Let me start with Christin - this girl is AMAZING! She has been teaching for close to 10 years and also has her Master's in Reading. She came to assess our students and help us get our school on track, especially when it comes to reading. Our current teachers do an amazing job, but when you have a classroom full of ESL students who are starting school later than normal, it can be a challenge to figure out exactly where each student is and what they need. Christin spent her month here creating assessments, testing the kids, and pooling the data into results that we can and WILL use! She did so much research before she came, even carefully making sure that her tests would cross any cultural boundaries. She constantly gave us ideas for helping the kids, and she even started the New Day Writing Club. In just a month's time, she fostered a love for writing in these kids - Caedmon is still talking about his superhero stories he wrote! Christin slept down here on the staff side of the orphanage, but she spent EVERY spare second with the New Day kids. She ate with them, played with them, and had a never-ending energy. She even became a temporary house mother for the boys when Mama Joyce was sick her last week here. I loved watching her play frisbee for 2 solid hours at Kids Club, learning the names of the village kids and serving with a smile. Her positive attitude in EVERY situation challenged me. Now you can all pray with us that God will call her permanently to New Day ;)
New Day seems a little empty today without Larry & Lynne around! They are on their way to the USA as we speak, and we really enjoyed their time here. To be honest, we just don't know a lot about animals....or vegetables...or gardens. :) Lynne helped us so much and we can't wait to eat the fruit of her labor! She bonded with Noah and showed him love and will pray for him forever. Larry jumped in with a willing heart to do anything he was asked to do. He discipled Kalenga, taught Science experiments for Grades 1-3, taught a computer class to our staff, led devotions & Bible studies, and religiously climbed the water tower to watch every sunset. The thing I loved the most about Larry & Lynne was to watch them fall in love with Zambia. They were extremely culturally sensitive and even spent their free time learning as many Tonga words as they could. To see them fall in love with the country and people we love was refreshing.
And last but not least, we have sweet Allison, who still has 11 more days with us. Allison's situation was a little different as we prepared her early on for living in the orphan house. Allison's greatest role this summer was to provide some stability for our girls orphan house who had lost their 2 house mothers just 4 days before Allison arrived. She has bonded and developed a relationship with these kids like no other volunteer has been able to do. She has also had many "Zambian" experiences that I'm sure she will never forget, but really shouldn't be blogged about ;) If you can imagine coming on your own for 6 weeks to a country halfway across the world...not just staying with some Americans but diving headfirst into Zambian culture...that is what Allison did. She is everywhere at New Day - in the kitchen helping Kalenga wash dishes or fry potatoes, in the orphan house slathering vaseline over little girls fresh out of the bathtub, in the schoolroom working on Math skills with our Kindergarten class, at Laurie's house on a Saturday leading a workshop for our teachers. The kids will miss her so much when she leaves, and boy does she have some stories to tell.. :)
Most volunteers come to New Day and leave their hearts, spending every spare second down at the orphanage playing with kids and leaving forever changed. These four people did that, and we are grateful. Spring & Summer 2014 are already full, but start praying now if you want to serve long-term in 2015!
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