So I have been here in Peru a little over a month. I have been teaching hundreds of students technology on one little computer. It seems that there was a mistake with my schedule and I kept missing the mass arrival of machines by one week or so.
It is really frustrating to miss the arrival of the machines once. It is more frustrating the second time. By the third time it is a bit hard to have hope. Yet, like they always say, the "third time is a charm." Who ever "they" is even predicated the arrival of laptop in Arequipa correctly. My Spanish grammar in relation to the laptops had always included the progress
ive or future tense (the laptops are arriving or the laptops will arrive).
ive or future tense (the laptops are arriving or the laptops will arrive).We got to the local Ministry of Education in Mollendo, Arequipa (located, quite conveniently, 2.5 hours by bus away from our hotel) and discovered that the laptop had arrived! That's right, past tense. Shock.
We took the laptops to the school, handed them out, and were finally able to watch children connect. They connected, discovered their ability to chat, and completely lost interest in what the te
acher was saying. The director of the local ministry office kept trying to tell me something about a ceremony. I wasn't really listening and it was about that time that a first grader with a very bad cold sneezed on me. I just nodded, said "yes I understand" and went back to fixing computers.
acher was saying. The director of the local ministry office kept trying to tell me something about a ceremony. I wasn't really listening and it was about that time that a first grader with a very bad cold sneezed on me. I just nodded, said "yes I understand" and went back to fixing computers. A word to the wise: If someone mentions the word "ceremony" in Peru, it may be in your best interest to listen. The next day we arrived to find the school transformed with a large tent, speaker system, and everyone dressed quite professionally.
Apparently the Ministry of Education (from Lima), including the nice man who lets me live with him in Lima, was coming to see the children with laptops and have a ceremony. I know, I know, I should have paid better attention.
The ceremony was a hit. Kids dressed like old men and danced in circles with sticks. I have no idea why (I don't think they know either). Others sang and read poems.
During the ceremony all the kids had their laptops out and were experimenting with them. During a very important (but agreeably boring) speaker, a few discovered the joys of the music creation program. By working together (as the program encourages) they could almost completely drown out the speaker. There was much sadness when I temporarily disabled their speakers.
On a serious note, I really do believe that these laptops will change the educational system in Arequipa. Already, the children are learning to type. They are teaching their families and working to find ways to connect to internet. They are taking pictures of their communities and finding ways to document their lives. And of course, they can now make enough music to completely overpower their teachers. A tool in and of itself.
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Atahualpa's Game
[Peruvian]
Sometimes, it's not wise
To share your wisdom
---as did, Atahualpa
(The Inca King) in the
Game of chess; thereafter,
He was condemned to death.
The Great Warrior Lord of Huayllay (Cerro de pasco, Peru)
Great pomp and pride, was inside his heart and head,
with sadness and strife, such strange things inside a boy.
He laid his hand upon the breast of the king, swore:
revenge with gladness would not leave his heart.
And he was bred to be a bold man, for battle, and such;
and in his time, as a youth, many marvels had men seen:
but of all that, men heard tell, one day he would be king.
Wherefore a marvel among men he was, and I shell tell
his tale, for he was one of few that held it, no fear of death…
one of the wildest of all men, as it is infixed, brave he was,
thus linked to gods it is told, but he loved only One, but One.
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