Field Trip!!!

This week had an exciting adventure in store -a trip to a nearby game reserve!!!
Once arriving at the reserve, students split up into 4 different groups and piled into separate land rovers. Each vehicle also had 2 adult staff and at least 1 game ranger who led the tour. We wandered all over the reserve, stopping whenever an animal was spotted. Enjoy the picture! :)

It was easily the highlight of the school week. The students were so engaged in the process; after the excursion, the game ranger said their behavior was ‘amazing’. The rest of the week continued the animals theme with drawing what they saw on the ride, and talking about the trip in class. The students have clearly gotten an idea of what sort of wild animals exist in Africa -I look forward to seeing them tackle the next project.

Have a great day!!
In Christ,
-Cameron

Haiti

Hello wonderful friends!!
I’d like you to pray for Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and all other areas affected by Tropical Storm Isaac this weekend. This article gave me an idea of what the experience is like. Please consider supporting the healing process. Prayers, mission trips, financial aid - any relief is welcome.  Also, Ashley Bingaman is going to Haiti for a year, and prayers for her would definitely be appreciated. Thanks! :)

A Week in Review

We near the end of another successful week!
This week’s theme is animals. Students have painted pictures of elephants, molded various animals out of clay, and made collages of lions using seeds and pencil shavings. This theme will be further reinforced by an upcoming field trip to a nearby game reserve!

Puzzle: Accomplished!

The grade R daily schedule is: brush teeth, practice ABCs, themed activities, play time, music movements, puzzles/story time, dismissal. There are slight modifications each day, but the overall structure remains constant.


Today being Thursday, I pulled students out in groups of 3 for a laptop lesson. We typed ‘abc123’ and ‘apple’. The excitement of using computers was still clearly there! Several students were noticeably faster at finding the keys, and helped others accomplish the task. Progress was slow, but I suspect these lessons will be well worth it.





Thursday is also a day for religious studies, where Brother Josias comes and shares a story from the bible. Today’s lesson was on the woman who was healed from bleeding by touching Jesus’ cloak.                                                  
Josias told the story in English and discussed it in Xhosa. I found myself just as engaged as the students were, trying to understand what he was saying. Our school’s dual language lessons have been helpful to both me and the students!

I had a moving discussion with the monks earlier today about these childrens’ home lives. We did not go too deep, but the insight I gleaned on their physical, emotional, and medical problems was touching. Truly, an act as small as helping someone finish a puzzle can be a highlight of their day.

Thanks so much for reading, and I wish you a blessed day.
In Christ,
-Cameron

Day of Rest

5 days of teaching are in the books!!! We are now enjoying a weekend off.

So far, things are going well. We have slowly increased my workload, thereby making my role less of an observer and more hands-on.

The class on laptops went very well. I taught 3 students at a time while the rest watched a educational movie. It was their first time to work with a computer, and you could tell they enjoyed it! It was easily the most focused I had seen them. Our lesson included typing “abc123” and “inja” (the Xhosa word for “dog”). I’m told that as students returned to the class, they were buzzing with excitement. Perhaps we should show them the wonder of google next :)

No plans this weekend other than relax and catch up on sleep. Thank you again for your wonderful support, and I hope you have a magnificent day!

God Bless,

-Cameron

First day of School!

After 7 days of rest, I have begun work at Holy Cross School!
                                  

Inside Holy Cross

 First, some logistics:

The South African school year runs January to December. In lieu of summer and winter breaks, there are medium-sized breaks that segment the school year into 4 ‘terms’. The plan is for me to be with grade R (Kindergarden) for the remainder of this year, and migrate with the class into grade 1 come January.

Holy Cross School has 28 students and 10 staff, allowing for a close-knit community. Students arrive between 7 and 7:45, and assembly bell is rung at approximately 8:00 (don’t get too hung up on time here :) )

Stephen and I arrive at 7:45, meet the other teachers, and can enjoy tea or coffee while we discuss the day. We have also taken to playing with the students on the playground :)

Practicing ABCs

My role has been to shadow the class and get a feel for how school is run. The grade R class already had two teachers in it -the head teacher, and an assistant seeking teacher certification- and they were very kind in welcoming me into their classroom.

Each morning begins with brushing teeth -something not practiced at every student’s home- and then reviewing basic concepts such as days of the week and months of the year….however, these lessons are covered in both English and Xhosa. Even though some students struggle, it is nonetheless impressive they are learning dual languages.

Grade R Classroom

This week has the theme of ‘transport’, meaning we talk about planes, trains, bicycles, etc. Students drew their favorite type of transport, and also ‘made their own car’ out of shoe boxes and toilet paper rolls.





School ends at 12:45, but an afternoon tutoring program begins at 2:30. This is where students from  schools in Grahamstown can come for homework help. I wound up working with two 4th girls who were learning the names of continents.

Our low student:teacher ratio has afforded me a light workload, but this situation is quickly changing; I have been assigned lead role for Thursday's computer class! Yes, we have computers. No, no quite like yours.


We’ll see how this goes!!!

Thank you very much for your support over this year. I look forward to being partners in this journey.
In Christ,
-Cameron

"Does God laugh in Chapel?" "Of course He does!"

Due to ongoing blogger issues, photos will not be presented in the convenient stye of in-and-beside the text

Welcome to Mariya uMama weThemba Monastery!!!

The 30-hour travel went incredibly well. I arrived at Port Elizabeth airport, where Brother Robert and Stephen picked me for the final leg of the journey. 1 hour, 45 minutes later, we pulled into the Monastery campus. And let me tell you, this place is peaceful.

Below are pictures from our back porch.

The guest houses, monastery, chapel, and school are located on the slope of a hill, resulting in a variety of scenery.

School is off until Monday, so the days are free for exploring and moving in.

2 days in, here are my first impressions:

-Again, this place is peaceful. In addition to a beautiful environment, everybody here feels calm.

-The monks are wonderful people. They have a spirit of humor, of warmth, and of sincerity. Each one has already reached out and made me feel at home

-Because the guest houses are open to anyone, there is a revolving door of people at the monastery. This has already yielded great conversations with people, including talks about life as priests and monks, and pondering God’s sense of humor

-Lots of ways to get involved. Between the monastery and the city, there are a plethora of opportunities for further engaging in the community. Recreation, service, you name it.

-This year will be a delight

There are no weekend plans other than catch up on sleep and keep settling in. Lots to explore and do, but oh such peace to it all.

Oh, did I mention this is in South Africa?!

5 days and counting!

WONDERFUL things have happened recently.

The Sunday visit to St. Paul’s -Pflugerville went exceedingly well. Mother Judith Jones showed sincere support for this mission, as did all other church staff -some of whom I knew from Camp Allen, but did not realize they went there! This community had showed kindness that made you want to come back. Many thanks to Mother Judith for this opportunity, and to all the people who showed their warmth and gratitude.To summarize this visit in one word, it was personal.

I’m happy to announce that our fundraising goal of $10,000 has been eclipsed!! Many people have stepped up recently to support this endeavor, and I give thanks to all of them. If you still wish to contribute financially, you are certainly invited to do so -all offerings will still be used to carry out this mission.

The final church visit is this Sunday at St. Paul’s Episcopal -Katy, TX, where I will be the guest preacher at both services. Come one, come all! And yes, this would be the day before…..

August 6th departure!!!!!!!!!