I enjoy posting about the talents of the people around me, so I am delighted and will enjoy posting a response to one of your questions. Christian asked, ”Do [the students] ever perform in musicals?"
Throughout my schooling, we put on a full-length play at least once a year (twice per year in high school) and a full-length musical at least once a year from junior high on. I have fond memories of playing in the pit for the musicals The Sound of Music and Godspell and painful memories of messing up lines and not earning the parts I auditioned for in school plays. These were formative experiences, so I appreciate the arts being an active and key part of secondary and primary education. I have not seen or heard of a school putting on a full play. I have not seen or heard of a school putting on a musical. Theater does exist as I knew it exists: I saw a touring group of young adults put on a full length play (sadly, I can't find the name of it) in my host town and I have gone with colleagues into Moldova's capital, Chișinău, to see performances in national theaters. Students regularly prepare and perform skits for larger concerts/events. But, again, I can't find a school-based full play or musical. That doesn't mean we're lacking for full-length performance events! I have come to deeply appreciate the shows that our students very regularly put on here. I've also noticed a rhythm to them, one that many Volunteers I know have commented on finding in their communities, too. So, through the power of YouTube, below the cut I'm going to put together a virtual show - as it would generally happen at my school or in our local Culture House - hopefully for your enjoyment.
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I introduced the My Village through the Lens project in a post last Thursday. Here is your next video from the pilot run of this program. Please interact with us (meaning, me, program coordinator Alexandr, youth who participated in the program) through the comment section below this post. The main purpose of the project is promoting cultural values from each village through the medium of short films made by youth, who will discover and promote the most beautiful places in their village and will increase their sense of pride about their community. Our second video is about the village of Măgdăcești! (pronounced mug-duh-chesht) After watching the video, do you have any questions for us? What did you see that stood out? Was anything familiar to you, looking similar to things from your life? Let us know your questions through comments below!
You can also share with us things that make where you are from beautiful and/or photos or videos about where you live. While my primary project as a Peace Corps Volunteer is being a school-based Health Education Specialist, some of the brightest parts of service come from being involved in ”secondary projects” - things that have little or nothing to do with my official purpose but are useful to me and my host community all the same. A great one I've been involved in this year is a Stevens Initiative grant-funded project called "My Village through the Lens". This program was initiated by local leader Alexandr Godoroja and is coordinated through our local youth center Centrul Resurse pentru Tineri "UniT", with additional support & donations from a local NGO Tineri și Talentați din Criuleni (young and talented from Criuleni). The main purpose of the project is: Promoting cultural values from each village through the medium of short films made by youth, who will discover and promote the most beautiful places in their village and will increase their sense of pride about their community. A key value/practice of the Stevens Initiative is youth in other countries using technology to share about their lives with American youth. Guess what! For this project, you're some of those American youth! I'll be posting several videos over the next few weeks from the pilot run of this project. I hope that you enjoy the videos and that you interact with our group by commenting on these posts! Our first video is about the village of Cimișeni! (pronounced chee-mee-shen) After watching the video, do you have any questions for us? What did you see that stood out? Was anything familiar to you, looking similar to things from your life? Let us know your questions through comments below!
You can also share with us things that make where you are from beautiful and/or photos or videos about where you live. Parker asked a question that comes up for me sometimes: "What was the most significant cultural change that you noticed?"
I see everything here through my cultural mindset coming as a Midwestern, middle-class, white, educated, urban-dwelling, cis woman, US American (born & raised) in a legally recognized relationship, with other identities and formative experiences at play as well. With that in mind, I think that what I recognize is what has changed in how I move through the world, feel I'm received, and sense of how I communicate. This may or may not give accurate insights into the culture I live in. In dwelling on this question again, I remembered a list my partner, Chris, and I wrote up a few months ago. We categorized our perceptions into two categories:
Below is the two lists we generated. Hopefully, these differences we noticed will give some insights into cultural differences and similarities we've found in terms of the way we experienced US American culture in our daily lives in Cincinnati, OH, prior to moving here and the ways in which we currently experience Moldovan culture as US Americans living in Criuleni, Criuleni. With 53.5% of eligible voters participating, the Republic of Moldova successfully completed its run-off elections for the presidency Sunday, 13 November. Igor Dodon (Socialist Party) won with 52.18% of votes. Maia Sandu (Action & Solidarity Party) received 47.82% of votes. Igor Dodon, president elect of the Republic of Moldova. Photo taken from here. Having followed the US and Moldovan elections, I've noticed some similarities:
Image taken from here.
