This week we focused on teaching the kids how to take care of themselves and the world they live in. In comparison to Western standards, both of these needed a good amount of explaining. As I have mentioned before, the average showers per week the typical Azeri gets is a bit farther and fewer in between than the typical American. Brushing teeth is also not a daily concern, but maybe rather a special occasions concern. All the men here smoke cigarettes which starts at a young age and being a former Soviet state, alcohol consumption (by men only of course) can be considerably high. And there’s of course the diet which I have griped about enough already.
The environmental concerns are simple actually: Just don’t litter. Many villages and towns don’t have a reliable waste system. They merely burn their trash when there is enough of it to burn. The smell of burning trash has become the smell I hate the most… in life really. Fortunately in Neftchala, we do have a sort of trash system. There are these small, three walled enclosures that function as public trash pick up sites. Every couple weeks a garbage truck comes to collect. Unfortunately the chickens and cows get to these trash sites and dig through them, spilling trash out into the streets leaving plastic bags mixed into the muddy roads. Therefore, not everything gets picked up and disposed of. It also just leaves a terrible smell. However, environmental issues that we have in the States are somewhat irrelevant here. People naturally recycle all their glass jars and plastic bottles. Electricity and water are used conservatively due to financial concerns. It is just the trash but it is completely frustrating seeing people throw their plastics and napkins right out onto the street without thinking of the repercussions.
Monday June 14: Health
We decorated plastic bottles and prepared sunflower seeds to sprout. We talked about totems and choosing an animal that would represent each student’s connection to the earth. We talked about what they brought as a snack and discussed the food pyramid. Then we had a race on which team could complete a food pyramid the fastest.
Tuesday June 15: Hygiene
Made a list of what consisted of healthy living style and non-healthy living styles. Talked about drugs, smoking and drinking. Drew anti-drugs, smoking and drinking advertisements. Created and performed mini skits about situations that had to do with peer pressure. Fed them granola. Wrote and signed a pledge to live a healthy life.
Wednesday June 16: Earth Day
Showed a power point about different types of landscape. Gave them easy tips to help conserve the environment. Watched some of Day After Tomorrow and 2012 with the intention of scaring them with Hollywood’s overly dramatic special effects. Drew our animals and made our camp totem.
Thursday June 17: Scavenger Hunt/Bonfire Day
Had a variety of stations. Split the campers into groups and rotated them trough the stations. These included making a volcano, drawing the food pyramid, finding natural objects with different textures, creating a tornado with water and plastic bottles, and shading leaves. Then (the absolute best part… no actually the best part was after this part) was we started a little bonfire (only in Azerbaijan can you start an open fire in the middle of a football field and have no one even look twice at the legality of it) and made…s’mores. They don’t have regular marshmallows here but they have these little strawberry flavored twist marshmallows which were sufficient. We got them all sugared and hyped on this traditional American snack and then (now really here’s the best part) handed them… a toothbrush! It was like a Crest ad; kids all over brushing their pearly whites and being happy about it. I’ve been told by some of them that began to brush their teeth twice a day now. What more can you ask for as far as effectiveness huh?
No comments:
Post a Comment