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Reverse photo: María at home with her parents, Adela and José, her siblings, Edgar, Ana, Walter and Jessica, her sister-in-law Flavia and her nephew Joel. Photo credit: Manuel Morillo

PHOTOCARD 01

Read AloudThis is María and her family outside their house. María lives in the Polochic (pronounced Po-low-cheek) Valley in Guatemala, which is a country in Central America. María is nine years old. Her mother is named Adela and her father’s name is José. María has two sisters, Jessica, who is twelve, and Ana, who is eighteen. María also has two brothers, Walter, who is fourteen, and Edgar, who is

twenty-two. Edgar’s wife, Flavia, who is nineteen, and their son Joel, who is one, also live in the house.

María’s house is made of wood. It has a thatched roof made of dried grasses. The floor of the house is made of dried earth. The family keeps chickens in the area next to the house. They grow vegetables in a field near the house.

Say it in Q’eqchiSpanish is the official language in Guatemala. There are also twenty-four indigenous languages spoken. María and her family speak the Q’eqchi (pronounced Kek-Chee) language of the Maya people.

Practise these simple greetings:

English Q’eqchi Pronunciation

Hello Chan xaawil Chan shak-wheel

How are you? Chan ru wankat? Chan roo kwan-cat

I am fine, thanks Chaab’il, b’antyox Shah-beel, ban-tee-osh

Goodbye Inwan b’i’ In-kwan bee

María and her family

USE THIS PHOTO WITH LEARNING EXPERIENCE 1

Inside María’s house. Photo credit: Manuel Morillo

Talk About1) Can you match the names with the people? (Standing at back,

from left to right: Edgar, Ana, Flavia; seated in middle: Adela, José; seated on the ground, from left to right: Walter, María, Joel, Jessica)

2) How is María’s family the same and/or different from your family? For example, does anyone have a baby brother, cousin or nephew who is the same age as Joel? Who else might be in María’s family but is not in the photo; for example, grandparents or cousins?

3) Talk about where the photo was taken. Discuss other places where a family might have their photo taken.

4) Do you have a ‘family wall’ in your classroom? If so, you could add this photo to the wall while you work on this topic.

REF: E1

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PHOTOCARD 02

Read AloudMaría has a busy day. She gets up at 5 a.m. and helps with household chores before school. She walks to school with her sister and her neighbours. It is a forty-minute journey. School begins at 7 a.m. and finishes at 12:30 p.m., Monday to Friday. The primary school has two classrooms, one for children aged five to nine and the other for children aged ten to thirteen. María is in the younger classroom with thirty-eight other children. Both of the teachers in her school are men. The subjects María studies are Spanish, maths, science, social studies and PE. Her favourite things to do at

school are reading, writing and painting. María thinks that studying is very important. She wants to be a teacher when she is older.

María loves to play games with her family and friends. The children in her village play outside much more than they play inside. Two games they love are Cat and Mouse, and dodgeball. In the photo, you can see that she has made a pinwheel out of a leaf and is running around with it.

María loves music. Her brothers and male cousins play the guitar while María and her sisters sing. María also sings in the children’s choir in her church.

María playing with a leaf pinwheel

USE THIS PHOTO WITH LEARNING EXPERIENCES 1 AND 3

Top photo: Walter and Edgar, María’s brothers, playing the guitar with their cousin Dennis and their uncle Marcelino. Bottom photo: María playing with her nephew Joel. Reverse photo: María playing with a leaf pinwheel. Photo credit: Manuel Morillo

Talk About1) Can you describe how María’s pinwheel works? María has torn opposite ends of the

leaf and pushed a stick through the centre of the leaf. When she runs, the breeze spins the leaf. Talk about toys that are similar to this. Have you ever made a toy? Tell us about it.

2) María walks to school. How do you get to school?

3) Imagine that María is visiting your setting/school. What song would you choose to sing for her?

REF: E1

03

Seventy-two families live in María’s community. There is no running water or electricity. María’s family has a small solar panel that they use to charge a battery for a lamp. When that doesn’t work, they use candles. Work is done within traditional gender roles: farming and building are done by men; cooking, cleaning and childcare are done by women.

PHOTOCARD 03

Read AloudIn the centre of María’s village is a small river. The river is the place where the women and children in María’s village gather to work and to chat. María helps her mother and sisters to wash dishes and clothes in the river. While they are working, her little nephew Joel splashes and plays with other small children. There is a walking bridge over the river if you don’t want to get wet!

An important job that María does at the river is rinsing the maize that will be used to make tortillas, which is the main food for María’s family. Maize (corn on the cob) is grown by María’s father and brothers in their ‘milpa’, which is a field near their house. After the maize is harvested, it is soaked in lime water, which makes it healthier to eat. The lime water is rinsed off in the river, and then the maize is ground into flour to make tortillas.

A busy day at the river

USE THIS PHOTO WITH LEARNING EXPERIENCES 1 AND 2

Top photo: María rinsing maize in the river. Bottom photo: María’s neighbour Merrie crossing the bridge. Reverse photo: Women working at the river, Polochic Valley. Photo credit: Manuel Morillo

Talk About1) Look carefully at the photo.

