Advice to a SALTer...

-Don’t expect people to be specific about details, schedules, your responsibilities, etc. Even if they are, don’t expect things to often work out the way they have been planned.
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-Come to learn. The people you meet may not even expect to teach you anything. But they will.
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-You will encounter a lot of needs—physical, emotional, academic—but you are one person with limited energy and limited resources. Focusing on the needs, or even on your attempts to meet them, will overwhelm you. Do what you can, but, most of all, focus on loving people.
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-Not every action or tradition you will encounter is “good” or even “cultural.” Don’t be afraid to challenge people to overcome their own stereotypes or change their behaviours. But, first build relationships. Never challenge without the foundation of a strong relationship or without having taken the time to really observe and try to understand. Always affirm before you challenge. And know that change takes time, sometimes a lot of time.
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-Learn to shrug your shoulders and laugh. Laugh with the children who point and stare. Laugh with your host family over your own mistakes. Laugh when your lessons get cancelled because the school garden needs to be dug or there is no water in the tank. Laugh when you pay too much. Laugh the first time you find yourself in a latrine without toilet paper (and the second). Laugh when the electricity is off on the day that you really must print something. At the end of the day, laughter is far less exhausting than anger or bitterness.
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-Put effort—a lot of effort—into learning the local language. Let people teach you—not just your “tutor,” but also your colleagues, your host family, your students, your neighbours, village shopkeepers, market vendors, boda drivers, and anyone else you encounter. Your relationships will be deeper (and far more numerous) and your experience richer if you invest yourself in learning the local language.
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this exercise was part of the end of term reporting that MCC requires of SALTers...
just thought you might find it interesting.