Today we piled in a van driven by Kamul and went on a tour of 2 schools in the village Gazipur. Our facilator, Rana explained the BRAC education program during the hour drive North through Dhaka rush hour.
BRAC has 37,500 primary schools (grade 1-5) and 24,000 pre or kinder schools in the Dhaka area. Each school is filled with children who are unable to attend gov
erment school or are at risk for dropping out due to their need to also work for their family. The schools run from 9a-1p (primary) and 9-11a (pre)...this allows the children who need to work at home the flexibility to do so. Ninety percent of the children who complete primary school attend intermediate school!
erment school or are at risk for dropping out due to their need to also work for their family. The schools run from 9a-1p (primary) and 9-11a (pre)...this allows the children who need to work at home the flexibility to do so. Ninety percent of the children who complete primary school attend intermediate school!We were so appreciated at the schools as our kids were the first kids they had ever met that were not nationals! I couldn't believe that! The teacher pulled me aside to point out where her home is and to invite me there later and mentioned that she too loves to spend time with her children when she is not so busy teaching. We exchanged much regard for each other and I felt the beautiful familiarity of a universal bond of motherhood.
The school we went to was wonderful. The children were so proud to present a play, songs and do math and english while we were there. Courtney shared the "Fifty Nifty" state song, Jeremy sang his Alaska song from 2nd grade and Charlie sang 3 versions of Happy Birthday. There was a lot of Q&A amonst the kids, but most asked about how many rivers there were in America (as there are so many in Bang. and commerce depends on it.
At the Kinder school, Jeremy explained the mountains of Colorado and showed that we lived there by drawing our family. (He really started to get excited about teaching).
Today was about our kids tasting the likes of what kids of Bangladesh nationals experience. The impact was huge. We look forward to reading their reflections later in their journals.
1 comment:
Hi Family,
It's so neat that Courtney, Charlie, and Jeremy were able to "teach" in the classroom, what great experiences you'll have to take back to your Boulder classes! Jeremy, you look like a natural! We hope Rusty and Courtney are feeling better and hope the rest of you stay healthy.
Love to all,
Mom H
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