Describe what everyone is doing.

2) Describe the scenery around the riverside.

Background Information for

Educators

Life in the village

REF: E1

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PHOTOCARD 04

Read AloudThis is Patricia and her family outside their house. Patricia lives in the Acholi area of Uganda, which is a country in Africa. Patricia is seven years old. Her mother is named Evelyn. Patricia lives with her two brothers, Roni, who is ten, and Ivan, who is thirteen. She has two sisters, Flavia, who is seventeen, and

Barbara, who is fifteen. Their father died from an illness seven years ago.

Patricia’s family lives on an area of land with two traditional huts. One hut is used for cooking and sleeping. The other hut is used for storage. Both huts have thatched roofs made of dried grass.

Say it in AcholiEnglish and Swahili are the official languages in Uganda. There are forty local languages in Uganda, including Acholi, which is the language that Patricia speaks at home. At school, Patricia speaks English.

Practise these simple greetings:

English Acholi Pronunciation

Good morning (to one person) Icho nining Itch-o nin-ing

Good morning (to a group of people) Wucho nining Woo-cho nin-ing

How are you? Kopango Kop-ang-o

I am fine Kope Ko-pay

Good afternoon/evening Irii maber Ir-ee ma-bay

Goodbye and good luck (safe journey)

Wudong maber

Wu-dong ma-ber

Patricia and her family

USE THIS PHOTO WITH LEARNING EXPERIENCE 1

Evelyn inside her house. Photo credit: Gary Moore

Talk About1) Can you match the names with the people? (From left to right: in

front, Patricia, Roni; behind, Flavia, Evelyn, Ivan) Patricia’s sister Barbara is away at boarding school so she is not in the photo. Barbara comes home at holidays.

2) How is Patricia’s family the same and/or different from your family? In addition to Barbara, who is away at school, do you think there are other people in the family who are not in the photograph; for example, grandparents or cousins?

3) Talk about where the photo was taken. Discuss other places where a family might have their photo taken.

4) Do you have a ‘family wall’ in your classroom? If so, you could add this photo to the wall while you work on this topic.

Reverse photo: Patricia at home with her mother, Evelyn, and her siblings, Roni, Ivan and Flavia. Photo credit: Gary Moore

REF: E1

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PHOTOCARD 05

Read AloudPatricia has a busy day. She wakes up at 6 a.m. At 6:30 a.m., she leaves her house with her brothers and sister to walk to school. The school day starts at 8:30 a.m. Patricia is in first class/P1. Patricia finishes school at 1 p.m. and is home at 2:30 p.m. There are about one hundred children in Patricia’s class. The subjects they study include maths, English, arts and crafts, religious education, social studies, science, creative arts and performance, library, music and PE. At school, Patricia likes to sit with her best friend, Sonja.

When Patricia comes home from school, she goes with a jerry-can to fetch water from a bore hole which is about a five-minute walk from her house. She likes

to collect the water because it is her job in the house. She carries the water back home on her head. She says that it is not hard to balance the water on her head. Patricia is very good at balancing. She can balance on a long stick (see photo).

Games are important to Patricia and her friends. Her favourite game is dodgeball. To play dodgeball, one player stands in between two other players. One throws the ball, aiming at the player in the middle, who tries to dodge. If the player in the middle is hit, they swap places. The two outside players take turns throwing the ball. In the photo, you can see a ball that the children made by scrunching up lots of plastic bags and then wrapping them with netting.

Patricia carrying water home

USE THIS PHOTO WITH LEARNING EXPERIENCES 1 AND 3

Top photo: Patricia, Roni, Ivan and Flavia heading off to school. Bottom left photo: Patricia playing dodgeball with a home-made ball. Bottom right photo: Patricia balancing on a stick. Reverse photo: Patricia carrying water. Photo credit: Gary Moore

Talk About1) Patricia has an early morning walk through the countryside to go to school. Have

you ever taken an early morning walk in the countryside? What did you see, hear and smell when you were out early?

2) Patricia helps by fetching water. She enjoys helping her mother. What are some chores that you do to help at home?

REF: E1

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PHOTOCARD 06

Patricia helping in the garden, with Flavia, Ivan and Roni

USE THIS PHOTO WITH LEARNING EXPERIENCES 1 AND 2

Top photo: Evelyn preparing cassava for dinner. Bottom photo: Evelyn working in the garden. Reverse photo: Patricia helping in the garden with Flavia, Ivan and Roni. Photo credit: Gary Moore

Talk About1) Have you ever helped in a garden? If so, what did you do? Was it easy

or difficult? Did you enjoy it? What did you notice when you were out in the garden? Did you see or hear any living creatures – insects, birds? What did you feel against your skin – the soil, the sun, rain? What could you smell – the vegetables and fruit, the soil? Did you taste anything? If so, did you like it?

2) Does your school or community have a garden? If so, how do you help with it?

Read AloudPatricia and her brothers and sisters help their mother, Evelyn, in the garden. The garden is very important to them as it provides them with most of the food that they eat. Some of the foods that

they grow are ones that we might know about, such as tomatoes and sweet potatoes. Other foods from their garden are not so well known in Ireland, such as cassava, yam and okra.

REF: E1