September 27

I mentioned in the previous post that at school the spotlight has really been focused on the Cs and Es as they prepare for their exams. In September these forms took their mock exams, which were copies of last year’s exams from the Lesotho Ministry of Education (for the Cs) and Cambridge International (for the Es).

I was eager to see my students’ results, but not surprised to find that they all had a lot of room for improvement. However, I think the exam gave them a realistic idea of what to expect on the official exam without shattering their confidence.

After mock exams the Cs’ and Es’ regular class schedules were essentially abandoned. Instead, teachers would wander into their classrooms whenever they were free and have marathon study sessions with them. Of course, it seemed to me there were never any teachers supervising the Es except when I wanted to have my own study session. Then someone else had inevitably booked them for the entire afternoon.

On the bright side, with the specter of their final exams specter looming ever closer, my Es showed a renewed interest in what I was trying to teach them. Somehow vectors were  much more interesting than when I had introduced them back in April.

The “final” of final exams bears a lot of weight here. The Cambridge exams are not only the final exams of the year, but of their time in high school. The scores on these exams will determine whether or not they’re admitted to university, which will shape what jobs they can get in the future. Their employment opportunities could mean the difference between whether they lead a relatively affluent life in Maseru (or perhaps South Africa) or live in a small village with no electricity. Of course, a number of other factors are at play here, but the results of their exams are still significant, and the students are aware of this. As someone who never took a final exam until college, I can’t imagine facing that kind of pressure at 18. (I don’t consider the ACT/SAT similar because they’re aptitude tests, whereas the Cambridge measures acquired knowledge.)

Lesotho’s Independence Day is October 4^th, and school closed for that entire week. When students returned to school the second week of October, Cs and Es would begin their exams. Not all Es took exams in the same subjects, so some students would complete their exams at different times. Cs and Es were free to go home when finished with exams. For this reason, the school organized a graduation ceremony (called Farewell) to be held just before Independence break.

The Farewell ceremony was definitely one of the highlights of my semester. Classes were cancelled for the day and all the students and teachers gathered in the assembly hall. The school had hired the dj who lives in Mpatana to bring all his sound equipment and play music throughout the show. Each class had prepared a song or skit or both to entertain the crowd and send off the Es in style. Most of the songs were Sesotho hymns, but the one that brought down the house was English. Its refrain was very simple: “Remember, I remember, you remember, I remember you.” And on each verse a student sang a solo to the Es, wishing them success and telling them to make St. Rodrigue proud. Students and teachers went nuts over that one, and I can confirm that it was very, very sweet.

The skits were also very popular. There were two, both in English, and both moral tales of students who didn’t work hard at school, got involved with drinking and boys, and met a horrible demise. The dramas were complete with costumes, including some good old-fashioned cross-dressing and super fancy high heels and makeup to distinguish the teachers/mothers from the students/children. The Oscar went to a girl who dressed up as a herdboy (blanket, stick) and did a flawless impression of the grunts and whistles herdboys use when driving cattle, to everyone’s delight.

In between the songs and skits there were dance routines from students in all forms doing what was listed in the program as “jive”. Basically the dj put on an endless beat and the students, dressed in their identical St. Rodrigue blue track pants and white polos (but with the collar popped), showed off their very best moves. Which I have to say, were much more impressive than anything I could do on stage. The students all had a blast and their classmates rewarded them with riotous applause and cheers.

There were also speeches from one of the priests and a member of the school board. Much of it was in Sesotho, but it all seemed very heartfelt. At the end of all the performances Sister Tsiki gave her own speech and handed out the diplomas to the Es. (I was told that they had satisfactorily completed the work for their classes, and would graduate from St. Rods regardless of the scores on their Cambridge exams.) Watching each student shyly approach the principal, shake her hand, and extend both hands to receive her diploma was especially moving.

After the ceremony, the Es shared a meal with all the teachers in the library. (The other forms received food also, but not as much and not with the teachers.) We moved to the library just as a storm started kicking up, and as we ate our chicken and vegetables hail began thundering against the metal roof. So we had an excellent excuse to detain the Es and celebrate with them a little longer.

Independence break began shortly after Farewell, and I had fabulous vacation traveling with my visiting parents (!!). More on that adventure in the next post.

Stray Thoughts:

• I forgot to mention in my last post that I really, really missed attending the Iowa State Fair. This was the first year in living memory that I hadn’t gone to the fair, and August didn’t quite feel right without it. I had to restrain myself from chasing after livestock with ribbons and eating all my food on a stick.
• One day I walked into a Guidance & Counseling class, and my co-fellow was already looking over their word journals. The students (As) were standing in a line at his desk, and were doodling on the chalkboard as they waited for their turn. When they all sat down I saw that one of them had written “Kuen Valley too much talking”. I had just taught this class math earlier in the afternoon, and this is apparently the phrase they associate most with me. Anyway, it cracked me up and made my day.
• Spring has arrived in St. Rodrigue! It looks like someone took a highlighter to the landscape – the mountainsides are dull and brown, but there are shrubs bursting with fluorescent yellow flowers, lime green willows along the riverbeds, and neon pink peach trees everywhere.
• On an ordinary Saturday evening as I was contemplating what to eat for dinner, I looked out the kitchen window and saw that the neighbor kids had set our yard ablaze. I went outside and calmly asked the little arsonists why they were starting a prairie fire in front of our house. Turned out it was a carefully controlled burning, designed to encourage new growth, which is reasonable enough. (Translation: their mom wasn’t around and they were bored.) But I wished the 4-year-old would wear two shoes instead of just one when stomping out the flames. (All was fine in the end, and no one got hurt.)
• I happened to be in Maseru on the afternoon (night in Lesotho) of the Iowa/Iowa State game, which I followed obsessively online. Just wanted to confirm that I was representing Cyclone nation in southern Africa.
• In one Guidance & Counseling class, my co-fellow and I introduced the As to using encyclopedias. Lessons learned from that class: 1) Students all over the world will find and giggle at the art with naked people in it. 2) While there is a North America and South America, there is no East America or West America. 3) The students thought sloths look very creepy, and wanted to know if I was afraid of elephants.
• On a trip up the hill to buy candles I ran into some little kids (8 years old tops) on their way to do their own shopping. When they tried to purchase their snacks, the shop lady noticed that one of the coins was neither loti nor rand. She gave it to me for inspection, and I declared it to be from Mozambique. So she turned to the little girl and said, “Go to Mozambique! Walk to Mozambique!” It was very cute. I walked back home with the kids, and all the way they were shouting “mo-zam-BIIIIIQUE!”
• Another fun quote from the form As: When they were being particularly loud and unruly, one girl turned to the others and said, “Be quiet! Do you want to give ‘M’e Varley high blood?!”
• I’ve been experimenting with making a traditional Lesotho bread called liphaphatha. It’s a flat bread made using fermented dough called tomoso. I’m not sure how authentic my creations have been, but it has made me more interested in making sourdough in general.