African Muzungu

Last week my students took their final exams while I was at home trying to recover from the threefold onslaught of malaria, an upper respiratory infection, and an ear infection. I was really bummed not to be with them, and very eager to see them when I came back to work on Monday.  However, when I asked my P4 students how exams went, a couple students were quick to pipe up that some of their classmates had ‘copied’ (or cheated) on their exams. My heart fell with the prospect of disciplining them, and I talked very seriously with them for a while. Then I told them they had one day to come and report themselves to me before I started investigating myself to find out who it was.  The following day, 3 of my students admitted to me what they had done. I was glad they had the courage to report themselves, though I realize the fear of their classmates reporting them probably had something to do with it too! I disciplined them accordingly and moved on with my lesson.    At ...

These past few  weeks months have been overly full! When I sit down to try and remember everything that has needed to be done in these weeks, I am just amazed. To start with, Genesis is approaching the end of its third full year of school! Which is wonderful! And hectic. Final exams needed to be typed and printed. Teacher evaluations needed to be created, printed, and administered.  We had a visiting team 2 weeks ago who spent several days at the school. And all those extras are in addition to the usual work load of supervising teachers, preparing and teaching Bible study for the teachers, planning for AWANA, putting together presentations for the AWANA clubs back in the States, taking sick children to the clinic, troubleshooting all manner of weird circumstances (like the time the school's pit toilet started caving in), etc. etc. etc. And all of that adds up to early mornings and long days. Annnnd in the middle of it all, I'm needing to find a...

We truly have some wonderful people working here at Genesis school! Teaching our Nursery classes we have Teacher Daphine: And Teacher Brenda: And this very dear lady, Teacher Rose:   All three of them truly have a heart for the children, and they give their all to help them learn. Rose especially has been a dear friend to me. From the very first time I met her, she was special. Not only is she my Luganda buddy, but she has a heart bent on prayer and frequently tells me how she’s been praying for me. This past Easter weekend, I was down sick with a really bad head cold. Because of it, I called in sick to work yesterday and had a shorter day in the office today. Since Rose hadn’t seen me this week, she made a point to call me today and see how I was. She wanted to let me know that she was praying for me, and that she was trusting that the Lord would bring about my quick healing and recovery. Wow! What ...

Last year, we had cows in  the cornfield Handbook Time...... This year, we have chickens in the games circle. No matter what we're doing here in Kamonkoli, it's bound to have surprises! Saturday we had an all day training for our AWANA leaders by two trainers from the AWANA offices in Kampala. ( AWANA is a Bible memorization program started in the States and used internationally to teach and train children in the Word of God. See awana.org ) We were so pleased to have them, and to be trained well by them. While HUM has been doing AWANA for many years now, we have been in need of some fresh motivation and inspiration...as well as new material and training on how to use it! And while the training on the material was necessary and beneficial, our leaders definitely had the most fun with the games training! This was the first time for many of them to see an AWANA games circle, and if you haven't either, here's how they're set up: Translated int...

The first day of school can be so exciting! Or scary....   For some of our kids here at Genesis, it’s their first day of school ever.      For others, they come to build on their knowledge from previous teaching. I was struck with the difference between the kids coming in for the first time, and those retuning.  One group is shabby, with dirt stained clothes and uncombed hair.  The other is (mostly) neat with their uniforms from last year and (most) heads freshly shaved.  One group sits quietly, not knowing what to do or expect.  The other group chatters away, requiring frequent intervention from the teacher.  It's a visual reminder of the huge impact we can have on these kids. Yes, we can teach them good hygiene. And to wash their clothes. And to sit well and listen quietly. And to write their letters and numbers. And to play well with each other. But mostly importantly we mu...