Mission Mongolia - the first meeting

...

I've had a fulfilling day. Lots of work at the office today. Emailed Dr. Li regarding the Mongolian Trip. He was very enthusiastic and came to me personally all the way to my office and invited to their meeting today... :)

It was the first meeting. Not many people attended(total of 8 only), but it was fine anyway. Everyone introduced themselves and we had a brief introduction on what they would like to achieve for this trip; teaching the teachers there to create suitable materials for teaching, encouraging the use of English... mostly that. After all, these are the things that the organisers are best at since they are working at the Department of Educational Policy and Adminstration and Dept of Curriculum and Instructions. Got to know a few teachers who are very worned out teaching fucked up kids of all kinds. We had a discussion on what we activities to organise during the summer camp of our visit; the objectives of the summer camp, the games we're gonna play with the local kids there, the complications of the games... etc. It was all wonderful and I'm glad that I am well prepared for this meeting today with all the "Creative teaching material production" books that I've borrowed from the library earlier(to prepare lessons for that fugly notti boy...ahaha).

I was told that there is no chance to exercise English there. Lack of teachers, resources, and many other factors causing a record low of motivation in learning English. I'm told that the kids there are extremely hardworking and clever, as according to one of the participants who have been there during the last trip(it was to somewhere in Beijing... one of those rural villages). They are able to use whatever resources they have actively, like using a pencil as a electricity conductor... :o

I believe all they need is a little push in the right direction, resources and fundings. The school we are visiting is a self-funded school. The teachers there(well-qualified individuals who deserve so much more) are only earning a meagre sum of RMB$500 a month(US$62.50 / SGD$100) . Respect man, Respect! From the letters they have written to the organisers, they are actually happy to teach there; the students there are willing to learn... no, not just willing... They are HUNGRY for knowledge and thirsty for more...!

But for English, they're not so motivated. Why? Because there is no motivation to learn that. Why? Because there is no use for it. Why is there no use for it? Because everyone there speaks Chinese/Mongolian language and it seems perfectly fine for them to be unable to speak English. Besides, anyone who speaks English well could be despised! WTF? WHY? Because...

Its just the way they are. (Maybe its a Chinese-thing. Till today I still don't understand it...). Actually, its not only happening in Mongolia. Even Singapore sometimes have that kind of problem; u pronounce a word properly, you'll be labeled as 'Angmo pai'(westernised) and occationally be stared at/despised. But really, whats the problem with speaking proper english? Its a mystery that needs to be solved asap...

And I'm still worried about what's the decision I should make about this thingy because its gonna be quite expensive; Minimum HK$5000-6000 because its not gonna be a funded thingy. Volunteers are going to be digging out money from their own pocket because even if there are any donations, its going to be going to the Mongolian School first; obviously they need the money more than 'us'(which excludes me).

Its not gonna be easy. Also, if I were to go, I'll need to end my contract one mth in advance... which I wouldn't want to since I'm strapped for cash now. I wanna go studying and I'm gonna need the cash for myself...

Donations anyone? Or volunteers?
Visit www.rural-english.com for more info on this.

Thank you and have a good day/night, wherever you may be.


Regards,
ahfaii