It has been busy these first two weeks of school! With the start of the school year, new students, the returning ones, and the teams from L.A. and New York that have just come and gone, it seems like there hasn't been a moment when something hasn't been going on. It has been a little hectic, but there hasn't been a dull moment yet.
During the first week of school, it was hard to have the little ones pay attention and keep their hands to themselves, but already this week some of them are starting to tell the other students how to behave. We've paired up the older children with the younger ones, so the younger ones don't feel so homesick or scared being away from home. Some of them have been crying and have expressed a desire to go home, but we're going to give them more time to see if they adjust. Some of the older kids acted the same way when they first came to the school too. It's been very interesting because already two of our students have tried walking to the nearest town when the teacher's backs have been turned. So, we have a buddy system going on. Please pray that the younger children will see TMICA as a safe place to learn and become their home.
The older kids have been doing well in school and most of them are really enjoying being older brothers and sisters to the little ones. We've gone into the kindergarten classrooms to help the younger kids do hands on center activities and it has been a lot of fun working with them. Mira says that this group of kindergarteners is picking up things faster than the first year they had the school, and already some of her students are reading three letter words!
Last week a team of four people came from L.A. for a week and they spent some time in the villages and on campus at school. They taught the children new songs and taught art and music. It was nice to have a little time off with the help that they provided. This week a team of thirteen came from New York. They were an older group of people and mostly observed the villages and school, although they preached during chapel time, played soccer with the children, and brought essential supplies for our school. The container from America is currently scheduled to come in October, so we were missing some supplies for the beginning of the school year before the New York team came. Not only were we thankful, but our students were very excited to receive new shirts and other school supplies. Our happiest student was probably Siaffa, one of our students from a village who had only one outfit and an oversized sweater. He twirled three times and was beaming with joy when he received his new clothes.
This past week we stayed with Mira in Bilingkoro, the village we lived in last year. We had been staying in the guesthouse, but with the team of thirteen there wasn't enough room for us. It was really nice though to see our friends again and to spend time chatting and catching up with the villagers. We've missed the Bilingkoro people and living in the village. This week one of the villagers in Bilingkoro, Hawa, gave birth to a boy and he is so tiny and adorable. They haven't named him yet because the villagers don't name their children until a naming ceremony a couple days later. Shannon spent some time sitting with Secuba, a villager friend, at night, and they drank tea that was very sweet with some bread. It's always amazing to watch the way the men make tea because the whole ordeal is so elaborate. After they heat a tiny teapot, they pour the tea very high several times back and forth from one teapot to another. We don't know why they do this except perhaps to cool down the tea.
Next week should bring things back to normal as the team leaves and we go into our third week of school. Sarah's mom is recovering and not in the ICU anymore. Please continue to pray for her. Everyone's health is good here and we're trying to stay well rested despite the chaos. Thank you for taking the time to read our long update. We hope you are all doing well and we would really appreciate your prayers. We miss
you!
Love,
Shannon and Carol
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