We are now back to the dynamic trio we had last year as Megan arrived on Monday afternoon! She pretty quickly pulled her funds together and got down here just in time for her upcoming birthday this Sunday. We are excited to see just how much more we can do with another Portuguese speaker around. Before she arrived we had our first "lojinha" on a rainy Friday. It must have been enough motivation because our numbers were up and a lot of kids arrived with pants soaked at the bottom! It was a lot of fun to see their faces light up as they walked through the store, received their money and went to make their purchases. The other teachers loved the idea and have even been getting creative about what they can contribute to the store so we don´t have to use as much money buying things.
After English lessons with our kids Saturday morning we had a delicious lunch with the Sisters which gave us a nice chance to catch up with them. Sister Franny, the 3rd nun living with them, also American, will return from her long stay in the States in early September. Then later in the afternoon we had 30 or so kids from PETI bused to Telemaco Borba for a capoeira houda. They all looked so cute playing on all the park equipment before we got started and then all of them in their matching white pants and shirts (the capoeira uniform) playing in front of the church. It is great to see how far so many of them have come since last year and to see some new kids really getting into the sport!
Saturday night we went to the birthday party of our friend/trainer from the gym, Bubbles. It was a lot of fun with all kinds of different bands which led to a lot of dancing but then when it came time to sleep we were all in tents and cars. It was freezing and we awoke the next morning to frost on the ground.. with few blankets I was able to sleep next to none. The next day we stayed for lunch before returning so I could skype with the family. It was so great to talk with them even though I almost fell asleep! Mass that night was beautiful.. there had been a retreat for the youth that weekend and we welcomed them all back at the start of Mass. It was amazing to see them all with big, confident smiles wearing matching tshirts- it reminded me of all the retreats I have attended/led and just how content and close to God I feel at the end of the weekend.
Tuesday I got back into photography with students, this time our project being to take up close photos of objects that later the other students will have to guess what it is. This is something you can find a lot in magazines in the USA but something new to these kids. It was so fun for me to see them getting extremely creative and really thinking about what they could take pictures of to stump the other students. We have made it a little bit of a competition. If no one can guess what their pictures are, they will receive a prize but if someone guesses correctly, that person wins a prize. This made the kids really think before snapping away. I had such a fun time having the kids run around the store and them returning asking me to guess what the picture they took was. If I could guess it they quickly erased it and ran off to take more! I will print the final pictures this weekend and the guessing will begin next week.
This is a week celebrating deficiences so yesterday we took all our kids to APAE, the school for handicapped children here in Imbau. I was so impressed with how well our kids behaved and interacted with the children from this school. Sometimes it can be hard or akward but they did a great job involving them in playing soccer, dancing and just engaging in conversation with them. I met a young boy named Douglass who captured my heart. He is 14 years old but at the age of 6 a disease that I don´t know the name of began to eat at his intestines and at first he walked with his feet turned in and now he is in a wheelchair, unable to walk and has now lost all ability to move his arms too. He is able to barely turn his neck and the day that this disease reaches his heart, he will unfortunately die- this disease has a history of taking people at the young age of 15 and sometimes they make it to 16. He was so intelligent and full of live, always cracking jokes and all our kids loved him! At one point I made a comment about the beautiful girl on the background of his cellphone and when I asked if they were just friends he winked and said "for now at least" and that followed with him saying she was only A LITTLE prettier than me! :) His true passion is singing which he does quite often in his church and he has recorded 2 CDS. He didn´t have time to sing for me but I did buy one of his CDS as a memory of this special kid, a true example of a loving child of God- I will never forget him.
Today is National Banana Split Day in the United States so we are planning to get some ice cream here to celebrate although it is not that warm! Sending out a lot of love to my family as they all gather this weekend to celebrate a wedding in the family- I am so disappointed that I will not be there to enjoy this occassion with you guys. May the tradition of ridiculous Zatkulak weddings continue this Saturday!
Until September...
