How time flies! We're just about to start our 2 week winter break and I'm quite amazed at how this first semester has sped by.
We had the exam for the 3rd years' course on teaching English to young children and I was very impressed with how well all the students did. They had to teach an activity to the rest of the students, as though they were doing it with a class of 5-year-olds. I was really very pleased with the quality of their teaching, I couldn't have hoped for anything better! Hooray! It is wonderful to think that I’ve trained students who are now capable of teaching English really well.
I asked the students to fill in evaluation sheets at the end of the course and they all came back with really positive comments. They enjoyed the practical nature of the course and the fact that the assessments were designed to help them teach, not just to give them marks. They were also very positive about me as a teacher, which is really affirming. Overall, they gave the course 5/5, so I feel quite confident that I managed to meet their needs and make the course enjoyable enough.
I'm going to a wedding tomorrow evening; a young couple from church. The worry is that the only clothes I've got that are suitably smart are not going to be warm enough. It's forecast to drop in temperature tomorrow and there's a chance of rain. Still, at least I've got clothes to wear!
On Sunday, I'm leaving for the SIM Paraguay team's annual conference. This year it's at a hotel in the countryside and will last 5 days, including some teaching and relaxing as well as a great opportunity to just spend time with the team. As a group we don't get together very often because there are families in a number of different places, some very far away. So I'm looking forward to that.
And that's all my news, I think.
06 July 2007
28 May 2007
corruption deep and widespread
One evening as I was watching the news, three stories caught my attention:
The first was about a project the government set up to provide a glass of milk a day for the poorest children in Paraguay. It was discovered that some of the milk the children were being given was practically devoid of any nutrients, having been made up from milk derivatives instead of being pure milk.
The second story was about an investigation into academic certificates that have been given out to people who have not gained the qualification stated on their certificate. The people found with false certificates include government ministers and doctors.
The third story related the discovery of many tonnes of cotton seeds stored away. The government subsidised the seeds last year to help farmers earn a living. The companies that should have distributed them took the cash from the government but the seeds never reached the farmers.
These kinds of stories are all too common here. Corruption is absolutely endemic. A taxi driver the other day was explaining how, when he goes to the car mechanic, he buys the part he needs himself, takes it to the workshop and then watches as the mechanic replaces it. He uses up half a day in order to be sure that he’s not being swindled. He said everyone knows that otherwise, the mechanic would either tell him he’d fixed it when he hadn’t or he’d replace the part with one from an old car, which would last only a very short time. “That’s what Paraguayans do,” he said.
In a report published last week by Transparency International, Paraguay came joint bottom in a table of the countries with the most corrupt judicial systems.
The first was about a project the government set up to provide a glass of milk a day for the poorest children in Paraguay. It was discovered that some of the milk the children were being given was practically devoid of any nutrients, having been made up from milk derivatives instead of being pure milk. The second story was about an investigation into academic certificates that have been given out to people who have not gained the qualification stated on their certificate. The people found with false certificates include government ministers and doctors.
The third story related the discovery of many tonnes of cotton seeds stored away. The government subsidised the seeds last year to help farmers earn a living. The companies that should have distributed them took the cash from the government but the seeds never reached the farmers.
These kinds of stories are all too common here. Corruption is absolutely endemic. A taxi driver the other day was explaining how, when he goes to the car mechanic, he buys the part he needs himself, takes it to the workshop and then watches as the mechanic replaces it. He uses up half a day in order to be sure that he’s not being swindled. He said everyone knows that otherwise, the mechanic would either tell him he’d fixed it when he hadn’t or he’d replace the part with one from an old car, which would last only a very short time. “That’s what Paraguayans do,” he said.
In a report published last week by Transparency International, Paraguay came joint bottom in a table of the countries with the most corrupt judicial systems.
college life continues...
“We want to have fun!” said the 3rd year girls when I asked them what their expectations were for the course I’m teaching them on how to teach English to very young children. It was the beginning of the first lesson of the module and it was really not the kind of response I was expecting at all!! They obviously remember the workshops I did with them on the same topic last September and were expecting a similar teaching style for this module. I was very sorry to have to disappoint them because this course has to be more academic than the workshops; they were a taste of the different activities you can do, but this module has to include theory and the development of lesson plans and schemes of work. I am including some fun activities in all the lessons but there are inevitable moments of dullness!
