Erasmus+ Journal (Issue 3) 2014/15
Eline Geschiere, Petrus Donderschool, Suriname, mobility for internship, KPZ
Petrus Donderschool
The Petrus Donderschool is a good school. The headteacher is a nice women, she wants the best for the school and has big dreams about the school. Four years ago she has built a new school, when you look at the picture you can see the result. There are ten classes with children of the age 6 to 14. The teachers are good but in the Netherlands they are better. During a day the teacher went away while I was teaching my lessons. So she never whitnissed a lesson from me, she went to the supermarket or had a meeting with the other teachers. The children have a lot of respect for the teacher. They listen to her but it is hard for the children to listen to me. In a Surinam school you have to be very strict, otherwise the children won't listen. The children act very nice during the break. When I was leaving the children had to cry because I left Surinam. So eventually I had a good time at this school but sometimes it was difficult to be a good teacher because the real teacher wasn't there very much time.
One teacher of te KPZ and one teacher of the Marnix Academy have arranged this place for my stage. They have contact with the central organisation of the primary schools in Surinam. That organisation have picked a school for each student in Paramaribo. Four weeks before we went to Surinam, we had a phonecall with the school and made an appointment for the first week, so the headteacher knew when we would arrive.
My appartment
During my time in Surinam I stayed in a house with other students. With seventeen other students have we been staying on Koenawaristraat 32. It was a house with 17 rooms en 2 kitchens. It was a good house but the houseowner weren't delivering proper work every time. Sometimes he said: 'I'll do that but after two weeks it wasn't done yet. I paid 300 euros for a month but it was too much for this house. The kitchens weren't very clean and the water was cold. In the evening we made dinner in groups or we went out for dinner. I bought my food in the Tulip, a dutch supermarket, or in the chinese one. I think that cost me 70 euros per week. The cheapest food you can buy is on the big market in the centre of Paramaribo.
We have found our house on the internet. At www.stagewonen.nl, first we saw another house but that was occupied already. We sent a mail to the owner of another house of the same organisation and he said that we can stay in this one house. So we said yes and we signed a contract regarding that house. You can see the house on the pictures.
cultural awareness
Surinam has a beautiful culture. In Surinam are a lot of different cultures. There are marrons, hindoestanen, javanen, creolen etc. All this cultures live next to each other. All the people in Surinam have respect for each other and are nice to tourists and trainees. The people will help everybody. It is a wonderful experience to have contact with the people in the jungle. They live from the jungle and have a very different culture than the western civilization.
Climate
In Surinam are very high temperatures. It's about 30 degrees every day, it's a tropical climate. There are rain seasons and dry seasons. There is a lot of rain in the rain season, that's very boring. In the dry season is it better and than it is very dry.
The trips
During my time in Suriname I've made the most wonderful trips. Blanche marie, Apoera, White beach, Overbridge, Brownsberg, Stone Island, Galibi, Frans Guyana and blakawatra. All the trips are beatiful experiences. You'll go with a guide to the jungle or to other beautiful places in Suriname. The trips are a little bit expensive but it is cheap for what you get. I think for two days with food and a place to sleep it is 140 euros.
Costs
plain: 800 euros
appartment: 300 euros for 1 month
live: 300 euros for 1 month
trips: 800 euros for 3 months