Week 2

 This week the children had a lot of new things introduced to them. We started with our regular routine of morning meetings, choice time, group meetings, and closing circle along with all the other things we do throughout the day. During the morning meeting, the children are now reading a calendar and reporting the weather as a class. The calendar helps the children learn to read from left to right, counting up to 31, recognizing and reading the months of the year, and reading the days of the week.
 
In addition to the calendar and weather, the children also participate in Coffee Can Theater. This is a fun way to introduce children to letters. Everything for the theater is in a coffee can and I use props to tell a story about a mama and baby Zebra who live in the bush. Each morning the mama Zebra goes out to find baby food, while baby Zebra decides to go exploring in the bush…while baby is exploring he bumps into several things that start with the letter of the week! This week we did letter “M” and the baby Zebra found a monkey, mud, a mat, manzi (water in Tonga), and a few other “M” words. By the end of the week the older class had the letter down and the younger children are still working on it, but are beginning to recognize the letters.

The children are doing an excellent job of articulating what they do during choice time when I ask them about it in group meeting. A lot of the children say the same thing, so when another one brings a new idea to the conversation, I get really excited and try to expand on their play by asking them questions about what they were cooking in dramatic play, or where they were taking the animals in construction. They are definitely getting more comfortable in the classroom and moving from center to center using whatever they find in the way they wish to. I even notice the animals talking to each other now, not just making noises :o)

Another important thing we started this week is treating each other with respect. I have noticed that often when a child wants something, they will just snatch it from another child and often the child who got the toy snatched allows this behavior. So we had as short discussion about it and the children agreed that we should ask for a turn, and whenever the person allows us to have a turn should be okay with us. Zambian children are very aggressive when playing together outside or in the classroom, so I will have my hands full getting them to respect one another and require respect from one another. However, these children are very clever, so I think they will get the hang of it :o)
 
Chalkboards were introduced in writing center for the children to practice  writing the letter “M” or anything else they wished to write or draw. A lot of the children sat down and tried their best making an “M”, but also drawing things that start with that letter! They had a lot of fun thinking of Tonga words, since I think almost ALL Tonga words start with an “M”...hehe I discovered that almost every feature of the face starts with an “M”, so one  of their projects available in the art studio was to draw a face with “masusu” (hair), “menzo” (eyes), “masaya” (cheeks), “malomo” (mouth), and “matwi” (ears). Their pictures turned out really well and I was excited for them to see their art work and get excited praise for their accomplishment.


I still have a coupe 3 year olds that are uncomfortable being away from moms, so please keep them in your prayers and that this week will be a good week for them to relax and enjoy learning at school. Also, I have hired a part time lady on a trial basis…I am trying her out for a couple hours a day for two weeks and then evaluate whether or not she can do the job. Please pray that God has His hand in it and that if He wills for this young lady to work out that her motives and heart are pure wanting to better the children in her community.

                                      

Week 1

 

Well I survived the first week of school…yaaaay! I am sure that I am way more excited about this than most of you,  but on the first day I was very skeptical about everything. First of all, Monday I woke up and it was pouring in the rain…around here, everything shuts down and no one goes anywhere if it is raining out, so I was wondering if anyone would even show up to the first day of school. To my surprise, everyone showed up…I had the children who were supposed to be there Monday morning, as well as the children who were supposed to come on other days. With the rain and the parents, the first day of school ended up being a play day for the ones who showed up for the Monday morning class. Thankfully, I got all the parents attended to with paying their school fees and sorting out the schedule for each of their children. After a week of coming, I think the parents and the children are getting used to the schedule the way it has been set up.

This week I was really aiming for the children to get used to the classroom, both teachers, and each other. We tried not to get in to too much since the room was probably overwhelming enough for the children, without adding more on top of it. The biggest hit with all 4 classes is definitely the cars…we have little matchbox cars and wooden cars and between the two, the children were driving all over the classroom making car noises and bumping into one another. The driving got more intense as the week went on :o)

In one of the older classes, the girls found some puppets that look like little boy and girl dolls. The girls immediately took the dolls, put them on their backs, and looked for something to tie them on with, they luckily found some bandanas. Here, the women carry the children on their backs with a piece of fabric called a “chetange”, these girls were modeling their mother’s and later in the week, they found the food in dramatic play and began cooking for their babies. I think the babies are busier then the children at times, but they usually get some sleep in as well!!

