachers we have seen tolerate a state of casual standard, with children chatting, moving around the room and being more distracted than certainly I would tolerate in my own class.  It is hard to escape the sensation that it is sometimes more important to get through the day unscathed by the teaching process than it is to present a fully challenging curriculum.

7th Grade classroom

     Getting to know the children has been the most rewarding part of the experience here. They are certainly very engaging and interested in our presence.  Emma of course is a big hit with many of the kids who want to play football with her during recess.  At the end of the week, three of the girls made each of us hand-stitched bracelets with our names on.  I have been working on a biography project with the 7^th grade class in which they fill out information about their interests and ambitions. Most come from very large families, at least five children if not more.  They range in age from 10 to 14, and, musically, reggaeton is the common choice (a blend of reggae, rap and dance music that apparently evolved in Panama and Puerto Rico). Some have high professional ambitions, one wants to move to Mexico to be with his sister, and another wants to work in construction. Many wrote that in their spare time after school, they either play football, or like to study. When asked what kinds of changes they want for their community, responses range from wanting a swimming pool, to a new road, to a bigger and better school.  In short, they are probably like children everywhere, keen on socializing, eager to impress and with a wide range of ambitions that may or may not have much to do with their actual abilities or real opportunities.

Emma teaches taekwondo

     More about the lives of people who live in this community in the next post.