Understanding

Tomorrow marks the beginning (finally!) of the 2006 school year at Aoga Fia Malamalama. Actually, technically, last monday marked the beginning of the school year. But in case you've been completely zoned out when reading my last couple of posts, it has been raining a lot here. Before arriving in Samoa I had heard of cancelling school for snow. And even cancelling school for ice. And for mudslides and fires. But not until I witnessed the unfathomable quantity of rain that is really capable of pouring out of the sky did it ever occur to me that school would be cancelled for rain. It does make sense though, when all roads and the entire capital city where everyone has to pass through and switch busses to get to work is under a foot or so of water at the least. I digress a bit, but the point is that the start of school was delayed a week because of all the flooding. But now it's upon me and that being the case I figure perhaps it's a good time to share a bit about my school and what my purpose is in being a part of it. The school is called Aoga Fia Malamalama which translates to School of Wanting Understanding which is a way cooler name, in my opinion, than ps169m (no offense to the New York City public school system). The school is primarily an institution of education for individuals with cognitive delays but the students range from individuals with Down syndrome to Cerebral Palsy to learning disabilities. They are anywhere from 5 to 35 years old. The ideal aim, as with any program for individuals with exceptionalities, is to help develop independent skills and abilities to the highest level possible for each student. This should include basic educational skills focused on a practical application method (ex: math means being able to count money or tell time), and also vocational programs that help the students prepare to integrate as working members into the community. My role at the school is to function as a teacher trainer to help develop curricular programs in these directions and to support the staff in obtaining new techniques for approaching special needs education based on my experience in the field back in the states. The goal of Peace Corps placements is to provide sustainable development that will continue to be carried on after the volunteer returns to the states, which is the motivation behind my being there to support the current teachers rather than my taking on the role of teacher myself. I will also be working on projects related to individual students and their needs and abilities, and hopefully in conjunction with their families outside of the school environment as well. So... there's my little summary of what I will be doing more or less over the course of the next two years. Hopefully it paints at least something of a vague picture, which is pretty much all that I have of it myself at this point. But I'm very happy to have things finally kicking into gear and having the ability to get started on figuring out more concretely what I can do to help create change over the next two years.