Phil and I love being here --- on many levels. God has given me a new heart for people around the world, a compassion for their plight, and an understanding of why WE, outside their world, MUST be part of making it better for them. Not all; but part. True change must come from within, but it must start from outside.
On another level, we love being here because there is "never a dull moment!" Only in Africa could a teacher arrive at school to see her students gathered around . . . NOT the flagpole, NOT a fistfight, NOT a child fallen from the top of the monkey bars, BUT . . . a compound dog gnawing on a bone from the carcass of a dead sheep/goat (fur and all) three feet from the classroom door! Whichever way the breeze was blowing, determined whether we were fascinated or repelled! For you --- NO PICTURES! I don't know where the animal came from, but he was quickly hauled away!
And speaking of school (which is why I am here), my appreciation for having grown up in the United States has reached even higher levels than before my journeys to this "land with a lot of sky." It is difficult to put into words the impact a rich environment and opportunity available for wide variety of experiences can have on a person's ability to learn. It is also difficult to put into words the impact education has on your WHOLE life, but my dear friend and neighbor, Deb, who is a gifted writer and occupational therapist, has said it well, and I quote:
"I've been thinking a lot lately about how illiteracy and a lack of primary education can affect every aspect of a person . . . including coordination.
When I look back at my first six years of schooling, there were so many basic life-skills that were introduced and developed in those primary years. Learning to read and write develops coordination, fine motor skills, visual tracking, attention, error recognition, and the ability to self-correct. Learning to add and subtract develops logic and reasoning. Art, music, and PE classes develop creativity, cause and effect, and gross and fine motor skills.
And how many skills did I develop when my mom sent me outside to play when my homework was done? Simple things like learning to hop, skip, and jump. Balancing on one foot. Developing my imagination by playing 'make-believe'."
I like to think, as an educator, that I am offering children the opportunity to have lives more comparable to a "super highway" rather than a "potholed road." I want them to thrive, with skills, creativity, and reasoning abilities that give them rich choices and the ability to make change - for themselves and the world they live in. I want them to avoid limitations that put a halt to their dreams, or don't let them dream at all because they are stopped by obstacles too large or difficult to work through. Change-makers or Change-takers? EDUCATION makes the difference!
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