Posts
Well, Tuesday is the day. Are we ready? Well, I guess we will be ready enough when Tuesday rolls around. We are all looking forward to seeing the kids, new students and old. Jesus died for each one of these kids, and we want to be sure they know that. We want them to grow up knowing they are loved.
So...there is a coating of new paint on most of the classroom walls, courtesy of the older deaf students and one or two adults helping out. There are alphabet posters and calendars on the walls, and brightly colored pocket charts. There is a sense of anticipation among the staff, and the children are very much looking forward to classes starting. Deaf children may look forward to school even more than hearing children, because often they are isolated from other deaf children during the summer, and have no one around who knows how to communicate with them in sign language.
Some of you know one of our older students, Juan Pablo. He was in the hospital briefly this week, when he had a very high fever that caused him to go into convulsions. He is okay now. From what I understand, they don't expect him to have any lasting problems from that episode.
Another student, ML, came in this week to register for classes. She normally is very cheerful,mischievous, and full of energy, but she was obviously very depressed, and lethargic. Please pray for her and also pray that we can figure out what she is so sad about. Sometimes poor language skills make it difficult for the children to explain and for us to understand.
Major prayer requests: We are on the verge of finally getting the official code that says the school is recognized by the Secretary of Education. We've been working on this for years. Pray that it will go through soon. This could mean that the government would give more direct support, like paying for some salaries.
Pray for the Lord's provision for all the needs of the school and the children.
Pray that new children will quickly adjust to school, and will begin to develop their language skills.
Pray for the teachers to be very close to God, so that they may receive grace and wisdom to teach these children, and to present a good example to them of a mature walk with the Lord.
Blessings!
Friday, August 28, 2009
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Video of the new CCES
If you wonder what our new digs look like, here is some video. It is shaky, because it was just done on a regular camera, walking through, but should at least give you an idea. It's in three parts, the first longer than the other two.
I was rather shocked to hear my Spanish accent on some of my words! That can happen sometimes, as I pick up accents very easily, but it comes right back off again when I hang out with Americans. :)
We aren't finished moving in, so you are going to see that things aren't yet organized. There is also office space. I didn't include that on the tour, because there were parents there talking with the director, and I didn't want to interrupt.
I was rather shocked to hear my Spanish accent on some of my words! That can happen sometimes, as I pick up accents very easily, but it comes right back off again when I hang out with Americans. :)
We aren't finished moving in, so you are going to see that things aren't yet organized. There is also office space. I didn't include that on the tour, because there were parents there talking with the director, and I didn't want to interrupt.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
We are on our way!
Well, this week has seen us really into the new school facility. The teenage boys have been working hard, helping us get everything in shape. They have painted some of the rooms. We are waiting on paint for the others. Yesterday they came over to my house and took a truckload of bookcases, table & chairs, books, and teaching materials. Today they put up two blackboards, and helped to begin unpacking and sorting what they brought yesterday.
The teachers came in the afternoon, and began sorting materials and putting everything in order. For the moment it looks like we are going to have about 60 students. With five teachers, and a maximum class size of 12, every class may be full.
The Lord is providing...Today we got a sink. We basically have no functioning plumbing. The toilets flush with a bucket, and there are no sinks installed yet. We don't have electricity yet, but we are fairly used to living without it if we have to.
We have a promise of at least one door, and a few other things like that from a church that is doing some remodeling. Two of the classrooms don't have doors, real windows (just some criss-cross boards) and have zinc roofs. Because of this, they are too insecure to leave materials in them. They need a cement roof, and bars on the windows and doors. (Since the robbers aren't behind bars, we have to be!) There are lots of robbers in this barrio, but everyone knows who they are.
One of the them was over today, asking to get some water from the school's cistern... and keeping his eyes open while he did it. Please pray for our protection; the teachers and the students will be walking through a few drug-infested blocks to get to school. Pray that the Lord will protect the school from break-ins, as well, and that the "watchyman" as they call him, will be honest. Often the watchmen are in on the burglaries here.
Most schools have a night watchman, who basically lives at the school, in order to keep people from breaking in. We are supposed to have one provided by the school sistem, but we don't know when he will start.
Here's what happens when it rains--and this was just ten minutes of hard rain!
I'll introduce you to some of our new teachers in a later update.
The teachers came in the afternoon, and began sorting materials and putting everything in order. For the moment it looks like we are going to have about 60 students. With five teachers, and a maximum class size of 12, every class may be full.
The Lord is providing...Today we got a sink. We basically have no functioning plumbing. The toilets flush with a bucket, and there are no sinks installed yet. We don't have electricity yet, but we are fairly used to living without it if we have to.
We have a promise of at least one door, and a few other things like that from a church that is doing some remodeling. Two of the classrooms don't have doors, real windows (just some criss-cross boards) and have zinc roofs. Because of this, they are too insecure to leave materials in them. They need a cement roof, and bars on the windows and doors. (Since the robbers aren't behind bars, we have to be!) There are lots of robbers in this barrio, but everyone knows who they are.
One of the them was over today, asking to get some water from the school's cistern... and keeping his eyes open while he did it. Please pray for our protection; the teachers and the students will be walking through a few drug-infested blocks to get to school. Pray that the Lord will protect the school from break-ins, as well, and that the "watchyman" as they call him, will be honest. Often the watchmen are in on the burglaries here.
