As the saying goes, when it rains, it pours…I spent my first 8 weeks in Swaziland accepting every invitation that was extended (including an invitation to run at 5:15 am which requires getting up at 4:55am and I don’t even have anywhere else to be when I get home at 6:15am)! My point is that I feel like I have been taking the concept of ‘networking’ to a whole new level with the hope that eventually, all of the people that I meet through accepting said invitations would lead to a job. While that wasn’t exactly true, I have established many positive and friendly relationships, for which I am thankful because in Swaziland you have to create your own entertainment. Anyways…after cold calling, randomly e-mailing, ‘dropping by’ with my resume and any number of shameless job searching tactics (muffins might have been baked), I am happy to report that I have a job! Actually, three jobs (hence the pouring part). My primary employment is with the European Union. I have been contracted by the EU as a consultant to the Ministry of Education’s In-service Education and Training (INSET) department. My contract stipulates 4 primary roles: 1) helping the Director of INSET to create a cohesive strategic plan for the four regional Teacher Resource Centers, 2) assisting with the administration of a country-wide primary math and literacy assessment for grades 1-4 and analyzing the results, 3) supporting the Director in coaching the facilitators of the on-going teacher training workshops, and 4) building capacity. With the exception of #4 (because let’s be honest, it’s seriously vague) I couldn’t be more excited about my new role. I will be back in the land of strategic planning, teacher training, and data analysis and tackling these from a national perspective (which represents a new scale for me). In addition to the work that I’ll be doing with the Ministry of Education, I was also recently subcontracted by a local computer company named, Computronics, to teach introductory computer courses. Two weeks ago, I taught a group of 16 new hires for the phone company the basics of Microsoft Office 2007. It was a 5-day course including 2 days of Excel, 1.5 days of PowerPoint, and 1.5 days of Word. I thoroughly enjoyed being back in the classroom and hope that additional contracts come my way! Lastly, I am volunteering with a non-profit called, Vusmuntfo and will be responsible for writing pre-school standards, assessments, and for creating an aligned curriculum so that community pre-schools (which are not supported by the Ministry of Education) can get organized. I will also be helping Vusmuntfo to plan and facilitate monthly workshops to train the pre-school teachers. After visiting 5 rural pre-schools in the north of Swaziland last week, my heart hurt; but, it was also completely inspirational to see a group of 20 children sitting on a dirt floor in a windowless hut trying to learn their numbers to 50. The community pre-school teachers are truly ‘making do’ within their reality and trying their best to provide a foundation for the children in the rural areas.
24 Hours old in Swaziland
Sunday, October 11, 2009
HIRED!
As the saying goes, when it rains, it pours…I spent my first 8 weeks in Swaziland accepting every invitation that was extended (including an invitation to run at 5:15 am which requires getting up at 4:55am and I don’t even have anywhere else to be when I get home at 6:15am)! My point is that I feel like I have been taking the concept of ‘networking’ to a whole new level with the hope that eventually, all of the people that I meet through accepting said invitations would lead to a job. While that wasn’t exactly true, I have established many positive and friendly relationships, for which I am thankful because in Swaziland you have to create your own entertainment. Anyways…after cold calling, randomly e-mailing, ‘dropping by’ with my resume and any number of shameless job searching tactics (muffins might have been baked), I am happy to report that I have a job! Actually, three jobs (hence the pouring part). My primary employment is with the European Union. I have been contracted by the EU as a consultant to the Ministry of Education’s In-service Education and Training (INSET) department. My contract stipulates 4 primary roles: 1) helping the Director of INSET to create a cohesive strategic plan for the four regional Teacher Resource Centers, 2) assisting with the administration of a country-wide primary math and literacy assessment for grades 1-4 and analyzing the results, 3) supporting the Director in coaching the facilitators of the on-going teacher training workshops, and 4) building capacity. With the exception of #4 (because let’s be honest, it’s seriously vague) I couldn’t be more excited about my new role. I will be back in the land of strategic planning, teacher training, and data analysis and tackling these from a national perspective (which represents a new scale for me). In addition to the work that I’ll be doing with the Ministry of Education, I was also recently subcontracted by a local computer company named, Computronics, to teach introductory computer courses. Two weeks ago, I taught a group of 16 new hires for the phone company the basics of Microsoft Office 2007. It was a 5-day course including 2 days of Excel, 1.5 days of PowerPoint, and 1.5 days of Word. I thoroughly enjoyed being back in the classroom and hope that additional contracts come my way! Lastly, I am volunteering with a non-profit called, Vusmuntfo and will be responsible for writing pre-school standards, assessments, and for creating an aligned curriculum so that community pre-schools (which are not supported by the Ministry of Education) can get organized. I will also be helping Vusmuntfo to plan and facilitate monthly workshops to train the pre-school teachers. After visiting 5 rural pre-schools in the north of Swaziland last week, my heart hurt; but, it was also completely inspirational to see a group of 20 children sitting on a dirt floor in a windowless hut trying to learn their numbers to 50. The community pre-school teachers are truly ‘making do’ within their reality and trying their best to provide a foundation for the children in the rural areas.
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