A Kiss for your Thoughts?!

I’m sure many of you watched the US-Belgium soccer game two nights ago. I did not get a chance to post some of our activities since I was so focused on the game (unfortunate we lost!). Last night, we were on Zambian time, since the power went out for the night. So I am playing catch-up! One of the things that we traditionally do with all our travelers is have a few moments at the end of the day to reflect our thoughts and feelings. Being on a trip like this can take a long time to process and reflect so this is one way that we are able to discuss the many different experiences each traveler has. Monday’s theme was “a penny for your thoughts” which I have used to relay some of the information for this blog. While I didn’t have pennies, I did have Hershey kisses and everyone enjoyed getting a “kiss for their thoughts.” Monday was a busy day for us-we taught for the first time in Garden and then we met with Ky Lam, the Chief of HIV/AIDS Multi-Sectorial Team at the US Embassy.

Here are some of the thoughts from some individuals about the teaching experience:

Lucy Boyle with a student from Garden

Danny Flanagan found the teaching experience “really cool, because even though most of the kids are not fluent, they knew some words. We were able to communicate with them despite the language barrier. I saw how important education is and the contrast compared to America is so profound.”

Lucy Boyle was amazed and taken back by the circumstances, and how kids could hardly move but were eager to participate under such rudimentary circumstances. She thought the first day flew by! She found the experience to be quite rewarding but was shocked about how tight the space is for the children.  

Susan Dodd said that “as a teacher, I felt it was a natural thing to go to the school today. Children are children wherever they are around the world. It was a wonderful experience! I loved it!” 

Maria Haynes found that “it is such a universal theme for kids to want to learn.  It was nice to have everyone in there (the travelers)! It was nice to have enough people to share the experience and the duties with. Maria Haynes has been part of Communities Without Borders for 8 years and has had such a positive impact on teaching children in Garden.

Audrey Reuman found that she expected to have an experience that was very different from being home. However, she found that her time teaching felt like babysitting back home. Audrey also felt comfortable singing the songs and remembered her own childhood when she sang similar songs. She reflected on the education she had growing up and how lucky she was to have a great education. She connected with the children we taught and how they need the opportunity to read books and play with legos.

Jennifer Shaw had a great experience at Garden. This was her second trip with CWB and she was quite impressed with the positive experiences that happened at Garden. She also found the visual aids created by the teachers to be a great additional to the learning environment. She wondered that if it had not been for CWB if the teachers would have been aware to use those types of visual aids to support student learning.

We had a great experience teaching for the first time and can’t believe how cute the children are-we are looking forward to being in the community to teach some more!