Tynnea and I have had the privilege of working at a private Christian elementary school in Magdalena called Colegio Memorial Norma de Monroy alongside Students International staff: Rachel, Nivia & Abby . The school year runs from January to October and this year there are 75 students from kindergarten to grade six. Technically it is a private school but this mostly because more than half the students' tuition is mostly paid for through the SI child sponsorship program. Tuition pays for some materials and their navy blue & lime green uniforms.
Since our time here in Magdalena, Tynnea and I have spent 2 days at the school. Our first day we went around to three different classes to teach a Bible class on Zaccheus or Zaqueo in Spanish. Rachel read the story outloud and then we helped the children with a little paper craft. Our last class of the day was a grade 6 English class. In this class, Tynnea and I were interviewed by 3-4 students in English. They asked questions like "what is your name?", "what is your favourite colour?", "what is your favourite Bible verse?", etc.
Today, Tynnea and I spent our second day at the school. We didn't have any classes to teach. Instead we were asked to help watch the kindergarten class, which actually has a wide range of ages from 3-7, while their teacher met with all their parents to discuss the events on September 15, the equivalence of independence day here in Guatemala. I spent a lot of time pushing two girls, Sharoline & Ixi, on the swings. They were so adorable. Had their teacher not called them inside, they would have easily had me push them on the swings all day. A little girl named Sofia was captivated with Tynnea pretty much from the first moment we went outside to the very end of our playtime. When we were not busy playing with the kids outside, we were busy cutting up different Bible crafts for this week - a sheep craft for our lesson on Psalm 23 and a little soldier with different pieces of armor for our Ephesians 6 lesson.
The partnership that SI has with this school has been a really good thing for this community. Just last week I was able to witness all the sponsor kids receive glasses, of which the families only had to pay 20 Quetzales and the rest was paid for by SI. Each child has a different story but from what I know many of them come from families where there are many struggles. Please pray for these children. And if you are interested in learning more about sponsoring one or more of these children, I would love to give you some more information when I come back home.
Thank you as well for praying for us a team. There have been some really tough moments but through it all I know we will come back home challenged in our faith and changed as people.
Buenos tardes from Guatemala!!! =)
Hey Will, just talking to your mom on the phone as we speak. Good to hear how everyone is doing and keep updated that way. We're praying for you everyday and love you very much. Both your mom and I would love to read a post from you!!
ReplyDeleteLove, Auntie Angela