Today is our last day
working in the villages. Tomorrow is a national holiday, and Friday we have to
head back to Managua to get ready to fly home. we spent the morning in la Lima
again, working with the secondary students. We were excited to be able to share
with them how proud we were of the great teaching that they did yesterday. They
also had comments and questions for us about yesterday. Most of them wanted to
thank us for working with them and giving me skills to us. The education
director for the San Ramon network from rainbow was here both days, and he told
us and the students how important it was to learn these strategies and how they
could go out and teach and reach so many people now. He used the phrase,
"multiplicacion de conocimiento", which means multiplication of
knowledge. It is great to know that they understood of goal, which was to teach
them how to tach, and to hopefully affect more than just the 30 students in
that classroom.
We got to practice some
more activities. We showed them the plays that we had brought. We made bags
with props in them to perform some simple readers theater plays, and we let
them practice, then perform them for us. They were fantastic. Some of them were
total hams, and loved acting. I think that those are going to be a lot of fun
for all of the students. Jeanette taught an English lesson that she had
prepared, and it was neat to see how difficult it is to learn a new language.
They kept practicing, and by the end, they could introduce themselves and have
a short conversation. Clay got to share his videos of his photos from his life,
and the students really liked this part. They got to see snow, and his friends,
and the Mississippi river. He talked about prom and said it was "muy
importante!" one student said that it was neat to see what life was like
for him and how they were different, but still the same in some ways.
When it was time to go, a
few of them had some very kind words to say. One young man told us all about
how much they appreciated us, and how they aspire to be like us and that have
taught me that they should have dreams and goals and they can achieve them. I
was in tears as they were thanking us.
The afternoon in santa
celia was fun, but bittersweet knowing it was our last time with our new
friends. The secondary students got to practice again with the niñitos all of
the new things that they had learned. They all really loved the songs,
especially the vowels song..."salió la a, salió la a, no se a done
fue..." they again did a phenomenal job. I am so happy to know that the
education of the younger students will be effective and hopefully successful.
After the practice, it was time to celebrate with a piñata. The kids of course
loved this part. Jessica and I even got to take a turn. We had gifts for the
children. They each got a toothbrush, a fun eraser, and a picture book. They
loved getting the books, as most of them have never owned their own book. We
even got to give higher leveled books to the scholarship students, although
they were asking us for more David books!
We unfortunately had to cut
our last afternoon with our friends short, since it had been raining all day
and they were worried about us being able to get down the hill. We are now
driving down the hill in a monsoon. It is absolutely pouring out, or as they
say here, "está lloviendo sapos y culebras!" we made it about ten
feet before sinking and getting completely stuck. It looked pretty dire for a
bit, and it was literally a deluge while we all tried to figure out how to get
it out. Within seconds, all of the boys from the school came running out to
help. It was so sweet to see them so eager to help. They literally lifted, not
pushed our car out! Then it was off down the hill at an even slower pace than
normal.
On our way down the hill,
we stopped at a house where a farmer reserve grows organic coffee. One of the
workers from last week visited this house last week and what a find it was.
This man and his family started this farm 18 years ago, and they built the
house and buildings all by themselves, and it still is only run by family, with
no outside help. It is also certified organic. We got to see the perezosos, or
sloths outside too! He had warm coffee ready for us, which was great after
being soaking wet. He told us his story, and then apologized for not having our
order ready (we had stopped the day before to tell him how much we wanted.) he
had to roast it for us, and he said that he was unable to use the roasting
place that he usually does, since there was a problem with the electricity.
However, he told us he would deliver it to our hotel in Managua, which is 2
hours away on Friday! It was delicious coffee, and we are so excited to be able
to support such a nice, family run operation.
It was definitely tough
knowing that we were headed down the hill for the last time. The students and
adults all just kept asking us to remember them, and to please come back and to
not forget them. We promised that we would.
No comments:
Post a Comment