Teta Samia [PHOTOS]

Tuesday through Thursday mornings the 7 men I live with and I visit a school run by the church where we serve. For two hours each morning we try our best to teach the kids there. None of us have education degrees or anything that certifies us to teach. Nonetheless, we try our best to imagine our lives back in elementary school. As much as I can remember, our teachers didn’t walk around the classroom with a stick smacking kids occasionally, but this is a different culture.

Since we’ve been doing this the past two weeks, I’ve grown fond of some of the children. There’s Esther, Emissa, and Teta Samia (tetuh sah mee uh). Samia is probably what you’d call my favorite. I love picking her up and throwing her around. She is super ticklish and has one of the most precious smiles I’ve ever seen. I tickle her sides mostly to see her smile.

One picture below shows Jonathan teaching shapes by drawing a creature with different shape. Another shows Samia’s smile since the camera on my phone can’t get all her face in poor lighting. In the last one you can see several students before school, and Samia is in the center in her uniform that only has one strap left.

Thanks, Lord, for letting me love and feel loved by these kids.

Teaching is tough. If anyone has good ideas on patience or teaching kids who don’t speak the same language, PLEASE LET US KNOW!

Thanks and love!