St. Petrusschool ~ Jozef Israëlstraat
Paramaribo, Surinam
Before the internship
In the end of 2015, I had a first contact moment with the principal from the St. Petrusschool. From the beginning, the contact was very difficult. The principal don't answered the e-mails, and the phone-contact was difficult because of the time differences. At the moment I had the principal on the phone, she was difficult to understand.
When I was in Surinam, Melissa and I went to the school, to meet the principal. We were there and the principal was very nice. She shows us the school and she introduced us to the teachers. We were allowed to choose the group where we would like to teach. I choosed group 5. This was a group with 29 children.
Internship
When I first meet the class, there were a lot impressions that I have. The education was so different and there was less attention to the pedagogical way of teaching. I saw things what my amazes. All of the lessons were clasical and the children work individual. There was no attention to work together, so that's something I have tried to do.
The children loved to work together and they loved to learn with games. The children were not aware of learning, while they play a game.
From monday till wednesday, I teaches the children in group 5. Thursday was a day, to work home for my schoolwork. The methods they work with, are the same as the ones in the Netherlands. The only thing that is different, is that they were changed into a Surinam context.
Culture
In Surinam live a lot of different people. All those people have a lot of different cultures and a different way of living. There were Javanese, Chinese, Surinamese, Creole, Indians and more. All these different peoples live together and they accept eich other. This is something you also see in the classes. All of the children are playing with each other, allthough they have different backgrounds. We also have a trip to the inland. We have go to Gunsi. This is a place where people live without luxery. This was very special to see. They work for there own food. They cook on fireplaces. I will never forget these people.
History
In the history of Surinam they were dependent. A lot of countries had Surinam as there property. Also the Netherlands had a huge influence here. The history of Surinam knows also a slave period. We have been at Fort Zeelandia. This is a fort where you can see a lot of the history of Surinam. We also did a plantage bicycle tour. We have been in plantage Peperpot en New-Amsterdam.
Nature/Climate
Surinam have a lot of great nature. More of the half of Surinam is a jungle. I also went on a trip to Brownsberg and Gunsi. We have walked in the jungle and we have swing on a liana. In the jungle you have a lot of medical plants who can heal. The people who live nearby the jungle uses this in there lifes. In Surinam you have 4 seasons. You have two seasons with rain (a big and a little rainseason)and you have two seasons with sun.
Costs
At the moment is Surinam in a crisis. The exchange rate is fluctuating. So the prices of the products increases. We have bought our products in the Tulip. This is a supermarket, with Dutch mark products. This is a more expensive supermarket than all the other supermarkets in Surinam. This costs are based on the time that we were in Surinam.
Airline ticket 800,-
Rent house (3 months) 795,-
Rent bike (3 months) 90,-
Living (3 months) 900,-
Trips 644,-
Total 3229,00
Two other questions
1. What has your internship place to offer?
This internship will make your education experiences bigger. You learn about differences in teaching and I've learned more about the education, that I don't want to use. In Surinam is a lot to do and you feel save there. The intership offers you a lot of autonomy. You have to do a lot by your own. But because of this, you learn more.
2. What do you need, when you choose for a internship like this?
You have to stand open for a new experience. You have to stand open for a lot of differences in the way of living and education. In the school you need a attitude, to say what you want to do. Otherwise you sit in the class and you do nothing. Also you need a creative mind. The children there have not many materials so you have to find a way to teach them.
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