Teaching in Diré Dawa

July 25, 2011
Hamle 18, 2003 ec


Today we woke up at 6:30 in the morning for our first official day of teaching. We were split up in pairs to teach different grades English and Math.

Kindergarten teachers are Lindy and Morgan, Prep (the grade between kindergarten and first) teachers are Carly and Emily, 1st grade teachers are Mikayla Hoff and Sophia 2nd grade teachers are Lauren LaVelle and Katie, 3rd grade teachers are Sophia and Mikayla Hoff, 4th grade teachers are Lauren LaVelle and Katie again, 5th grade teachers are Krista and Olivia, 6th grade teachers are Jessica and Heather, 7th grade teachers are Rob and Clayton, 8th Grade teachers are Laura and Michaela, 9th grade math teachers are Lexie and Lizzie, 9th grade English teachers are Bri and Haley, and Jake works in the computer room reinstalling the computer network. Everyone is taking turns helping to log and sort books in the library.

There are five class periods a day and each pair teaches about 2 to 4 classes a day. These students compared to the students from Meki are very different in the ways they address individuals who are older than them. These kids are very respectful an eager to learn in class. We think the reason these kids are more relaxed is because it is a city school rather than a rural town where kids who don’t actually attend Diré Dawa are not allowed in.

The kids are excited to see us every day but do not jump on top of us and they also do not beg as much as the students from Meki. After school we all gathered for lunch and relaxed before playtime by reading, napping, listening to music, and playing outside. At 3ish the kids started to trickle in ready to play futbol (soccer), volleyball, basketball, and socialize with them. Also the college students from Texas A&M also joined playtime at the end again. Although playtime is set to end at 5:30 the kids usually don’t leave the school until 6ish.

After all the kids left we all walked to the church we attended on Sunday because the women’s orphanage is directly behind it. We met eight girls of the forty that stay there while the school year is in session. The girls are allowed to leave and visit their other siblings, aunts, uncles, and other families that live in the city during the summer. They embraced us with smiles and hugs as we arrived, and they even invited us to play volleyball. We stayed at the orphanage for about one hour and headed back home. Note: The Brothers ran a similar program for boys until last year at which time the borrowed residence was needed. They were granted land by the government and began building a new residence, however, at this time the government says there was a mistake and that the land may not be theirs.

Once we arrived back home we all gathered together once again for dinner. We all thoroughly enjoyed tomato pasta, bread, potatoes, bananas, oranges, meat, beans, tuna salad, and although every meal we eat is delicious we still talk about our American food cravings at our meals!

After dinner we all gathered at the school basketball court and looked at the stars as we had our nightly meeting. At the meeting we discussed the plans for the rest of our time at the school, how our classes went today (pros & cons), and finally we each went around the circle and talked about the reasons we all decided to embark and take on the challenge of coming to Africa to serve God and do his work. After our meeting we were all tired and went to bed fast due to the late skype sessions (at least for us with the time change) from last night.