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Serenity Prayer
Well our meeting/gathering with the parents last Thursday was a success! It got a little crazy when the speech started for the parents and we took all the kids back over to the other building. We were all in 3 small rooms, 2 without light and they all were little fireballs, full of energy! Past that though it was a great chance to link some kids to their parents, inform the parents a little better about things that are happening at PETI and just have an evening of fun. PETI then was cancelled for Friday as we were there until 11PM on Thursday. I still went to Imbau and met up with a few of the English students to help them with their homework and any other questions they were having about the lessons they are learning. For the most part I have been impressed with their ability to pick up the material, I was expecting to see them move at a much slower pace.
Katie finally returned home on Sunday, Father´s Day here in Brazil. I was at lunch with the family and got back to find her about to take a nap. We spent a good couple hours filling each other in on everything that had taken place in our 4 days apart! This time apart really made me grateful to have her here with me, it is so nice to always have such a close friend nearby to tell and share everything with!
Monday we did English with all the kids, working on basic questions such as ´Where are you from?´and then working on colors, something most of them have mastered. Then on Tuesday we had the kids write down something materialistic that they were lacking, whether it be a pair of tennis shoes, food for their family or a jacket to keep them warm. We have so many suitcases full of donated clothes that the group brought down and so we thought this would be a good way to see how we could most put them to good use. It was amazing that despite how many times we told the kids it was to be something materialistic, alot of them still continued to write ´security´or ´friendship´and many of them wrote down things for their family memebers too. Now it is just a matter of organzing the suitcases and seeing what we have!
Juliano, a student I have now metioned several times has admitted that he wants help to stop using drugs so Katie and I have been visiting several nearby rehab centers but so far we have had no luck finding any that accept minors, even only for the day. It looks like the closest that he could enter into is in another city and will most likely be pretty expensive but we are still on the look out.
Yesterday we come back from lunch only to discover that 2 girls in the program, whom we thought were friends, had gotten into a fight during lunch. The story is always changing but juice ended up in both each others hair and faces and one girl ended up with a goose egg on her forehead from the other´s knee. It was a sad situation and we had a long talk with both of them individually and then together to try and resolve some of the issues between them but it will take time to heal the wounds that were opened up from their fight. I went and visited Rogerio because he has yet to come to PETI still. I found him just sitting outside his house making a kite. We talked for a good 30 minutes about the sad surrounds he lives in and he had all kinds of information that no 13 year old should know about where his brother and friends smoke, what they do to hide it up, etc. It broke my heart that he is already exposed to such a sad reality. I worked so hard to convince him that he needed to keep himself at a distance from these people and their actions because although right now he may have no problem telling them no when they invite him to smoke, it is going to get harder. As much as I tried to convince him that PETI was a safe haven where he could get away from these problems for a few hours everyday, he didn´t show up again today. :(
This is where the serenity prayer comes into play. I have felt that quite a few things have been thrown at us this week that we can only do so much about. I don´t know if it is because I have better language skills this year or because I am more aware but I feel that I have a lot more on my shoulders this year. Katie and I talked alot about it and I know I need to find a way to do what I can while not letting the situation affect my time with the rest of the kids. They each have sad stories and circumstances but if that is the only thing I focus on, I will go crazy. I have found myself so drained each day this week, feeling helpless and desparate. The serenity prayer has become the prayer of my heart because I can´t keep living each day like this, it is not fair to the kids and it is not fair to myself. I need to make myself more present with the kids and give them all my attention, while not completly forgetting about the problems at hand but being able to step back and realize at what point things are out of my hands. It is going to be a tough balance to find but one that I think is so important!
Along with the struggles that have come our way, I hope I never fail to take notice of all the amazing little miracles that take place right in front of my eyes! Yesterday we got Daniele to take off her hood in school for the first time and now she is going everywhere proudly showing her short, adorable haircut! Today I got to teach English in the new school again and it was another great day. I think it is so important to make these connections with other kids in the community, especially on a day when we would be doing nothing at PETI anyways. The new kids I work with bring so many smiles and laughs into my day as well, and I am really enjoying working with them!
I know school started for my siblings so I am assuming most people are getting ready to get back into the swing of things there. I pray for a productive and fun start to the school year! It is a busy time of year but I hope everyone takes the time to savor the importance of rest and time with family and friends as well. Keep all the kids we work with in your prayers as they sure are in need of them!!
