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little nuns

Over the river and out through the suburbs of Yangon. I was taken out to a large monastery that housed over 150 young nuns. The temple system has been a traditional center of education system and I was invited to make a visit and see.

I imagined being taken on a tour or asking questions to the head nun, but by the time some 70 little nuns in pink robes and quietly assembled and a mat had been placed in the front, I figured I'd better do something.

There's no need to explain sign language like give reasons why we're practicing English with our hands. They naturally took to it and covered the alphabet, numbers and a whole mixed bag of words. Maybe they already knew everything because they sat attentively like, "what's next?". It still amazes me how much people can absorb when they see it, even once. I taught letters one time and many caught the difference between "S" and "A" even though it's just a thumb position and despite the fact that they're sitting eight rows back in a crowd of 70. 

Obviously, they're ready to learn but we still have to figure out how to make it happen. Some teachers come as volunteers, but otherwise the temple depends on alms and donations to pay the teachers. They don't have computers. Otherwise, I'd just give them everything I have.

Spring in Myanmar

It's been raining solid for the last 7 days, but it's spring in Myanmar. There are newspapers selling on the street, NGOs popping up and people are talking. Most keep their skepticism, but I am flabbergasted to hear news of what could not be imagined a few years back.

Education is big. Operating a private school is legal now. Ethnic minority languages are permitted, universities are opening again and the internet is picking up speed.

I get the sense that people have been waiting. They seem poised and ready to move. I'm told the Shan have already finished their own language version of the state curriculum. That was fast!

Proving to be the teacher

It will be hard to evaluate the results. When do we know if a teacher can implement what they've been taught? We've made clear guidelines and established concrete methods, but the essence of the lesson has been truly implemented when we see children learn.

That again is a slippery indicator, but one thing I look for is if the teacher appears to care. It's in the body language and I've seen good indications with this group. When it comes to writing, the children get down to business, usually right on the floor and the trainees are right there with them, sometimes taking their hands and guiding them through the letters. Having the children write is usually the time teachers go and take their break, but here I see an invested interest, curiosity and compassion. It looks good.

Being a teacher trainer, I feel it's important to take the back seat at the right time though people are probably aware that I still have my foot hovering over the brake and have the steering wheel within reach. I hope this doesn't mean that I'm an irritating backseat driver. What I'm hoping it means is that I can effectively pass on know-how to the next tier.

Actually, I depend on that next tier. I can mumble through something and he can articulate it clearly in his own words. I can map out a plan and he can put it into action. Sometimes I make notes for a debriefing and he can execute it to near perfection.

Maybe the best model is simply handing over the car keys, not as if I'd ever owned something from the beginning. My only advantage is that I think I see a road that can get us to where we want to go. I'll help map it out, point out the dangers and help with maneuvering skills, but at the end of the day, I don't think I should be driving.

Interviewing for the best

When given the task of training trainers to train teachers, my first reaction was to ask, "Where can you find some superstars?" Now I understand what an understar is. We have to look for what wants to shine, not what can already confidently outshine anyone else.

Almost everyone on the new team of trainers have had no experience teaching. Half have not gone beyond high school and almost everyone feels like they've been cheated out of a good education. They struggle very hard with the most basic of learning skills, but they have enough will to persist and I believe they'll get it.

What this means is they will be able to empathize with the majority of students who are struggling. They'll be better teachers because they'll remember what those first steps felt like. Those who have always been at the top of the class, on the other hand, too often dismiss students as ignorant, rural or unable to learn. It's not the students who are giving up, but the teachers. We don't need that.

deaf friends

Whenever I see people moving their hands while they're talking, I stop to check if they're deaf. Many times, they're just being expressive. I'm looking for deaf friends and the chance to learn more. Up until now, I've just been a scavenger of signs to use for English programs. It's hard to find people.

The other day, I learned that a cafe had hired a deaf woman so I introduced myself and after work she took me to meet her friends. Everyone of course knows each other, including networks of deaf people in Vientiane though the whole population in Laos is still tiny compared to other countries. 