 

In the art studio, Medis and I decide we would like to introduce the children to paint. Since we were briefly talking  about colors in one class, we though color mixing would make a good activity. We showed the children “blue” and “yellow” and then asked them what color they thought it would make if we mix them together…like everything else, I got no response, we went ahead and let them start mixing. They had no idea what color they made, but some of the children were able to point to a similar color on the rug or on someone’s shirt to identify the color “green”. They loved using the paint and paint brushes and look forward to doing it again sometime soon!!

 

Another big hit this week were the plastic animals and the Lego’s. The children learned new animal names for one’s they have never seen before and then English names for the one’s they know in Tonga…the animals grazed in the field and played with the other animals around. Then the children also loved stacking the Lego’s making really high towers…when I asked the children what they had made, they didn’t know! I am praying that as time goes on, they will be exposed to things they can purposefully make out of blocks, Lego’s crayons, etc; since now it seem some of their imaginations aren’t being challenged.

 

Additionally, the children worked on this week was how to properly read a book…ALL of the children held the books upside down and read from back to front!! Medis and I showed each child a different way to read the book, by turning it right side up and then flipping/turning the pages form right to left and reading the words and pictures. It will also take time to make sure the children turn the pages properly since most of them just grab the pages  damaging them in the process.

I am finding how many things I took for granted in the states…teaching children who already knew most of their colors, some numbers, some letters, had read books before, and always used their imaginations on everything. Here, we are starting at the most basic things and trying to build on that so that the children benefit from it all.

The children are doing great and are all receptive to the program and coming to school…I think I only have one boy who still cries for the whole time, and then a couple girls who are very quiet every now and then. Please pray these children will be comforted and come to feel that the school is a safe place for them where they are recognized and loved for who God made them to be.

My goal is to write about each week as it passes by to share with you what the children are getting into and what they are learning :o) Please feel free to share your thoughts and comments and any advice or ideas you have that support our learning! Thank you again for all your prayers and encouragement this past year…

Ruth Update

 

Many of you have been asking how Ruth is doing. The last update I sent, Ruth was heading to the clinic the next  day. The clinic is about an hour away from us and she got there with one of our house moms, Belita. The doctor at the clinic was familiar with her case and was able to give her the assistance she needed. Immediately when they saw how bad Ruth was, they put a drip (IV) in her hand. This helped her body rehydrate and Belita said that it started making Ruth feel better fairly quick. They kept her at the clinic for 4 days to observe her and make sure that she could handle the recovery from here on out. Charles went back to pick her and Belita up from the clinic on Saturday (last week) and Ruth was already sitting up by herself, she started gaining weight, she was eating more regularly, and she had a gleam in her eyes that wasn’t there before.

Since being back at the orphanage, Ruth has been holding in there. She has another review in a couple months, so please keep praying on her behalf. She is doing much better, but there is always a chance she can regress and take a turn for the worst.

 

Here is a new picture of her…she was crying because she hasn’t been around white people, and I was trying to take her picture :o) You can’t see too much of a change, but enough to know that she is still alive and she seems to be fighting for her life!!

Thank you God for hearing our prayers and giving Ruth the strength she needed to hold on and for renewing her spirit. Please continue to protect her and watch over her in these coming months as she continues to get better in becoming a healthier little girl.

First Day of School

 

Whew…I just finished having 2 first days of school. With 4 classes it took me two whole days to have a fist day for all the children. I don’t know what to say about it, but it was amazing…I loved every minute of it. I must say, the children are much more reserved than I expected. I have interacted with the children here on many occasions and I have never had them be so calm and tentative. However, I assume that once all the children become more comfortable with our schedule, the classroom, and teachers (especially me), then I will wish they will be just like they are now.

 

Usually I would just set the children loose to interact in what area/center the children would naturally be interested  in, but since none of these children have ever had toys to play with, or crayons to draw with, they have no idea how to use anything in the classroom. Each day I am hoping to introduce something new to the children that way they can pick and choose in the future how they want to manipulate the materials in the classroom.

 

 

Of the things they have played with, cars is a favorite. They love making car noises and moving them across the floor. Some even get creative and bring in the blocks or legos to their car play and make obstacles for the cars to drive around and in some cases drive through them. Some of the friends enjoyed playing with the animals and the trees…they had all the animals lined up around the basket, they would sometimes hold one up to ask what kind of animal it is and we were able to teach them the English name. In one of the classes, a few of the girls found puppet dolls and immediately found bandana’s to put the dolls on their backs, just like the moms and girls do to carry the babies here. It was so adorable, the whole day the waked around with puppets on their backs.

 

With all the teacher drama, I only have one teacher now, but she is the most amazing teacher. She picks  everything up so well and is enjoying being with the children. Medis, graduated grade 12 at Kalomo High School and has been teaching at a local community school here in the villages. She has worked there for 7 years and she says that they usually don’t even pay her, so in my heart, I feel like she does this for the children and not the money, which makes her a perfect candidate to work with children this young. I am praying that she will stick with the program and want to ‘take over’ the administrative rolls when the time is right.

