George's Mom

I have a teacher assistant named George. He is with a student in grade 1. George just finished high school and hopes to attend college this year. He always has a story or song for everything (great with the first graders).

George's mom has been in the hospital for a week. This weekend I was informed that she passed away.

George now has to face many hard decisions as what he does next.

Please keep George in your prayers.

Cubbies!

I now have a cubby for each one of my teacher assistance.

In their cubby is all the materials they need to teach the student for the week. There are 13 teacher assistances and a possibility for 2 more by the end of the school year.

?Work?

I walked into my office this afternoon and here is how the conversation went:

Me: I did not do any work today...

Teacher Assistant: What did you do all day?

Me: (thinking....) Well, I

1. walked students to class

2. raced kids during PE

3. read the 3 little pig story

4. sang the monkey song

5. painted with the color orange

6. played football with a few students

7. made 3D shapes in the math area

8. researched about rabbits

9. read a test to a student

10. played Uno in the choice area

11. drew a picture of the water cycle

12. worked on fractions in grade 4

13. counted to 10 many times

14. matched words with long and short a sound

TA: Isn't that your job....?

Me: Hmmm, I guess you are right.

All that paperwork will be there tomorrow....

Cheese...

Here in Rwanda we have cheese. I love cheese and very glad we have it here.

The cheese companies have been on strike for almost a month now and they are not making cheese!

I have lived without cheese for a month...this is rough!

I sure how they start making cheese again really soon!

Kamari Kids

I got to spend the weekend with the Kamari kids. We played all types of games, went for a walk, took naps, made lots of crafts and watched a movie.

Prince is 14 years old and loves football (soccer). He is growing up his hair to have an afro.

Isabella is 5 years old and loves princesses. She just stared school this year.

Beni is 2 years old and loves to run. He can now go to the bathroom in the toilet!

It was a lot of fun!

A Drawing

A student drew a pictures of me today and it was clear what I am known for at school.

1. Orange

2. Bella (my guinea pig)

3. Gym Shoes

4. White skin and Red hair

5. Teacher

In that order, of course.

I think it sums me up pretty well :)

Apple Sauce

I love Africa and I love living in Rwanda but sometimes you just need a little taste of home.

Apple sauce reminds me of home and after a long day I just needed some good apple sauce :)

Things I would not normally buy in the States suddenly become very tasty. I like the food here but always love when I get a taste of home.

New Trick!

Other than being awesome with each one of my students, being a great roommate, a good friend, comforter and listener....Bella can do a trick!

She now likes to climb on top of her igloo, peek out the door of her cage and look at me. She looks with a face of 'hey, hold me please?' And I cannot help it, I have to pick her up; she is just so cute!

She might be a small, little guinea pig but she is making a big difference!

Hair

Situation: I was riding the bus with my students and the windows were open. My hair was down and as you can imagine it was blowing all over.

Student A: Look at Tr. Maddy's hair!

Student B: It is like a movie.

My thoughts: Like a 50's movies in a Cadillac :)

Student A: Yeah! It's like the lion in Lion King when he roars!

Student B: You're right.

My thoughts: Well, they are right...it is the same color...

Water in Kayonza

For their entire lives they had to walk an hour and a half down hill to a stream, fill water containers and then carry them an hour and a half up hill, two times every day. And it still was not enough water to do all the cooking, cleaning, and drinking (not even thinking about bathing, just not enough water).

Now with a well in the middle of the village people walk no more than 10 minutes to fetch water and can get enough for almost 2 days in one trip. And they have so much more time in their day!
Serge asked why this man was so happy to have water so close. His reply, 'Now maybe my wife can have children.' Because his wife had to walk so far to get the water, she kept loosing her babies but now there is a greater chance they can have a child.
Why is this child happy? Instead spending the day fetching water, he will have the chance to go to school!
Since the water is clean the people will be much healthier.

Water... we use it all the time... brush teeth, wash hands, flush toilet, shower, play games, cook, water the plants, drink, wash the floor, clean veggies, pour on you when you are hot, swim... we take it for granted...

Be thankful you have running water and that you don't need to think twice about taking a 20 minute shower or flushing the toilet every time you go to the bathroom... next time you wash your hands thank God for the water you have.

Field Trip!

I went on a field trip with my student and his homeroom class in grade 1.

