Volunteer reflections
Anne McMahon - Rio Diary
September 12, 2009
I have almost completed my first week at the To Ligado project here in Rio. The time has passed by so quickly...
Rio is, by anyone's standards, a special city as not only is it a huge metropolis but it is blessed with so much natural beauty, the contrast really is quite something to behold. The convent, where I am staying, is high up on a hill. It offers what must be unparalleled views of the city, I just love it. However, it is quite unsettling watching the planes come in to land as the view gives you an almost optical illusion as the airport is on an island and so you see these planes which fly around Sugar Loaf mountain and then descend closer and closer to the water . at that stage I just have to close my eyes!
I had my formal introduction to the children of the To Ligago project on Tuesday and I spent the afternoon observing Beth [the Co-ordinator] teach so that I could get a feel for the teaching methods which work best, etc. The children are bundles of energy and are overflowing with enthusiasm. They are so intelligent, even the very little ones who completely left me in their dust when we were doing an English vocabulary building exercise which involved completing a word search themed on the tale of Jack and the Beanstalk, which is this semester's theme. But the less said about my being out-thought by 8-year olds the better, for my own ego at least!
I start to teach English at the project next week and I am looking forward to it but am wondering how I am going to manage with such minimal Portuguese but I feel confident in the knowledge that there is always plenty of help at hand from the monitors/teaching assistants at the project and, of course, Beth. Already I feel at home and I am thinking to myself, mmmm is one year really enough?! We will see...
September 22, 2009
This week I began teaching and being taught ...
The week has been a really mixed bag. On the one hand it has been a good week and I have learned a lot and also enjoyed seeing more of the city. With each day that passes I feel I am getting to know the children more and more and I like to think that they are starting to feel that I am less and less of a stranger to them. On the other hand the past week has been very turbulent within the local communities - there appears to have been a notable ratcheting up of violence and unrest, the theories as to why this is are numerous. Although I feel secure, the safety and wellbeing of the children who attend the project and the teaching assistants, who live in the surrounding communities, does play on my mind somewhat. It has reinforced, for me, that no matter how much I get to know the children and learn about their lives and background, I will never truly know what life is like for them and this is something that I must not only accept but must have at the forefront of my mind when I am dealing with the children, for example, if they are having a bad day, etc. I am a guest here at the project and I respect that privilege and am thankful for the experience(s) I have gained and, no doubt, will continue to gain from being here.
September 30th 2009
Things around the convent have been less than peaceful as of late and, of course, all of this unrest has its effect on the children, how could it not, and I experienced the difficulty of trying to teach children who have arguably become accustomed to living in war-like conditions, it was not easy for them or for me. When something is troubling the children you can tell immediately, there is a palpable sense of nervousness that hangs in the air. The children are charged with a kind of nervous energy that has them on edge for the entire day, you see it not only when you are trying to teach them but also in the way in which they play ball games during their break and their general interaction with each other. It is not a case that they become naughty as such, it is difficult to describe, I would say that they disconnect and that their minds are elsewhere. During my classes with the two younger groups, on this particular day (last Tuesday) I had lost all control, they were unenthusiastic about participating in the work I had set, they were bickering amongst themselves and I felt ignored and pretty much discarded. I think that day really demonstrated, at least to me, that children really are products of their environment, particularly as their behaviour on this one day stood in stark contrast to their previous behaviour both in classes with me prior to and since this time. They really are good kids with good, kind hearts and what seems to be an almost unbreakable spirit and I really admire that - I think I will learn a lot from working together with them.
As I have been here for almost four weeks now I am starting to settle into my own new routines. Each morning, weather permitting, I take a walk through the local neighbourhood and see everyone going about their daily business, maids, gardeners and other domestic help busily getting underway with their morning chores, mechanics and engineers who, from the amount of oil and grease on their overalls, have been hard at work for some time already and also there is the quintessential professional setting off for his/her day at the office somewhere in the centre of the city. I really enjoy this time of day and observing everyday life.
October 5th, 2009
As you all know by now, Rio has been selected to be the host of the Olympics 2016 and I think it is well deserved, an Olympics in South America is long overdue. I know it is tempting to say should Brazil really be spending its money on an Olympic games or should it be spending the money instead on its community services such as schools, housing and hospitals, etc but let's all be real. But for the Olympics the government of this (or any other country) would not otherwise spend the cash in any event! My hope is that the pressure of being under the glare of the world's media and the desire to have Brazil to be seen to have the same living standards as other world superpowers will be such that the situation of those who most need help will get it. For me, it does not really matter whether there is true sincerity or indeed desire in bringing about better living standards for the favela communities, just so long as real change is made. I am sure if I were living in such conditions I would just be glad to have any improvement, I would not be questioning the motivations.
The children at the project had their annual spring party on Friday also, so it was timed nicely with the Olympics celebrations. It was an afternoon of music, games, food and general fun, it was wonderful to see them so relaxed and at ease. They were so excited about the Olympics and so very proud that it was coming to their City! I found it very touching as they are arguably very people who may, on a worst case scenario, get nothing from the Olympics' arrival here but still their excitement and pride in the having the games in Rio touched my heart and I pray that this will be a games for all.
October 30, 2009
I took time to reflect upon the time I have spent in Rio so far, to see whether I felt I was being true to my original inspiration for volunteering. Although I am here for one year time does have a habit of going awfully quickly. I was quite shocked to realise that I have already been here for two months and I do not want to get so far down the line only to realise that I had not achieved what I had set out to. I think as a volunteer it is important to keep a check on yourself as it is all too easy to get distracted and lose sight of why it was you came to be a volunteer in the first place. I am still in this reflective period but I have to say that I am, on the whole, happy with my progress thus far but I will never be completely satisfied, I always strive to do better.
The local favela
The Living and Learning Project