So we're in the middle of the second round of ToCs - Training of Coaches - which is an intense, 8:00 AM-5:30 PM, 6-day long training of peer educators (about 35 per training) from which we will pick 40 new coaches. One of the key things that the coaches do during the training is that in pairs, they each facilitate one of our practices. This way we get to see their participant interaction, management, dynamism, grasp of the curriculum and their general overall composure and facilitation style. Oftentimes Zambians will leave out small words or prepositions when speaking in English (I don't think they're as present in Nyanja), so instead of saying, "Let's clap FOR ourselves," a facilitating coach looking to praise the participants said, "Let's clap ourselves." Wouldn't be that bad a mistake, except for the fact that there's the Zambian L/R switch, right? So, "Let's clap ourselves" quickly became, "Let's cRap ourselves." I almost couldn't contain my need to guffaw. All I could think was, "Wooohoooo! Everyone in the group did a great job! Now let's ALL crap all over ourselves at the same time!" That would be a sight to behold, no?
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