Sunday 27 October 2019

Day 9 and 10 final reflections

So yesterday was our last day in Freetown... a leisurely morning, watching England destroy New Zealand in rugby seemed to have put every body (who cares about rugby that is) in a very good mood. We finally departed for Big Market around 10:30 and as usual, students were slightly taken aback by the array of stalls and the amount of people who wanted them to be their “friends”, leading them to their stall and trying hard to sell them their first product of the day...a good first deal promises a good business day in Big Market. Some of our students seem to have got the bartering off to an absolute tee, and Hattie even managed to get herself a skirt made to measure there and then! With our hands filled with local items, clothes and even musical instruments, and our wallets considerably lighter, we headed back to LACS for the last time. Pizzas for all and finally, at 3 pm we left for the ferry at Aberdeen wharf. After a lot of counting the luggage, then recounting them, issuing tickets, then counting them, then informing me 3 times that our luggage had been loaded on the boat, and then had gone to the airport, we finally left Freetown... it was clear for all to see that there was a lot of sadness in our students’ eyes. Now waiting in Paris for our final flight, I think it is fair to say that it has been a very successful trip. 

We have established new links, and have already sussed out new opportunities for outreach concerts and work for next year, and everywhere we went, students were congratulated on their performances and enthusiasm. 
Each will have had a very different experience I am sure, but I am absolutely certain that the memories will last forever. There were some lows, when a few students fell victim to the heat and humidity combined, or the spices in the food, but they were few and far between in comparison to the highs: our visit to Don Bosco, a sobering first experience of Sierra Leone, the voices of the angels from the Milton Margai school, and the cultural village. Not only did our students enjoy the performances there, but they were able to give their own little performance of the dance learnt at the orphanage, which really surprised and pleased the locals. 

  

For me, my overriding memory will be of how our students took to teaching at JTR- yes the first day was hard, but once they got the hang of it, they were brilliant. Of course, I am slightly biased here, but Hugo and Lottie teaching French to Y7 with me as support, and reading and exploring The Hungry Caterpillar in French to Year 5 was great to see, and I hope they will cherish this for years to come. Equally, watching Tom and Ben trying to get year 6 students’ heads around Countdown, with Ben explaining step by step to one student, was a great way to discover new facettes of our students. Finally, Ellie and Hector, just about surviving trying to teach 68 excited Year 2 students in the sweltering heat of the hall...and then on Thursday, trying to teach a bit of PE to 2 classes of Year 6. They have all acknowledged that being a teacher is demanding, exhausting but such a rewarding job...although, I fear I may have put them off that profession as a result! I am tonight, after a few hours back on home soil, a very proud teacher indeed- humbled by our students’ ability to adapt and to engage in such a way. 



       
Finally, a big thank you to Mrs Lipman, who jumped in as the third member of staff literally at the last minute..and who tested for us the brand new Visa on arrival for tourists. They let her in, so clearly it worked. Although completely new to the venture, she has totally embraced it and without her, this trip would not have been possible- she nursed our poorly students at the hotel, and was really thrown at the deep end on her visit to JTR, where she chose to teach an English lessons
 To Senior students and then ended up teaching them some more, when their normal teacher did not seem to appear. She even tried a bit of roman history, but had to divert from it! She has been a real asset in this trip and the team was all the better for her calming and relaxed influence.

As I close this chapter, I am already excitedly look forward to the next. Until then, it is over and out from JDA for this year. Merci! 

Over to Mr Coward...
It was another good week at the Ballanta Academy of Music, with record numbers of keen pupils coming for lessons each day. We were surprised to learn from Leslie, who is now in charge of the day-to-day running of the Academy, that he had only advertised our visit to pupils and friends of BAM the week before we arrived: had he given more notice, he said that we would have had far more pupils turn up than we could possibly teach! As it was, the balance was about right, with some pupils deciding to try their hand at several different instruments, while others dedicated themselves to just one. 

A particular highlight for me this year was working with three trumpeters from the Police band, who had come along with their enthusiastic director. It was great to work with some more experienced players, and to know that the skills they are developing will be of direct use to them in their profession. Our pupils, many of whom taught their first ever lessons this week, did themselves proud, and will doubtless have learnt a lot about the tricky task of explaining a skill which may be second nature to them but is a brand new experience for their pupil. They certainly managed to convey their love of music and have come home with many happy memories of teaching and performing in Sierra Leone.
               

          


 Thank you to the entire team! Jack Coward