After months of planning and weeks of cutting out materials,
the day has finally come, as I have expressed above, finally, the first day of
school. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed
the last month of cutting out clocks and laminating posters, but I am ready to
teach and be with the students. I have
been blessed to have had the time to adjust and to acclimate to the curriculum
before being thrown into everything but it is a blessing to finally do what I
love the most, being with the students!
Although I have been anticipating Monday to come, the past week has been
filled with milestones as I am beginning to settle into my life here. Well, the week started off interesting as on
my way home from Bea’s house, the moto I was riding on suddenly got a flat
tire. We began to swerve from left to
right and at one point, it was so close to the ground that I had to put my left
foot down. Fortunately, the driver was
also able to get his feet on the ground and stabilized before we hit the
pavement. I am not sure why I am sharing
this story, but the main point is God provides in every way, even keeping a
motorcycle from tipping over when it should have. After I hopped off quickly, some bystanders
came over to ask us if we were okay.
They said to me, “Bon courage” and were very comforting. I admit that I was a little shaken up after
that, but God provided and all was well. I did receive a gift after this event
as my armoire was delivered. I am no
longer living out of a suitcases, but have a fresh smelling varnish armoire to
neatly stack my clothes in.
Well, if that was too boring for you to read, maybe I can
find something more interesting. Oh I
finally finished laminating clocks this week and Philo, the lady I live with,
helped me poke the holes in them for the brads.
She kept saying, “You try” and enjoyed using the locks herself as
students never had manipulatives to use in class. At one point, she left and came back with
this mischievous look. I then realized
she had a sharp tool in her hand in which to poke the holes in the clock. This worked wonders and we finished the
process quickly. I enjoy spending time
with Philo and sharing with her new things that she has never experienced before.
I was walking down the main street in town, going to the
copy man, one of my favorite pastimes, and I heard a little voice calling to me
from a shop. I just assumed that he was
calling me Yovo, but alas he was actually calling out “Davi Christy” (Sister
Christy) Oh happy Day! It gets better because on Friday, I passed this
small group of children by the road cheering out Yovo, I said hello and kept
walking until all of a sudden one of them quietly said Davi Christy. Ok, to most, this is not a big thing but I
don’t want to be just another white person to these children but I want to be
their Auntie, or bring a smile to their face because they actually know
me. Just wait, because it gets even
better! There are a few children who
live a few doors down from me whose father works at the hospital. I finally took the time to play with them and
they kept calling me, “Davi Christy.” I
am saddened that it took me over a month to really love on these children but I
guess it is never too late. I am praying
for the opportunity to begin a kid’s club for these children and someone who
speaks Ewe as most of the children do not know French. What a blessing it is to being smiles and
laughter to small children who are overlooked or work at a young age. Last Sunday, I was walking to the hospital,
when I came across some girls in their early teens, walking home carrying large
bowls on their heads. Their mother
tongue is Cabille but to communicate, they would ask each other how to say
something in French, and then they would pose the question to me. They would say things like I like your
hair(they have to cut theirs off) or you
walk fast which is true. They were so
cute and it was a blessing to just love on these children and tell them that
they are beautiful because the Lord made them special.
Since the word is getting around that I am teaching English
at the school, everyone wants to take advantage of this. Some high school boys approached me after
church last week to ask if they could take some lessons from me since the
English lessons at school are not adequate to learn the language. Then, there is a nursing student at the
hospital who also wants to improve his English.
He lives in the house behind mine which is very convenient and we had
our first lesson last Friday night.
Please pray for the opportunity to help these young people learn English
but most importantly that I will have a platform to share Christ with
them.
Last Thursday, Roger and I met with the other middle school
teachers to encourage the before school began.
They seemed excited to work with the students and Roger expressed the
importance of sharing Christ with their students. After this, they decided to write the middle
school schedule on the chalkboard. Now,
this is where my American culture does not match with the French way of making
everything perfect. To begin with, it
took them at least ten minutes to draw the lines for this huge table. Then they had to color code everyone’s name
and subject that they would teach which took another 20 minute decision. Almost an hour later, we had this masterpiece
on the wall to show the schedule but in my American mind, I just wanted to say,
slap it on there, we are wasting time.
However, this is a time when I must accept their culture and enjoy the
slower pace life that it brings. If they
want to spend time on this, that is their decision. Yes, patience is a blessing from God. So, we now have a schedule set and we are
ready for school on Monday! I will be
teaching mostly in the afternoon so I can visit other schools in the
morning. I am going to focus on the Kg-2nd
grade to help them use centers so they can work with small groups. The first grade teacher at La Lumiere was
training a new first grade teacher and it was so encouraging to each her talk. She was telling him the importance of using
different teaching styles since all the students learn differently. She also stressed the importance of having a
lot of patience and just love for the students as many of them do not receive
love at home as their parents work long hours.
Sometimes they don’t want to do any work but when she takes the time to
listen to the, she realized a lot of them have missed meals or have not
slept. She also is passionate about
sharing Christ with her students as she told us that it is important to pray
with her students since they might not hear about God at home. I was very encouraged to listen to her each
day and look forward to working with her this year.
Roger and I decided that each Friday afternoon I would spend two
hours with the middle school girls to teach them life skills and to help give
them confidence so they can say no to temptation. Roger said that a lot of girls will say that
it is impossible to resist this temptation as it is the way of life but I want
these girls’ to have a future and get out of poverty. However, Roger also expressed that most
Togolese don’t make goals for themselves or think about the future as they must
think about where they will get their next meal. This is a problem but I pray that I can glean
understanding in their culture so they can see the Lord as a light in their
life, a light that they can run to, instead of running to a boy for
happiness. Philo, who is a midwife, told
me the number is staggering of young girls who are pregnant and want an
abortion. A boy gives them money and
food so they are willing to do anything for him. Unfortunately, the boy leaves, their family
abandons them, and they are left pregnant without a choice. She pinpoints the main problem on poverty which
is not a new scientific finding although researchers probably should have asked
her before they spent years figuring this out.
However, we have a tool that most researchers do not use. We have Jesus Christ, and if we share the
Good News with these girls, that he is worth following more than a boy, we can
end the cycle of poverty, and they can make a future for themselves. Her eyes were filling with tears as she spoke
this to me as she has seen too many girls give up their lives due to a
pregnancy. This will not be easy but by
listening to the Lord’s will, I know he can being to shine light in these young
girls’ lives so they can run to him for warmth, food, and happiness instead of
temptation.
So, kind of a heavy topic to share with maybe strangers but
it is on my heart so I must share it. I
also say this week two piglets , millions of pregnant goats, and wild turkeys
just in a small radius of my house.
Maybe this information will lighten the mood! The world is filled with darkness but continue
to be a light for the Lord in wherever you may serve!
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