(This was blog post was written September 5, 2011. Sorry for the delays as I need to send them to someone else to read and approve so sometimes it takes awhile but here it goes...)
What a crazy few weeks this has been. Time seems to fly (for the most part) now that I am here in Villarrica and have started what I came to Paraguay to do.
To start out, I love Villarrica. It’s not as big as Asuncion so I can walk everywhere, I have things I can do like teach English and play with kids at recess, and I have been meeting people!
This past weekend I was able to hang out with another English teacher Hulda. She is Brazilian and English is one of the many languages she speaks and she is so excited to help me with my Spanish and be my friend. This past week she told me about a conversation she had with her friend about me, referring to me as her “new friend” and how she wanted to invite me to church. Right after she said the words “new friend” she stopped and looked embarrassed as we had not officially called each other “friends” before. I laughed and nodded in agreement and after she knew it was ok she continued her story. Well this story became a reality as on Saturday I went to her church and met her best friend Raquel and a ton of other people my age and we hit it off. It was awesome. After church we went to the park where they typically do a dance and hand out tracks and then we went for pizza. I am really excited about these new friendships! Finally, I have a Paraguayan friends my age! I have been waiting for this moment since I arrived. It is so perfect as her friend Raquel and I had a lot of fun trying to communicate as well so I am so thrilled to have the opportunity to hang out with her and her friends. They made it clear how happy they were that I came and they now have a “new friend,” so friends we shall be ☺.
As far as school goes, in the last couple of weeks some days I want to jump up and down with joy, other days I want to cry. One of the biggest cultural differences I’ve seen between Canada and Pargauay is in the classroom and how much the kids put each other down. I have never seen kids bully each other as much as they do here in Paraguay and it’s very disheartening. Respect for teachers is also low which doesn’t help the classroom situation when you try to stop the bullying. Last week four of my students, 1 in grade 5 and 3 in grade 6 decided to hop the fence and spray paint the school with profanities. Many of the kids here, like these 4 boys, walk around thinking that they and others are worthless and it shows in their attitudes and actions. It also shows how much they need to hear about the love of Jesus.
5 days ago was one of those days where I literally cried because of what I saw. On this particular day my grade 5 class was exceptionally terrible and at the end of class, one boy who is always teased stayed back to ask me a question. That day in my class he was kicked, hit, had his books stolen, and was called numerous names. Classroom control is difficult in Paraguay, if it even exists and he was not the only kid who had these things happen but this is what his day normally looks like. I walked up to his desk (he was working ahead on his English workbook), but before he asked me his question I kneeled down in front of his desk, looked him in the eyes, and said “I am so sorry your class is so mean to you.” He looked up at me and started bawling. He is one of my best English students, he loves to have fun, he is a loving boy raised by a good family from what I hear, but here he is getting treated as though he is worthless. I was able to tell him that he is worth so much more than what the other kids are saying and that he is one of my best English students. I was able to tell him to keep his head up because he is so special. After I encouraged him he finished crying, he looked up at me, and said “thank-you teacher.” Walking home I was in tears, how could this happen? How can I be in a class where if I help a student, write on the whiteboard, or ask a student a question, there’s a good possibility someone is going to get punched or kicked? I do not know the answer, but I do know that at that moment of sadness and frustration, I was able to encourage a boy who would not hear it otherwise and that is why I am in Paraguay. That is a day and moment I will never forget.
Here are my prayer requests:
1. Wisdom- For Greg (the Director) and Stela (the Academic Director), as lately they are dealing with great stress.
2. For me as I deal with 2 classrooms that are very difficult to deal with. Please pray that I would be able to maintain control of the classroom and that the kids would feel loved when they walk into my classroom.
3. Unity- in the school and church.
4. Patience- 10/18 of my grade 7 students failed their last exam. We had the re-write today with the exact same questions and answers and only 3/10 passed. It seems as though they have checked out and have no desire to try. Please pray that I would not lose hope for them and that I would be able to not discourage them in my frustration but to encourage them to live up to their full potential.
5. Friendships- That these friendships I have started would continue to grow with Hulda and Raquel. This weekend I am also going to Asuncion with Cherlynn (another SIM missionary) and Isabel, a girl from our church who I hope to have ice-cream with this week.
6. Clear Vision- that my eyes would be lifted upwards in awe of who Jesus is, so I can look outwards into the eyes of people who Jesus loves, and be stretched inwards to love them and treat them as Jesus would.
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