I would write about what I've done over the past few days, but it seems that I've just been doing what I always do - teaching, studying, eating, sleeping, talking about this project or the other, etc. In fact, my life seems to be a series of projects and obligations to do more and different projects, slowly but surely losing sight of why.
I'm offering English classes for 50 Meticais per 10 weeks, essentially less than 1 dollar per month. It's significantly more than they pay for school, but less than they pay for outside tutoring - much less. Which brings up an interesting point.
Teachers, as far as I hear, take a lot of money from their students in exchange for grades because they don't budget well and end up having to take from others. Older students hold tutoring sessions for 100 Meticais per month. Teachers require their students to buy 120 MT books for one subject, one book per student. Yes, you CAN go to school with very little money, but if you want to pass you need a lot more.
So why doesn't the school charge more, spread the money around among the teachers, buy books in bulk so they're cheaper and available to all, and thus save everyone some headaches? It's probably because then only half the students who go to school would be able to, thus exposing even fewer children to basic subjects. It's a very difficult decision, but I think at some point a decision needs to be made along these lines.
And why do people not work hard or attend many of the volunteers' English classes out of school? It's probably that we offer them for free or so cheaply that people think that they're worthless (or close to it)...in fact, I've been told that's the reason. So is the only solution to charge a lot and cater only to those with means? And then those without, stay without, until it "trickles down" to them?
It's all like soap. They sell natural bars of soap here for 2 or 3 MT. For triple the price, you can buy a packet of powdered laundry soap like Surf that doesn't last as long and doesn't get things quite as clean. But because the price is higher, and the packaging nicer, people assume the quality is higher, against any evidence, anecdotal or otherwise. And why not? A capitalist world has been thrust upon a communal society, so why should they react as a capitalist society which had evolved around their economic system would? Consumer rights? Non-existent. Truth in advertising? As far as the rest of the world's concerned, the problems in Mozambique have nothing to do with such typically advanced problems. But when stock vegetables and broth are imported from other African countries, that are produced readily and easily a few minutes from my house, it's easy to see that a country is in a deep hole.
Peace
John
