Monday: HAPPY 4th of JULY!!!!!!!!!!
Well, we are once again back at Rising Star, rested and ready for the week's work ahead of us! After a late night of getting home, we do have to say that going to the school to help tutor students in the warm library posed an interesting challenge of staying awake. One thing that we started doing with tutoring at the beginning of last week was being assigned specific children to work with that we would continue to work with the whole time we are here. This is such an awesome thing because it gives us a chance to really monitor the progress of the students we work with as well as use specifics techniques that would best help each of them individually. With every child we tutor there comes their own set of successes and challenges. We will say that some tutoring sessions go better than others. We both have children that respond to us really well and thoroughly enjoy working with us, like Sathish, who has races with Jordan to see who can finish math problems first, and get them right. Or Meisha, who is such an incredible reader and loves it when I ask reading comprehension questions so we can talk about the story she is reading. Unfortunately though, we both also have a couple of students that pose more of a challenge. Most of the time, just getting the student to focus is about 90% of the battle, and if that never happens then it makes for a less productive and more frustrating tutoring session. We never stop trying though. We will continue to work to help them in every way we can and in time, I think that we will definitely see progress. I think though that our favorite part of our days at the school is getting to play with the kids during interval (recess). As soon as the bell rings to excuse them from their second class of the day, the library is filled with maroon uniforms of little boys and girls saying "Auntie, auntie, come play, play concentration and double double," or "Uncle, uncle, shoulders, shoulders, I want to ride." With all the energy they have at school, it always amazes us how much energy they still have for playtime. They are all like little Energizer bunnies running all around the school yard, never missing a beat.
Playtime was especially fun today. I don't know why, maybe because it has been a few days since we have really got to spend quality time with the kids, so when we saw them all running towards us, there is this swell of emotion and we realize just how much we love these them. Though they may be teasers and sometimes even twerps, they truly all are our little angels in our own slice of heaven we call Rising Star. It is always fun especially when you get to play with a new child and learn their name and learn about their personality. Jordan gets to do this every play time when he is playing soccer with new boys all the time. Today another volunteer and I played "catch" (tag) on the slide with about 10 kids running up and down the slide yelling, "Auntie, catch me, catch me!" By the end of playtime, they all knew my name and instead would say, "Court-ee, catch, catch!" It was truly one of those special playtimes that we will always remember.
Dinner time with the volunteers is always good. Padmina, the cook at Rising Star, always works so hard and prepares incredible meals. During dinner, it is so much fun because each of us share our high and low point from the day's work. Today, many of the lows had to do with the fact that we were all a little homesick because we didn't get to celebrate the fourth of July with our families in America. Jordan, being the positive guy he is instead turned this into his high. Rather than being upset that we weren't home celebrating with all of you, he instead focused on what a neat opportunity it was to be in a different country at this time and really reflect on how the institutions and system of government our Founding Fathers created truly was inspired by God, and how blessed we are to be citizens of a country where we can travel around the world in order to bless and serve others who don't have the same opportunity of freedom. Looking at things in this positive light is something that Jordan has always been good at, especially on our adventure, and is something that I have drawn a lot of strength from during hard times. Dinner was also really great because Pam, the Rising Star manager baked us a little Fourth of July treat, Indian style. She made us brownie batter balls, that were really supposed to be brownies, but due to all the power outages, couldn't bake all the way through. They were delicious, and definitely became the high of the day for many of the volunteers. So even though we may be clear on the other side of world, we still feel our American pride and feel the blessings of what it means to be truly free. God bless the U.S.A!
Well, we are once again back at Rising Star, rested and ready for the week's work ahead of us! After a late night of getting home, we do have to say that going to the school to help tutor students in the warm library posed an interesting challenge of staying awake. One thing that we started doing with tutoring at the beginning of last week was being assigned specific children to work with that we would continue to work with the whole time we are here. This is such an awesome thing because it gives us a chance to really monitor the progress of the students we work with as well as use specifics techniques that would best help each of them individually. With every child we tutor there comes their own set of successes and challenges. We will say that some tutoring sessions go better than others. We both have children that respond to us really well and thoroughly enjoy working with us, like Sathish, who has races with Jordan to see who can finish math problems first, and get them right. Or Meisha, who is such an incredible reader and loves it when I ask reading comprehension questions so we can talk about the story she is reading. Unfortunately though, we both also have a couple of students that pose more of a challenge. Most of the time, just getting the student to focus is about 90% of the battle, and if that never happens then it makes for a less productive and more frustrating tutoring session. We never stop trying though. We will continue to work to help them in every way we can and in time, I think that we will definitely see progress. I think though that our favorite part of our days at the school is getting to play with the kids during interval (recess). As soon as the bell rings to excuse them from their second class of the day, the library is filled with maroon uniforms of little boys and girls saying "Auntie, auntie, come play, play concentration and double double," or "Uncle, uncle, shoulders, shoulders, I want to ride." With all the energy they have at school, it always amazes us how much energy they still have for playtime. They are all like little Energizer bunnies running all around the school yard, never missing a beat.
Playtime was especially fun today. I don't know why, maybe because it has been a few days since we have really got to spend quality time with the kids, so when we saw them all running towards us, there is this swell of emotion and we realize just how much we love these them. Though they may be teasers and sometimes even twerps, they truly all are our little angels in our own slice of heaven we call Rising Star. It is always fun especially when you get to play with a new child and learn their name and learn about their personality. Jordan gets to do this every play time when he is playing soccer with new boys all the time. Today another volunteer and I played "catch" (tag) on the slide with about 10 kids running up and down the slide yelling, "Auntie, catch me, catch me!" By the end of playtime, they all knew my name and instead would say, "Court-ee, catch, catch!" It was truly one of those special playtimes that we will always remember.
Dinner time with the volunteers is always good. Padmina, the cook at Rising Star, always works so hard and prepares incredible meals. During dinner, it is so much fun because each of us share our high and low point from the day's work. Today, many of the lows had to do with the fact that we were all a little homesick because we didn't get to celebrate the fourth of July with our families in America. Jordan, being the positive guy he is instead turned this into his high. Rather than being upset that we weren't home celebrating with all of you, he instead focused on what a neat opportunity it was to be in a different country at this time and really reflect on how the institutions and system of government our Founding Fathers created truly was inspired by God, and how blessed we are to be citizens of a country where we can travel around the world in order to bless and serve others who don't have the same opportunity of freedom. Looking at things in this positive light is something that Jordan has always been good at, especially on our adventure, and is something that I have drawn a lot of strength from during hard times. Dinner was also really great because Pam, the Rising Star manager baked us a little Fourth of July treat, Indian style. She made us brownie batter balls, that were really supposed to be brownies, but due to all the power outages, couldn't bake all the way through. They were delicious, and definitely became the high of the day for many of the volunteers. So even though we may be clear on the other side of world, we still feel our American pride and feel the blessings of what it means to be truly free. God bless the U.S.A!
What a remarkable experience you guys! Jordan is right, being in a different country on the 4th is such a reminder of how blessed we truly are! I remember being SO homesick on the 4th and 24th in Romania, but we decided to wear our red and blue scrubs and celebrate our love and gratitude for our country by serving those whose lives were less fortunate!
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