Happy start to the 2011-2012 school year!
"God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference."
Katie finally returned home on Sunday, Father´s Day here in Brazil. I was at lunch with the family and got back to find her about to take a nap. We spent a good couple hours filling each other in on everything that had taken place in our 4 days apart! This time apart really made me grateful to have her here with me, it is so nice to always have such a close friend nearby to tell and share everything with!
Monday we did English with all the kids, working on basic questions such as ´Where are you from?´and then working on colors, something most of them have mastered. Then on Tuesday we had the kids write down something materialistic that they were lacking, whether it be a pair of tennis shoes, food for their family or a jacket to keep them warm. We have so many suitcases full of donated clothes that the group brought down and so we thought this would be a good way to see how we could most put them to good use. It was amazing that despite how many times we told the kids it was to be something materialistic, alot of them still continued to write ´security´or ´friendship´and many of them wrote down things for their family memebers too. Now it is just a matter of organzing the suitcases and seeing what we have!
Juliano, a student I have now metioned several times has admitted that he wants help to stop using drugs so Katie and I have been visiting several nearby rehab centers but so far we have had no luck finding any that accept minors, even only for the day. It looks like the closest that he could enter into is in another city and will most likely be pretty expensive but we are still on the look out.
Yesterday we come back from lunch only to discover that 2 girls in the program, whom we thought were friends, had gotten into a fight during lunch. The story is always changing but juice ended up in both each others hair and faces and one girl ended up with a goose egg on her forehead from the other´s knee. It was a sad situation and we had a long talk with both of them individually and then together to try and resolve some of the issues between them but it will take time to heal the wounds that were opened up from their fight. I went and visited Rogerio because he has yet to come to PETI still. I found him just sitting outside his house making a kite. We talked for a good 30 minutes about the sad surrounds he lives in and he had all kinds of information that no 13 year old should know about where his brother and friends smoke, what they do to hide it up, etc. It broke my heart that he is already exposed to such a sad reality. I worked so hard to convince him that he needed to keep himself at a distance from these people and their actions because although right now he may have no problem telling them no when they invite him to smoke, it is going to get harder. As much as I tried to convince him that PETI was a safe haven where he could get away from these problems for a few hours everyday, he didn´t show up again today. :(
This is where the serenity prayer comes into play. I have felt that quite a few things have been thrown at us this week that we can only do so much about. I don´t know if it is because I have better language skills this year or because I am more aware but I feel that I have a lot more on my shoulders this year. Katie and I talked alot about it and I know I need to find a way to do what I can while not letting the situation affect my time with the rest of the kids. They each have sad stories and circumstances but if that is the only thing I focus on, I will go crazy. I have found myself so drained each day this week, feeling helpless and desparate. The serenity prayer has become the prayer of my heart because I can´t keep living each day like this, it is not fair to the kids and it is not fair to myself. I need to make myself more present with the kids and give them all my attention, while not completly forgetting about the problems at hand but being able to step back and realize at what point things are out of my hands. It is going to be a tough balance to find but one that I think is so important!
Along with the struggles that have come our way, I hope I never fail to take notice of all the amazing little miracles that take place right in front of my eyes! Yesterday we got Daniele to take off her hood in school for the first time and now she is going everywhere proudly showing her short, adorable haircut! Today I got to teach English in the new school again and it was another great day. I think it is so important to make these connections with other kids in the community, especially on a day when we would be doing nothing at PETI anyways. The new kids I work with bring so many smiles and laughs into my day as well, and I am really enjoying working with them!
I know school started for my siblings so I am assuming most people are getting ready to get back into the swing of things there. I pray for a productive and fun start to the school year! It is a busy time of year but I hope everyone takes the time to savor the importance of rest and time with family and friends as well. Keep all the kids we work with in your prayers as they sure are in need of them!!
Happy start to the 2011-2012 school year!
"God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference."