In Luang Prabang, there doesn't seem to be a place to gather regularly, but we visited one of her friends in her little shack and had a jolly time. If we had been using our voices, we would have been screaming with laughter and shouting over each other. With signing, there's a lot of waving and slapping to get attention. It was a lot of fun.

Walking through the small neighborhood, I could hear people gossiping out loud. "The freak'n foreigner's deaf!" When you move into silent mode, it's kind of hard to step back into the speaking world so I just let them think what they wanted to think.

Future Doctors of Laos

On another front, I am supposed to implement a digital learning program for the medical college. It might work, but I’m not sure. It’s best if a student can study from their own laptop because as you can see, the people in the back can hardly see me. If they can’t see, I’m not sure how much they’re learning and I’m not so sure you can get good medical care here. I know they’re trying, but when it comes to my 5^th and last rabies shot, I want it done right. Otherwise, the first 4 shots, after all that effort, were in vain. You can imagine how I felt when I was told, “This drug won’t work, but you can get it injected if you like. - Maybe with Lao style, 4 shots are enough. - Anyway, if the dog didn’t have rabies, you don’t have a problem.” I ran across town in search of an expert. I ran to the other side of town to find the right drug, packed it in ice and then watched the ice melt as I wanted for the doctor to come. She told me she’s seen people come in for their 3^rd shot and then die because the first shots weren’t done right. Oh, that’s nice.

Children's Day

Our best teachers are the children. They’re the final test. If they don’t like it, we’ll have to revise the lesson. We sent out word to neighborhood kids and they came running as if it were a birthday party with free cake. Here, the boy is signing vegetable. They they stayed until closing hours learning signs from the videos on the laptops. A good sign.

SHINE team

Shine stands for “Sanitation, Hygiene, Identity, Nutrition and Environment” This is the program we’re starting with and to make it teacher/student user friendly, we’re incorporating sign language, songs and storytelling. So we’re back on the floor again, putting our heads together to design something new.

On my mettle

This is the team I’m working with. My job is to train the trainers of local teachers. This is for PoP (Pencils of Promise) and they’re on board for things like sign language and digital content delivered through TVs or mini projectors. Some schools are remote and tough. Many students don’t use Lao as their first language. The plan is to train this group, which will in turn train a larger group in July, which will in turn support local teachers in rural schools in September.

Back in LP

I’m back in Luang Prabang after a three-year absence. As you can see, it’s not that bad. It sure was bad in those days and it’s taken me this long to even think about coming back. I heard that the crook that took off with close to a thousand dollars worth of my books scammed other people too. Misery likes company. I’m not going to think much about other books unaccounted for. In the big picture, if I can still do something good for Lao education, I’ll swallow those losses. I’m employed now. I like the job and it’s my first salary in ten years. Honest.

Swimming in limbo

Bitten by a dog in Cambodia. Not a good thing, but good thing I’m on my way to Bangkok where I can go to the Red Cross Clinic for Rabies within 24 hours. Between the exit office from Cambodia and the entry office into Thailand is a beach. I asked if I could swim there and I was waved on down. I haven’t been in the ocean in what seems like years. Ocean water is good for making me believe rabies won’t immediately consume me. If it comes at a later time, it’s not that unreasonable, but I hear I’d froth, have paranoia and chew on table legs. I’d also heard that rabies shots involve thousands of dollars and massive syringes plunged repeatedly into the abdomen. But then, we can find any scary story on the Internet and can play with any worst-case scenario in the depth of a sleepless night. It’s not going to faze me. I’ve just spent a meditative work/holiday in some of the nicest hidden corners of SE Asia. I only need 5 shots over the next month. A piece of cake.

Kampot

Bliss is finding a $7 room in a perfect little town with a view like this. If I were to design a SIM town, it’d end up with like Kampot. Tiny, quiet, fresh breezes and great food. What really makes this experience satisfying is the all consuming task of making hundreds of FLASH files on my laptop. Why spend 13 hours a day working at home when I could be doing it in a small town in Cambodia? Some people say FLASH is dead which is not comforting after spending so much time on these files, but we’ll find a way. The idea is to get digital learning materials into rural classrooms. It’s not as simple as simply connecting to the Internet. We need content tailor made for Laos.

game changing

From someone's blog: http://michaelmartino.ca/change-your-game-learning-from-moneyball

Moneyball questions the establishment. It says the wisdom of baseball insiders over the past century is subjective and flawed. Statistics such as stolen bases, runs batted in, and batting average, typically used to gauge players, are a 19th century view of the game.

