Continuing to learn and grow.

The week is going by quickly and our teachers are continuing to shine in their studies and homework assignments. Every night they write in their journals a response to the Essential Question of the day as well as three things they learned in that day's class, two questions they had about the day and one thing that they enjoyed in their day. Two teachers are also responsible each day for devotions, which they take so seriously! Usually we get a lovely inspirational " sermon" :)

Tomorrow they have a mini-project due called the Big Story--I gave out coloured construction paper, title page covers, markers, glue etc. We're looking forward to their results which they will share in groups.

The temperatures are definitely cooler than last Sept and we've also had more rain this time too. It gets dark at 6:30 already and we are usually in bed by 8:30 :). We're up at 6:30 and start class at 8:30-- we end at 4:30 and get home close to 5-- wonder why we go to bed so early:)?

The car wash at CH global-- the van is tilted and water is poured right into it--

Jake with a fun challenge for the teachers to figure out( which my mom taught him:)

Another fun activity-- look at the teacher with the pink shirt:)

A typical scene on Jake's walk home-- the gutters are for the heavy rains

Elephant, Monkey, Palm tree

To break up the sessions of Ike and Jake's teaching, we often will do a tribes activity or an energizer.Our teachers love these and today was no exception. We stood in a circle and had to be an elephant, a monkey or a palm tree if the person who was it pointed to someone and called one of the three names. The person on either side of the teacher who was picked had to be part of the elephant, monkey or palm tree. The object was to get someone out who responded too slowly- it was hilarious to watch our group get so involved and animated!

Taban and I were supposed to be the monkey with Michael, but I messed up:)

We also did a "bingo" game using science definitions and again they loved the challenge of calling the word bingo first. It is so neat to use these varied activities because it expands their repertoire of the English language. We have seen much progress in their reading, speaking and writing of English.

Michael ( our CH Global representative) visited the class and officially welcomed the teachers. He told of some exciting news about increased aid for development of education in SS. There are several agencies ready to help SS make education a top priority.

I am wearing a SS shirt given to me by Jada .

Rose and Margaret wanted their picture taken with me.

Jake taught one of our teachers how to use his camera so he wanted to take a picture of us.

Day 4

Day 4 started with another beautiful devotion by Lomude, who teaches in Juba.  He based it on Mark 1:16-20- and said that God was calling each one of us--even though at times we weren't sure we wanted to follow his call. It was inspiring to say the least! I always look forward to our opening of class-- the enthusiastic singing and sincere wish to love the Lord is so uplifting.

We had wonderful discussions in class on building communities in our schools and learning to be servant workers in them. Our Ethiopian teacher related how there are over 80 different languages in Ethiopia and how hard it is for people to respect each other's language and customs-- especially if you are in a minority. 

I did another literacy activity called the ABC's of teaching. Each teacher was given a letter of the alphabet and they had to write a sentence beginning with that letter involving something about teaching. We had a few hilarious results. The teacher who had the letter V wrote: Ventilated and improved pit latrines need to be kept clean at school.:) The one who had X wrote: Xmas holidays may be coming but hard work still needs to be done:)

African hamburgers for supper-- couldn't believe our cook Sisay made them especially for us! She even made "fries" ! We have been so spoiled by Sisay-- she is trying to cook American food just for us--no Ethiopian dishes:)

There must have been a pound of beef in each burger:)

Notice the beautiful African print on the wall.

Ethiopian Humor or Wit

Monday, Sept.15,2014

I happened to find a book called,"The Chains of Heaven" ( an Ethiopian Romance) by Philip Marsden on one of Michael's bookshelves. ( We are staying at Michael's house--it's his home when he is here and is used as a CH Guest house too). It is a travel narrative of a young British man who explores northern Ethiopia by walking. Many interesting proverbs are scattered throughout the book. One proverb stated" Step by step the egg starts walking"--meaning that one should persist through very frustrating times and eventually one will get there! When the author told his Ethiopian friend that he wanted to walk from Addis to Aksum, the response was," Farenji ( foreigners) don't walk--only Ethiopians can walk"!

