What they learn

Bina Hill Institute is a strange place. It's a weird sort of tertiary school, but instead of higher education, it's meant to be a second chance for hinterland Amerindian kids who either failed out of, didn't finish, or maybe just never got to go to Secondary School. It's supposed to teach them both traditional Amerindian skills, and prepare them for jobs in the environmental sector in things like forestry, agriculture or tourism. It's set up like if someone was trying to copy an American tech school, but had never actually seen a tech school.

Basically, it's a great idea, but very poorly executed. Don't get me wrong, I love the concept, I love my job, I love the location, I love the students, but what Bina Hill was set up to do, it isn't actually doing. Classes are often interrupted or don't run at all, and due to a number of factors (lack of resources being a big one) most of the learning they do is in a classroom, staring at a chalkboard.

I started with the negative, but there are still some things the students ARE getting. In their second year, they do internships at tourist resorts in the region, which gives them practical experience, something to put on their resume, and great connections with possible employers. They also are doing really well with their work in the agriculture class, now that they finally have a new teacher (the previous one left partway through the prior year, so there was no agriculture teacher at the agricultural institute for the better part of a year). While they prepare the vegetable beds and plant the fruit trees, they learn about composting and soil maintenance. While they raise chickens, they learn about livestock maintenance and cost-of-production calculations. When they go out into the forest to cut sticks for the climbing plants, they learn about local trees and best practice clearing.

There is a learning curve though:

Ana is not quite sure how she feels about these chickens

Conway is stoked to try though

Gaibert, our most efficient chicken-killer

While some students did the slaughtering, others plucked and washed

What food looks like when it doesn't come in supermarket packaging

Shena and Mervin preparing to go into the forest

Grayson carrying out freshly cut poles for the climbing plants

Bora plants (which look similar to string beans) and student-made trellis

The agriculture teacher giving instructions to Shena and Fenella

It's not all hard work though. Since part of the idea is to preserve culture, the students learn traditional dancing and crafts that are dying out.

The end of the Cockroach Dance which always ends in giggles

A student starting either a basket or a farine sifter

One of our more advanced weaving students added a beautiful color pattern to his

They also do wood carvings, but those pictures will come later.

One of the most recent additions to the curriculum is a Home Economics class, which focuses a bit on the usual things like nutrition and cooking, but focuses more on the hospitality side of tourism with table settings, serving, and menu planning.

Every once in a while though, the Home Ec class makes delicious desserts, which they sometimes share

These kids work really hard, and I'm very proud of them.