The start of 2017 has been both busy and incredibly exciting for me. I really have been able to move forward with a lot of my projects and even more excitingly – I am starting to see the results.
The student's performing the Nativity scene.
Celebrating the New Year!
I have been eager to tell you all about how New Year’s Eve is celebrated in Myanmar. It was the most bizarre and lovely celebration I have attended yet. The midwifery students built a stage using bricks and nails. They decorated it with balloons which burst at regular intervals throughout the service, always causing a start of surprise and a burst of laughter from the audience.
Then the students performed the Nativity scene, sang and danced to hymns and carols and finished the night with a Christian Minister giving a sermon. Given that over 95% of the students and teachers here are Buddhist this is yet another example of how welcoming and accepting they are of all other people’s cultures.
Seeing changes happen
However, life goes at a very fast pace here and as soon as New Year’s was over it was back to business. My plans have been progressing quickly, with almost all the tutors now using lesson plans for every class. If you remember their reluctance when I first broached the idea, I’m sure you will agree that this is quite a turnaround.
And as the lesson plans have come in to play, I have seen such a change. The lessons have become much more interactive, with lecturers using power point presentations and assessing the students’ knowledge at the beginning and end of each class. This allows both the students and the teachers to understand where they can improve. As these pupils will soon have the health of new born babies in their hands, it’s vital there are no gaps in their knowledge.
Information overload
I also decided to buy all the tutors a memory stick and load them up with resources they would never otherwise have had access to. They can’t be expected to improve lectures if they are restricted in the information they themselves can source. I really hope this will help make a real difference to them. They are so overworked and underappreciated, that I just want to make their work easier where I can.
Already, many of the tutors are using this information consistently and the results are better than I could have hoped for. I have also booked out some time so that tutors who are still unsure of the best way to make use of the resources will be able to come and speak to me individually.
Our new first years.
Any improvement of the lecturer’s knowledge will improve that of the students, which should then lead to better care for pregnant women. This means that the ultimate beneficiaries are the local population; we are ensuring that the next generation will enter the world in safe hands.
Our new first years
These last two months have also seen the arrival of our new first years. They have been settling in well, enjoying freshers celebrations that are very different from those we know back home. My photo will give you an idea, lots of performances of national songs and traditional dances.
Thank you,
I am not going to lie, I still feel home sick from time to time. Even though I love my new neighbours and colleagues, I sometimes long for my own bed and my family. It is at these times when your support is so important to me, knowing that you are back in the UK, looking out for me makes all the difference.
Speak soon,
Carol