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Moms and Dads
In the last week I have taken on the role of mom for one of our students and we have been preparing to celebrate Father´s Day with our kids and their dad´s, first today at our first annual monthly meeting with the parents and then this Sunday is the actually day here in Brazil. After I blogged last week we were informed that one of our young female students, Daniele, who had been missing PETI alot had had a severe case of lice. It went unnoticed for far too long and got to the point where the lice was eating at her scalp. When they finally took notice, she had to go to the doctor in another city and have all her beautiful, long hair cut off to a very short length. She LOVED that hair and now is so embarassed to leave the house. The sad part is that her mom died a few years ago so she didn´t have a mom to notice that her hair was full of lice and now she doesn´t have a mom to encourage her that she is as beautiful as ever with this short hair. Her poor dad and brothers are clueless. So we went and visited her and convinced her to return first to PETI and then to school. She started back this Monday and we have walked everyday with her to help build her confidance. The first day we walked into the classroom with her to make sure her teachers let her leave the hood of her coat up... we are working on her having the confidence to take it off but it is a struggle. That first day we took her into the bathroom and tried to fix her hair so she felt comfortable but she immediately starting crying and begged us not to make her go into the room with it down. It is a process but yesterday when I walked with her, her response to me asking if she was ready to remove the hood moved from "Absoultely not" to "I don´t know".. baby steps! It has been truely special to play the role of a mother figure in her life this past week, I think it is exactly what God called Katie and I.
One of our other students entered into a musical festival in Telemaco so we went and saw him and his brother perform ´Obrigado Senhor`, if you have been to Brazil in the last two years with the group than you are very familiar with their rendition of this music! It was fun, free entertainment and it meant a lot to them that we came to see them.
Katie and I spent the afternoon on Friday at another rehab center for men. We went with the other teachers to deliver some vegetables and then got a grand tour and met a few people who are working there and others that have overcome addictions. It was another rewarding experience that showed us the harsh reality of how powerful an addiction can be. We planned to have the pastor of the center come and give a speech at our next monthly meeting with parents in September as we have a lot of parents who struggle with addictions, I think it will be very beneficial!
Our singing lessons are going okay.. it has turned more into us just singing songs we like instead of learning how to train our voices to sing better. It is hard not to laugh because the instructor has Katie singing a low part and a part of the music that I have never heard before whereas I sing how I am accustomed to singing. She gives me looks telling me she is just about done with it many times each lesson! Only one more lesson and then I owe her for doing something I love.
We had our first taste of why we dislike Sunday´s so much.. other than church there is next to nothing going on. It is a great day to relax but sometimes it can drag on and the minutes feel like hours.. this gave us motivation to think about where we want to take small, weekend trips this year to nearby cities! We have both been saving money so that we can travel more this year in this manner.
One family that has been breaking my heart since we got here this year is the family of Juliano/Rogerio and their 3 sisters in the program. I mentioned Rogerio in an early blog. They were in the orphanage last year and right before we came back this year that were put back in their mom´s house right beside the orphanage and they have not been the same all year. They have lost their interest in anything and everything about life. Juliano has stopped caring about the advanced English course we have him enrolled in and today I collected his book as we had to take him out since he has yet to go since we arrived here.. we have given him every chance and he refuses to stay motivated or even come to the class. We saw a light with him though when earlier this week we took him to the doctor to see if he would agree to have a drug test done as many people have confided in us that he is using again, something he did before he was originally put in the orphanage but he stopped once there. Instead of agreeing to the test he confessed that he is using drugs and that he hates what is has done to him and now he wants help! I don´t know what our next step is going to be but he has been coming to PETI everyday since then and particpating again, it is exciting! Unfortunately his brother Rogerio who I was really close with last year continues to stay home and not come to PETI. I saw him the other day and when I asked him how he was he replied that he was bad but refused to look at me and explain why.. it was really heartbreaking. I went today to his house to try and talk with him but he was not there.. my plan is to keep going until I find him and talk to him, I think he feels trapped inside the terrible living conditions of his house and doesn´t think there is any hope. :( This family is constantly a topic of conversation amongst the teachers and everyone is brainstorming how they can help get them into a better situation.
