The Good and The Bad

             Consistent with life, this past week (which I can't believe was only my 3rd week here) has been filled with really great things and also really hard things.  I think I will start with the hard because then we can end on a really wonderful note!

            This week we had to go and visit the students’ school because we were having a few problems.  Some of our students told us that their teachers had beat them because they didn’t bring in toilet paper like they were asked to do. Many of you who know me well know I don’t even believe in spanking your own children, so you can imagine how hard this is on my heart to hear about this treatment of my students.  Sometimes I hate that I can’t control the environment that these children are in all day long.  It’s not just here in Nigeria either.  I am sure that every teacher in America has also wished they could rescue a student from the environment they are living in when they are away from us, but we can’t and that sucks.  Anyways, we went and spoke with the head teacher and explained to her that these children are very vulnerable because of all they have gone through in life at such a young age and that we are the ones providing for them so they should not be punished when we don’t bring in the toilet paper for them.  She seemed to understand and I am praying that I never have to hear about my students being beat again.

students at Igmin Kibe with Esther

            Another one of my students came up to me today very seriously and said “Aunty Anna, I need to tell you that I wasn’t in school on Friday” (part of the rules of our Ed Center is that in order for them to come they have to go to school).  I appreciated his honesty and asked him why he didn’t go to school. He told me that his cousin, who was just less than 1 year old, had died. Gosh, it just about broke my heart again.  We talked for a short time about how he was doing and feeling and how his family was.  To be honest, I never know how to handle these kinds of situations.  I never know what to say, I mean what can you say? 

            So those were just a few of the hard things this past week, but there were so many good things too!  Ayuba is one of the other teachers here at Igmin Kibe.  Ayuba teaches the students that have already gone through the speaking and learning to read English curriculum.  He and I decided to start a new curriculum with his students and I am really excited about it.  We decided to go with a curriculum/structure called Daily 5 (which is pretty popular in the US).  Today we had our first lesson and it went really well!  I think it is a great fit for these kids because it provides them with the structure and modeling they are so accustomed to with their schools but also helps them learn how to work and learn independently and gives them a chance to think more critically and be creative.  Ayuba is really excited about it and that makes me even more excited about it!

Some of the students in Ayuba's class 

            Last Sunday we took the kids from Destiny’s Home (a children’s home here in Jos that we partner with) to a church where they were invited to sing.  I am really encouraged because this church has really felt a call to care for orphans and wants to partner with Destiny’s Home as well.  They took just one offering and all the money they collected went straight to the home. They literally handed Sandra, the director, the offering baskets (although they later came and put all the cash in a black plastic bag so they could have the baskets back).  The kids did an awesome job singing and dancing and got the whole church to join in (which really doesn’t take much in a Nigerian church)!  It was a really great day!

            So those are just a few highlights of this past week.  I think I need to start blogging throughout the week so these blog posts don’t have to be so dang long!

Grace, Peace, and Love,

Anna