Adventura De La Gringa: Normal again...or maybe not.

Hi Everyone!!!!!

Life in the village is getting back to normal. It has slowed down some, since the missions teams have gone home.

This week Dorcas finished their term. Finals did not go as well as I had hoped, but in each challenge I learn more about the girls. Many of the girls were taken out of school at an early age to care for sick family members or to care for their brothers and sisters after their parents died. These girls are described as “uneducated;” they haven’t been taught how to study or that they can be successful. This truth became evident in their final examinations. I was sad at first and thought that it was my fault as a teacher.

Then I took a step back and realized that as a teacher I didn’t give them the tools that they needed to be successful. I taught them the things that they needed to know, but I didn’t teach them how to study and retain the information that they were given. I hope to start a study group at the beginning of the next term; maybe through this group the girls will learn how to study and retain the information they are taught. Please pray for these girls and for the staff at Dorcas they are facing many severe challenges financially, emotionally, spiritually and socially.

Since Dorcas is on break, my job here has changed for a little while. I will now be helping Bringing Hope to the Family (Dorcas’s parent organization) write job descriptions and a boilerplate, so that they can have these as reference materials whenever they apply for grant funding or they have new hires. I’m excited to help out in this way, and for the local community to see me as more than the “Cake Baker.”

Just for fun I thought I’d show you my new home. It’s very different from American homes, I miss lying on the carpeted living room floor and taking hot showers from the showerhead, but it hasn’t been a difficult adjustment. I’m thankful for what I have.