Of course, the elections had their differences, too. It has been interesting observing what commonalities exist. You all asked great questions about Moldova and I'm working on communicating with people about them, particularly in regards to the differences between our schools. In the process now of gathering responses from people with experience in both educational systems, I was sent this article by a Moldovan student who studied abroad in the US for one year. I'm translating it now to give you some broad insights into the differences between our systems through hearing yours described by a Moldovan. 10 Positive Things about the US Educational System that could Inspire Moldova: Nicu Gaibu
"For me, education always was and is something that inspires me to study, research and practice with great passion. For the last five years, I've been involved in different educational projects, both nationally and internationally, for example: summer camps, fall school, exchange programs, conferences, and seminars," explains Nicu Gaibu, FLEX Alumnus 2012. "Because of the FLEX program I was able to go to the US. There I studied at an American high school. I want to share 10 positive things that the Republic of Moldova could learn from the US education system: 1. Free choice of classes. Subjects are divided in different categories (for example, Math, Science, Languages, etc.) and for a student to graduate they must take a minimum amount of each throughout the course of their high school career. The rest of their classes are their choice. So, they have the opportunity to both try a diverse range of subjects and to learn about what they like. 2. Diversification of subjects. After graduation, (Moldovan) high school students don't know where they're headed, what college they'll choose. Why? Because in school they study math, physics, history, geography. Introducing more diverse and practical subjects (Personal Finance, Psychology, Acting, Production, Photography) will offer them the chance to know what they like to do and don't like to do. 3. Individual approaches. It shouldn't be that one student misbehaves and the whole class is punished. A student has a question, but the teacher says twice that they won't explain. Every student should be listened to and respected in turn. 4. Students and teachers get along. Teachers and students should develop a friendly relationship, because the healthiest and easiest way to communicate efficiently and to achieve something is through mutual understanding and respect. I'll add this old saying: "Treat others as you would like to be treated." 5. To take strict measures if someone cheats. Students should be educated in a healthy way to never cheat, because if they cheat once, they cheat again and later we end up where we are now. In the US, at the school where I studied, it was shameful if someone copied, thus it was very rare for someone to copy. 6. Simplifying material. American teachers have the habit of selecting useful information from topic X and then teaching it to students through different simple methods, and together with the students they develop and bring out examples from daily life. Here, until we solve every exercise on a page, we can't end class; until we finish the book, we can't finish the year. So, let's simplify the material, beloved teachers! 7. IT development. The class of Informatics itself needs updated resources and programs. Moldova has a huge potential around this. 8. Increased competition between schools. Along with the Olympiads [major national competitions around the mandatory school subjects/curricular content], we should encourage competition in other areas (sports and other extra-curricular activities). This will develop team spirit and students will be come more active and diligent in order to get good results in these other competitions. I am certain that healthy competition will influence the development of our educational system. 9. Development of creativity and critical thinking. I would recommend that teachers begin to utilize more teaching methods and techniques that would include the development of students' creativity and critical thinking. 10. Lessons about behavior in society. Include some seminars about good manners, rules of conduct, and civilized behavior. We need these so that in all our schools students won't steal toilet paper from the bathrooms, will keep the place clean in general, and won't scribble on their desks. Otherwise, much depends on our attitude!" recommends Nicu Gaibu, from the learning institutes of the Republic of Moldova. During our Pre-Service Training before officially becoming Peace Corps Volunteers, we were taught language to explain Peace Corps and how it works. The first Q&A we learned was: "Ce este Corpul Păcii? Corpul Păcii este o organizație guvernamentală din SUA, independentă și apolitică.” "What is the Peace Corps? The Peace Corps is an independent and apolitical governmental organization from the US." This means that Volunteers also commit to being independent and apolitical. We are here to do direct service in our communities, to share broadly about American life & culture with the locals, and to share back with Americans about our host country's life and culture. We're not here to promote specific political parties, candidates, or narrow issues. This year has presented some challenges to Volunteers in terms of practicing apolitical communication. People around the world, including here in Moldova, follow the US election closely. Thus, I am often asked about it by my colleagues, friends, students, and even strangers. In Moldova, we are eight hours ahead of Central Standard Time. This means that we woke up to the election results coming in and Hillary Clinton called Donald Trump to concede the election around 10:30 am our time. It has been a long day of phone calls, messages, and in-person conversations where we do our best to keep our personal