Master Packer

You would not know it by looking at me but I have become a great packer.

I asked the missionaries in Rwanda what I could bring to them from the US and the mom, Jen, gave me a pretty big list; brown sugar, some caned products, shoes, movies, books, contact solution, Easter candy, a few fun things for her kids. I got it all...

Today I pulled out my suitcase and started to pack well everything fit perfectly in my cool orange suitcase. I mean everything; Jen's whole list and all of my clothes, sandals and bug spray! Just call me a master packer.

Then I tried to list my cool orange suitcase...and well...I couldn't. I am guessing it weighted over 100lb. Needless to say I need to now unpack and pack everything in two suitcases. I hope my skills work when there are two suitcases...

We Graduated

I graduated from training! Whoa...that was a lot of information in a short amount of time. I learned so much and much more prepared than I did before.

Here is the class when the interns were with us.
In the middle is the coordinator of training. He was great!

Now I need to start getting ready for a short trip to Rwanda. I leave on March 14th! I am very excited.

Boy's Dorm at Wa Blind

I just got an email from one of the teachers at the Wa School for the Blind in Ghana. That is the school I taught at when I was in Ghana.

I found out that last night the boy's dorm burnt down. No one was hurt but I do not know how bad the damage is.

Here is a picture of the boy's dorm when I was there:

Please keep the school, teachers and all the students in your prayers.
If I get more news I will keep you posted but thank you for your prayers.

Language Training

I have been in language training for one week now and look what I have learned...
Korean!!
I am really learning linguistics which means, I am learning how to learn other languages. I am learning to listen for sounds that I did not know existed and moving my mouth/tongue in ways I did not think were possible. It feel a little silly and probably look and sound a little silly but it is very helpful!

I will have to learn Kinyarwanda when I move to Rwanda. One of the official languages in English but people only know it if they went to school.

I have been told I am doing great but the one sound I can not make is one of the basic sounds in Kinyarwanda... figures... but I will keep working on it!

Snow Day!!

We got so much snow!! It was awesome!

Can you find my car...?

It is the red bug :)

Even though all schools and most businesses were closed, we still had training. But afterwards we all played in the snow!

Karen, Gale, Katharine, Necia, Me, Ashley, Heather

It was great!

Roommates

Here at training we all live at the International Teams base. It is in Elgin, IL.

I am really enjoying living in community; it is like college again :)
I have three roommates: Gale, Karen, and Heather

They are great!

Karen is going to Uganda, Africa. Heather is going to Athens, Greece. Gale is still open as to where she is going.

It is so cool to hear every one's stories of where they have come from, how they got here and what they will be doing. God really uses each and every one of us and all of our skills, strengths, desires and even weaknesses. He is an awesome God!

Week One of Training

It was a great first week of training.

The days are jam packed, starting at 8am and finishing at 5pm (and then we have homework) with small breaks in the middle. It is a long time to sit in a classroom and learn but the information we are learning is great.

Here is everyone that I am in training with. We are all serving for two or more years.


This past week we focused on cultural difference. We learned more about our own American culture so that we will be aware of what is different and how to deal with it once we get to our destinations. The skills we learned on how to adapt to a different culture will come in handy.

There are four more weeks of training and I am excited to learn more!

Back to School...

The holiday season has come to a close and all of the college students have now gone back to school. It was nice to have everyone home for the holidays though.

I am kind of going back to school as well. On Saturday I leave for training with International Teams. Last week I was finally finish my online class. For the next month I will be living in Elgin, IL at the ITeams base and will be going through extensive cultural training.

I am pretty excited! I hope to learn how to adapt to a new culture quickly and much more.

Long Distance Phone Call

I was able to talk to Fuseini today!


He was one of my students at the Wa School for the Blind.

Fuseini told me how everyone was doing. Haruna and Issahaku are both in the vocational class. They are learning trades so they can support themselves. Everyone else; Ajara, Razak, Iddi, Ahabadeen, Rasheek, Patricia, Laticia, Mane, Jowa, Peter, Amina, Decimal; they are all doing good. Micheal, their homeroom teacher, now works at a different school.

