New Social Security to be implemented

Before I tell you about the new Social Security program here, let me just mention that the strike was one of the most peaceful ones we've had. I'm guessing that it's because it wasn't called by the transportation industry. Theirs usually include violence. We are all very thankful it went so well.

This year has brought heavy additional costs to all private schools here. It is likely that many of the smaller private schools will not survive. Earlier this year teachers were given a raise from their entry level salaries. This was a good thing. It was desperately needed.

Now schools are faced with paying an additional 16% for the new Social Security program, which officially begins in September. This program is supposed to include health care (with a co-pay) and pensions for employees. This is a good thing as well, but it is difficult for schools to do.

Teachers are paid 13 months a year here. How's that again? They are paid during the summer, and as all other regular employees nationwide, they get double pay in December.

I need a fundraiser! There are so many things that I have to do in order to make this school function, I simply cannot stop doing them to raise funds. I'm in sort of a catch 22 situation. If I stop and go fundraising, the school will fall apart, but if I don't have the funds, I cannot run the school.

A hammer or a wrench? You can use a wrench for a hammer for a while. The wrench will require more effort, but it will usually work, although not as well as a hammer would. Eventually, though, the wrench will break, and won't be a good wrench or hammer!

What I'm good at, and what I'm called to, is running the school. What I'm not made for is raising finances. So pray with me, that the Lord will lift this burden off me and place it on someone who is gifted for this work. I don't want the school to fail, but I can only keep hammering for so long.

Country news

I read in the morning newspaper that there is a national strike planned for Monday. more info What usually happens when there is a strike, is that there is no public transportation, and everything is closed. But then, most of the strikes are called by the transportation people. Any driver who dares to work that day runs a very slight risk of getting a molotov cocktail thrown into his vehicle. Most stores do not dare to open either, although sometimes the little local stores will sell on the sly out the back door.

It's a good day to stay home, because strikes always have the potential to become violent. Almost all here have some violence, but on the whole the strikes of recent years are fairly peaceful. The few incidents that happen are overreported, so people become more frightened about it all. The populace really has little choice; they are forced participants. That is the saddest part of all.

There have been protests in the capital this past week by a sector that is demanding water and electricity for their area. They have been lacking adequate water supply for weeks. What they have done is block off a main road going out of the capital, causing serious traffic jams.

Meanwhile, on the home front, I have not had any more problems since the garbage can was stolen and a day later when a guy was seen inside my locked gate. Except of course--where to put the garbage now!

Summertime

Just two of us will be working during the summer--Svetlana and myself. I plan to spend a fair amount of time teaching her basic Spanish, since she mostly reads and writes in Russian. We will be working on curriculum development, materials preparation, and teaching a Sign Language class as well.

We are planning two reunion activities for the students in the summer. One will probably be a visit to the National Aquarium. It is kind of rundown these days, but is still a very manageable field trip that the children will enjoy. The other day is supposed to be an activity by Vision Trust, but I don't have the details yet.

The teachers are almost desperate for larger classrooms. It has been difficult teaching in such cramped quarters this year. I find the children fight more as well, when they are overcrowded. There is no immediate relief in sight, but it is one of our greatest prayer requests.

I was reading an article about education and poverty, and it really described our students to a T. It said that they tend to bring the rules from their barrio into the classroom, and that they need to learn the middle-class rules for success in school. I've never heard it put that clearly, but it makes perfect sense, and I'm going to work on that. It's tricky, because their limited language skills tend toward the concrete still.

Another article I read talked about developing thinking skills, and how many children of poverty come to school without the basics in that area.

I'm constantly studying and researching on the internet, to see how we can improve our methods in educating these special children.

New beginnings

Thursday I met the new pastor at the church where we rent our classroom space.

K. got off to VA today, so today I begin housesitting in earnest--on my own again.

Today is the beginning of summer break.

Today began a new friendship. I met one of the kids' biggest supporters (through Vision Trust.) It was fun meeting her and going down the list telling her about our kids. I'm sure I'm as bad as any parent, when it comes to talking about our students. I could see that she has the same heart for children that I do, and it's always wonderful to meet a kindred spirit. We spent lots of time exchanging ideas and teaching tips. Fun!

