What Makes America Great: education and ice

After living in Lesotho for a couple months I have come to believe that the real difference between developed and developing countries is education. Solely based on the fact that we’ve had American educations, my fellow volunteers and I, after a few weeks of training by Peace Corps, are qualified to teach and lead workshops on business, nutrition, lifeskills, HIV/AIDS, sustainable farming, etc. and serve as mentors and counselors in Lesotho. All we need is some books. Not only do they lack resources, such as good textbooks here, there is also a lack of people who know how to use them as resources. While most of the teachers at my schools are working hard to educate the students, there is just a different attitude towards the education system. Most classes are merely copying things from the board, memorizing without understanding. And teachers often don’t come to class at all, and there are no substitutes. Students either study on their own or go home; it seems to be a weekly occurrence. One day last week only 2 of the 7 teachers where there. Beating students is a normal, everyday occurrence here. Besides being harmful for the students physically and mentally, it creates a horrible learning environment. There are several teachers that seem interested in learning alternatives classroom management techniques, which I’m really excited about, I’m going to lead a workshop on it soon. I’ve started teaching the teachers about lifeskills and HIV/AIDS. Its alarming the misconceptions that even some of the educated people here have about AIDS. Many thought that you couldn’t get AIDS id you were white, or that it is a problem in Lesotho but not in their village.

Education is a way out of poverty. But it’s nearly impossible to learn what you’re not taught. I believe that America has one of the best education systems in the world. Just imagine what these kids could do and would become if they received our educations. The education system is what makes America great. And the abundance of cold drinks. It’s become summer here and it is hot. I’ve started making cool tea, since there is no ice for ice tea. I think America might use more ice than any other country in the world. It might just be frozen water, but it is so good. Warm lemonade just isn’t the same.