Preka

The end of the Christmas season was marked by the traditional “cross toss” in front of the Cathedral in the center of the Korca. It was pouring rain, but a good crowd turned out to watch the priest throw the cross into the fountain and the young men scramble to get it out of the water. The winner gets to keep it for 40 days and it is supposed to bring good luck. It also brings a $50 prize, so I guess the good luck part is valid. Everyone crowded into the coffee shops around the square after the ceremony. Many will be heading out of the country and back to work abroad. I am looking forward to that as the internet and even the cell phone system have been overloaded and non-functional since before Christmas. I feel guilty even thinking about the inconvenience of this, since I do have indoor plumbing, a stove and refrigerator and, most importantly, a space heater. I am in the Peace Corps, after all. I could be living in a yurt in Mongolia.

The water and the cross are done to celebrate the baptism of Jesus, which the Orthodox Church celebrates on the 12th day of Christmas (Catholic tradition has it a week later and celebrates the Adoration of the Magi on the 12th day). Of course, Jesus was baptized as an adult by John the Baptist, but I would not want to argue the point. I shudder to think how they would commemorate the circumcision of the baby Jesus which Catholics and most traditions, I think, observe on the 8th day after Christmas as the “Celebration of the Holy Name”. Maybe that was part of the reason for the New Year’s fireworks. There certainly were plenty of opportunities to blow off different parts of your anatomy, although I didn’t hear of any injuries of that sort.

I have previously mentioned that one of my main volunteer activities is teaching Life Skills classes at a private, missionary high school in Korca. This is called “Kolegji Preka”, after St. George Preca, a native Maltese proclaimed a saint by the Vatican in 2007. It is run by a lay order from Malta, following the example of the saint in the education of young people, with schools and other projects in developing countries worldwide. They live communally but, although they do take a pledge of celibacy, they are not ordained monks. This is partly because St. George Preca preached that it was more important to be effective than to be qualified. I find this philosophy appealing.

The local people in Korca call Kolegji Preka the “Maltese School”. The school requires an entrance exam and is quite competitive. I helped with the exam and had to “take” it myself this summer because they had not received the answer key from Preca Central in Malta. It was not easy. Parents are quite happy to have their children at this school, but the kids should be proud too. They had to earn their way in.

My Life Skills class of 88 first year student is now down to 86 since 2 students emigrated with their families to the US after winning the visa “lottery”. Never one to do something conventionally when I can have fun playing around, I have organized the class a bit differently from the conventional Albanian style of lecturing in front of students and then having them regurgitate, preferably from memory. I divided each class into groups of 2 or 3 students. They then picked cards from a deck and got to choose from 15 presentation topics and dates, high card first for topic, low first for date. The topics are mostly from their text book, but they are encouraged to research their topic from the school library and the web. They are graded on their preparation, organization, presentation and evaluation questions. I emphasized to them that the “Life Skill” of working in small groups and doing presentations is something they will find very useful in their future in higher education or in corporate life.

I did several classes before we started with the presentations. This was both to kill time while we had to wait for the textbooks to arrive and to give them a demonstration of different strategies for presentations, including didactic, demonstration and participation. I encouraged them to narrow the topic area as much as they wanted and told them I would fill in during my sessions what they left out in theirs. I also told them that this was an opportunity to try out new styles to maybe better relate to their classmates. I feel the process is as important as the subject matter.

They have really stepped up to the plate. They have incorporated Power Point slides, shown on my computer as I walk around the class holding it, videos, and demonstrations into their lessons. The headmaster and other teachers have sat in on a few of the classes to watch. I even invited the health education nurses from the Directorate of Public Health. I think there is potential for the Preka students to present at grammar schools in Korca, both to educate and be examples for the younger students. I am very proud of them.

Albania is a young country. Although the birthrate has declined in recent years, it is still among the highest in Europe. Unlike in Italy or Germany, you can see lots of children with their families, downtown and in the parks. They go to school but afterwards their employment prospects are doubtful. Many will move to Tirana or go abroad for work. Despite professional degrees, they are likely to end up laboring for wages that may be meager in the countries of their employment, but fantastic by Albanian standards.

With that facing them, I am not surprised to hear from many of my Peace Corps cohort, with teaching assignments in high schools, about problems with inattentive and disruptive students. I am not so old that I don’t remember that when I was their age I took it for granted that I could be anything I wanted. The opportunities were unlimited. I still firmly believe that the US offers a person of ability, who is willing to work hard and take some risks, prospects that are unequaled in the world. I am sure that is why getting a visa to America is called “winning the lottery”. Yet Albania is a country that has lots of resources, a favorable climate, educated and hard working people, and a location at the crossroads of Europe, Africa and the Middle East. I see incredible potential and am surprised it is not a center of investment and development. I am enthusiastic about their future potential, but when I talk with people, particularly young people, they don’t see much here. No doubt I am ignorant of the effects of corruption and history and culture, but I also see this as a distinguishing character difference between Albanians and Americans. Maybe that is the best lesson I can impart to my students during my volunteer service.