The rains have come

The rains have come, and everywhere there is water. My route out to the village schools has progressed from bad to worse to scary, a 4WD obstacle course of mudslides and potholes hidden in puddles. The rivers break their banks, the dams overflow their walls, and the road disappears beneath muddy running water. When the waters recede, a slippery, knee-deep quagmire awaits drivers – I am lucky with my big four-wheel-drive; for some of my teachers, the mud would theoretically reach above the floor of their little Malaysian cars. I say theoretically, for when the road is like this, half the teachers simply don’t go to work.

Sometimes the road just disappears entirely, sliding down into the rainforest a hundred metres below. A couple of days later, I drive past again to find that diggers have been at work, cutting into the cliff above – there is little else they can do but write off the collapsed side, which is now a lump of pale clay clogging up the river in the valley.

Sometimes even my rough, tough tractor of a car can’t cope, and I’ve spent a few scary minutes in the past fortnight, the engine wailing, the wheels slipping, wondering if I’m ever going to get up a hill.

All this makes me wonder if it’s bad news or good that the Ministry and the British Council have finally decided that this placement is too difficult, and have found me some new schools to work with. While I’m sad to say goodbye to the beautiful place I live in, and to my sweet little house, I will get to keep one of my schools, which I will visit once a fortnight for a whole day (leaving at 5am, and getting home around 7 in the evening). Theoretically the teachers at the other four schools will come and take part in afternoon sessions there, but I’m not too hopeful, given past experience.

My four new schools are within a 40-minute drive from Ranau, all but one on tarred roads – what luxury! I began visiting them on Tuesday, and so far, it’s been pretty positive. These schools have seen a little of what the project can offer, through their links with my colleague Fiona’s schools in town, and they’re keen to be part of it. Their understanding is still very shallow though, and I have been spending most of the time explaining again and again.

“So, you will teach the children?”

                   
                               “No, I am not a teacher here – I will be helping the teachers, working together to look at their classrooms and teaching practice.”

“Okay, so you will teach them to be better?”

“Well, not really, we’ll work together on things that interest them, like teaching methodology.”

“Okay, so you will train them to be better?”

“No, I’m not a trainer, I will be working WITH the teachers to help them.”

“Uh. Okay. So next week, can you train all the teachers on how to teach?”

At that point I leave it, and hope that the next chat will be more productive…