The past two weeks, I was asked to teach math at RiseMalawi secondary school. The students are all on break, and since their teachers are all working on grading exams from the first term, they asked me and my teammate Ashlyn to teach math and biology.
Now you may be wondering, if the students are on break, why are we teaching them? We’re teaching them because they want to learn as much as they can. Here in Malawi, education looks a little different. Students must pass high stakes tests in order to move on to the next grade. If they do not pass, they must go through that same grade again the following year. In fact, it’s quite common for students to repeat grades. Because of this, students have to work their tails off to study for their exams.
So when I say they want to learn as much as they can, I mean it. Honestly, it’s extremely impressive to see 20 high school students coming every weekday on their break to study math and biology for 2 hours a day. It’s not something you see often in America.
So I was able to give the gift of knowledge to these students. Knowledge of vectors, circle geometry, transformations, and logarithmic equations. It was refreshing to be able to teach a big group of students who actually desired to learn math.
On top of that, it was a blessing to be able to teach them in English. From grade 5 through grade 12, students learn subjects in English, so praise God that the students could actually understand me. (And if they didn’t, they did a good job of faking it)
The classroom may have looked different from what I am used to, but I thank the Lord for giving me the opportunity to do something familiar in an unfamiliar place.
