We left Zambia just about a week ago and I miss it so much already. We worked at Kazembe Orphanage with 28 children between the ages of 1 and 10. We were with the children the majority of the day. My team taught them in the morning, did sports, swimming and crafts in the afternoons, and read to them at night. I now realize what it would like to have a child and how much work is involved in raising them. They need constant attention and to feel loved. The kids here always wanted to be around us and be touching us, they lacked physical contact that a parent would give and desperately wanted that act from us.
Alyssa taught the 1st grade class during the mornings. I assisted with one of the girls, Queenie, who needed extra help learning to read and taught PE to the 1st graders and the kindergardeners. I had so much fun doing both activities. While I was with Queenie I learned so much about patience. We as adults need to be patient with children and give them the time they need to fully grasp a word. She would try to guess words by just seeing the first letter and I made her sound them out so that she would get the pronunciation down. I sat with her almost every day and she would read me books, we would do flash cards, and then I would have her spell out the words. I loved being able to give her the extra attention she needed and I think she made progress. She was such a sweet natured child and would get frustrated easily but I kept encouraging her and showing her love by giving her patience. I miss her dearly. I know that patience is definitely something I always need to grow in and felt like I made progress in the right direction this month. I have to take things as they come and be willing to adapt to new situations.
Our first graders, minus Johnny. Queenie is the bottom right girl.
PE was also so much fun for me. At the beginning of the month I would do activities with the 1st graders and separately with the kindergardeners but after one rainy day where we couldn’t be outside I decided to combine both age groups. That rainy day I decided to do one of my favorite workouts with them, Insanity. I have been in the routine of doing nearly every morning and they enjoyed doing it with me then so I decided to the workout with them in the dining room. They really enjoyed and I decided to continue using the videos as our PE class. They made me laugh so much while working out and I loved how into they got. I would call out what do and they would say “like this?”It was so much fun and one of my fondest memories at Kazembe Orphanage. I also did physical evaluations for both grades to see how their hand eye coordination as well as their depth perception and their balancing skills. They loved doing activities that involved moving around and being out of the classroom, go figure.
Here they all are!
I did become quite attached to one girl named Jennifer who was 7. She was a sassy young thing and somewhat dramatic sometimes. She was always laughing and enjoyed life so much. Jennifer always wanted to be held and be around me. In sum she just wanted to feel loved and valued. I tried to show her how important she was and dearly loved by me as well as God. Jennifer loved to sing her morning hymns and the Zambian national anthem. I can’t wait to see what God has in store for her. I would have loved to her adopt her but I feel like she is exactly where God wants her and would have a hard time stripping her from her Zambian culture.
Here is Jennifer and me at Sandra and Henry’s birthday party. We painted their faces and I attempted to make a her bunny. Not the best one you have ever seen.
I forgot to say that my team changed and this was our first month together. I went from a coed team to an all girl team. I am still on a team with Allison, but the rest are completely new team members to me. Alyssa, as I mentioned is one of my dearest friends and really connected in the Dominic Republic when our teams were together. She is a math teacher for middle schoolers. Miranda is amazing. She just finished her Master’s degree in Divinity. She wants to be a preacher and eventually teach a small Christian University. Kelly just finished Bible College and plans to go back to school to get her Master’s. She wants to be a missionary and definitely is passionate about the nations. Kelly and Miranda both love theology. Jamie Rae went to FIDM where she studied fashion design and is definitely very fashionable. She plans to go back to Bible School, actually the same school that Kelly went to. I love these girls and think they are so amazing!! They have taught me so much and am excited to go deeper with them.
This month I learned how important is to be involved in children’s life even as a teacher. We all play a part in furthering their developing and teaching how important they are. I also learned to be patient with others and to trust in God’s timing and not my own. Thank you all for your prayer and support. I love you and appreciate you more than you know. I still have some money to raise by January 1st, pray that God continues to provide for me.
