Nº 1

PETER THOMPSON, BECK GLOVER, DANIEL HOLDSWORTH, JANINE de BARSE

English Teaching Program - Newsletter Report

Gunargarang Rotaract Club - District 9690 - Australia/ 2004

´ Th e  Au ssie s in a c tion in th e ir ve ry own c la ssroom . Not th e  m ost in te re stin g m om e n t we  h a ve h a d, b u t still a  good p ic .  

Apologies for the delay

teaching the kids how to pronounce their words in English. It is

 in getting this   

due to this that we are working on the simple things. However at

the end of the first week most of the students can introduce

newsletter out to all of you, I know you must all be wondering   

themselves to each other, ask how they are and tell each other their

what has happened to us. Rest easy though, we have merely been   

age. All in English.

encountering some problems with Brasilian computers. 

After a couple of days in Los Angeles we were at the airport ready

The specific details of the teaching we will update everyone on

to go when we encountered Rotarian Bob Aitken. This made the

when we get home, as this is merely a newsletter. Moving along,

next few hours pass a little easier as we discussed the project and

we have been invited to give a presentation at the Local Council

other such things. Our next stop was Sao Paulo, where we arrived

meeting here next week, and we already did our interview for the

at the beginning of Carnaval. Past exchange

student Bruno took

television. More about that later. The school has been bending

us  to  his  house  for  the  following  days,  to  relax  and  start

over backwards for us and is extremely appreciative of what we

organizing what we were about to take on. After a short journey

are doing. We have arranged to pay for security bars for the  

on a coach we arrived in Joinville and were met by past exchange

Computer Room. This means that they can actually put the

student Nina, her mother Ursula, of Youth Exchange fame, and

computers in the room now, without them being stolen. This will

Ronny. Each of these three charming Brasilians has played an

happen on the last day that we are in the school, and we think a

integral part in making this trip actually come to life.

pretty good way to end our time at the school. Stay tuned for more

information…  

In the middle of a pretty rough settling in period we managed to

visit the school that we are working at. The weather has been

painfully warm, the food has been overly filling, and for Beck,

Janine and Danny, not understanding what anyone is saying has

been a test of patience. As it is for anyone. So far we have visited

both the local Rotary Clubs to let them know what we are doing.

That would be the all male club, and the all female club. The local

Australian Rotaract on TV in Brasil

Rotaract club has been fantastic and shown copious amounts of

hospitality, and assistance in purchasing all the materials that we

have needed for the classes. We

 also attended their first meeting

of the year, which was a bit more of a barbecue than a meeting.

Our first day at the school to actually teach the  

And so, we commenced the classes. The school is a state school

lessons, was also the same day that the television

and despite the fact that it is in the middle of the poorest district in

crew turned up to do a story on´ The Project´. And of

Joinville, it is brand spanking new. We have blindly stumbled into

the middle of a huge state government project aimed specifically

course,  they  were  very  interested  in  these  four   

at improving the education and lifeskills of the kids in the area.

Australians who had travelled half way around the  

´The Project` as we all affectionately call it envolves English,

world just to be a part of it. The story aired on  

Theatre, Arts, and numerous other subjects that are teaching them

Wednesday night. The story featured footage of us  

how to break out of the life cycle that they are currently trapped

doing our thing in the classroom, and Peter indulged

in. More information on this is to come.

them by doing an interview in Portuguese. Nina is  

We have three different classes. Each class has two one hour

working on getting us  a copy of the story o

n tape. 

classes in a week. Each class has between 17 and 20 students all

about the age of 11 or 13. We are concentrating our efforts on