They all graduate in 2014 and I hope to go see them walk.

He asked me to greet all of you so 'Hello' to everyone from Fuseini.

Your Culture

I just finished reading this book all about culture. It made it a little more easy to understand culture and knowing where people are coming from. The book over all theme put culture into two different categories; hot-culture and cold-culture.

Hot-Culture:
Relationship
Feel-good Atmosphere
Indirectly Answer Question
Group-Oriented Inclusive
Hospitality is spontaneous

Cold-Culture:
Task Oriented
Time and Efficiency is important
Direct, Short and to the point
Individualistic
Private
Schedule events and gathers

What type of culture do you come from?

(if you are from the northern part of America you are probably a cold-culture but if you are from the southern part of America you might be a hot-culture)

Snow!

Welcome December, Welcome Winter, Welcome Snow

It snowed today! I love snow!

It was the first snow fall of the season. I love snow! Ok, so I really do not like the cold but I love the snow. This year I am going to do every winter event I can think of: sledding, making a snowman, ice skating, make a snow fort, snowboarding, snow ball fight, shovel...

I am going to enjoy this winter because after this year I will not see snow for a while.

If you have any more ideas of winter fun let me know!

Troop Drama

(Emily knows the 'Maddy face' oh too well)

Emily and I got all dressed up and had a great night on the town. We went to see 'Jungle Book' as a play. It is a great movie and even better as a play. But what made the play were the actors.

The actors and actresses were adults with special needs. They all worked very hard memorizing their lines, songs, where they stand and when to move. All their practicing paid off; the play was a hit!

The set and costumes were made by volunteers and looked great on each actor. Here is a picture of them taking their final bow at the end of the play.

Reading....?

Can you believe it... I am reading!

To tell you the truth I went through high school without reading very many books; spark notes was a great invention. And then in college, I had a lot of friends... :)But now in the 'real' world I kind of have to read.

It is not exactly for fun. It's for training but I am actually doing the reading. I have about 7 books to read for homework. I may be reading because the books are not on spark notes, or because no one else is taking the class with me or because I like to keep busy or because I am really enjoy it or because I'm just growing up. Well what ever the reason, I am reading.

I read one book, listened to another and read/skimmed another. Ok so to you that may not be reading but for me that is reading :)

3 down... many more to go. I am determined to get through them all. I'll keep you posted on my progress.

'Grown Up' Doctor

It is that time of year again; the time of sharing and caring and being sick. There are few things my students like to share... but their cold, runny nose, cough, and flu they always love to pass along.

I tried hard to prevent it but it was bound to happen. I got sick. Usually I treat myself; taking cold medicine and sleep but not this time. This time I needed a doctor to take care of me.

This did not seem too bad at first. I loved my doctor; I had been going to her since I was a baby. She was patient and kind to me. She even gave me all my shots for Africa :) And let me tell you that was not an easy task (I am not a fan of needles)

Then remembered the promise my doctor made me, 'I could go to her until I graduated from college, then I needed to go to a 'grown up' doctor.'

Well, today was the big day... My doctor kept her end of the deal and now it was time to keep mine. I went to a 'grown up' doctor today! Even though I was a little nervous I knew I had to get medicine to get better.

Turns out this doctor was very nice. She practiced medicine overseas and was excited about me going to Africa. As we talked for a little bit she gave me some medicine to get over my sickness. Now I would not want to visit her all time, she was a great lady. And I am starting to feel better already.

Training

Ok so I am back in school now... well sort of...

I have started the online training for International Teams (ITeams). I have books to read, papers to write, research to do and worksheets to do.

And I thought I was done with school for a while...

I have started some of the assignments and it is very interesting. I am learning more about ITeams, myself and other cultures.

Oh, and good news: I found one of the books on tape :) That will help a lot!

