The neighborhood kids are fantastic. They run up to me after school with huge smiles, they wave and yell my name every time I walk by, they hang out at my house and play and dance. They just generally have a good time, all the time.
But it hit me today that many of them are going to die before their childhoods are over, and their friends will see this and move on. And so death will continue to be accepted as a very real part of life and everything else will continue to be less important.
Like school.
It's ridiculously difficult - in fact impossible - to keep kids from cheating on tests. I confiscated several cheat sheets, made everyone put all their belongings in the front of the class, had them leave while I checked for material left behind, collected the paper they were to use for the test, redistributed it, then gave points off for talking or looking at another paper. I excused four students for excessive cheating. One I had to give a red falta to just because he would not leave. I had to physically escort him out by holding his arms tightly but not painfully. I never threatened physical harm, but the line got blurry.
And in the other turma, I was going to give a quiz to, it never happened because they were too noisy.
So why all the discipline problems and cheating? I'm not quite sure why just yet, but large class sizes definitely have something to do with it. The more anonymous you can be, the more you feel you can get away with. And when you have to take quizzes and tests in very close proximity, it's very easy to cheat. Almost too tempting.
Even with all this cheating, there's very little studying. And the studying that is done is memorization. This is the way of the developing educational system - the system educates only the most motivated who then go on to improve the system they survived by teaching or administrating. It's a slow process, but the thought is that Peace Corps' presence can speed things up and increase the total quality of teaching. I tend to agree with this, but I think our real power lies in what we can do for the communities.
We have motivation, time and resources. I know I can accomplish a lot here, though I may view my accomplishments as minor. I know that every little bit helps and I believe strongly that if everyone found one (more) way they could aid society, that the world would be safer, healthier and happier - especially in America where prosperity (from a third world perspective) is very much taken for granted and creates a whole host of imagined problems (how do I get the kids to their soccer game after play rehearsal?, etc.) Maybe it's my naivete that makes me think it's possible to get under the skin of a culture and change it from the inside, but I believe strongly in social revolution. Why can't the "new business model" include optional community service as part of a 35-hour work week? Any worker could take a paid "service" day once every few weeks. And workers would only be allowed to work 35 hours with rare exception, changing the way in which people delegate and look at efficiency. And change more private schools to emphasize affordable education by phasing out the idea that tenure is necessary for the free exchange of ideas, and thus saving money from the salaries of professors who are tenured, but in name only. Then, more students can participate based upon merit and not inheritance.
And phase out defense spending, putting our money where our mouth is in terms of disarming weapons of mass destruction - our own. Then reallocating that money to start national health care programs ensuring that everyone is covered.
Especially the children.
Peace
John