We went to the farm to see animals and how crops are grown.

We saw a cow and they named her Alicia :)

We even got to harvest some of the crops!

We got a carrot, cabbage, mango, orange, pepper and suger cane

We all had a lot of fun!

Water Walk

In the village it is the children's responsibility to fetch water. I had a chance to go with them.

It was an hour and fifteen minute walk down hill to the stream.

I fetched my own water.

Then an hour and fifteen minute walk up hill with water.

I walked with about thirty kids. It was an experience I will never forget. I might not have water in the house but I am thankful I have water in my backyard.

Poles!

We have light poles in Kayonza (the village)!

And the wires are up!

Now we just need to wait for the electrician to come and hook it all up. Once that happens we will have water!

New Year Party

In Rwanda there are many kids that live on the street. They are called Street Kids. These kids that we talk about are mostly boys ages 13-25 years old.

We work with a group of them that live in the area. When possible ITeams supports them by finding a family for them to live with and paying for school fees.

To bring in the New Year we had a party with a bunch of the street kids in the area.

Had some fun dancing (and yes I danced too)

We also played lots of games

You might not be able to tell but I am standing in the middle of all these boys running. We had a blast! A great way to bring in the New Year.

Leanne in Africa

This is Leanne. She is a friend from college and she teachers in Indonesia. Leanne came to visit during this holiday season!

I will admit it has been hard being away from home for the holidays but it has been such a blessing to celebrate with Leanne. I thank God for such a great family and friends.

12 Days of Kenya

On the first day of Kenya my Safari gave to me

A Tony Eagle Soaring

On the second day of Kenya my Safari gave to me

2 Bike-bikes Hiding

On the third day of Kenya my Safari gave to me

3 Wildebeest Running

On the fourth day of Kenya my Safari gave to me

4 Lions Roaring

On the fifth day of Kenya my Safari gave to me

5 Elephants!

On the sixth day of Kenya my Safari gave to me

6 Rhinos Charging

On the seventh day of Kenya my Safari gave to me

7 Hippos Snorting

On the eighth day of Kenya my Safari gave to me

8 Impalas Jumping

On the ninth day of Kenya my Safari gave to me

9 Giraffes Standing

On the tenth day of Kenya my Safari gave to me

10 Pelicans Diving

On the eleventh day of Kenya my Safari gave to me

11 Baboons Swinging

On the twelfth day of Kenya my Safari gave to me

12 Zebras Grazing

Field Day!

We had a day for all the students with special needs at Green Hills to come together and hang out for an afternoon. They loved it! It was so fun!

The primary students walked the nursery students to the classroom

We shared our names and grade

We sang songs and read a story

We had a scavenger hunt throughout the school

And we had cupcakes!

It was a great learning experience and so much fun!

An Off Day

Everyone has good days and everyone has bad days...it is a part of life.

When you are having an off day you can tell your roommate, husband, wife, boss, friend, 'I'm not having a good day.' and they totally understand.

When a child with autism is having an off day they cannot always communicate verbally that they are having a bad day. It comes out in other forms; refusal to do work, not looking at you, and sometimes the child can hit or bite. They just have to be taught a socially acceptable way to communicate their feelings.

As the child gets upset sometimes they loose control of their actions and need help regaining control. Most often someone needs to help them do this. The best way to calm them down is to put pressure on their body; like a big, long hug.

To someone that does not know what is happening it may look like I am hurting or holding down the child but it is, in fact, helping them.

Today was one of those off days for one of my students and it definitely looked like I was very mean in the eyes of other teachers. After about an hour of 'hugging', the student calmed down and was able to continue with the day, as normal.

In the end it was a great learning experience for my teacher assistants, teachers at the school and for my student.

Mosquito Net

There are not a lot of mosquitoes but when when they do get in your room they always seem to find your ear and keep you up all night. My mosquito net is wonderful! It works much better when the mosquito is not trapped inside the net.... a few mosquito bits later...

Lesson of the day: pat down your bed very good before putting the net over it

Teacher Assistant

I am not just teaching children with special needs I am teacher their teacher assistants as well:

Self Advocacy

Confidence

Initiative

Self Worth

Observent

Patience

I realized these are very important skills to have and can actually be taught. It takes lots of patients on my part but my teacher assistants will not only be better teachers with these skills but they will be better people as well.