Teaching the Teachers

March 13th

Day started at 8am with a session training the supervisors to do Lesson Observations. Except that there were no supervisors, electricity or colleagues! Finally got started at 9:15 with 3 participants and 2 colleagues. Turns out that the ‘supportive’ training on offer, whilst appreciated, wouldn’t help them with the task of ‘monitoring’ teachers. What they really wanted was how to undertake lesson observations without the teachers hating them! I’ve asked to see the forms they have to fill in…… we’ll go from there. I’m pretty sure I’m going to get a version of the OFSTED form handed down via the Ministry, Regional Bureau and Woreda.

Then straight into a meeting with the Cluster Committee to evaluate the training at Atse Bekafa and plan the whole day session for Friday – with 104 teachers. Two members of the committee asked if we could post pone it because they’re teaching in the morning!

Both meetings ended up with long and animated discussion in Amharic leaving me to pick up what I could from the body language – surprising how much you can pick up that way! At one stage, I intervened and suggested they listen to each other having observed one poor man desperately trying to get into the discussion.

Since I had worked through lunch, I decided to leave early and have an afternoon at the house. So glad I did.

Mekdes and I sat and chatted about how to crochet. We gave each other an informal language lesson – she enjoys teaching me Amharic and doesn’t notice how much English she has to use. We observed a large Bird of prey that she assures me lives in the tree on the other side of the fence. It sometimes catches small chickens.


This is a bird of prey that nests in the tree just outside my garden.

I suggested tea, Mekdes suggested the coffee ceremony. Ethiopian people take their coffee very seriously. Not for them walking around with a mug in the hand getting on with jobs. Coffee is an event that takes at least half an hour. So I sat back in my new plastic chair whilst Mekdes made coffee and popcorn. I assisted by creating an impromptu table out of an upturned bucket with one of the many crotched place mats. I forgot about the three brews rule and ended up having two cups out of the first brew but in any case the cup is so small it only takes a couple of gulps. I am now the proud owner of a complete set of coffee ceremony cups – courtesy of my colleague Meleshew and a proper coffee maker and stand – courtesy of Mekdes. And a special little dish in which to burn coal and incense – courtesy of Michael and Gill who left it at the house. So now I’m set up for entertaining visitors. But only when Mekdes is here since she doesn’t think my coffee making skills are up to it.