When school "opened" on September 11, approximately 25% of my school's teachers were on strike. One particular union, apparently made up of teachers who have actually graduated from university, decided that they wanted more pay and would like the head of the national education ministry to step down. Four weeks later, the strike continues and no one knows when it will end.

 

This week, many of the other teachers at my school who are not members of the striking union decided they were going to stop teaching. Maybe there's a reason why these teachers were teaching last week and stopped now, but I don't know it. As a result, the students, tired of sitting in their classrooms doing nothing, seize the opportunity to leave school early, usually before noon. Because the first-year students still have not reported to school (they're waiting for the strike to end), I only teach in the afternoons. By then, all of the students have gone home.

 

The bottom line is that I have not taught all week and I probably won't teach next week either. It's hard to complain about not working, but it's a little frustrating too. I did finally open the lab to the students. Most of the students who come to the lab in their free time use Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing. Others just aimlessly maneuver through Windows with no clue of what they're doing. I'm all for pointless exploration, but at some point I have to ask these students what they're trying to find out of fear that they may do something harmful to my school's precious computers. Later in the term, I'm going to hold a school-wide typing competition. This will definitely get a few students excited, but I'm not sure how many.

 

A note about my school's computers (in case anyone is interested). We have 21 computers, and 20 of them actually work. They range from a Pentium III-733 running Windows XP to a Pentium I-133 running Windows 95. No internet connection and no printer. Most of the computers have a CD drive, but some do not making it really hard to get any programs onto them. Some of these computers don't even have Microsoft Word, which is one of the major topics we'll be covering...

 

Addendum #1: Who gets injured jogging in the outfield? Absurd! It will make the Mets' inevitable World Series victory all the more dramatic. Go Tigers!

 

Addendum #2: Tonight there is a Jay-Z concert in Accra. Tickets range from 1 million cedis ($110) to 600,000 cedis ($70). I know of a few Peace Corps volunteers that are going. I'm saving my money for the 2008 Africa Cup (football, aka soccer).