There are some buses here for public transport and they have numbers from 1-10. One of our Ch support staff asked me if I knew what the Ethiopian's favourite bus number was. I didn't know. The answer-- no. 11 of course--it is the "bus" of our two legs:)! It is so true-- most Ethiopians walk everywhere since often it is their only option!

Playing the Superspeed 1000!

We did some heavy duty work in class on Christian perspective and curriculum planning. To provide some "fun" literacy work as a diversion from the "intellectual material", I introduced a game called Superspeed 1000-- a list of 1000 basic sight words in English. It is played with a partner and each one reads as many words as you can for one minute. You try to beat your record each time-- the class loved it!!! It is so good for their own growth in their second language-- English.

Power outages are very frequent here. Our teachers had no lights from 6pm till 7am- on Sunday --- total darkness-- due to a massive blow-out at the CH guest house kitchen. A generator was brought in till the problem was fixed, but the generator only ran for a few hours. When they arrived in class this morning they announced-- sorry no homework done--no lights:)

A Worship Service and a Hike

Sunday, Sept.14, 2014

Rose-- wearing her traditional Ugandan dress-- so lovely!!

Lots of spirited singing!

We had a wonderful time of worship with our teachers at our training centre. The teachers were in charge of the liturgy and we had some awesome singing, prayers, and scripture readings. Ike brought a video of a sermon by Andy Stanley called, "Not in Vain" and the teachers understood his main points really well ( in spite of the fact that Andy spoke very rapidly:). We were so happy that the power stayed on till after he was finished.

Jake met 9 of the teachers at 2 pm for a hike to see the Rift Valley. Everyone agreed that it was so beautiful and our SS participants were amazed at the lush green vegetation, the rocky terrain, the river and its falls, and all the farming they were able to see along the way. They came home with muddy shoes but felt a renewed sense of the majesty of Creation and the Creator.

One of the beautiful falls seen on the hike.

The hikers with a few tag-a-longs from the village:)

Curriculum and Challenges

Saturday, Sept. 13, 2014

We hope to focus more on SS curriculum this session so Jake started the day with a discussion on what is curriculum, who should write it, how should it be put into units etc. Ike concentrated on looking at the SS syllabus with the teachers to see how the Christian worldview could be integrated into all the subject areas and not just in the CRE ( Christian Religious Education) section of the curriculum. Good discussions followed and lots of interesting questions were raised by the class.

Wani did our devotions today and we were so inspired!

 I was able to incorporate several literacy mini-lessons during our day, and helped to assign a visual aid project called The Big Story ( the Creation, the Fall,  Redemption started,  Redemption finished, and  Restoration or Renewal) using coloured papers, markers etc. We stressed using as many creative ideas as possible so we're looking forward to see their finished results next Friday.

One of our drivers who begged us to take his picture:)

Two new guests arrived at the CH guesthouse from Chicago, Illinois. We had a great time over dinner  finding out about their work in Ethiopia training Sunday School teachers. It is wonderful to know that there are so many people and organizations who are willing to come and help their brothers and sisters around the world.

Jake had a ride home in this cart-- said it was so much fun!

Friday,Sept.12,2014

We started our first day of the NTT training with an inspiring devotional by Ike on "hope" based on Isaiah 11. The teachers could really relate- their hopes for South Sudan as a peaceful and "prosperous to be" nation had been severely limited by the war in their country. The death of one our teachers also represented a big loss-- he was becoming a promising educational leader in SS schools and now they need to replace him. We spent several minutes talking and remembering this teacher and the class put together a lovely card of memories and collected funds from all of us to give to his children.

The teachers love all the handouts and materials!

We are so blessed to use this wonderful teaching facility again.

An evaluation of last year's training was discussed as well as the challenges our teachers face in implementing their training in their classrooms. Because of the war, the educational system has had very little money for new teachers let alone materials etc. Class sizes are even bigger than before due to the high influx of displaced and refugee people. Many classes have 100-160 students! It defies comprehension to be able to try to teach that many pupils ( as they call the students) let alone get to know their names!
We left for "home" with a feeling of hope despite the hardships and difficulties that our SS teachers face daily. They are so convinced that they are building for the future of their country through education. They want to do their job in the best way that they can with a Christian worldview and the best teaching practices.