We had a little connection with the United States when I skyped with 4 of our students and 3 of the boys who traveled down in the last group, Marcos being one of them. The kids so appreciated the chance to practice their English and see some people that left a big impact in their lives! They are already talking about when we can set up another one.
Katie felt for Rio de Janiero Wednesday morning for a Capoeira event with the instructor from the gym so I am on my own until Sunday.. it is strange without her here but once again it puts me to the test and challenges me to step out and do things that I would otherwise leave in her hands. She has always wanted to travel there so I am happy that she got the chance and I can´t wait to hear her stories and see her pictures!
Today I had my first day teaching English at another school here in Imbau, something I agreed to do every Thursday morning for the next 2 months as the teacher is out on pregnancy leave. I was really nervous this morning but everything went great! I had two classes, 3rd and 4th grade, both small in number. The book they are learning from is very advanced and so I find it difficult because I want to start over with them with the basics but I have to stick to the curriculum of learning about endangered animals. I had to use my dictionary alot to translate some of the words they were learning! In general I really loved it and feel that God is calling me to be here at this point although it will come with some struggles and separate me from the kids of PETI one morning each week. I was leaving to return to PETI with one of my students and just when I thought I was leaving a good impression, after turning to say goodbye I fell really hard on all fours in the middle of the street. I actually really hurt my knee and the student looked really confused! Katie will love that story when she gets back as she is always counting the number of embarassing spills I take!
Now I am headed back to the program to meet another teacher. We are going to visit a few houses of students how have been misbehaving a lot these past few weeks to talk with the parents. Then afterwards we have the meeting with the kid´s parents.
The weather here has been beautiful and from what I have heard it has been the same there! I am sending out another Happy Father´s Day for my dad since the day is celebrated this Sunday. Thank you for all you do, the wonderful example you are to all us kids and for the constant support you show me. Let´s all take the time to celebrate this holiday thinking about our dad´s with love not only this Sunday but always!
One of our other students entered into a musical festival in Telemaco so we went and saw him and his brother perform ´Obrigado Senhor`, if you have been to Brazil in the last two years with the group than you are very familiar with their rendition of this music! It was fun, free entertainment and it meant a lot to them that we came to see them.
Katie and I spent the afternoon on Friday at another rehab center for men. We went with the other teachers to deliver some vegetables and then got a grand tour and met a few people who are working there and others that have overcome addictions. It was another rewarding experience that showed us the harsh reality of how powerful an addiction can be. We planned to have the pastor of the center come and give a speech at our next monthly meeting with parents in September as we have a lot of parents who struggle with addictions, I think it will be very beneficial!
Our singing lessons are going okay.. it has turned more into us just singing songs we like instead of learning how to train our voices to sing better. It is hard not to laugh because the instructor has Katie singing a low part and a part of the music that I have never heard before whereas I sing how I am accustomed to singing. She gives me looks telling me she is just about done with it many times each lesson! Only one more lesson and then I owe her for doing something I love.
We had our first taste of why we dislike Sunday´s so much.. other than church there is next to nothing going on. It is a great day to relax but sometimes it can drag on and the minutes feel like hours.. this gave us motivation to think about where we want to take small, weekend trips this year to nearby cities! We have both been saving money so that we can travel more this year in this manner.
One family that has been breaking my heart since we got here this year is the family of Juliano/Rogerio and their 3 sisters in the program. I mentioned Rogerio in an early blog. They were in the orphanage last year and right before we came back this year that were put back in their mom´s house right beside the orphanage and they have not been the same all year. They have lost their interest in anything and everything about life. Juliano has stopped caring about the advanced English course we have him enrolled in and today I collected his book as we had to take him out since he has yet to go since we arrived here.. we have given him every chance and he refuses to stay motivated or even come to the class. We saw a light with him though when earlier this week we took him to the doctor to see if he would agree to have a drug test done as many people have confided in us that he is using again, something he did before he was originally put in the orphanage but he stopped once there. Instead of agreeing to the test he confessed that he is using drugs and that he hates what is has done to him and now he wants help! I don´t know what our next step is going to be but he has been coming to PETI everyday since then and particpating again, it is exciting! Unfortunately his brother Rogerio who I was really close with last year continues to stay home and not come to PETI. I saw him the other day and when I asked him how he was he replied that he was bad but refused to look at me and explain why.. it was really heartbreaking. I went today to his house to try and talk with him but he was not there.. my plan is to keep going until I find him and talk to him, I think he feels trapped inside the terrible living conditions of his house and doesn´t think there is any hope. :( This family is constantly a topic of conversation amongst the teachers and everyone is brainstorming how they can help get them into a better situation.
