Sint Elisabethschool I
Henck Arronstraat
Paramaribo, Suriname
597-475634
In January i called to the school. I have spoken with miss Rinette Amadsamigin. We talked about the school, witch class i got and when i started my internship. We made a appointment to meet in the first week when i was in Suriname. Then i could see the classroom, speak with the teacher of the group and make some appointments.
The Sint-Elisabethschool I houses in Paramaribo, the capitol of Suriname. The school is a primary school with children in the age of 4-12 years. The main language is Dutch. Sometimes they talk in there own language, Sranan Tongo. Each day of the week the school schedules are from 07.30 – 12:30.
Each off us has to do a research. My research was: 'cooperate between the kids in my class'. They didn't cooperate in class. That's why I decide to learn the childeren cooperate.
Three other trainees and I arranged a house on the internet. We found a good house on www.stagewonen.nl. This is the place where we stayed for three months. We didn’t need any preparations for the language, because the main language is Dutch in Suriname.
Internship
During the first week I was focused on the teaching of the Suriname' teachers. I was focus on the children. What kind of childrens are they? What a kind of teacher do they need? A lot of things are different when you compare it to a dutch school. By example the schoolshedules. Each day of the week the schoolschedules are from 07:30 – 12:30. It’s simply too hot to stay in school after 12:30. The teachers leave the school at 12.30 sharp. The school has around the 300 students. The classes are not very full with children, 24 children each class is very normal. Comparing to the Netherlands, the school is very, very poor. In every classroom they have one chalkboard. The children (their parents) have to pay for their own schoolequipment. Sometimes they don't even have pencils to write with.. They bring there own schoolbooks to school and to home. They bring it to home to make homework. Every day they have homework. Each child has a school uniform for his own.
Every morning we started with the flagparade. The children sing the national anthem in Sranan Tongo and Dutch while the headmaster is raising the flag. Then the childrens will return to their classrooms. there we pray. After that the teacher or I started the lessons with 'Goodmorning class', the class returned: 'Goodmorning miss Moniek'. They work with the same methods as we use in the Netherlands. Only they have there own method for orthography.
I have positive and negative experiences. Positive: the teacher was very kind to the children! Every day she brouth some food for a couple children. In class, the children where enthousiast when I do a lesson with materials. The children are working very hard. And they are very kind to me, they bring stuff or some food for me. But I also have some negative expierences as well. I have seen that a few children be beaten. It was in an other class. The teacher of my class Didn't beat children. She was opposed to do that. Some kids are afraid of there own parents. they are beaten at home.
Culture and nature
Suriname is a country with a lot of different cultures. There are a lot of ethnic groups: Hindoes, Creoles, Javaneses, Indians an Marrons. It is beautiful to see that all of these groups have their own way of living. What is good to see, is that they can live amongst eachother without any problems. Something we can learn from. The Indians and Marrons who live in the rainforrest of Suriname, are hospitable. They explain how they live, what they eat and such other things. Very interesting.
Paramaribo is build out of wooden houses and you can see a lot of the history of Paramaribo. Looking back on the period with slaves. You can visit Fort Zeelandia and many formal plantations. On the street you see a lot of vagabond. They ask you for money or something to eat.
The nature of Suriname is beautiful as well. It's the amazone, and you can enter this amazone with a lot of tour guides. You travel by car and small boats. With apes, snakes, spiders, parrots, dolphins and many more animals around you. Climb mountains with a view you've never seen. Suriname have a couple beaches. There you can see turtles.
Suriname has a lot to offer when it comes to culture and nature! It has a very beatiful nature!
Costs
Suriname is not an expensive country if we look at the costs of living. But you can make it expensive. Me and the group I did my internship with, went a lot to the Tulip. A supermarket with Dutch products, but (offcourse) these products were much more expensive then the products you could buy on the markets and the local smaller supermarkets. So it is a choice you can make. When you are going to eat up some where it's not very expencive. When you compare it with the Netherlands it's very cheap. We eat a lot at 'Zus en zo' and local eating-houses.
A short summary of my costs during this three months internship:
Flight - 800 euros
Apartment - 900 euros
Bicycle - 90 euros
Live - 350/400 euros a month
Trips - 750 euros
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