By re-evaluating the strategies that produce wins on the field, the 2002 Oakland Athletics, with a payroll of $41 million, were competitive with larger market teams such as the New York Yankees, who spent over $125 million. 

Several themes the movie touches on are: 

• insiders vs. outsiders (established traditionalists vs. upstarts)
• the democratization of information, and
• the ruthless drive for efficiency.

We’ve entered into a new world of winners and losers. Trying to play the game with old strategies in this new era will make you a loser. Your business will die.

You have to be smarter than the competition. Hard work is not enough - you need an edge.

How can you question the establishment and win?

Again lurching forward

I’m back. In fact, I’m back to Luang Prabang after more than two years. I’m surprised that people remember me and that I still see my books around. I dreaded coming back to deal with the accounts because on the last visit, a school director practically threatened me when I tried to collect. I’m trying to swallow the losses and move on.

It’s been a good week, but I’m not sure if portals are opening or if it’s yet another revolving door that dumps be back out in the cold. I’m led to believe that I have the green light to introduce English programs at the University of Health Sciences, the Provincial Hospital, the largest high school in the city and the University at Luang Prabang.

They don’t flinch when I mention books. (Maybe they’ve had two years to look over them and people practically reach out to grab when they see the digital files. It’s the combination that I’m betting on. Digital files will cover the problems of resources, lesson planning, teaching training, testing … or sort of.

And I’m still introducing sign language. It didn’t fly that well with high schools students, but their teachers loved it. At one point I realized that teachers thought that every time I moved my hands they were actual signs and I could see people imitating them, So now they may think they know sign language for, “You know, anyway, of course.” I still love the magic of sign language. It makes people smile. 

Books everywhere

One image that moves me to tears is to see so many people reading. The number of newspapers has exploded and judging by the pictures of Aung San Su Kyi on all of them, I figure censorship has been lifted. There are blocks and blocks where vendors set out their books for sale on the streets and I can see men, women, older people and children all looking them over. Most are used and under $2. It’s not like they’re interested because the most recent best seller is out, they must be interested because they’re in the habit of reading anything and feel starved if they don’t have enough. C’mon Laos.

Shwedagon

It’d been waiting for decades to go to Myanmar. I told myself that if the country were to ever decide that draconian nastiness is not the way to make international friends and if Aung San Su Kyi were released, I’d go. Many others seem to think the same. The timing is right. Yangon was rapturous. 

Go get money from the Gates

I’m surprised at how many times people suggest that I go get money from the Gates. They have created a benevolent image so convincing that people think it’s just a matter of giving them a call. “Hey Bill, can I hit you up for some cash?”

Their new interactive exhibition space across from the Space Needle has created stir. Of course it’s beautiful and dutifully digital. There are some weighted buckets that help you imagine what it’s like to carry your daily water from the well. Statistics are mounted big-size so the impacts are more dramatic.  

The irony for me is that no amount of statistics or interactive lessons are going make the problems of development hit home while walking through a gorgeous Seattle exhibition space. They put photos of world toilets on the stalls, but they could have gone the whole mile with squat toilets, no toilet paper and mosquitoes. Instead of all that environmentally sustainable polished wood, they could have made a wall of slivers or simply named the video room, “The Room of Guilt”. OK, but that’s just being me. 

Happy New Year 2012

The year begins with a deep freeze in Seattle. Cars skid off the road, wires drop, snow melts and freezes back into tectonic plates. It’s beautiful and a finger-wagging reminder of how vulnerable we are.

I don’t have to be reminded. The floes of possibilities and disappointments in Laos can’t be predicted. Sometimes it’s just a wet foot, punching into a thin patch of ice, but at other times it’s like looking out onto a sudden expanse of open desolate water. There is nowhere to go and I get a deep chill thinking about the whole sheet under my feet cracking and melting away. That would be a cold plunge.