Well, that was on the one hand the orphanage and on the other hand the psychological aid in the prison.
In the orphanage I did indeed work for three months, which was a nice but also strenuous experience. My French improved and I also learned a lot working there. Whether my contribution had really made a difference, I don’t actually think so. The teacher had asked me for advise and feedback, though when I returned four months later not much had changed (similar I had also observed with respect to the feedback that other volunteers had given).
The psychological help in the prison was simply not (yet) possible, as I had finally found out a few weeks after arriving in Sokodé. Apparently the project was already in planning and negotiations with the prison and local procurer had already taken place, but no service could yet be offered to the prisoners due to lack of funding (to buy the materials, as I was told). Much wasn’t needed, as apart from the psychological aid, only an alphabetisation course was going to be offered to begin with. Thus after some contemplation, I decided to kick start the project by offering the necessary funding; after all the prison project was the main reason for why I had come to this place. It then took still more than a month before the first service was ready to be offered: the alphabetisation course. I thought that’s better than nothing and helped on the first three alphabetisation sessions. I quickly realized though that my French was simply not evolved sufficiently for this task (esp. pronunciation, spelling, grammar)… Then it was time to leave Sokodé for the little break that was meant to be in the middle of my voluntary placements… I checked a few more times with AVECS whether the psychological help could yet be offered, but simply didn’t receive an answer on that question. With the alphabetisation not being a suitable alternative and another round of full-time orphanage also not being that attractive (after all I am not that great when it comes to animating large groups of kids), I decided to stay with Nico and help him on his projects instead.
In the orphanage I did indeed work for three months, which was a nice but also strenuous experience. My French improved and I also learned a lot working there. Whether my contribution had really made a difference, I don’t actually think so. The teacher had asked me for advise and feedback, though when I returned four months later not much had changed (similar I had also observed with respect to the feedback that other volunteers had given).
The psychological help in the prison was simply not (yet) possible, as I had finally found out a few weeks after arriving in Sokodé. Apparently the project was already in planning and negotiations with the prison and local procurer had already taken place, but no service could yet be offered to the prisoners due to lack of funding (to buy the materials, as I was told). Much wasn’t needed, as apart from the psychological aid, only an alphabetisation course was going to be offered to begin with. Thus after some contemplation, I decided to kick start the project by offering the necessary funding; after all the prison project was the main reason for why I had come to this place. It then took still more than a month before the first service was ready to be offered: the alphabetisation course. I thought that’s better than nothing and helped on the first three alphabetisation sessions. I quickly realized though that my French was simply not evolved sufficiently for this task (esp. pronunciation, spelling, grammar)… Then it was time to leave Sokodé for the little break that was meant to be in the middle of my voluntary placements… I checked a few more times with AVECS whether the psychological help could yet be offered, but simply didn’t receive an answer on that question. With the alphabetisation not being a suitable alternative and another round of full-time orphanage also not being that attractive (after all I am not that great when it comes to animating large groups of kids), I decided to stay with Nico and help him on his projects instead.
No comments:
Post a Comment