Our literacy classes are going so well! It was kind of a slow start, but they have caught on quickly! All the adults and kids recognize the letters when they see them. It’s awesome to watch them flip through the alphabet with ease. We have a few smaller kids that will come and sit with us during class. They like to say the sounds of the letters with the other kids as we run through the alphabet. One little boy that comes and sits in never seems like he is paying attention, but the other day he was saying what some of the letters were before the other kids said them. I was so surprised, I didn’t realize that all that time he spent playing with his feet he was actually learning the letters! I have found that I like saying “bomb-diggity” for some reason since I got here. So I’ll say that it’s the bomb-diggity when you find that your students learn a lot more than you thought you were able to teach them. J It took a while for them to understand the concept of reading. They would read along with us, but when they would try to read the words, they would say two words where one should be, or just add random words. It took awhile to help them understand how to sound out the letters in the words, but they have finally caught on. The younger ones are still having trouble reading, but they all recognize the letters, so that is a good start! The older kids are doing very well, and one of them is reading amazingly well! He read a whole chapter in the book Dad gave us. We haven’t finished the whole alphabet yet, so he really only has trouble with the few letters we haven’t taught them yet. Before we left for our mid-term week, he hadn’t been reading that well yet, but when we came back it was like he woke up one morning being able to read! I’m just so amazed watching them learn.
Our adults are doing well too! Our relief guard is learning amazingly quickly. He can read at a fairly normal pace now, only getting hung up on new letters. The day before we left for mid-term week, he spelled “go” all by himself! I was so proud! I wanted to hug him, but that would be extremely awkward in this culture so I let my face show that I was excited that he spelled a word on his own and told him he did a very good job. His face was glowing because he was proud of himself; it was so cool. All of our students have a wonderful glow after they finish reading, even if it’s only a few words. They are also very tired, but they are loving the fact that they can accomplish something that was so foreign to them at the beginning. At times, we thought we would never be able to get as far as we have with them; it didn’t seem like we had enough time. But they have come so very far, so the 2 months we have left are very promising!
The day before we left for mid-term week, we had a very off-the-wall class that day. They were able to focus and learn, but they were also being silly with it. The funny thing was, they were all men and a few older boys! Toward the end, a few of the little girls came over, so while the guys were writing Crystal and I were talking with the girls. One thing I like to do with them is show them the Cyclops. If two people put their foreheads together, keeping their eyes open, you see them change into a Cyclops because their eyes form together and look like one eye in the center of their head. So after I did this with one of the girls, a couple of the guys wanted to know what we were doing and what a Cyclops was. So I told them to put their heads together like we were doing, and the little girl and I showed them what we did. So they put their heads together, but instead of putting their heads together slowly, they banged their heads together and ended up bouncing off each other’s heads! Everyone could hear the bang! They hurt, but they laughed hysterically. I was laughing so hard I almost fell off the bench. When I finally caught my breath, I told them, “Moso! Moso (slowly, slowly)!” But they didn’t want to try it again… ;)
There have been plenty of exciting things happening, it’s hard to write them all down! One of the most exciting things that have happened was the day we were visiting with one of our close friends. A group of young ladies and a couple older ladies were all sitting with us and they asked us to read to them. All we had with us was our Zarma book from Dad, so we started reading the very first chapter. They were all eagerly listening, so we kept on reading through to the second chapter, and before we knew it, we had read the first 5 chapters! They had all gathered around intently and listening with only a few interruptions. We were so jazzed that day!
We also were invited to go to a caba (chaba), which is a baby-naming ceremony. While we were there they fixed up some milk and millet for us to drink. I knew what it was when our friend gave me the drink because we had heard a lot about in our orientation and from others who had come here before us. What I forgot was that it is sour milk and millet. So when I took the first swallow, I had to choke it down without making a face… very hard! But after a couple drinks, it tasted pretty good and I ended up liking it a lot. Since Crystal is allergic to milk, we had to explain to them why she couldn’t drink it. So with some words that we knew and some funny hand gestures, we explained that if she drank it she wouldn’t be able to breathe and then “a ga bu (she will die)!” They gasped and said, “Oo! Iri fahom (we understand)!” So they made her some water and millet to drink. Lucky for her they can’t make sour water, Lol.
There are so many stories to tell, it is hard to remember them all right now, and even if I could, there is no room to write them all here! I can’t wait until I can tell yall everything that has been going on! We have just a little over two months left! At times I feel like I just got here; other times I feel like I’ve been here forever. I will be sad to leave here; it seems like there is so much more to do still! I always took it for granted that I could read. Seeing these kids and adults eager to learn and excited when they can read even small words on their own has helped me realize how blessed I am. I am so glad I can be a part in sharing that blessing with others; especially with those who truly appreciate it. I know a lot of us, including myself, don’t appreciate everything people have taught us and all the things that have been available to us just because we are born and raised where we are. It seems like the more we have, the less grateful we are…
