With airline ticket and anti-malarials in hand, I’m counting the days until I return to Salone. While it’s been a little disconcerting being here in the “land of too much” as my friend Joan calls it, and I shed tears of frustration over blatant inequity (ask me about the TSX and mining), it has been very good to spend time with friends and family, put on a few dozen pounds, and access resources and information hard to find in Mapaki. It’s been a very busy summer….thanks to all who attended presentations, contributed to the school materials container organized by ten-year old Logan, and helped with cdpeace’s work in so many other areas (solar power, transportation, agriculture, health, education, communication, etc.). Until I leave for Sierra Leone, I’ll be busy mostly with schools work…creating resources for teachers here and in Sierra Leone, visiting schools, and spending a week with students and faculty at Queen’s University in Kingston. I’ve built a little Waldenesque cabin in the “Yukon woods” that is my home base while in Canada and will soon be packing up my Canadian bucket and new rain shoes (with surprisingly fewer covetous looks here) until my return in May. I expect that my next posting will be from Mapaki. If you are a teacher reading this post and are interested in involving your class in an exchange, please take a look at the resources and email me at cvangurp-at-gmail.com. And thanks for returning to this blog after such a long time off-line!!Sunday, August 17, 2008
Out of Canada
With airline ticket and anti-malarials in hand, I’m counting the days until I return to Salone. While it’s been a little disconcerting being here in the “land of too much” as my friend Joan calls it, and I shed tears of frustration over blatant inequity (ask me about the TSX and mining), it has been very good to spend time with friends and family, put on a few dozen pounds, and access resources and information hard to find in Mapaki. It’s been a very busy summer….thanks to all who attended presentations, contributed to the school materials container organized by ten-year old Logan, and helped with cdpeace’s work in so many other areas (solar power, transportation, agriculture, health, education, communication, etc.). Until I leave for Sierra Leone, I’ll be busy mostly with schools work…creating resources for teachers here and in Sierra Leone, visiting schools, and spending a week with students and faculty at Queen’s University in Kingston. I’ve built a little Waldenesque cabin in the “Yukon woods” that is my home base while in Canada and will soon be packing up my Canadian bucket and new rain shoes (with surprisingly fewer covetous looks here) until my return in May. I expect that my next posting will be from Mapaki. If you are a teacher reading this post and are interested in involving your class in an exchange, please take a look at the resources and email me at cvangurp-at-gmail.com. And thanks for returning to this blog after such a long time off-line!!
