Reflections on a year in Paraguay

This first year in Paraguay has been one of great highs interspersed with some lows. Getting used to a new culture is never easy; there are too many things you take for granted in your own country and adapting to new ways of doing things always takes time. Yet it is a wonderful thing to know that you're doing what God's called you to do and, of course, there have been many blessings along the way.

My first challenge was getting used to the heat. It was new for me to have my glasses steam up when I stepped outside! The summer heat made my skin all clammy and my hair all frizzy. I learned to thank God for air conditioning and to put up with blisters on the tops of my feet from previously comfortable sandals rubbing against sweaty skin. I have appreciated not having to think about taking a coat with me, and the happiness of blue skies almost all the time.


I've loved getting to know the Paraguayan culture. It is vastly different to the UK. Because of the heat, things take a lot longer and move a lot slower. People are much more important than tasks, which can be a challenge for me, coming from a task-orientated background. Paraguayans don't like to disappoint you face to face, so they will agree to anything you suggest, but won't necessarily do it. They will also give you an answer to your question, whether they know it or not. They are a very gentle people; you very rarely hear a raised voice or a grumble. They are very welcoming to strangers. They work very hard in order to put bread on the table; there is no such thing as disposable income for the majority of the population. This can be seen in the supermarkets where things are generally sold in much smaller quantities than we get in the UK. Most people shop from day to day, rather than weekly. There is a huge "informal market" of people selling fruit, sweets, lottery cards etc in the street. There is a lot of corruption in the government and a lot of disgruntlement amongst the people about it. However, the opposition to the government is small and powerless, mostly because of the lack of an educated middle class. There are many more things I've yet to learn. I really enjoy the challenge of adapting to a new culture; it gives you a different perspective on things and it teaches you so much about your own culture.


I was very warmly welcomed by the SIM team in Paraguay. It has been a real blessing for me to be looked after by such caring people. Most of the team come from North America and I had a few experiences of culture clash while spending time with them. (I'm still struggling to cope with the concept of eating sweet and salty things together!)


My work at FEISA (St Andrew's Early Years Teacher Training College) has been a great pleasure. I've had the opportunity to develop new skills and use old ones. The biggest joys have come from putting together a teacher's guide for teaching English to young children and do workshops with the students on the same topic. I've taught English to a great bunch of students and helped with the publicity and communications work. I've loved getting to know the college teachers, particularly Ana and Noemi, who both have a deep faith and have been an inspiration to me this year.


The hardest thing about this year has been feeling very alone at times. It has taught me a lot about relying on God (mostly how much more I've got to learn!) and I've had great experiences of God along the way. I am so grateful for everything that has happened this year because I've learned more about myself and more about God.

Now I'm looking forward to next year. I hope to run a workshop for pre-school teachers on teaching English to young children and to publish my teacher's guide on the internet. I hope to develop the friendships I've started this year and to begin to get a feel for what my future may hold.

Learning Guaraní

Mba'eichapa! I'm doing an intensive 3 week course of Guaraní at the moment. It is the first language of the majority of Paraguayans and is known as their "heart" language. It's the language of poetry and humour and, if you want to get to know Paraguay well, it's a great insight into the culture.

Learning Guarani is great for me as a Level 1 English teacher here at FEISA, the teacher training college. It gives me a real understanding of how it feels to be beginning a new language. It's so long since I was a beginner in a language that I'd really forgotten how frustrated you can feel and what a long process it is. It also seems to me a bit of a mystery how you go from translating every word, which I'm having to do in Guarani, to thinking in the other language (as I do in Spanish).

It's good to be exposed to a different teaching strategy too; our teacher's method is very different from the one I use teaching English at FEISA, and from how I learnt Spanish at university. It's probably most similar to Middle School French; lots of grammar exercises, not a lot of speaking or listening practice. However, the big difference is in the fact that as soon as we finish class, I can find opportunities to use the language in real life. Most people at college speak Guarani and so I've been trying out odd phrases here and there. Mostly my attempts generate great amusement! It takes me a long time to formulate a sentence and even longer to break down any reply so that I can understand it!

I'm also fascinated by the structure and sounds of the language; it's quite different from French and Spanish. There are 33 letter sounds in the alphabet, about half of which are nasal sounds and there's one sound in particular which I find very hard to produce.

I'm really enjoying learning a new language and hope to be able to have lessons with Sam next year, maybe once a week rather than an intensive course like this one, which is exhausting!

End of year show in the indigenous community

In the vast, inhospitable part of Paraguay known as the Chaco, there is a community of indigenous people who have been receiving training from FEISA staff this year. The purpose of the training has been to improve the standard of pre-school teaching in the community. It has involved several of the women committing themselves to the monthly training sessions and helping out in the pre-school class twice a week for 8 months.

At the end of October, the school invited FEISA staff to their end of year show of work. I was privileged to be one of the teachers who went. It was wonderful to see the work that the women and the teachers had put into preparing the church for the show; they'd taken time to decorate the church and to set out a selection of the children's work for everyone to see. It looked great.

The children sang songs they'd learnt and they each received a certificate and a decorated folder full of their own work. The mums and teachers who had participated in the training programme also received certificates. It was very clear that the children and the women all felt very proud of what they had acheived. It was great to see the parents' interest in the children's work too.

Noemí hands a girl her folder of work.