It was quite fun spending several hours in English mode, talking to various people visiting here from the US, telling them a little about the work here.

It was especially nice to see two dear friends who formerly lived here as missionaries, and now come from time to time with work teams.

Monday is a teacher work day, to get the classrooms straightened up. After that I am setting only a couple of "must-do's" for the week, because it really is time to take a break and relax before I dig into the summer's work.

Countdown to the finish line!

It's hard to believe there is only a week of school left. I'm not ready for it to end. There's so much more I want to teach! One of my future goals is to have year-round school, with frequent breaks, rather than one long summer break. The students would retain more that way.

Today we went to the park, as is our custom each Wednesday, weather permitting. At the school itself, there is very little room outside for active play, so the park fills a real need. We also have the goal to teach the students how to act on these short weekly field trips, so they will know how to behave on longer ones.

The students, especially the boys fight a lot. Most of them come from very rough barrios, and have parents who don't really know how to communicate with them.

Emotionally they are very childish, and react to any insult or perceived insult with violence. This is something that will change in time. It is difficult, because when you have two seven year olds fighting, they probably aren't going to do any permanent damage, but teenagers who fight over the same things may actually harm each other, because of their nearly adult size and strength.

Playing is one thing we really like to see the kids doing. I admit, we have a hidden agenda; learning. We try to make learning fun, rather than tedious and boring. We do have to teach them how to play. They tend to be like little children when things don't go their way, pouting, or getting angry when they lose. We have a lot of 12-14 year olds that are more like 7 year olds emotionally.

The work team that was here from Baltimore left us some little wooden cubes that open up and show the gospel in pictures. This week we are taking about fifteen minutes at the end of each day--our normal time for Bible study--and devoting it to teaching them how to use the cubes. Each student gets to have one of their own, as soon as they are able to explain the pictures. They should be ready to do that by Tuesday.

Wednesday will be a clean-up day, where we will have the students help us put all our materials in proper order. Thursday will be our end of the year party, and the last day of school. We expect to have a couple of summer activities, one in July, then a short camp in August.

During the summer Svetlana and I will be working on a variety of things, from curriculum development, to home visits. We'll be printing up a lot of our own materials. At least that's the plan. :)

Please pray for us and these children. Only through Jesus can these little lives be truly touched.

Storms

Yesterday we had quite a storm. Rain came down in torrents for hours. The usual parts of the city and country flooded. Three students showed up for classes, and were sent back home. We don't have snow days. We have rain days! Today attendance will be dismal, but we will go on with classes, if it doesn't flood again.

Most students, and all of the teachers come on public transportation. This includes at least three blocks of walking once we get off the bus/car. On my way home, a rainy day means a walk of about three-quarters of a mile for me, as there are few public motorcycles available then. Did I mention that crossing a street usually involves wading through ankle deep water on rainy days?

A few students come on motorcycles driven by relatives or paid drivers. A few other students walk, from a distance of up to two miles. Most don't have umbrellas, and raincoats don't really work well in this climate.

So, we don't panic. We just accept it as a day that we will be doing other things.

Everyone is okay...

but a group of our students were in an automobile accident on their way home Monday. Their parents pay a driver to take the whole bunch of them to and from school every day. One girl got pretty bruised up, but nothing more serious than that, PTL. They missed yesterday and today, while the car is being repaired, but we are expecting them tomorrow.

A new student came in, and registered for the fall. She is 6 years old and has never been to school previously.

Two of the boys got into a fist fight during school today.

K. and I went to the grocery store this evening, and it was pouring when we got out. We were pretty wet by the time we got all our groceries into the house.

Fruit loops are about $11, but were on sale for just $9 the other day. But broccoli was just around a half dollar for a nice sized bunch. The moral of the story: buy as little imported food as possible, and especially avoid the cereal aisle. (Note "corn flay" is what you call all cold cereals.)