“We’ll never use this” is a phrase often heard in classrooms around the US. I taught Geometry for 4 years prior to coming on the world race. I heard this phrase more often than I can count. Usually, my response would have been something to the effect of, “It depends on what you end up studying, but Geometry helps your brain develop logical thinking skills.” Now, after traveling around the world for 7 months, I have a brand new answer to that question. My new response would be the following…
Imagine you are in Africa. Mozambique, to be specific. You have been staying out in the bush for 2 weeks helping at a primitive orphanage. The kids that live at this orphanage have nothing. They live in two tents, one for girls and another for boys. They sleep on straw mats. Going to the restroom means going to a toilet that is set over the top of a large hole dug into the ground. It’s hot. Showering, for you anyway, means walking to a well about 3 miles away and taking turns while you and another person pump water for one another into a bucket. The children eat rice or porridge three times a day. Even though you may have money to buy other things for yourself, it really does not matter because there is nowhere to buy anything.
You often think about how little these kids have, but yet how joyful and child like they are. You’d like to give them something. The person in charge of the orphanage, Jaco, decides that it would be best for the entire orphanage to be moved to a new location where it can be better seen by local authorities. Even though it will be a longer walk for water, it is easier and less costly to get electricity run to the new place. It is also likely that the orphans would eventually be able to have their own well, which would eliminate walking so far for water. So, it is decided that the orphanage will be moved. It takes one day of hard work to move an entire orphanage of about 25 kids (this is either an indication of how little these kids have to move, or how hard you and your team worked, or maybe a little of both). Once you get to the new spot, it is decided that a building will be built for the kids. A plan for the building is begun, and Jaco decides how large he wants the building to be – 6 meters by 28 meters. The building needs to be square or it will fall down. You have no calculator. Can you help Jaco build a home for these orphans?
