As you may or may not remember, my English-teaching colleague last year stopped teaching around October/November. She became pregnant, and decided to immediately quit and focus on that. Two of the three grades in the high school were thereafter left without a teacher, and stayed that way right up until the end of the year in June. (To address a question you might have, I considered taking these classes over, but ultimately decided I shouldn't give them a reason to not hurriedly find a replacement. Of course, the joke was on me as I should never have expected them to hurriedly do anything.)
But surely, after 9 months of having no English teacher, plus 3 months of summer vacation, they would have found someone to take over. In fact, back in December I found someone for them. His name is Solofo (pronounced Soo-loo-foo), and he sells pineapple and papaya juice in a travelling market that comes through my town on Thursday. Solofo is not only fluent in English and French, but is learned in all sorts of subjects. We talk about the US elections, world history and current affairs, all while he whistles songs by the Beatles.
Furthermore, 10 yards away from him in the market, selling raw sugar, chunks of grease, and strips of colored rope, is a man who goes by Glady. (This isn't his real name, but means something like "fat guy." Solofo doesn't know his real name). Glady received his high school diploma, went to the university in the capital to study English, and when he finished, went to graduate school to do the same. Why does he sell grease, sitting on an empty oil jug? Why doesn't he teach English, or even use English? "Because I make four times as much money doing this!" Solofo nods his head and confirmed. "Teachers make about 500,000 Ariary per month. He makes over 2 million. You should see his house!" Well I can't argue with that. "Now," Solofo added, "he only uses English when he's drunk and cursing." Can't argue with that coping method, either.
Solofo is, however, willing to take the pay cut and teach, for the love of the language. As I said, I brought him to my principal in December, personally recommending him for the job. Problem solved, right? What actually happened was that Solofo petitioned him for the position for months, never hearing back. Sometime this summer, it was made known that it had been filled. "It's OK. Maybe next time." But who is my new colleague? The person for whom I've been waiting for almost a year? Well, I "met" her at the teachers' meeting on September 15th, where she studiously avoided me for the entire afternoon. Since then, she hasn't shown her face in my town. We're over a month into school, and the 100+ kids I taught last year who are now in her class, have yet to study English this year. Solofo says he's seen it before. "She won't come back." To repeat from my last entry, why am I here? Is anything I'm doing even remotely worthwhile?
