A whole year has gone by and I haven't even updated once. I feel horrible about this. I guess as I go from day to day, everything seems normal and you friends would not want to read about normal things. I keep reminding myself that what is normal for me here is completely different for most people. There are so many things I could have been updating about. Here is a quick summary of my first year at RVA.
-I taught grade 5. My first full year of teaching. It was crazy. I showed up to pretty much nothing and having to make most of it up. What was left for me, I didn't think I could use because it just wasn't my style. So, that first term was hectic. I had 19 kids from 5 or 6 different countries. I truly enjoyed my time in the 5th grade. However, I never felt comfortable there. I felt like I would be better used serving students from another grade level. I prayed about this a lot and talked things through with my principal John and my prayer partner Todd. More on this later...
-I had the opportunity to travel through Tanzania and to Zanzibar. I spent a few days in Dar es Salaam. It was an amazing city. The city even included a SUBWAY (uh, sandwich shop, not underground transit)!!! Zanzibar was an unforgettable experience.
-I made some extraordinary friends here in Kijabe. RVA is such a unique place and the staff come together so well.
-I had the opportunity to coach the JV Boy's Volleyball team. We won our league (3 other teams! :))
-My friend Tom Beukhof came out for a visit for a few weeks and we went to Mombasa and to Masai Mara to see some animals!
-I agreed to watch someone's cat while they were home in America for the year. I had the cat for three weeks before it either ran away or was captured by a monkey or something because it hasn't come back for about 2 weeks now. :( The cat liked me, so I don't think it ran away...
-You are probably wondering why I am not posting pictures of any of these exciting events. Well, late into third term, I was attending a playoff rugby game in Nairobi. I took my backpack with me so I could check email in town, where the internet is quicker. We parked in a gated parking lot with guards. We locked the car and I left my bag in the car thinking it would be ok since the car was parked less than 20 yards from the Guard House. Well, the car was broken into and my bag was stolen. The contents of the bag were my computer with all my lesson plans, pictures, gradebooks, music, my back up hard-drive, digital camera and iPod. Needless to say I was bummed. But, God is good, as no one was harmed in this incident and God allowed there to be extra funds in my workfunds to purchase a new computer and back up hard drive, and iPod. I didn't get a new camera. Still waiting on God for that one. But that is the reason that there are no photos from this previous year.
-I went to Masai Mara again with a family called the Janders.
And now I am gearing up for year number two at Rift Valley Academy. Going back to my first story about not being comfortable where I was at in 5th grade. I struggled with this issue for a long while. I know that God has called me here to minister to these kids and I just wasn't connecting with 5th graders the same way I was connecting with Jr. High and High School kids. Being an elementary teacher really consumes your time and so I was not having the opportunities that I would have liked to connect with the older kids. So as I prayed and talked with John and Todd, I began to explore options for the next year. It is pretty cool to see God work through all of this. John told me that he wanted me to be where I would have the most passion for the kids but he just couldn't give me up to the high school without being covered at the elementary school. Throughout third term, things were looking like I would stay at elementary because the people who were slated to come out for elementary just were not getting their support. God worked in some marvelous ways and a few of the teachers met their deadlines in the last week. There was then a surplus of elementary teachers. I was then released to the high school to teach in the Social Studies department! YES! It just turns out that this department needed the most help in covering the classes. So, as of a few days ago, I have my assignment for next year. I am teaching 3 periods of US History, 1 period of Model United Nations, and 1 period of IGCSE History. That last one is a British curriculum for the European students here. I am nervous about teaching this one but I know that God will give me the strength I need. My other responsibilities for this term include:
-Assistant Varsity Men's Football (Soccer) Coach
-Sponsorer for 10th graders
-Dorm coverage for Duma Dorm (10th grade boys)
I am excited for this new opportunity for me here. I would be lying if I said that I wasn't a bit nervous as well. Please pray for me as I get ready for this year and that it would jump off to a great start.
I am hoping to update this way more frequently now. The posts will be shorter and I hope to share some interesting things about life here in Kenya. Things that I find to be normal but most people would not find to be normal.
God BLESS!
RYAN
3 comments:
Thanks for getting around to update!!! I expect some good africa stories this year! Hopefully the jump to HS goes well for you! Enjoy your year teach
thought you were a sponsor for the 12th graders? what happened there?? or was it a typo??
Ryan- what a year, soooo sorry about the stuff getting stolen, that is terrible esp since it is so hard to replace here!!! How exciting about the move to SS HS, I was a social studies teacher, so OBVIOUSLY they all rock!!! Happy teaching and hope you have a fab start to a new year!!
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