WAS1.2

I had a class today with the Liberian women's group at the Mt Druitt WASH centre. Some of them seeemed quite eager and enthusiastic and some were a little bit more reluctant but I think all of them had fun. The students were asked to use paint to draw a square or circle. Subsequently, most of them went on to do some nice designs and got the hang of colours and brushes. I think this really appealed to a lot of the women and they slowly got lost in making random patterns. More importantly, by the end of it all, they were probably a little bit more adept at using the mouse - which was the real objective.

I enjoy working with this group as I can see the gradual increase in their interest and focus as they become more comfortable around me. One of the interesting things about these classes (and perhaps with most classes) is that it is a matter of building a positive environment. Without their trust and acceptance, it is often hard to teach adults - and their trust and acceptance is often much harder to gain than children.

This class is going to be a challenge since I have promised to give them 5 sessions. The material has been condensed a fair bit and I will only cover basic word processing with this group as a result. In order to make it more interesting, we've planned to make a greeting card during these five classes. Setting a larger objective such as this has helped to determine what to do in each class. Most of them can now draw some kind of pattern. Next class they will type in some content. Hopefully they will get around to formatting it and inserting a picture in the following class.

Class Hours: 1.5
Instructors: 1
Participants: 5 (Annita, Joyce King, Nanseh, Marie, Nanseh (2))
Course Handouts: 2 pp
Computers Used: 4