We had a little connection with the United States when I skyped with 4 of our students and 3 of the boys who traveled down in the last group, Marcos being one of them. The kids so appreciated the chance to practice their English and see some people that left a big impact in their lives! They are already talking about when we can set up another one.
Katie felt for Rio de Janiero Wednesday morning for a Capoeira event with the instructor from the gym so I am on my own until Sunday.. it is strange without her here but once again it puts me to the test and challenges me to step out and do things that I would otherwise leave in her hands. She has always wanted to travel there so I am happy that she got the chance and I can´t wait to hear her stories and see her pictures!
Today I had my first day teaching English at another school here in Imbau, something I agreed to do every Thursday morning for the next 2 months as the teacher is out on pregnancy leave. I was really nervous this morning but everything went great! I had two classes, 3rd and 4th grade, both small in number. The book they are learning from is very advanced and so I find it difficult because I want to start over with them with the basics but I have to stick to the curriculum of learning about endangered animals. I had to use my dictionary alot to translate some of the words they were learning! In general I really loved it and feel that God is calling me to be here at this point although it will come with some struggles and separate me from the kids of PETI one morning each week. I was leaving to return to PETI with one of my students and just when I thought I was leaving a good impression, after turning to say goodbye I fell really hard on all fours in the middle of the street. I actually really hurt my knee and the student looked really confused! Katie will love that story when she gets back as she is always counting the number of embarassing spills I take!
Now I am headed back to the program to meet another teacher. We are going to visit a few houses of students how have been misbehaving a lot these past few weeks to talk with the parents. Then afterwards we have the meeting with the kid´s parents.
The weather here has been beautiful and from what I have heard it has been the same there! I am sending out another Happy Father´s Day for my dad since the day is celebrated this Sunday. Thank you for all you do, the wonderful example you are to all us kids and for the constant support you show me. Let´s all take the time to celebrate this holiday thinking about our dad´s with love not only this Sunday but always!
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Back Into The Swing of Things
Since the last time I blogged I don´t know if I have had any feeling in my hands because of first 3 straight days of nonstop rain and then the last few days have been very cold. In terms of Indiana´s winter it is not all that bad but without heat in building it has left us shivering. Even with sun the wind seems to cut your face. This morning it was around 25 degrees F but now it is early afternoon and the sun is starting to come out- some hope! The peak of all this cold weather was too nights ago when I had just gotten back from the gym and I hopped in the shower to heat up my body. I was just started to feel warm when the lights when out and the water turned freezing- we had lost electricity! That night Katie and I felt like pioneers getting ready for bed by candlelight and cuddling up under piles of blankets.
The program has been going well- we are still struggling to feel that we have a set schedule in place but hopefully with time this will feel more in place. I think we are in a bigger rush than the rest of the teachers because our stay here has a definite end date where as for them this is their extended place of employment. But we have taken some things into our own hands and starting taking attendance each day so that they start earning fake money when they behave and listen to use in our store that we have every couple of weeks. Also, we have started giving out X´s, our form of punishment, for when they choose to be disobedient. When they get an X they take home a paper explaining why they got in trouble and a parent´s signature is required before returing the paper the next day. Each day they are at the program without the paper they receive another X. It has left some kids frustrated but with time I think it will be easier to get a quick turn around and it keeps the parents informed about what is going on at PETI.
Katie and I met a Canadian man who is here workig in Klabin, the big paper factory in Telemaco Borba, and we had dinner with him and his Brazilian translator on Sunday. He does not speak any Portuguese so he enjoyed the chance to speak English.
