School visit4 - Miss Pinky學校考察四之Miss Pinky

I went to G.N.S. Meluf to see the progress of the consultation on 25th Feb. The windows are already done and they have started the ceiling.
The nursery two students had lesson outside the school because of the construction and I played with them. They started to call me Miss Pinky instead of Kimbon, which means white man. I learnt some songs of them and they are interesting!
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I am a banana;
Children and monkey
They like to eat me
And they call me yellow!
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Labour for learning before you grow old
For learning is better than silver and gold
Silver and gold will vanish away
But learning itself will never decay
For a man without learning wearing good shoes
is just like a silver ring on the pig’s nose.

二月二十五日，再到G.N.S. Meluf 監工．已開始安裝窗了，亦開始安裝天花了．
由於課室正進行工程，幼兒高班的小孩子都於課室外上課．跟他們玩了些遊戲，他們終於都不再叫我Kimbon 而叫我Miss Pinky 了．

About life – public transport 生活篇之公共交通工具

In Kumbo, there are two main public transportations – taxi and motorbike.

Taxi: it is a cheaper and safer transportation. However, you need to wait for more passengers until it is full. The size of the taxi is smaller than the HK one and the definition of full is with 8 people. Imagine how it feels to share the seat with the driver!! Moreover, if you travel for a long distance, people will also bring luggage or maybe a goat.
It is also very hot to travel by bike since the windows will be closed because of dusts.

Motorbike: there is no fix price and therefore you need to bargain for a reasonable price, especially when you are not black. A motorbike can carry three people including the bike driver.

在Kumbo 裡主要有的士及電單車這兩種公共交通工具．

的士：較為便宜及安全的交通工具，但你需要等待更多的乘客，直至的士滿座．這兒的的士較香港的細小，而滿座的定義為八人．還有，若你是到一個較遠的地方，乘客們還會帶大包小包．試想想跟的士司機共坐同一個坐位，而另一位乘客帶著一

School Visit 3 - 學校考察三之助教 - Asistant teacher

Visited G.N.S Meluf again today. There is a primary school on the way to the nursery school and the students in the primary school always stare at me when I pass by.
It was break time when I arrived the nursery school. The kids rushed to me and shouted, 'Kimbon! (white man)'. I replied with my smile, 'I am not a Kimbon and my name's Pinky.' A teacher came and said, 'Return back to your seat. She is your teacher!'
The most difficult part to be a nursery teacher is, that you never know if they understand your instruction or not.
今天再到G.N.S. Meluf，到幼兒園的路會經過Meluf小學，小孩子們見到我也定眼地望著我．到了幼兒園，正值休息時間，老師都不在，那兒幼兒低班的小孩子都衝到門前，大叫「Kimbon！Kimbon！（白人）」，我便笑著對他們說：「我不是白人，我的名子是Pinky」．老師走了過來，說：「返回自己的座位！她是你們的老師！」
教小朋友的難處是，你很難知道他們到底是否明白你的意思．

Taiwan and China

I didn’t expect to be asked this question: Do you think that Taiwan is part of China?
I was being asked twice, by Natsuki, the Japanese girl living with and a history teacher here. And, ‘Japan government wants Taiwan to be part of China because she did something bad to China in the past and she wants to keep a good relationship with China’ Natsuki said. It is an interesting discovery to me that the Japan government admitted that she did something bad to China in the past!

教書

教書來到這兒以前，我沒有想過這個國家竟缺乏數學老師！今個星期五開始，我便會到一間職業訓練學校教授基本數學．這所學校的學生都是都沒有完成中學的，而他們會修讀工程、機械或財務等實用科目．而他們自去年開始便沒有數學老師，這真的令我感到驚訝．我看過書本，都是一些很基本的數學概念──小數及分數的四式運算、單利率及復利率、時間速度和距離等．若果沒有這些基礎，他們又是如何學習那些實用科目呢？
今天，有位碩士研究生到來辦公室，他正研究一個關於非政府組織對地方發展的題目，跟他談及數學老師的問題，他說這兒的人都很怕數學，所以很少人於中六、七時選修數學，以致缺乏數學及物理老師．
到了星期五，當我真正接觸學生，便會知道他們的實際情況．

學習

二月十六日，我應邀請到了兩位修女所組織的小型圖書館幫忙．首先，小孩子可以閱讀自己喜歡的圖書，我們則會在旁陪伴，若他們遇上不認識的字我們便會幫忙．然後，年紀較小的小孩子都會聚在一起，聽故事姐姐說故事．故事姐姐並不只是單單地說故事，她還會問許多的問題，小孩子們都很勇躍地回答問題．
香港的學生都常被批評不主動學習，這是因為最初的教育問題嗎？大部份小孩子也充滿好奇，但我們的課堂設計又有多少機會讓我們去發揮這個小宇宙呢？

甚麼是貧窮？

去年三月，我到了烏干達參加了一個由AIESEC舉辦的國際學生會議，討論一些關於非洲的問題．很多的非洲國家也面對著貧窮的問題，可是，到了那個境地才不算是貧窮呢？
－＞流浪漢，沒有足夠的錢租住房屋
－＞一家人住在一所房子內，但錢只足夠每人每天吃一餐
－＞一家人，三餐並非問題，但沒有錢讓孩子唸書
－＞在香港，一家人的衣食住行也勉強足夠，但沒有錢買電腦讓孩子做電腦科功課．
－＞在某個國家，唸醫科的費用很昂貴，某學生有足夠的能力唸醫而他的志願是當醫生，他沒有足夠的錢唸醫，但他的錢足夠他唸其他的科目．
－＞某人憧得多國語言，而他的理想是環遊世界，把所見所聞結集成書，在他的國家，他所能賺取的金錢永遠也不足夠他離開自己的國土．
談到這兒，我想討論的問題是，到了那一個憬像，我們才算是把貧窮的問題解決呢？
若果貧窮的沒有足夠的能力或金錢以滿足生活的基本需要，那何為基本需要呢？
最初是衣食住，然後我們會覺得教育是非重要的，其後我們又會談及夢想、理想．於香港，我們都評論時下年青人欠乏理想，然而，當生活需要的更底層出現問題時，我們又能否談理想呢？