Day 2: First Visit to Kechene School

June 2, 2009

However, as it is written: No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him.

1 Corinthians 2:9

Today has been a good day. We had Demis drive us in the private van again and we went to visit the places where Brittany, Blair, and I will be working . Rachel and Mark came with us because Rachel doesn’t start work until tomorrow and Mark still doesn’t know where his place is yet, because it just moved locations.

We first went and visited Destiny School, which is a private school where Brittany will be teaching. We got to sit down and talk to the man and his wife who started the school, and learn about the kids and sponsorship program there along with the micro business plan they have to help the poverty stricken mothers of their students.

After that we traveled to Kechene School where I will be working. The school was hard to find and is a very poor school, but the people there are so joyful. There are three grades ,K-2, and we went and visited all three classes and introduced ourselves to the kids. The children would welcome us by name and yell and cheer for us. One of the teachers brought us to the two younger classes and the children in those classes were so excited to see us! As soon as we walked into the room we were mauled by children yelling greetings and wanting a hug or to hold our hands or give us kisses, and they were all fighting to get close to us. After we were introduced, the children sang us songs. They sang Jesus Loves Me, other songs in Amharic, and then both classes sang Father Abraham, motions and all. The children there were all so precious and just wanted to be with you. I almost got dragged to the ground multiple times by children who wanted me to come sit next to them in there little desks and give me kisses on the cheek. They didn’t want to let go either and it took me forever to be able to leave the classrooms. They also kept calling my name because it translates into Amharic (because it is a Biblical name I was told) and wanting to show me their school work in their notebooks. I couldn’t understand any of it because it was in Amharic, but I would still nod my head and smile in encouragement. I’m feeling nervous about teaching there, not because of the kids or the teachers, but because I’m not sure what to teach (the guy who was teaching before me was teaching math, English, and environmental science) and I don’t know the language and even though the teachers know some English, it’s very broken and can be hard to understand. On top of that, I think I will be by myself traveling by taxi and then will be alone at the school - and I’m just all sorts of scared.

After Kechene we went out to lunch and had yummy pizza at a fringe (foreigner) restaurant and then headed to Mother Teresa’s orphanage, Asco, were Blair will be working. The facilities there are extremely nice. We were shown around the clinic and where the children stayed. Again, we were attacked when we went into the little kids room. The kids were probably 2 and younger and where yelling for attention and wanted to be picked up and be held. This one little girl came up to me very quetly and she looked so sad, so I reached down to pick her up and as soon as she was in my arms she lay her head down on my shoulder and put her arms around me neck and just lay there. The coolest thing we saw at Asco was a weaving room where a master weaver comes and teaches the boys at the orphanage to weave scarves in order to make money. We were told that the money they make from the scarves goes to paying for the materials, but then each boy has their own bank account and after the expenses are subtracted they get to keep the money they made.

After Asco we came back to Cherokee House, talked with Kate, who got back from her first day working for Bethany Adoption, and then Asni, the house cook, made us a delicious dinner of lasagna and garlic bread and salad. Tomorrow I think I head to Kechene to teach while every one else heads out to their prospective work places.