Oh and I almost forgot maybe the biggest thing that has changed since the last blog. Katie and I are now living together in a new house. Saturday we moved into our friend Lucas´house where we will be staying for the remainder of our trip. It is nice to be closer to Katie as we do a lot of planning for the project at night so this has helped quite a bit. The set up is great as well, we are in a separate building dettached from the house so we have a lot of privacy. I am loving it but I am also missing the family I was with before, they were so great to me!
There was a group of young teens from Sao Paulo here for a week visiting communities and schools to play games and sing with the kids. We were so busy that we unfortunately only got to spend one morning with them during their stay but they were a lot of fun! They all study at a private school that teaches English and they all spoke great. We were with them at APAE, a school for disabled kids and adults, and it was awesome to see their interaction with the students, they brought a lot of energy and smiles!
For now we are just trying to stay warm and get things going at the program. I hope this is the last time my blog says that as it is frustrating to feel that things are moving so slow but we have to trust that we are working on God´s time here. I got to skype with my family for the first time this week too which was great, seeing their faces makes me miss home but also gives me encouragment that everything is good with them! I am especially loving my half hour of prayer before Mass Sunday nights when I pray for my family back home and I know that they are praying for me at that exact time. It was my Aunt Janet´s idea and I am loving it even more than I thought- I feel such a sense of peace knowing someone is thinking and praying for me while I am doing the same!
I hope everyone has a great weekend and upcoming week- keep in your prayers all those here who are without the proper clothing and housing to keep warm during this cold weather. It is hard for me to complain of the cold when I see some of our kids come to the program with only a light jacket when I am bundled up with 4.
Deus Abencoe!
God Bless!
The program has been going well- we are still struggling to feel that we have a set schedule in place but hopefully with time this will feel more in place. I think we are in a bigger rush than the rest of the teachers because our stay here has a definite end date where as for them this is their extended place of employment. But we have taken some things into our own hands and starting taking attendance each day so that they start earning fake money when they behave and listen to use in our store that we have every couple of weeks. Also, we have started giving out X´s, our form of punishment, for when they choose to be disobedient. When they get an X they take home a paper explaining why they got in trouble and a parent´s signature is required before returing the paper the next day. Each day they are at the program without the paper they receive another X. It has left some kids frustrated but with time I think it will be easier to get a quick turn around and it keeps the parents informed about what is going on at PETI.
Katie and I met a Canadian man who is here workig in Klabin, the big paper factory in Telemaco Borba, and we had dinner with him and his Brazilian translator on Sunday. He does not speak any Portuguese so he enjoyed the chance to speak English.
Oh and I almost forgot maybe the biggest thing that has changed since the last blog. Katie and I are now living together in a new house. Saturday we moved into our friend Lucas´house where we will be staying for the remainder of our trip. It is nice to be closer to Katie as we do a lot of planning for the project at night so this has helped quite a bit. The set up is great as well, we are in a separate building dettached from the house so we have a lot of privacy. I am loving it but I am also missing the family I was with before, they were so great to me!
There was a group of young teens from Sao Paulo here for a week visiting communities and schools to play games and sing with the kids. We were so busy that we unfortunately only got to spend one morning with them during their stay but they were a lot of fun! They all study at a private school that teaches English and they all spoke great. We were with them at APAE, a school for disabled kids and adults, and it was awesome to see their interaction with the students, they brought a lot of energy and smiles!
For now we are just trying to stay warm and get things going at the program. I hope this is the last time my blog says that as it is frustrating to feel that things are moving so slow but we have to trust that we are working on God´s time here. I got to skype with my family for the first time this week too which was great, seeing their faces makes me miss home but also gives me encouragment that everything is good with them! I am especially loving my half hour of prayer before Mass Sunday nights when I pray for my family back home and I know that they are praying for me at that exact time. It was my Aunt Janet´s idea and I am loving it even more than I thought- I feel such a sense of peace knowing someone is thinking and praying for me while I am doing the same!
I hope everyone has a great weekend and upcoming week- keep in your prayers all those here who are without the proper clothing and housing to keep warm during this cold weather. It is hard for me to complain of the cold when I see some of our kids come to the program with only a light jacket when I am bundled up with 4.
Deus Abencoe!
God Bless!
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