CJI volunteer Dianne Dias has more than 30 years of experience as a teacher in Catholic elementary and high schools in Ontario. Photo: AOR
Canadian Jesuits International (CJI) volunteer Dianne Dias, a retired Canadian high school teacher, has spent nearly two months sharing her expertise at the Jesuit-run Loyola High School in Wau, South Sudan, an experience that she hopes will bear fruit and benefit teachers, students and their community.
“I view my role as planting seeds of change, hoping the influence would grow over time,” said Dias who arrived in Wau last June to train teachers at the school, which is supported by CJI as part of the Eastern Africa Province of the Jesuits’ “Sowing Seeds of Transformation” project. Dias, who began helping with CJI’s outreach work in Canada over a year ago, has more than 30 years of experience as a teacher in Catholic elementary and high schools in Ajax and Port Perry, Ontario. She will be in Wau until the beginning of September.
Dias began her work by observing classes to assess teaching methods. She found similarities with the teaching environment in Namibia, Honduras, India and Tanzania, where she had previously volunteered. “Despite the teachers’ best efforts, students were often disengaged,” she wrote in a report to CJI, which she co-authored with Caroline Sanga, programme officer for the Jesuit province. Most teachers lacked training and motivation, which made them less effective in the classroom.
Dias introduced practical activities on classroom management, addressing issues such as time management and classroom set-up, setting clear expectations and establishing routines. She also stressed the need for psychosocial support for teachers.
She drew on her experience as a teacher at Notre Dame High School in Ajax, where she taught religion, world religions, English, parenting, was involved in a mentoring programme that paired new teachers with mentor teachers, ran workshops for new teachers, supervised student clubs, and coached tennis and volleyball. Dias’ experience as a primary teacher at St. Patrick Catholic School in Ajax and Immaculate Conception Catholic School in Port Perry also helped.
While in Wau, Dias has also spent time getting to know the teachers and students by participating in community cleanups, attending debates, and school games. She held a recollection session for senior high school students, and trained staff members on Child Safeguarding and Protection.
In addition to training teachers, Dias offered support to the Diocese of Wau’s education department. She conducted workshops on teacher training and school management for primary school head teachers and their deputies.
For her part, Dias said she had learned and gained much from her time in Wau. The daily prayers, masses and interactions with teachers and students have strengthened her faith and helped her to face some of the challenges of her time in South Sudan, Dias said. These challenges include coping with the heat (the average daily maximum temperature in Wau is over 37 degrees Celsius), infrastructure issues (lack of electricity and adequate facilities) and large class sizes. With most of the population in Wau speaking Arabic, Dias said it was not easy to communicate with the wider community outside the school compound.
Despite these challenges, Dias is making the most of her time in Wau, including playing football with children.
