Last Blog Entry from Becky Before Her Departure

Becky Dick writes:

As some of you may have known I’m a widow of six months. When Barb approached me about coming to teach here soon after Phil’s death, it seemed to give me a purpose to go on. In the two-day teacher training seminar I tried to teach the teachers ways to adapt the curriculum to the orphans in the classroom and how to have lessons that are multi-leveled.

The hardest part was trying to adapt these teaching strategies to a teaching situation where there are such limitation for resources. These teachers only have a large chalk board, and each student has a slate and chalk. Back in the USA as I’d share with Barb and Ginger my ideas, for example using hands-on material, they would shake their heads. So we adapted to using things like sticks and stones to help children learn.

I stressed first the need for them to remember when they were children – so as to give them insight into their students, and also I encouraged them to establish relationships with their students. I shared Matthew 18:3 where Jesus said, “Unless you change and become like little children you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven.” And also Mark 10:14, “Let the little children come to me, for the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these.”

After sharing I John 3:1, “How great is the love that God has lavished on us that we should be called the children of God and that is what we are,” they sang a song that uses this verse.

My heart was breaking this morning when we visited a Hand in Hand school (local church-based Christian school for orphans) to see children as young as three in the same class with ones who are 8-10 years old!

My prayer request is that, since they have very young children coming to their schools, that they find a way to separate the very young ones from the older ones who are more ready for lessons on literacy. Pray that the pastors, who are in charge of the schools, will find other ways to teach these nursery school age children.

Of course, as a teacher, I really feel for these teachers having such a wide age-range of children.

What a responsibility and privilege these teachers involved in Project Hope & Charité’s schools have. Please pray for Barb Wooler and Ginger Hock (PHC’s Hand-in-Hand Director) as they work with our African colleagues and local churches here in Africa to teach these children who otherwise would never be sent to school.

“Tomorrow’s world will be shaped by what we teach our children today.” I found this quote in My Daily Bread.” What an impact the Project Hope & Charité students can make in this country as the Lord tarries His return!

My last prayer request is that God will help me know how I can continue to help from the USA side.