I am more involved with the teaching practices team this year, going on visits to an orphanage to supervise the students doing stimulation activities with the babies.
This year we have been taking the mobile play scheme to a wider range of places, including church pre-schools in very poor areas. It is a welcome break for the teachers and the children are over the moon at the chance to play freely for an hour or so.
I am more involved with the teaching practices team this year, going on visits to an orphanage to supervise the students doing stimulation activities with the babies.
This year we have been taking the mobile play scheme to a wider range of places, including church pre-schools in very poor areas. It is a welcome break for the teachers and the children are over the moon at the chance to play freely for an hour or so.
19 May 2007
Fame at last!!
"Ah, you're Fiona Cooper, I've heard about you!" So said Nelson Aguilera, a university bigwig and author, when he read my name badge as the conference speakers were having lunch on Friday. It was the Paraguayan conference of the Association of Christian Schools International and I was there to do two workshops on teaching English in a fun way to 3-11 year olds. I'd heard a lot about him, he's quite famous in education circles here, so I felt it was quite something for him to have heard about little old me!
I had great fun doing the workshops, though it was a challenge for me because I really feel my expertise is in the pre-school age group, so I didn't feel quite as confident about everything as I had when I did the workshop to the pre-school teachers in March. Two of the teachers who'd come in March were also there on Friday, and one of them told me she was using a lot of what she'd learnt at the previous workshop in her teaching. It was really encouraging to have that feedback.
I was surprised in the morning on Friday when, as the first participants trickled in to the room for my workshop, they were speaking English to eachother and to us (Sam came with me as my moral support and techie!) so I asked them whether they'd prefer to have the workshop in English or Spanish. To my surprise they all wanted it in English, so I did it all in English, even though my powerpoint and all my notes were in Spanish. More and more people came into the room after I'd started and I felt a little for the latecomers since they didn't get the choice of having it in Spanish! We played games and sang songs and there was much fun and laughter. I love teaching when it's like that! There were about 40 teachers at the morning workshop and when I repeated it after lunch, 12 people came. ("siesta time;" a similar thing happened to us last year when we did the play scheme workshop at the conference).
At the start of the afternoon session, I asked which language they wanted it in and they chose Spanish, so I got to do the same workshop in two different languages, which made me feel very versatile indeed!! One of the morning teachers returned in the afternoon with someone else from his school. It was better to have fewer participants because everyone could get involved in the games, whereas in the morning, some people had to sit and watch and then, when I gave them the opportunity to participate, were too comfortable in their chairs to come and sit on the floor with me!!
So, there I was doing exactly what I hoped I'd be doing when I said to God after our play scheme workshop at ACSI last year that I'd like to do one on teaching English. The teachers who came to the workshops on Friday all seemed very interested in what I was sharing with them and my prayer is that every one of them will have gone away with new ideas that they can implement to add something new to their teaching.
I had great fun doing the workshops, though it was a challenge for me because I really feel my expertise is in the pre-school age group, so I didn't feel quite as confident about everything as I had when I did the workshop to the pre-school teachers in March. Two of the teachers who'd come in March were also there on Friday, and one of them told me she was using a lot of what she'd learnt at the previous workshop in her teaching. It was really encouraging to have that feedback.
I was surprised in the morning on Friday when, as the first participants trickled in to the room for my workshop, they were speaking English to eachother and to us (Sam came with me as my moral support and techie!) so I asked them whether they'd prefer to have the workshop in English or Spanish. To my surprise they all wanted it in English, so I did it all in English, even though my powerpoint and all my notes were in Spanish. More and more people came into the room after I'd started and I felt a little for the latecomers since they didn't get the choice of having it in Spanish! We played games and sang songs and there was much fun and laughter. I love teaching when it's like that! There were about 40 teachers at the morning workshop and when I repeated it after lunch, 12 people came. ("siesta time;" a similar thing happened to us last year when we did the play scheme workshop at the conference).
At the start of the afternoon session, I asked which language they wanted it in and they chose Spanish, so I got to do the same workshop in two different languages, which made me feel very versatile indeed!! One of the morning teachers returned in the afternoon with someone else from his school. It was better to have fewer participants because everyone could get involved in the games, whereas in the morning, some people had to sit and watch and then, when I gave them the opportunity to participate, were too comfortable in their chairs to come and sit on the floor with me!!
