I was reminded again of how being in the Peace Corps is kind
of like trying to Empty the Ocean with and Eyedropper this week as I was
noticing a few things that I felt proud of.
I have had to step back a few times already in Samoa and remind myself
that I’m not going to change Samoa and I’m not going to change the world, but I
will try to make a little difference in the lives of the people I come in
contact with. I had a training a few
weeks ago with the teachers on how to use the copy machine and the
computer. It was all very basic stuff,
ie, this is how you turn on the machine, this is how you open up a word
document, this is how you print, etc.
But this week three of the teachers have come into use the computer and
five of them have come into use the copier.
It makes me so happy to see them doing it themselves! So anyways, there
is this one teacher that has never used a computer before. She asked me to type
her son’s science project for him. When
I gave it to her, she asked me to make the font bigger. So I said, “here, how about you try?” She was so nervous she just laughed, and I
gave her a look that clearly said “I’m not kidding.” It was the first time she had touched a mouse
I guess, so I put my hand on top of hers to show her how to guide the mouse and
how to click on something. It took us
about 20 minutes to change the font and underline the titles of the 6 different
sections, but as I sat there, I thought you know this is a lot better than me
just doing it for her because hopefully she will see that she can learn to use
the computer and they aren’t as scary as she thinks they are. It felt good to feel like I was empowering
her a little even if it is with such a small little thing. It reminded me of the Benjamin Franklin quote
“Tell me and I’ll forget. Teach me and I may remember. Involve me and I’ll learn.” That’s kind of my motto as I work with my
kids in Samoa.
Another moment that made me feel kind of proud happened as I
was just sitting at my desk watching the kids in the library. It was the last few minutes of free library
time before the kids had to go back to class, and I was just sitting there
watching them. I noticed how many of
the kids put their books back the proper ways (with the bind facing outward and
on the appropriately colored shelf) and how they were turning the pages without
ripping or bending them. I thought back
to term one when it was a completely unorganized mess and the kids had no idea
of how to put the books on the shelf.
They have come so far. It’s such
a little thing, but it really is something that we have been working on for
weeks and made me feel like we are actually making progress here.
A similar feeling came as I was checking out the kids book
at the end of library time and one of the girls yelled at the other kid, “FAI
LE LAINA!” (Make a line!) I must explain here that lines aren’t really
an understood concept in Samoa in my experience. For example, at the wharf when you are buying
your ferry ticket, it’s a gigantic blob of a mess. People just squeeze their
hands in wherever they can to give the money to the clerk and if you do try to
wait in the back thinking maybe you can make a line and people who come after
you will get behind you, well then you are just stupid because you will wait
forever until everyone else is done. So
anyways, I’ve been trying to teach them that when you want to check out a book
you have to get into line, it’s a new concept.
We are working on it, but they are picking it up! And I love it!
Anyways, these are just a few of the small accomplishments I have felt in the
past few weeks. The little things are what keep me doing! And there really are
a lot of them that add up to make my experience here pretty awesome.
