Transitions Keep Coming

So last week we got some shocking news at school. We walked into school expecting it to be a normal day only to find out that our principal and his wife (our lead teacher) had decided to leave. They weren't just leaving our school, they were leaving the country. And to make it even more shocking, we were told they were leaving as soon as possible. Of course the one thing on my mind is why? Unfortunately that question has never really been answered.  

So here we are with a school that is 4 months old and we are losing 2 of the 5 foreigners! What!? All week we were wondering and stressing about how we were going to cover all our lead teacher's responsibilities as well as our own and what we are going to do without an international principal. Thankfully our lead teacher decided to stay until the end of the week to get things together for the next week. However, some of the things that she wanted weren't going to happen because we are only 3 people. 

On Friday we had a farewell ceremony for them after our student of the month awards. They were showered with gifts to help them remember all the staff and great times at our school. The kids were all sad to see them leave. I didn't think I would see so many students crying. My heart broke! I had two kids holding onto me for 30 minutes. They are really going to miss them!  

Our Students of the Month! Girl Power!!!

Singing our school song with our principal and his wife one last time! 

It is really cool to see how God is moving at our school. So even though this news was shocking and we didn't know what we were going to do, God reminded us that he is in control! This wasn't a surprise to him. He has a plan! And the Monday after they left there was a new teacher ready to join our team. God provides even when we are three steps behind. 

 “For I know the plans I have for you” — this is the Lord’s declaration — “plans for your welfare, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. You will call to Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you” — this is the Lord’s declaration — “and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and places where I banished you” — this is the Lord’s declaration. “I will restore you to the place I deported you from.””

‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭29:11-14‬ ‭HCSB‬‬

Parent-Teacher Conferences

My first ever parent-teacher conferences were held today. Our 58 students were divided between the 4 foreign teachers. So I had 15 parents to meet with in 4 hours in 15 minute time slots. Sounds possible but factor in interpreting both English to the local language and vice versa, 15 minutes seems like 5. So we were behind by 15 minutes the whole time. 

It was a great opportunity to meet the parents of most of the student. I just told them how much we enjoy their students and how they have improved in English since the beginning of school, which was only 9 weeks ago! Many parents were very happy with the school and their child's progress. I only had one parent who never smiled and gave the impression that they weren't happy. 

The second conference was my favorite! The mother of one of my 1st grade boys came and was just really positive about everything. She also said that her son comes home everyday and says how much he loves Miss Allie (that's me!!!) :). It just blessed my socks off. And it was so nice to hear good things from parents! I loved that this is how God orchestrated the conferences to begin and it just continued to be great from there!

God is at work in this school! Even when days are hard and things don't seem to go right, He is always there leading us through the storm. And then great things happen, like excellent parent teacher conferences. I am so glad to be here and being part of what God has planned for this school, community, city, and country!!!!  

What's So Funny?

So this week is teacher orientation for our school. Since we have teachers that speak the local language and foreign English teachers, we have to have everything translated. This means that our meetings take twice as long.  

So our principal began the day with an ice breaker. We had to partner up (English were not allowed to partner with English) and answer 3 questions about our ourselves to our partner. We had to learn each other's name, our position at the school, and two facts we didn't know about the each other. Then we had to introduce each other to everyone else. Let's just say this was interesting. With a teacher that only speaks the local language and one that only speaks English, there was lots of interpreting.  So the foreign English teachers are sitting there while the local teachers are introducing each other in their language, and then they all start laughing and we are left there just staring and wondering what's so funny. Then the interpretation is given and it's just not as funny when you are laughing the second time, because everyone else has already laughed. 

During a break during orientation, I felt like we had a breakthrough. We had a chance to hang out with some of the local teachers. We were talking about things we liked to do and where we live. It was very relaxed and laid back and very simple. I have been trying to simplify my sentences so that they can be easily understood. (Not as easy as I would have thought). But notheless we did just fine! By the end of the break we were all joking with each other and ended up taking a picture on my computer. 

These are all the teachers (local and foreign) at our school!!! Teacher Bonding

Later, we had to meet with our co-homeroom teacher to decide how to decorate our classrooms. There is one local teacher and one foreign teacher in each homeroom.  So we have to collaborate on how to decorate our classrooms. Most of our local teachers speak very little English and I speak none of the local language. So this was difficult. Very difficult! Neither of us could explain what we wanted to do. The locals are trying to speak English, but they aren't getting across what they want. And then there is me, I speak none of the language and so I feel helpless. Towards the end our other English teacher, David, came to our rescue. He actually learned some of the language and is proficient in our eyes (if you ask him he would say he is a novice) in our books. He began to translate what they wanted and we were finally getting somewhere. But then it turned into a conversation that Jen and I were not apart of. They laughed, they asked questions, and Jen and I just sat there with no clue as to what was going on. 

This has been one of the most frustrating things about this job. Being totally lost in conversations. I just wish I knew the language so that I could understand and communicate. Having someone else translate for you is helpful when trying to get things done, but makes you feel left out during conversations. 

So after our meeting about homeroom decorations the foreign teachers had a meeting about curriculum. However by this point in the day I was done with meetings. I felt like my head couldn't handle anything else, but yet we needed to get curriculum stuff done. So we are asking questions to each other and I am pretty sure we could have been nicer about it, but instead it came out snippy. But I think we all understand that it is a stressful situation and we can have grace with one another. 

In all of this I can totally see God's hands on this school. The moment during our break where we all got in a picture together (there are people missing but these were the people in the room) that I could feel God had great plans for this school. Working together we all bring different things to the school that are important and I am praying God uses us foreign teachers as a light and conduit for his love. As we are all working together (locals and foreigners) I can see God using his people to bring about His transformation for this city! This is going to be an amazing first year!