Continued from The Love House|Education Programl – Part I . . .
One girl is 11 years old and when I first began teaching her English almost 4 weeks ago, she was definitely the hardest to communicate with. She seemed shy and unsure of almost everything I said to her in English. Here’s the thing: all the children speak a little bit of English because they are around it enough to learn it quickly in an immersive context. If I speak to them in a simple way, or at a slower, clearer pace, they will absolutely be able to respond. What I think holds them back is the fact that they are young and better at speaking Sesotho. If you have ever taken a language course in something foreign to your English, remember how difficult it was to formulate questions and answers merely in class just to make sure you were doing the assignment correctly! Imagine being spoken to in English, a language you kind of know all the time and having to think on the spot how to say something and how to say it right. The school systems here are heavy on English and it’s the prominent language spoken in class.
That being said, my sweet girl would look at me with a furrowed, confused brow and say “Heh?” every time I would even ask “How are you”!
Her story is amazing. We were able to take her and her younger sister away from their small village (the kind where education is rarely pursued for most children) and into our care with their mother. So, in essence, she may have the least amount of education out of all the older kids I work with. Yet, in the last four weeks she has excelled to one of the “top” places of reading, writing, and spelling. We will be reading small books to sound out certain vowels and small words, and when I leave her to help someone else, she moves on to another page, sounding more words out. We played a game on short and long vowels sounds review, and she creamed everyone. I think the final score had her at 12 right answers? Ha, and everyone else was around the 6-9 correct. She is the one who will meticulously walk through each letter and make every silly sound I ever made about that letter, remembering minute details I taught them. She remembers everything I say and applies it. It is the same way with her math skills and I’m sure how it will be with everything else she pursues scholastically.
How encouraging! I am so proud of her and how far she’s come. It’s like hidden treasure, or a flower unfolding, to see these children excel naturally and in an environment we created for them. I’m more blessed than they. I believe that.
Coming up in Part III: More stories of learning, growth, and success from our education program!
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My name is Jayne Cawthon and I am an intern in Lesotho, Africa for the Beautiful Dream Society. I wake up most days in awe of how amazing this opportunity is. I write down every event and detail my mind could possibly remember at the end of the day because taking it all in, down to the last sight of the sun as it sets, to the early mornings being awakened by children laughing, singing, and running on their way to school, is usually overwhelming and wonderful.
I also am the one in our house of staff members who loves to write. So I am going to share with you all some of the incredible things that are happening here in this city and this country, and to these Americans and volunteers from other parts of the world as we join with BDS. We want to see Jesus in the lives we encounter here, and we want to know Him more as we do it.