the blind leading the blind

so i though it was about time i blogged about my English classes. it has been a bit of a challenge to teach basic English to Portuguese speaking people when i don't know a lick of Portuguese. let me tell you i have learned a few phrases pretty fast. with the help of Lynn i come to each class armed with some new words and phrases for them to write in their work books which they are to take home and study. the next class we run though the words, with each student getting a turn, to see if they remember. we are often overrun by side-splitting laughter when someone, very confidently, blurts out the wrong answer. i am always amazed at how well they do remember in such a short time and then my amazement is closely followed with shame that i didn't retain as much as they have. each week i struggled to find words and phrases that would be beneficial as well as personally interesting to them. i finally got smart and told them they where welcome, and highly encouraged, to write in their work books words that they would like to learn. the results where unbelievable; i was given enough material to cover my lessons for the rest of my stay here on the farm! and not to mention the amusement Lynn and i gained over some of the interesting, and some down right hysterical, requests that where made. words such as spit, lazy, and hygiene (hhhmmm, wonder where he was going with that one?) and phrases like "that old man is already old" or "you are a scoundrel". and less funny words that once again had me wishing i could hear the thoughts that occupy their minds. poor, war, shame, deny, envy, truth, rescue, win, accept, laugh, peace, and in love.
no class is complete without one thing we all dreaded about school....a test. only with these guys there was no dreading involved. in fact it was requested! the test was in English so they could translate to their own language.....actually, Portuguese would be there second language and English being a third! as i waited for them to work through the test i stared at a extra test sitting in my hand. i thought maybe i should have a go at this test......MAN it was hard!!
on one of our bike rides to Penna we stopped to get nat's bike fixed which, i might add for nat's sake, just goes to show that Taiwan doesn't make products any better than China. as i stood waiting a group of kids slowly gathered around me, a strange yet regular occurrence that i am growing accustomed to. the composure of this young girl captured me in a trance. as we stood looking at each other i was, for the first time, completely comfortable with the fact that staring is not rude or socially unwelcome to the bush living Africans like it is to those of us who live in a more developed society. i simply did not want to take my eyes of the beauty that stood before me. i studied her dress and i couldn't help imagining the young girl who most likely ware that dress to some fancy wedding in the western world. i wanted to tell her she looked like Cinderella. i know that doesn't sound like genuine statement, but she truly did poses a beauty that surpassed the tattered, dirt spotted dress and made her look like a princess. as she stared at me i wondered if she was as curious about where i came from as i was about hers.

i am always amazed at the strength possessed by the Africans. how do they hold all that weigh on their heads?! today my question was answered. how old are you child? look! she has bigger pipes than i do!

found my place in the world

I think I can honestly say the events over the last few weeks have been the biggest contribution to my personal growth in the area of self awareness and self worth. I tackled a task that I feel has help me discover the perfect environment that revels my true mental maturity as a person. I believe I was faced with possibly the most important subject in life and I tackled it with a sense of integrity and confidence I never knew I had. The intensity of this job, without a doubt, has reviled my strengths as a individual and showed me where I truly belong...... Doing arts and crafts with children!!!!

I know it’s only September but if we want all these 150 students to complete a letter and Christmas cards to their sponsors across the world we need to get a move on it now! Of course I took on this task thinking it would be relatively easy. I first started with a school list of names and I.D numbers that I soon realized was very out dated. No problem. I just contacted Carole, our sponsor representative in Edmonton, for the updated list. What I wasn’t prepared for was the response to this request being tagged with a counter request. You see, Carole was also missing some vital information and I was now her avenue to this information. Child ages, grades, correct spelling of names and school photo’s where needed. Plus some children on the list who are no longer attendance to this school and children who are attendance are not yet on the list.
I’d like to say that in this photo I am enjoying the freedom of artistic self expression with the colors blue, red and green but I am actually trying to find each child's name and I.D#, which is most likely not there, and label their letters appropriately so they don’t get lost in confusion. In this culture the child's last name is the first name of their father which, I have learned, can sometimes change from one year to the next. And since the child doesn’t have a government document, such as a birth certificate, with date of birth and correct spelling of the name, this information is often left up to guesstimation. I had children who gave me their age and I was pretty certain they added a few years. 10 seems to be the most desired age. In the western hemisphere, parents are often harassed for giving all their six children names that start with the same letter making the world wide mistake of running though all your children's names, before landing on the one intend, more probable. but try this on for size. how about naming your children Maria Jose and Mario Jose! in the Portuguese language the same name can be given to a boy or girl but the letter at the end "a" or "o" will determine if it is masculine or feminine.

You can leave it to me to make sure that even the adults don’t walk away without taking a least a few moments to jump back in time to the glorious days of childhood.

After traveling around the classroom to each student that had completed their task I finally learned a very important word. “linha”. though I had formed a line to make my job a little easier, eagerness and curiosity caused the children to fall out of this method of order and into more of a hovering crowd. At this point I would practice my new word…..and let me tell you I certainly used it more than a few times!
I can't tell you how much joy i received watching these beautiful children color their picture for the sponsors. A small enjoyment we had as children that we most defiantly took for granted.

I would also like to take this time to thank Carole who has been helping me get this job done. I often get praise for giving up my job and being out here on the mission field but truthfully the people back home are just as important, if not more important, than the ones on the field. We simple could not do our job without the support and assistance of those in the western world. Whether you are donating your time/money, writing a detailed e-mail about the events in your life or even writing a small quick comment on the bottom of our blog posts, letting us know that you are thinking of us, it is all supporting and encouraging us a larger way that you think.