What I'm Doing Now Now

It’s been a while since I last posted what I’m working on, and now that I’m winding down to the end of my service, I’d give you another update on what I’m working on in my superheated tiny corner of the Gambia.

The thing I’ve been most proud of this year is my reading contest. Students are given prizes when they reach certain benchmarks – at five books they get a pencil, at ten books they get a certificate, their picture taken, and some other small prizes, like a minty or a pen or an eraser.



I know you’re all thinking, “That’s bribery!” And it is. But that got them in the door, and now I have kids filling the library at all hours of the day, because they’ve realized how fun it is. They come in with their friends, they share books, they sound out words, and even grade one students point out numbers and letters that are familiar to them. It’s sweet.

I’m planning an epic Reading Day for at the end of the school year. It going to be GREAT. I’m going to raffle off everything in my house that I don’t want anymore – every book you’ve read throughout the year gets you one raffle ticket. I’m going to give awesome prizes to the top readers in the class and school, and we’re going to have a read aloud and fun literacy games. The class who’s read the most books will get some sort of treat, and hopefully crowns to wear on their heads proclaiming that they’re the reading champs.

Another thing I’m pretty proud of is the library itself. Last year, when I began, it was a lizard infested pit of dust.





It was dirty, and nobody had been in there for probably a year. It’s still really dusty, but there are some corners of the room where you can look and think that you’re in an American classroom. It’s colorful, it’s educational, and it’s a good example to teachers of things they can put up in their rooms. Which is why, I’m sure, when I go, teachers will all clamor to steal the things I’ve made that aren’t nailed down in the library. Which is why I’ve spent so many hundreds of dalasis on nails. 





I’m also just starting a library club. Basically, I wanted a group of kids to help me put books back on shelves, clean up, etc. But also, we are trying to do things that enhance creativity. I’ve picked 3-4 students from some of the upper grades, and we meet once a week, put books away, and then we make something, or we paint, or we collage, or do something that they would never get a chance to do in class. It just started, but I’m excited about it.

Finally, I’m teaching a computer class for grades 10-12at the Senior Secondary School. No, I’m not qualified at all. Kids had to tell me what CPU stood for. But, I’m walking them through basic typing by giving them printed and laminated keyboards to practice on when they can’t get on a computer. We practice typing, simple word processing, and paint. And that about the extent of my computer knowledge, so it works out great. 

In my last few months, this are the things I’ll continue doing. Hopefully, I can spend some more time training teachers to take over the things that I’ve been doing, so that it doesn’t stop with me. But if it does, at least a few kids like reading a little more, and at least there’s a lot of cool stuff nailed on the walls of the library.