Steve McInnis
When I returned on Monday, they gave me an all-new class to teach, Form 2 Mathematics. The head master asked me a couple of weeks ago if I would teach this class, and I said sure, give me a book to teach from (what’s the curriculum, at least!) and he seemed surprised that I would need something like that. Today he handed me a Form 2 text book and told me to teach whatever I felt comfortable with. I started into Unit 2: (a+b)2, (a-b)2, and (a+b)(a-b). On Wednesday, if I do this same class again, I’ll get into quadratic equations of more flavours.
I’ve been reminded again that we are well situated. The people are overwhelmingly good to us. One of the guards at the prison is a third-clerk of session. Yes, each church here seems to have two backup clerks. I had a good chat with him this morning in the sun, between classes.
On the downside, the prison system is really not good. For instance, some mornings the prisoners’ breakfast is late and once the class left half way through a lesson when breakfast was finally ready. And, they nicely asked to leave, aware that I didn’t understand the Chichewa announcement. I asked our guard friend about a prisoner I noticed who had only one arm. Apparently he was caught stealing and experienced some vigilante justice before finding his way into the prison system. I have written about a young man getting a 2 year sentence for stealing a bicycle (worth $100 at most). You can get a similar sentence for stealing a $10 cell phone. No wonder the prisons are overcrowded. My form 3 chemistry student is in for 11 years – I wonder what he did but I have not asked.
Last week I was getting ready to try an experiment with my chemistry classes. When I asked about some details, I was told that I couldn’t use the lab with my students. Today I learned that the lab is only used for final exams. How would that work?
I hope my readers are enjoying these little tidbits of our life here. The time will run out very soon – it’s already March. Feel free to make any comments. They are all appreciated. I’ll try to answer any questions you may have, or you can tell me all about the snow back home.
