A Peace Corps Project, Very Great!
My Summer Part II

So Summer was not all diving intertwined with instant coffee while lounging against breath-taking backdrops of tropical paradise—like I mentioned in the last post, this summer was actually the most productive time for me since being here. The saga of summer continues…
For the past few years, Peace Corps has teamed up with the US Agency for International Development (USAID) for a project they dubbed ‘Tudlo Mindanao,’ which means “teach Mindanao.” Now, there are 3 main regions of the Philippines—Luzon in the north, the Visayas in the middle (where Erin and I are) and Mindanao in the south. There are a variety of reasons for the decision, most hovering around the conflict between Muslim separatist groups and the Philippine government, but in short, for a number of years now, the Mindanao region has been deemed too dangerous for PC volunteers to be assigned to or even to visit. There is a problem with this decision, however, as the Mindanao region is the most economically and politically disadvantaged region in the Philippines. There is a real need for PC there—it is exactly the type of place where volunteers like us should be. But it’s unsafe and we can’t go there and that is that. So USAID and Peace Corps came up with the idea that, instead of sending PCV’s to a place believed to be dangerous, they would bring people (more specifically teachers) from Mindanao to us. USAID helps to fund the transportation and lodging costs for these teachers to come to the Visayan region (namely, Cebu City) for teacher trainings put on by PCV’s. The volunteers have facilitated trainings on a number of topics that were relevant to these teachers including developing students’ critical thinking skills, reading comprehension and making low cost instructional materials. This has been a very successful program for a number of years now. However, there was a sense that something was missing—namely, the teachers’ English skills. So this year, instead of a teacher training program, we developed an English Language Camp (ELC). The goal of the camp was simple—to help these teachers to be more confident and proficient in the English language.
This year USAID helped bring around 140 teachers, 6 PCV’s and 6 counterparts from Mindanao (who had experience in the past working with Tudlo) to Cebu City during the last 2 weeks of May for our Language Camp. We PCV’s were responsible for developing 5 original sessions each to help the teachers improve their confidence and ability in English. My sessions focused on general oral communication—speaking and listening. We taught the same session 3 times a day for 2 days while the participants rotated to the various classrooms. I thought at first it might get monotonous teaching the same session 6 times, but really, every class was unique and different, which helped to keep us all on our toes. Plus, by the 6th time, I knew what worked and what didn’t work so well in my lesson.
A majority of the teachers that attended the training hail from the Muslim area of Mindanao—it was the first time for many of us volunteers to have any contact with Filipino Muslims. It was great cultural exchange! They had a lot of questions about America and us personally, and we, too, had many questions for them. Most of these teachers had never been out of their particular corner of Mindanao, let alone been on a plane to a different region of the country. Keith Solle, one of the other PCV’s and a good friend of mine, had a great idea for a journal write that I also used to begin class one day. It was fascinating to read what these teachers wrote. We asked, very simply, for them to describe how they felt before they left for this training. The teachers were all very open and honest in what their writing. Some wrote about how scared they were of leaving the only place they’ve ever known for 2 weeks and others wrote of how they didn’t’ want to leave their family for such a long period of time. Almost all were terrified when they boarded the plane, even more so when they were in the air. Some were extremely nervous to work with Americans—they wondered if they would be able to understand American English or if the Americans would even like them at all. It was great to see them be so open and honest with their feelings, and it helped to break the ice during those scary first days. The very first day of camp, the teachers were all visibly nervous—some were actually crying because they either missed their families so much or were just nervous about what was to happen at camp. 2 weeks later, at the end of the camp, tears were shed again, but this time because the teachers were going to miss us. Amazing.
We decided that in order to encourage the teachers to speak English all the time, a “Stick to English” policy would be in effect. From 8 in the morning until 5 in the afternoon, English was to be used at all times. Anyone who was “caught” not speaking English had to surrender a sticker they had been given earlier. The homeroom that had the least number of stickers at the end of the 2 weeks was going to win a prize (which, unbeknownst to them, everyone would eventually receive). At the beginning of the first day, the teachers were nervous to begin with, but they were even more nervous to speak up in class for fear of slipping and uttering a word of their local dialect and losing a sticker. However, we ended up turning it into a fun game, and by the end of the first day, the group really started getting into it. The teachers themselves ended up being much stricter in monitoring each other than we ever could have been! The highlight of this ongoing competition was described to me by one of the teachers in my homeroom sometime during the second week of camp. She and some friends had gone to the mall to get dinner the previous evening. It was after 5 pm and they forgot they did not have to “Stick to English”, and went on speaking English to each other. They talked to the cab driver in English (who, funnily enough, responded to them in English) and they chatted with clerks in the mall in English. It was only a while later, when they were ordering dinner, that one of them finally realized the group had been speaking English and not their dialect to each other the whole time. They laughed, and when Jet (the teacher) described that to me the next day, I, too, thought it was hilarious. Maybe our plans had worked too well.
At the end of the ELC, everyone had a chance to share some sort of presentation to highlight the differences in culture. The teachers brought native costumes and music and performed amazing, colorful dances. They were beautiful! It was so awesome to see the different dances, and hear some of the legends and songs, especially from our new Muslim friends. Plus, some were extremely talented. The PCV’s were asked to present something as well. At first, we were stumped. What unifying culture do we have in America? Amidst all of these deep-rooted traditional dances and beautiful displays of pride for their Filipino way of life, the Americans, well—we showed them a piece of America—MTV style. It took an unbelievably long time to film and edit, but our mock music video was, judging by the reaction of the teachers, a huuuuuge hit. Everyone thought it was the bees knees.
You can check it out for yourselves here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HM9feghIpvQ
Amazing. Tiring. Fun. Draining. Wonderful. Exhausting. The ELC was 2 whole weeks. 14 days is a very looooong time to do anything. It was worth it, though. I met some really great people and I look forward to helping out again next year. I know it sounds like an After School Special, but really, Tudlo Mindanao was the best thing that I have done since being here, hands down.
-Scott