So, there I was doing exactly what I hoped I'd be doing when I said to God after our play scheme workshop at ACSI last year that I'd like to do one on teaching English. The teachers who came to the workshops on Friday all seemed very interested in what I was sharing with them and my prayer is that every one of them will have gone away with new ideas that they can implement to add something new to their teaching.
15 April 2007
Wish you were here?
"I wish it was me!"
"It's so exciting what you're doing!"
"My life seems very ordinary in comparison."
Those are quotes from people in the UK on hearing about what I'm doing here, on the other side of the world.
It's true, it is exciting for me to be here, using my gifts and skills in this work I've been called to. However, I think the key to my joy is in the last few words of that sentence; the fact that I'm doing what God has asked me to do. God has a plan for each of us, uniquely suited to the gifts and personalities he has given us. The most exciting place to be, surely, is right in the centre of that plan. That is the place we can experience most blessing. That's not to say that it will always be easy. By no means! I have gone through some very difficult times while following God on this journey. I have often been challenged by deep desires for a different lifestyle, yet I know that God made me with this journey in mind and I would not give it up for anything in the world.
And, although there are moments of excitement and deep joy, the vast majority of my life is in fact taken up with the mundane ordinariness of life as we all know it; eating, cleaning, washing, shopping, minor stresses at work, personality differences with colleagues, frustrations with details at church...
God calls each of us to our own path, with its own challenges and joys. All of them leading to him, all of them equally precious in his sight. We must not discredit our own path because in our eyes it's somehow lacking in comparison with others'. Neither must we discredit others' paths in comparison to our own.
To some, God gives the privilege of travelling far and wide and meeting lots of people. To others, he gives the privilege of living in one place and becoming part of a stable community. Neither is better or worse, more or less important. Just different. Each person's path is uniquely suited to them.
So here's my challenge to you; are you doing what God has called you to do? Are you using the gifts he has given you for his purposes? If you know that the answer is "yes" then you can be sure that there is no other life better suited to you. If the answer is not "yes" then your task is to seek God's will for your life and accept the challenge of following him unconditionally, because that is where you will find the excitement and blessing you desire. If that thought scares you, give that fear to God. He will not ask you to do anything you are unable to do. He will not allow you to suffer more than you can bear. And he will be with you, guiding you, protecting you and above all, loving you, to the end of time.
"It is in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for" Ephesians 1 (The Message)
"It's so exciting what you're doing!"
"My life seems very ordinary in comparison."
Those are quotes from people in the UK on hearing about what I'm doing here, on the other side of the world.
It's true, it is exciting for me to be here, using my gifts and skills in this work I've been called to. However, I think the key to my joy is in the last few words of that sentence; the fact that I'm doing what God has asked me to do. God has a plan for each of us, uniquely suited to the gifts and personalities he has given us. The most exciting place to be, surely, is right in the centre of that plan. That is the place we can experience most blessing. That's not to say that it will always be easy. By no means! I have gone through some very difficult times while following God on this journey. I have often been challenged by deep desires for a different lifestyle, yet I know that God made me with this journey in mind and I would not give it up for anything in the world.
And, although there are moments of excitement and deep joy, the vast majority of my life is in fact taken up with the mundane ordinariness of life as we all know it; eating, cleaning, washing, shopping, minor stresses at work, personality differences with colleagues, frustrations with details at church...
God calls each of us to our own path, with its own challenges and joys. All of them leading to him, all of them equally precious in his sight. We must not discredit our own path because in our eyes it's somehow lacking in comparison with others'. Neither must we discredit others' paths in comparison to our own.
To some, God gives the privilege of travelling far and wide and meeting lots of people. To others, he gives the privilege of living in one place and becoming part of a stable community. Neither is better or worse, more or less important. Just different. Each person's path is uniquely suited to them.
So here's my challenge to you; are you doing what God has called you to do? Are you using the gifts he has given you for his purposes? If you know that the answer is "yes" then you can be sure that there is no other life better suited to you. If the answer is not "yes" then your task is to seek God's will for your life and accept the challenge of following him unconditionally, because that is where you will find the excitement and blessing you desire. If that thought scares you, give that fear to God. He will not ask you to do anything you are unable to do. He will not allow you to suffer more than you can bear. And he will be with you, guiding you, protecting you and above all, loving you, to the end of time.
"It is in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for" Ephesians 1 (The Message)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
