Life as a teacher in a Third World Country

We are now in our second week of school. We never did find a sixth grade teacher or an art teacher so the other high school/middle school teachers are covering these classes. I am teaching 8 classes I have never taught before and am feeling quite overwhelmed. Fortunately the classes are small (8-14 students/class) and the kids are great. They are so excited to learn and full of energy---ok-- sometimes a little bit too much energy. The challenges of teaching here are slightly more than expected. I hope and pray that I can provide these kids the kind of education they deserve without completely exhausting myself. Teaching and living here is a huge challenge on how to do without. I need to quickly learn how to teach science in a creative and interesting way with a cardboard box full of lab equipment, no text books yet for 10th grade since they are stuck in customs, and no resources from prior years. On the one hand this is the chance to let my creativity shine, on the other hand this is just going to be hard. I just have to remind myself that God brought me here for a reason and that I do have the skills and experience to pull this off. I hope you are all well and blessed. If you have any ideas or lesson plans for science and art projects on less than a shoe-string budget I would love to hear about them.

Thoughts on Development Work

During these first two weeks before school starts, all staff gathered in the library for our daily devotional before we began workshops and lesson planning. We went through the book of James, one chapter a day. We have had some really profound and thoughtful discussions.

One of the ideas that came up this week is why this school is so important and why we all work so hard to be here. I think that every country that is struggling has a different set of problems. There are so many people here that live without clean water, jobs, or money, but the country is so bountiful and lush that most people can find enough to eat and have family that will keep a roof over their heads. The second highest concentration of Dominicans outside of the capital is New York, New York USA. A lot of money is sent back from the states to family members still living in the DR. This has created a culture of unmotivated adults that are living off what their family members in the US send them. There is a point where handouts and aide create a culture that thinks they can’t do anything themselves. There are also a lot of mountain villages with no US connections that have no means of improving their lives and work very hard just to put food on the table. It is different for the DR’s neighbor Haiti where most people barely have enough food for one meal and all of the natural resources have been destroyed. In the DR, there are resources available to change communities for the better. What the DR needs is educated professionals who have seen better models elsewhere and can work to improve their own towns. Many of the problems in the DR come from poor quality workmanship (eg. the roads). What this country really needs is more people who have a passion for changing things for the better and have the education to do it. There is also a lot of corruption in this country that needs to be replaced by conscientious and compassionate leaders. In terms of what work can be done to help this country, educating the poor who are motivated to learn and teaching them to have compassion on their country is one of the most powerful tools for change at the moment. I’m excited to be teaching some of the most dedicated local students in hopes that they will bring needed skills and a compassionate heart to a country desperately in need of both.

Local Waterfalls

Today several of the new teachers crammed into the truck of one of the teachers that was here last year and ventured out to one of the local waterfalls. The waterfall was a 20-30 minute drive out of town through windy dirt mountain roads pitted with holes. The waterfall was breathtakingly beautiful and there were relatively few visitors. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing my coworkers just as giddy about climbing over the rocks at the base of the falls as I was.

For more pictures of the waterfall check out my new web album....
http://picasaweb.google.com/ewissema/LocalWaterfalls

The Beatiful DR!

Even though I live in a crazy city I have to remind myself to look up past the dirty streets to the beautiful mountains just beyond the city. I stayed with the director of the school and her husband for my first three nights in the country at their gorgeous house in the mountains. Their house was so peaceful compared to the city and I was able to catch up on sleep and hear more about their vision for this school. These are pictures of the view from their porch. I am slowly adjusting to my new surroundings and my Spanish is improving daily. There are definitely amazing things going on at this school and I am humbled to be a part of it. We are currently preparing for school which will start on the 22nd. We have workshops every morning and planning time for the rest of the day.


We had an adventure day last Friday and an all staff retreat to talk about our goals for the year and get to know each other better. I am really amazed by the passion and dedication I have seen in other staff to improving children's lives through a relationship with Christ and a loving environment where they can obtain an awesome education. For our adventure day, we visited a place called 27 waterfalls where guides take you on a climb up numerous small waterfalls. It was breathtaking!

Request

My school (Doulos) is still looking for qualified 4th &6th grade teachers. If you know anyone who might be interested please ask them to take a look at the website and think about it. I moved in with a local family yesterday and am comfortably settled in their spare bedroom. The power outages have not been too lengthy lately and I am getting to know the other staff who are all amazing individuals.
blessings