Most schools have a night watchman, who basically lives at the school, in order to keep people from breaking in. We are supposed to have one provided by the school sistem, but we don't know when he will start.
Here's what happens when it rains--and this was just ten minutes of hard rain!
I'll introduce you to some of our new teachers in a later update.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Another good-bye
Last year we lost one of our best teachers, when she moved to the USA. This year we are losing one of the two I spent the year training; she is moving to Spain.
From the middle-class on down, pretty much everyone wants to leave the Dominican Republic. If you ask ten people, probably at least 9 of them will say they want out. And a good proportion of the population is in process of getting a visa. The US consulate is deluged with applicants. As a matter of fact, last I heard, Santo Domingo is the second busiest in the world, behind the leader, Ciudad Juarez in Mexico.
This affects us greatly in terms of teaching staff. We invest a lot in training teachers, only to see them leave.
I asked Maria, the director of the school, what her biggest need was at the moment--what she wanted me to tell you we need. Now, understand, I was sitting in the office at the new location, where the walls need painting, the classrooms don't have any doors or windows, the bathroom has no sink, and the toilets only flush with a bucket. She responded, volunteers to come and teach.
So there you have it. Please pray for workers. Or, pray and come yourself, if the Lord leads you that way.
From the middle-class on down, pretty much everyone wants to leave the Dominican Republic. If you ask ten people, probably at least 9 of them will say they want out. And a good proportion of the population is in process of getting a visa. The US consulate is deluged with applicants. As a matter of fact, last I heard, Santo Domingo is the second busiest in the world, behind the leader, Ciudad Juarez in Mexico.
This affects us greatly in terms of teaching staff. We invest a lot in training teachers, only to see them leave.
I asked Maria, the director of the school, what her biggest need was at the moment--what she wanted me to tell you we need. Now, understand, I was sitting in the office at the new location, where the walls need painting, the classrooms don't have any doors or windows, the bathroom has no sink, and the toilets only flush with a bucket. She responded, volunteers to come and teach.
So there you have it. Please pray for workers. Or, pray and come yourself, if the Lord leads you that way.
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Public school teacher workshop
We recently had a three afternoon workshop for public school teachers, at the request of the local public school district. It was basically an orientation to deafness. One of the recent issues in deaf education here has been the new buzz word "inclusion." In a developed country, it means that everyone is allowed in the classroom, and you include the necessary aides, interpreters, and specialists. Here, what it means is that you open the door, push the special ed student in, and close the door. He is now officially "included."
The teachers had a lot of complaining to do. "They expect us to work with a full class (30 or more) of the children we already worked with PLUS kids who are blind, deaf, unable to walk, mentally challenged...having any kind of special needs in their education." These teachers not only don't have the training for this, they don't even get so much as a teacher's aide, or a planning hour!
While there are some children previously excluded who will do fine in the regular education classroom, when it comes to deaf children, putting these kids in a class with hearing children simply dooms them to failure. Worse than just academic failure; they probably never even learn a language at all, as they are isolated from Sign Language, and they don't have speech therapy.
So a lot of what our workshop was about was telling them how it was not a good idea to have deaf children in their classroom, and to send them to us! But that if they must have them, here are a few tips. (Don't talk to the class while you are writing on the board, etc.)
A visit to Elias Piña followed on the heels of that workshop. Elias Piña is right on the Haitian-Dominican border. You can throw a rock to Haiti from a few blocks away from the house I stayed in. There are lots of deaf kids. According to the deaf in the capital, the deaf in EP don't know Sign Language.
I visited a family with a five year old son who is deaf. There is no school for deaf children in EP. His parents don't want to send him away to the capital at five years old. They want to learn to communicate with him, but there is no one available to teach them how to Sign.
I worked with them for a few days on Cued Spanish, knowing that they could learn that on their own in much less time, if necessary. But it is a difficult situation any way you look at it.
The teachers had a lot of complaining to do. "They expect us to work with a full class (30 or more) of the children we already worked with PLUS kids who are blind, deaf, unable to walk, mentally challenged...having any kind of special needs in their education." These teachers not only don't have the training for this, they don't even get so much as a teacher's aide, or a planning hour!
While there are some children previously excluded who will do fine in the regular education classroom, when it comes to deaf children, putting these kids in a class with hearing children simply dooms them to failure. Worse than just academic failure; they probably never even learn a language at all, as they are isolated from Sign Language, and they don't have speech therapy.
So a lot of what our workshop was about was telling them how it was not a good idea to have deaf children in their classroom, and to send them to us! But that if they must have them, here are a few tips. (Don't talk to the class while you are writing on the board, etc.)
A visit to Elias Piña followed on the heels of that workshop. Elias Piña is right on the Haitian-Dominican border. You can throw a rock to Haiti from a few blocks away from the house I stayed in. There are lots of deaf kids. According to the deaf in the capital, the deaf in EP don't know Sign Language.
I visited a family with a five year old son who is deaf. There is no school for deaf children in EP. His parents don't want to send him away to the capital at five years old. They want to learn to communicate with him, but there is no one available to teach them how to Sign.
I worked with them for a few days on Cued Spanish, knowing that they could learn that on their own in much less time, if necessary. But it is a difficult situation any way you look at it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)