We made the pre-school children crowns to wear, to help them feel really special on the day.

Older boys from the community at the show.

Mobile Play Scheme

"I don't have a home" a little boy said to Noemí, one of the teacher trainers at FEISA (St Andrew's Early Years Teacher Training College). The college runs a mobile play scheme, which entails taking a whole load of donated toys to churches and schools and inviting disadvantaged children aged 3-8 to play freely for a couple of hours. This month, we've been taking the toys to charity schools, where the third year students are doing their teaching practice. One of these schools is also a home for the children and this was where we met the 4-year-old mentioned above. These children really have nothing to call their own and they are so delighted to be given the chance to play in a loving and accepting environment, that it can be quite distressing for them when it's time to tidy up and leave the toys behind. There were many tears when we left that little boy's school!

English Teaching Workshops

I've now done workshops with the first and second years on how to teach English and other languages to young children. I'm very pleased to say that they went well and the students all gave me positive feedback. I taught them songs and games and gave them advice on how to read a story, give instructions, structure a lesson etc. Here are some comments from the students:

"I liked the variety of activities, songs and games which are really lovely and very useful for doing with children. The workshops gave me good ideas about how to teach English to young children."

"I enjoyed the creative way we learned the different activities, games and songs. It’s really great for us to go through the experience ourselves before doing it with the children."

"I liked how Fiona taught, the classes were great fun, the songs were really catchy. I liked everything about the workshop; it was fantastic!"

"I wish the workshops could have lasted longer because they were very useful and, most of all, great fun."

As you can imagine, it was a real boost to my confidence to read such encouraging comments on the evaluation sheets the students handed in.

It was really fantastic for me to realise that the students were so keen to learn what I had to teach them. The second years were asked to get into groups and plan an activity, like the ones I had done with them, for a class of five-year-olds. At the end of the fortnight of workshops, each group presented their activity and I was really amazed to see how well they did and how much of my advice they'd taken on board.

It was wonderful to be using the skills I'd learned in Spain and be able to pass them on to a new generation of teachers.

Mum & Dad in South America

Here's a photo of my parents' visit to the Iguazú falls, on the Brazilian-Argentinian border. Mum and Dad came to visit me for nearly three weeks and seem to have enjoyed their time very much. We did many of the touristy things, and even got to see a real live monkey in the rainforest! It was really great to have them here and show them where I live and work, and also for them to meet many of the people from SIM, who look after me, and those from FEISA who I work with. It's a bit sad now that they've gone, but there are only 9 weeks until I go home for Christmas, so I can look forward to that.

What?Who?Where?Why?

Here's an introduction into what I'm doing here, so far away from home!

To transform the lives of children by training and equipping teachers who will teach with creativity, integrity and love. That’s the vision of “Formación en Educación Inicial San Andrés” (St Andrew’s Early Years Teacher Training College, or FEISA for short) in Asunción, Paraguay. We aim to provide high quality teacher training, from a Christian perspective and inspire our students to make a difference in their country.

Paraguay is a country with many problems, the biggest of which is corruption. As a result of this, there is both extreme wealth and extreme poverty, with 40% of the population living below the poverty line. Nearly half the children in Asunción work on the streets, selling chewing gum, lottery tickets and washing windscreens, to augment their parents’ income. One of our students said, “I’m really worried about children here in Paraguay because they are so vulnerable. It’s hard to change the situation but with a little work every day I know that we can bring about that change. That’s why I’m studying at FEISA.”

In order to keep the fees low and grant scholarships to needy students, the college relies on donations from organisations and individuals who support the vision of transformation through education.

I came to Paraguay with SIM in January 2006 to teach at FEISA because God was calling me to use the skills and experience I’d developed during years spent teaching in Spain and the UK. My work here centres around teaching English to the students and training them to teach English and other languages to young children. I’m also involved in the mobile play scheme the college takes to local churches and schools in poor areas. This scheme gives disadvantaged children an opportunity to play freely in a safe and loving environment which they would not have otherwise.

Cynthia Brusquetti wanted to train to be a teacher when she left school at eighteen, but her father refused to allow it. So she worked in his office for ten years, meanwhile getting married and having children. She never lost her desire to teach. Her husband is a taxi driver and one of his regular customers knew about FEISA and eventually persuaded him to encourage Cynthia to apply for a scholarship at the college. She is now in her first year and really enjoying it. “The chance to study at FEISA has given me hope and raised my self-esteem. I feel very loved coming here. My dream is to improve the educational opportunities for poor children in my neighbourhood, maybe by working in a school or starting one myself.”

Lili Colman came from a very poor family background but had a real desire to teach, so FEISA gave her a scholarship and her classmates helped her with bus fares so that she could complete the course. “FEISA is very demanding but this is good because it makes students better teachers. It wasn’t until I started the course and discovered all that was involved in teaching young children that I realized I loved it. I knew I’d found my vocation. I learned that children learn best through play and discovery. I also learned the importance of lesson planning and of making lessons creative.” She’s now teaching in an indigenous community in a very impoverished part of Paraguay. She found the job a challenge at first but can now see real changes in the children as a result of her input.

I consider it a real privilege to be playing a small part in the extension of God’s kingdom in this way. Please pray with me that, through our students, Christ will touch the hearts of many children, giving them hope and a secure future in him.

This was written as an article for the Spring 2007 SIM UK magazine.