Mauritius Addendum Table of Contents 1. Program Information a. Staff b. Program History c. Program Summary 2. Country Information a. Weather and Climate b. Food and Drink c. Language d. Culture and Religion e. Potentially Uncomfortable Situations f. Guidelines for Living with a Host Family g. Excursions 3. Preparing for Your Trip a. Finding a Flight b. Passports and Visas c. Health and Safety d. Packing List e. Additional Information Disclaimer for Addendum Your host village in this program country is somewhere that can benefit from a volunteer English teacher. You should expect to be the only LE volunteer in your village (though in some programs, we do send two volunteers to one location). This means that you may not have direct access to an American. It may not be a very well-developed community, and the ease of transportation infrastructures is not the same as you could expect in a high-functioning urban areas. Transportation varies country-to-country and village-to-village (consult the remaining portions of this addendum for info more specific to your host region), and most are connected by public bus routes. The frequency of the bus/train schedule will not be the same as in urban areas, and you should not rely on schedules or purchasing tickets via the internet. You will need to consult with your host family and PD when arranging transportation. Not all host families own cars or share vehicles with neighbors/relatives. All villages have phones and internet connections, and many but not all host families have internet in their homes. For families who have Internet connectivity, it may not be the same level/consistency as in developed, urban area. Volunteers who are very concerned with being in touch all the time should invest in their own cellphones and you can talk to your PD about it. Villages will have access to a medical clinic or hospital in the nearest larger city. Be prepared to live in a place with different social norms that may challenge and fascinate you. As a volunteer you need to be culturally sensitive and your host family may not have the same views as you. You should reach out to your Program Director or Director of Programming if you ever feel uncomfortable Program Information Staff Brandon Johnson, Program Director US Phone: (301) 538-6637 E-Mail: [email protected] Brandon Johnson, pictured above, left, next to Emilie Rabot, Mauritius’ Country Coordinator, is a Junior at the University of Maryland, College Park. Born and raised in the Washington, DC metropolitan area, Brandon Johnson is studying French and Secondary Education minoring in teaching English to students of other languages and creative writing. Having just come back from Mauritius this past summer, Brandon is very excited to return this coming summer as Program Director. He had an amazing time learning about a new culture and meeting new people not only from Mauritius but from his fellow volunteers. He loves working with children, and young adults, and can’t wait to help his volunteers have a fulfilling summer. While not busy with LE, Ally enjoys writing poetry and short stories, singing at the top of their lungs, learning new languages, and eating. Program History Learning Enterprises first began its work in Mauritius in 1999 when it launched “Let’s Use the Internet Program” (LUTIP). This was different from previous LE projects. Run by Mauritians, the focus was on foreign volunteers teaching the children how to use the Internet. The following year LUTIP grew in size and the Mauritians decided to take full control of the program. Since then, LE has focused on teaching English in Mauritius, where foreign volunteers live with host families and teach in their host village. Program Summary Important Dates The Learning Enterprises Mauritius program runs for approximately 5 weeks, from mid-July to mid-August. The program is slightly shorter than other LE programs due to the fact that we teach during the winter break in Mauritius which last 4 weeks. Dates for the program will be July 17 to August 19. ∙ July 3: Brandon arrives in Mauritius ∙ July 17: Volunteers arrive in Mauritius ∙ July 17: Orientation officially starts ∙ July 23: Volunteers move to villages and host families ∙ July 25: Volunteers start teaching ∙ August 5-7: Midpoint Break ∙ August 19: Last Day of Teaching ∙ August 19-21: Volunteers say goodbye to group, families, and depart Orientation Details Orientation will be held in a tourist beach town called Flic en Flac during the week before teaching begins. To get to and from the airport, either I will plan for a van to come pick us all up at once or volunteers will coordinate to take taxis together from airport to Flic en Flac on other side of island, about a 45-minute drive. During orientation, we will spend our time getting to know each other and the island, planning lessons, learning basic Mauritian Creole, practicing French, and determining strategies to use inside the classroom in order to make our teaching as effective as possible. Midpoint Break Midpoint break falls halfway between our teaching period. We will most likely meet in Chamarel, a beautiful, rural mountain village that we teach in to discuss teaching and discipline strategies to improve upon our teaching in the remaining time. Volunteers will arrive in Chamarel Friday night and leave Sunday afternoon. We traditionally hike the tallest mountain in Mauritius on Saturday, Le Piton. Village Information LE Mauritius will teach in four villages for 2016. Each village hosts two volunteers sans one with three volunteers, who will be teaching partners in their classes. These villages all situated in the same district on the West coast of the island. From North to South they are: ∙ Albion: A coastal town with around 3,000 residents. This is a fairly suburban area and probably the most affluent village in which we teach. This was a new village in 2011, but numbers were around 15 each day in 2015. ∙ Bambous: A small city of about 13,000, the largest and most urban in which LE teaches. In 2012, numbers differed each day, but were always at least 20 students and up to 40 students a day. There will be three volunteers in this village. ∙ Flic en Flac: A small local population, but well-known tourist town with a great beach. This town often serves as a meet-up between volunteers. Classes here usually have between 15-25 students. ∙ Case Noyale: Case Noyale is a medium-sized fishing village that is fairly accessible. It has between 15-20 students. Village Life The villages in which LE operates tend to be moderately developed with limited transportation to other villages and towns. Some villages are rather well-connected with buses coming every several minutes while others have buses come less than every hour. Not many people drive or have their own cars, so you will have to rely on bus services or hiring a car. Most families live on a rather low income and unemployment rates are high. Schools reflect this socioeconomic situation, leaving villagers with poor education and limited opportunities to get well-paid jobs. Many family members work at hotels and resorts or in the sugarcane business. Families are large, and it is common to find most of the extended family living in the same village or nearby. Students and Teaching Free English classes are advertised for children between ages 8 and 12. However, it is common to get students in your classes who are younger and older than this age group, so be prepared for an age range of about 6-14. The level of English proficiency will vary depending on their year in school. Almost all children will already know the very basics of English (greetings, alphabet, numbers, months, body parts, colors, etc). However, many of the younger students may not and you should be prepared to revise this vocabulary. Splitting classes into younger and older students is also advised and expected in some villages depending on number of students, behavior in the classroom, and contrast in English levels of students. Splitting classes has been effective in the past, as it means that less-advanced students do not struggle to keep up or get too frustrated and lessons are more effective and useful to more advanced students. Overall, students do not get adequate exposure to English language in their formal schooling environment. Our goal is to do exactly this through creative and interactive teaching styles. Please bring plenty of teaching resources with you (see packing list). Your school is unlikely to have access to many books, so it is vital that you make that extra effort to bring some English picture books with you. Books are excellent for structuring lessons and provide great stimuli for reading, speaking, and writing. It should be easy to share books and other teaching supplies with your fellow volunteers so that one person does not have to bring them all. Other supplies that have been used in the past and are also very helpful include teen magazines, flashcards, pictures or illustrations of things you intend to teach, maps of places if you want to teach about them or of your home. Important: ​ Mauritian students are required to pass exams throughout their time in school. These exams focus strongly on and are administered entirely in English. They are extremely important to a student’s success and many of your students will be preparing for the first one, called the CPE and taken at the end of primary school around age 11 or 12. Students have two chances to pass the exam, but if they fail both, they are not allowed to continue in secondary school.