Getting Things Done

We had our first Film Night which was a success. We showed a documentary about the Danakil Depression in Ethiopia. We had over forty students which was lucky because that is the maximum capacity of the ELIC. The aim of the Film Night is to show a different film, documentary or TV show every week and have a short discussion after it. We want the students to be able to improve their English speaking and listening skills in an informal environment whilst enjoying themselves, as most of the students here think they are learning English only if they are learning grammar from a textbook. We will continue this as a weekly programme and are hoping that the number of students will increase.


We also successfully held a Gender Club Welcome Ceremony last week. It was a conference to introduce the Gender Club to first year female students and to introduce some of the activities that are going to be held between now and June. The agenda at the Gender Club Welcome Ceremony included the following: an introduction from the Vice Dean, a talk from the Regional Educational Bureau on Justice in Ethiopia and people’s rights, a presentation by one of the teacher trainers on his action research on Sexual Harassment in the college, and an outline of the purpose of the Gender Club and upcoming activities.


We wanted to do this Welcome ceremony much earlier – in November or December, but for various reasons we just couldn’t.  Organising anything in Ethiopia is such a challenge! However, we had a lot of support from the staff who took part in the ceremony which was great.


Some of the other activities we are hoping to do are a skills share between males and females – so the females will teach the males how to cook a simple ‘watt’ and the males will teach females football skills. We are hoping that this will enable those who take part to break gender stereotypes and try new skills which they normally wouldn’t.  Another planned activity is a HIV/AIDS and Safe Sex workshop with speakers from the local hospital. We also have a tutorial scheme planned where third year students tutor low achieving first year students. In addition, we have a conference organised for International Women’s Day in March. Altogether there are about eight events/activities planned. It was great to organise the event from the beginning and finally carry it out.


On the downside I still haven’t started the English Language Improvement Programme classes for the trainers at the college, which is very disappointing. The college is being very slow with getting this going. Nevertheless I have decided that I will hold speaking and listening English classes for the cleaners and the administrative staff who have very little English. Fingers crossed this will be a little easier to get off the ground!


Also I have a friend who teaches at a local preparatory school who asked me to come to her English class and teach intonation. It was a lovely experience and the students were great as they always are in Ethiopia. I have been to quite a few local schools before to see classes and observe teachers. For me it’s always been such a positive experience and so I’m hoping to do more of it.