 

 

We are hoping to hire one or two more teachers so that we can have 1 teacher for the 3’s and 4’s and then another teacher for the 5’s and 6’s. I hear there are not anymore women in this area who have a grade 12 education, but I know that God has a plan and he will provide the right teachers at the right time. It will also be nice to have an assistant helper when the class sizes are too big for one teacher to handle.

 

 

It is all in God’s hands…He got us this far, I am confident that He will provide as we need! Just continue to keep us  in prayer as we get into more of a routine in the coming days. Thank you for all your support and making this dream a reality! The children love it and wish they could come every day…

Back in the Bush

 

It seems like I have been back in the bush for months now, but it has only been a few weeks. It rained frequently  when we were gone so the roads were very wet and the grass has grown taller than most of the children. I found my house and the rest of camp just the way we left it…a bit unkempt and dirty, but all in one piece.

 

The children at the house were all well fed and looking bright and happy. All of the children passed their current grades and then moved on to the next one. Our oldest is now in grade 8 hoping she will pass and then move to town to attend high school next year. We are noticing the boys are getting older and starting to act like teenagers…the toddlers are walking around everywhere and getting into things they shouldn’t be, but Jakob is thoroughly enjoying their company.

 

The moment I returned people were asking everyday when the school would be open. I still had lots to do in the week that I left myself to get ready before opening the program. Jako and I had to build the  stage, the dress-up rack, and cut down all the tables to the right size for the children. We worked very hard and even had the help of Francis since our planer was not working and Jako and I didn’t have enough experience with the hand planer to make it worth our while. Francis also made 20 stools for the children at the school and will hopefully help out with other things we might need built at the school. The community seems very excited about the program and wanting to be a part of it…I can only pray that I will be able to have the mothers and fathers come and be part of their children’s education, what a miracle that would be.

 

We hope to open the program as soon as we return from Lusaka! Please be praying for the children, for the teachers, and that God will receive glory every moment from the opening of the school.

Revival for Ruth

 

About a week ago, we were blessed to bring in a beautiful little girl…her name is Ruth.  Ruth is 20 months old and is living with the HIV virus.  Her father passed awhile ago and on January 7th this year, her mother passed away from complications with her AIDS.  Ruth’s mother has 5 children from 4 different fathers and all of her husbands have passed away from the virus and now it was her turn.  Ruth was breast fed up until her mother passed away with some supplements of porridge and since then her aunt was only giving her porridge, no other type of nourishment.  The family is already taking care of 5 other double orphans and with Ruth’s condition and her mother’s history, they decided to take her to the clinic to be tested.  They found out Ruth was HIV positive and was extremely malnourished…she weighed 6.7 kgs.  Well since Ruth has been under the care of our house mothers, mainly Rachel, she has been going down hill.  Since the beginning of January, she has had 3 different homes and seems to lack the will to fight for her life.  We are assuming that she is really missing her mother and it is effecting her ability to eat and become healthy.

We just weighed her this morning and she has lost weight…she now weighs 5.4 kgs. only 400 grams less than 8 week old Jeremiah.  She will be going to the doctor tomorrow for her follow up appointment so we are praying he will know what to do and advice or medications he can give Ruth so that she can make it through this hard time. 

Honestly, Ruth needs a lot more than any doctor can give her…she needs a revival of her spirit and a revival of her body.  I am pleading that everyone reading this post will go to God on Ruth’s behalf and pray for a revival in her…that the Holy Spirit sweeps in and gives her strength to make it through each day, that He ignites a will for her to hang on to her life, and fight for a chance to see tomorrow.  Please also pray that Jehovah Rophi (God the Healer) will physically revive her body…we know that our God is bigger than AIDS and he can heal without any medicine or treatments if be His will, so plead that He spares her life and gives her the opportunity to grow up as a women seeking after His heart.  Most importantly please ask that God’s name be glorified in Ruth’s life; that He will receive acknowledgement and praise regardless of the outcome.  We know and trust that God knows what is best for Ruth and He  will take care of her and provide what she needs when she needs it…

 

Thank you for your prayers and I will be sure to keep you updated as we know more!!

 

“And now, my daughter, do not fear. I will do for you all that you ask…” 

Ruth 3:11

 

 

 

Remember and be encouraged that God ALWAYS hears our prayers…Baby Issac two months later!!

 

 

ALL PRAISE GOES TO GOD…