“Sylvia! Some ladies are at the door for you,” I hear from the common room of the team house we’re sharing with 3 other teams this month. I head to the door and see two women from the school down the road that I had befriended.
The week before, I had noticed them standing outside our front door not saying anything and no one noticing them, so I introduced myself and asked them how I could be of help. They were grade 4 teachers and wanted some charts made for their classroom, so I kindly volunteered an artistic teammate (thanks, Malia!) to do the job for them.
This day, they were returning to collect some of the posters that she had made. I brought them out and they were SO excited- even going as far as to have me pinch them to make sure they weren’t dreaming. Malia’s gift of drawing made their entire week and provided them with tools to further their work in the classroom.
I expected a hug goodbye and that to be the last time I saw them, but before they left, they hesitantly said, “We have one more question.” They laughed as they told me that they had a teacher who would be gone the next day and the principal was wondering if one of us could come and teach in her place for the day. I hesitated and started to tell them to come back later and I’d check on some things, but decided that I’d just volunteer. After all, I have missed teaching and I have experience teaching a variety of ages, so why not? After saying yes, almost as an after thought, I asked, “Wait….will they understand me….I will obviously have to teach in English. And wait, how old are they?” They responded with “1st grade. And it’s okay, sister.” Great, that’s reassuring. I knew then that I better come with some backup plans.
The next morning, I walk to the school and meet my 2 friends. One of them says she will be in the classroom with me for the beginning of the day to help make sure the kids behave. She walks me into a classroom of FIFTY first graders. “So, I’m just assisting you in teaching, right?” I ask. “No, sister. You teach. I’ll help YOU.”
I look around the bare room and ask, “So…what do you want me to teach them?”
“Oh, whatever you want. Just keep them busy.”
- st graders that speak minimal English busy for 5 hours. No problem. I was glad that I had found some workbooks and worksheets at the team house and that 9 months on the field had prepared me with multiple children’s songs and games.
We started the day with them just being able to ask me questions about America, travel, etc. We read some books, learned about Moses, and sang some songs. The first 2 hours went by pretty quickly and I was amazed at how well behaved the students were. Then….the teacher that was with me had to leave to go teach her own class. No problem, I thought. The kids had been well-behaved and I’m used to being in the front of the classroom…I’ll just keep going through the songs and books.
Not quite as easy as I thought. Once the teacher left, the students were not so well-behaved. They were getting antsy and the language barrier (the other teacher had translated as needed for me) made things much more difficult. The school is normally taught in English, but these students only know a limited amount of English as they only get practice in school. I was in a room that looked very much like semi-organized chaos in it’s best moments.
But it was fun. Between different teachers coming to check in and activities that got them involved and teaching me their songs, we were able to manage until lunch….not without the classic teacher move of having everyone put their heads down for 5 minutes and sitting quietly before lunch.
After lunch, we had another hour and I was told that I could send them home early, so we ended the day with a group picture and lots of high fives.
School systems abroad have been very different than what I’m used to back home, here are some examples from the school here in Swaziland:
-It’s a public school, but the students start the day in prayer and Christianity is allowed to be talked about and shared in the classroom.
– A random foreign substitute can just be invited into the classroom and given full reign.
-Students can be given an early-out with no notice
– There are much fewer resources. I saw many students writing with stubs for pencils and there’s not the educational games/posters/etc that we have in our classrooms in the states.
– There are much stricter guidelines and routines to implement respect from the students to the teachers
The day was not at all one that I had expected to have this month, but it was a great chance to observe the school system here and to get an even better picture of this community. I was able to meet people that play a huge role in this community and it even led the the principal coming to our home the next day to say “thank you” (he was not there the day I subbed). This day was just a reminder to be open to whatever ministry opportunities arise and to be willing to jump in and figure out things as you go. To seek out relationships within the community you find yourself in and to always be expectant. There are often days on the race that you just have to laugh about and wonder how they even happened. It’s often these small moments of opportunities that come up unexpectedly on the race that end up being the ones that I treasure and this will definitely be one of them.