politics private in terms of who we voted for and any party affiliations we have. While we may talk about big-picture political ideas (for example, whether we value voting, whether we ourselves voted, human rights in general, gender or racial equality), we don't discuss specifics. Interest in the US election was ramped up a bit due to the current election happening in Moldova! Had you heard about this historic election? For the first time in 16 or 20 years (depending on who's reporting), Moldovans are voting directly for their president. This direct election for president takes place in two parts: First, there is the election with all candidates; then, the top two from that election participate in a run-off. If a candidate receives 51% or more of votes in the first election, the run-off is cancelled. Previously, people only voted directly for their mayor. For all other offices, they voted for their political party, which then appointed people to positions. How many positions the party could appoint depended on what percentage of votes they received in the election. The parties in the parliament would then have to form a coalition to elect the president. Image downloaded from here. On Sunday, 30 October, Moldovan citizens headed to the polls. An estimated 49% of eligible voters participated. While there were initially twelve candidates wanting to run, on election day it was down to 9 who were officially on the ballot. Igor Dodon (Socialist Party) won first place in the election with 48.5% of the vote. Maia Sandu (Action & Solidarity Party) won second place with 38.2% of the vote. This Sunday, 13 October, the run-off election will take place. Igor Dodon on the left, Maia Sandu on the right. Image downloaded from here.
We Volunteers in Moldova are living through three important elections in two weeks. Both countries - our home country and our host country - had/has the potential to elect their first female presidents. Both elections are important to the citizenry. While I maintain an independent and apolitical stance in communicating about the elections, I am certainly very attentive to them, hoping that all voters are able to exercise their right to vote and that both countries experience peaceful transfers of power. My partner Chris has organized a weekly English Club at our library, the District Public Library "Tamara Isac." Every Tuesday, we offer two different hours of activities in English: 4pm-5pm is for children where I do activities for beginners and he has conversations with more advanced students; 5pm-6pm is for young adults and adults where he does activities for beginners and I have conversation with more advanced students. Today I talked with several young adults and one adult in the conversation group about The Duckling Ball in order to better answer a few of your questions. Involved in the discussion were 4 teenage boys from 12th grade, one teenage girl from 9th grade, and one 70-year-old retired man. First, the students had to explain what The Duckling Ball is to the older man because he said this is a tradition that was not around when he was in middle & high school. The teenage students explained that, at least in our town, the activities are generally the same for each grade; however, they become increasingly difficult and more complex as the students age. First graders do the simplest presentations, knowing that learning a song, a dance, and a poem is complex enough work for their age (7 years old). Where the 5th graders (12 years old) had an "intellectual test," the 10th graders (17 years old) had a "homework" round in the competition (this year, they had to prepare presentations on what education will be like in the distant future). Sadly, I missed the 10th grade Duckling Ball to participate in another event in town. Alexandr Godoroja, local community leader at our local Youth Center, both served as a judge and photographed the 10th grade Duckling Ball at my school last week. Here are some of the photos he took: A student filmed class 9-B's dance performance, shown below. They came in second place (out of three) in the competition. The teenagers in the discussion group said that the purpose behind The Duckling Ball is to get the new groups to work together, but that it is counterproductive on the grade level. The 12th graders reported that it breeds unnecessary conflict between the classes in the grade. One said that the greatest conflicts arise between the classes' homeroom teachers and between the students' parents, not between the students themselves. One also lamented the lost time for studies that are spent instead preparing for the competition. When I informally surveyed the group about their feelings toward the event, they ranged from mild interest, boredom, and dislike. All agreed, though, that the event would be much better if it was simply a talent exposition instead of a competition. By happenstance, this afternoon a fellow Peace Corps Volunteer sent me a videoclip of the 5th grade Duckling Ball at her school in the town of Cimișlia. Talking with her about the event at her school I found out that it was what our group had pined for: It was simply an exposition, not a competition. All students who participated in the presentations and performances were lauded and received certificates. Students were proud to share their talents and didn't face the pressure of competition. Here is one of her favorite clips she recorded today of 5th graders performing a group dance number: Thank you for all your great questions! They will surely keep me busy for a while and help me learn about my host country along with you. I plan to continue to involve people in my community in responding to them.
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Rebecca LehmanHealth Education volunteer serving at Boris Dînga Middle & High School in Criuleni, Moldova. Archives
May 2017
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