Zambia 2013, Day 10 - Teaching Math and Milking Cows
July 4, 2013. Today was our 2nd day at the Malambu School. I woke up and, for breakfast, tried the “maiz porridge” which basically just tasted like liquid nʼshima. Milking cows was an optional activity this morning which some folks opted to do and said was really fun. Malik, Leah, and I got to teach the 6th graders again and decided to work on math skills. We played a multiplication/ division/ fraction relay race and a few games of hangman. During “recess time”, we played sharks and minnows and duck duck goose with them which they really liked. They are super sweet, but they can also be very competitive with each other, especially once they stopped being shy in front of us. On our way back to the campsite for lunch, we were followed by some of the kids which was really
cute. It was cool to see how their community is so close-knit unlike many communities in America. In the afternoon, Jane, Malik, and I worked with the 1st graders. Teaching them simple math and alphabet was extremely challenging because the language barrier was huge. Most of the time, they didnʼt really know what we were saying, but we tried to make it as fun as possible and we were lucky to have the teacher in the classroom with us to help translate. They were very eager to listen to us and were easily entertained by little things like drawing or winning a candy prize during an object identification activity. At the end of the day, we walked back to the campsite to relax, eat dinner and sit by the campfire while singing songs and playing guitar under a sky full of stars.
Julia B., Sidwell Friends School
Cow excerpt from Jane: Today, Gaby, Natalie, DʼJahne, Leah, Zora and I headed over to the barn where we got to milk cows in the early morning! The farm workers coaxed the cows into their stalls with some food and then chained their legs together so they couldnʼt kick us while we milked them. Milking the cows was more of a process than I expected as we had to wash our hands and the udders with iodine and a while salve to make sure that the cows did not get infected. They instructed us on how to do it properly and although it was not as easy as they made it look, we all got the hang of it pretty quickly. I was able to fill about half a bucket with lukewarm cow milk. We were all really glad we got to try it and the men on the farm were really helpful and patient with us which was very nice of them. Shout out to Laura, Joe, Zeke, Sally, Loulou, and Samuel. HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY YAʼLL
Jane L., Sidwell Friends School