Henry in Guyana

Monday was my first day at St. Stanislaus College - not far from where I am staying and has around 550 students. It is made up of old wooden colonial buildings but like many of these buildings in Georgetown they have degraded over time and the wood is hard to keep looking smart. There is a feel when walking around of what it once was, but sadly no longer is. The chipped paint, broken windows and messy classrooms I imagine cause the quality of teaching and student interest to be reduced, which is a shame.

However, this is a problem of adequate funding, and having said all that Saints, as it is known, is a lively and in parts well equipped place. The IT rooms, of which there are two, are air conditioned and have a good number of working computers with a shared 384kbps internet connection. It will be a while before I have the measure of the place but projects I may be involved with include setting up a central file server with individual accounts and teaching various computer skills to staff (Office, internet use etc). There is a serious problem with power - there is no power for a few hours at least every other day; on Monday the power was out all morning, and on Tuesday it went out in the afternoon during a lesson. It was an interesting experience as whilst a large group of students worked in pairs on the computers, the lights, screens and air conditioning to drop out at once. Fortunately it was nearly lunch time so the students enjoyed a longer break.

 
I haven't achieved much yet but I have only been there for two days, and it will take me a while to understand how everything works. There seems to be the usual misunderstandings and political issues that exist in any institution and I must tread carefully for now. I will also have to learn a fair amount of technology myself to get it all going with the help of another technician in the department but I hope to make a significant contribution during my stay.