A Special Week

This week was a full week! After working 12-15 hours a day I was tired but I slept knowing this week was special; this week was different than the rest; this week was better!

No two days were the same, come to think of it, no two hours were the same:
I read a test to a student with a learning disability
I worked on math with a student that has a behavior disorder
I practiced speech with a student that is deaf
I filled out college applications with a student that is blind
I put together a science project with a student that has ADHD
I created a map with a student that has an emotional disorder
I took notes with a student that has low muscle tone
I talked about wheelchair rugby with a student in a wheel chair
I interpreted for a student that is deaf
I prepared note cards for a student that has down syndrome
I ran with a student that has autism
I played soccer, basketball, track, ice skated, did gymnastics, swam with all different students.

The best part was not just getting the opportunity to work with each one of these students but the best part was each one of the students I worked with finished the task they started. They ALL finished!

I always love to see them smile, that makes what I do worth it but when they finish something... well, that just makes me so proud! :)

Fashion Show

This is Emily. Emily is in sixth grade and I have had the privilege of working with her for a few years now.

Last week I was overjoyed when Emily asked me to go to her Fashion Show with her. This fashion show was sponsored by an organization called the National Associating for Down Syndrome. Emily got a chance to be center stage, as danced a choreographed routine and walk walked down the runway with a new dress.

This is what Emily had to say:

My name is Emily. I was in a fashion show. I wore three outfits. The first outfit was a black jacket with a white shirt and black pants. On a stage I danced with a suitcase and my pink dress. I danced to the song ‘Hit the Road Jack’. During the dance my hair piece fell off. We took pictures of me and my friends.
Then I changed into a blue dress with black flowers and high heel shoes. I walked down the run way and waved to the Chicago Black Hawks Mascot and Maddy. I had fun!

Emily

A lot of preparation went into making this event possible. And even though during Emily's dance she her fake hair fell off she didn't loose a beat. The day was a success. Way to go Emily! Thanks for letting me come :)

Chicago Marathon

Every year I love to go cheer on the runners. They trained so hard, looked forward to this moments for months, can not believe they are actually running for this amount of time...with this many other people...

It is an exhausting, taunting, exciting, scary, hopeful event...running a Marathon.

I love to cheer them on...
At the start when they are rearing and ready to go
At mile 7 when they are in routine and focused on running
At mile 12 when they are only/already half way done
At mile 18 when they start to think 'why am I doing this?'
At mile 22 when they start to zone out due to exhaustion
At mile 25 when they have to run up hill for the whole mile
At mile 26 when they turn the corner and see the finish line! They smile, their faces light up and feel no pain any more, just the thought of finishing!

Way to go runners!

Jr. High meet Farm

I work with high schoolers during the day and elementary kids in the afternoon. I felt like I was missing something...

Then I went to a farm with the Jr. High Youth Group from my church and realized I was missing jr. highers :)

I am now volunteering with the Jr. High Youth Group and it is a lot of fun. They are full of energy, talk a real lot, eat nonstop and ask a lot of questions.

Hey wait a minutes, they sound like my high schoolers...
Oh and wait a second, that sounds like my elementary kids too...

Well, I am now working with kids morning, afternoon and night. I love it!

Back in High School

My high school years were much different than most...

I went to three periods and then left for an internship tutoring at an elementary school. Afterwards, I worked at another elementary school's after school program. I often went to church and helped with the kids program in the evenings. I just loved elementary kids.

With that in mind... My high school councilor was convinced I was going to come back to Lake Park (my high school) and teach. First of all I liked elementary students and second I was not fond of my high school, why would I go back and teach. Often times I just agreed with her just to make her stop talking, never really thinking about the idea.

Ha... Well here I am graduated from college and now a substitute teacher at Lake Park, in a high school, the same high school I attended, the school my counselor said I would come back and teach at, the school I said I would never come back to. Crazy how that works.

But the funny part: You know that counselor that said I would come back and teach...Well I actually taught with her today. :) She just could not stop smiling.

Lesson Learned: Never say Never