Update: June 23, 2010
The last few days have been very relaxing and enjoyable. This past Saturday, Susan, Beverly and I climbed Thaba Bosiu Mountain with a group of our students. We learned all about the history of the mountain from both the visitor’s center and the students who came along with us. The climb itself is short and quite tiring. The thin air really gets to you when you get close to the top, but man was it worth it. The view was incredible. We could see the rolling hills of the valleys all the way to the farthest mountains. We even saw the famous Basotho mountain that is shaped like a cone with a small cylinder on the peak. Many people wear hats that are shaped like this mountain, which is one of the symbols of Lesotho.
We expanded our cultural experience even more on Sunday by attending our first church service. The people hear are predominantly Christian, but there is also a mosque in town. The service was technically scheduled for 11am-3pm. As notoriously punctual Americans, we waited for a full hour before the service actually started at 12pm (and yes, it was actually scheduled to start at 11). Once it started though, the small parish quickly came to life. We sang, danced, and watched some students act out one of the parables. The church members could not have been more kind or welcoming to us. They even had one member translate the sermon into English so that we could understand it. At one point, Jackson, one of our students, came up to the front to announce that he was thankful for the educational opportunities we were offering him. His speech was so touching that I couldn’t help but tear up. It is such an honor to be helping these students achieve their true potentials.
This past Tuesday was my first physics lesson with the class. I was really impressed by how well everyone participated and genuinely understood what I was saying. However, when I had students come up to the board to answer questions at the end of class, I noticed significant discrepancies in their understanding of basic math. For one problem, a student had to use the wave equation (velocity=frequency x wavelength). He understood perfectly how to set up the problem, but he did not understand how to rearrange the equation to isolate frequency, the variable he needed. When I rearranged the equation to frequency=velocity/wavelength for him, he plugged in the numbers, but could not tell me what the resulting fraction of 5/10 was equal to. I have noticed that there are a few students who don’t appear familiar with basic concepts like these. One of the challenges for the school system that I’ve noticed is a lack of extra resources (time, teachers) for students who are struggling with certain subjects. As a result, these students pass through to the next grade when they are not prepared to move on. Brittany and I have decided to offer afternoon tutoring as another option for students who need extra help.
In other news, we had a visit from Lauren Vestewig and Dr. Oden today. It was great to see some familiar faces here and hear how the other projects are doing. We are going to try and organize another climb up Thaba Bosiu Mountain so our professors can have a chance to enjoy the view as well :).