Teaching

I’ve always been good at learning. But teaching is another matter entirely. It has come to me slowly. Very slowly. And not easily or naturally. My latest teaching effort has been training the Bano users in how to use and maintain the composting toilets. When I started in the teaching game, I probably would have tried to have one mass meeting of all the users, show them a slick PowerPoint and call it a day. That might work, if my class was made up of US college students. But, it just wouldn’t cut the mustard in the 3^rd world.

To begin with, these folks are not professional students, like in the US. They do not like to go to “class” and sit and listen. And getting all of them in the same place at the same time ?? Well, good luck with that. And not everyone here can read. Most of the children can. But, the older folks never went to government schools in Spanish. Most can speak it, but few can read or write it.

So, I’ve made my approach more personal, graphic and engaging. I go house to house, family by family. I hand out an illustrated set of instructions, we inspect the Bano unit together, to make sure everything is right and then I demonstrate, using all the materials they will use, in real time, just how to use it. I also try to explain the reasons for each step without getting too technical. Then, I have them show me exactly how they will use the Bano, step by step – a very small bit of “muscle memory”, but important that they touch and feel all the parts. I speak slowly and clearly, since Spanish is a second language for most of these folks. And for me.

This process is  S L O W ,( especially when I chat with the folks or share a banana or mango), but seems to work well. I’ve had folks tell me that they were afraid to start using their toilets, but now feel very comfortable. The other interesting note is the issue of tissue (toilet paper). Folks who have been to visit houses with indoor flush toilets have seen a bucket or basket, in which one places the used TP. Sounds pretty gross, I know, but there was a reason – many older toilets in central and south America used a 2” drain line, with hard 90 degree corners instead of sweeps. A wad of TP, like I’ve seen some women (you know who you are) use can clog the pipe in seconds. I say “was a reason” since most of those lines have been replaced with 3” or 4” with sweeping corners, instead of hard 90s. The point is that the Ipeti folks thought that since they now had a sit-down toilet, they should collect the used TP in a bucket. They seem quite relieved when I explain that the TP is actually good for the compost system, so no need for the smelly bucket.