A Dose of Culture

This week has been so busy that I can hardly believe it only contained seven days. After church on Sunday, I went over to Nikki and Reagan’s for lunch and to enjoy one another’s company. I am constantly amazed to see how our relationship is growing. Monday we were back in the schools. Because of the holiday, the Legends at Osrand had not been trained, so Reagan and I spent most of the day rolling out their classes for them. It was quite different from rolling out at the primary schools. It required me to step out of my comfort zone and fake confidence until it became genuine. Afterward, I began typing up stories to use in place of readers in our schools.

This term, we are rolling out in two additional schools, a primary school and a secondary school. On Tuesday, Reagan and I drove to Edenpark Secondary to assess their grade eight classes. Though this is also a government school, it was extremely different than the schools in Reigerpark. I was blown away by the difference. We arrived to a staff meeting at which we had an opportunity to explain the program to all of the educators. Then we had a meeting with the grade eight educators explaining how to give the assessment. At the Reigerpark schools, we gave all of the assessments because Cynergy did not trust the educators to do so. As the educators rolled out, we went from classroom to classroom to double check that things were going as they should be. After a conversation with the principal, who is very excited about the program and wants to help in any way possible (this is also different from the Reigerpark schools), we pumped the Legends program to the grade twelve classes. As we walked around the school, I was amazed by the school facility itself. The school was huge! The grade eight classes only had about forty learners (compared to the fifty-sixty learners in Reigerpark), and the grade twelve classes only had about fifteen to twenty five learners. Not only did the school have a computer lab, but it also had several computers in many of the classrooms. One of the grade twelve classes that we were in was home economics. The classroom had several stoves, sinks, dishes, etc. I was astounded that this was a government school; it looked like a model C school. It was a good reminder of the diversity of South Africa and how varied each neighborhood is.

Wednesday was a public holiday in South Africa because of the election, so I had the day off, at least in theory. I stayed at Laura’s the night before, and we spent the morning relaxing and grading assessments from the previous day and dealing with some conflict. Later that night, we went to Nikki and Reagan’s for dinner. While we were there, we learned about cultural differences and misunderstandings. We learned that in South Africa, it is normal for one to have few people that are close enough to a person to be able to confront him, and often confrontation is avoided as much as possible. We also learned a lot about the election. Though many black and coloured South Africans disagree with Zuma and the ANC, they will vote for this party because this party was the one who originally gave them the opportunity to vote.

Thursday we were in the schools again. We began our morning rolling out in the Lakeside Primary. We played Pictionary with the classes. It was rewarding to see how much they had developed in a term, both intellectually and relationally. It was fun seeing them sound out a word, not only that they had gained the skill to do so, but also that they had gained the confidence to try. After a discussion with Nikki and Reagan, I spent much of the afternoon grading workbooks, then the evening grading and capturing assessments.

Friday I returned to Home Affairs to try to pick up my visa. After waiting for three and a half hours, we were told that they would not be doing collections until the fourth of May. We left feeling a bit frustrated. Then Laura and I grabbed some lunch and had a meeting in hopes to figure out our futures. We went from this meeting to our weekly Vox meeting. Afterward, we headed to Monte casino for some Vox bonding, including bowling and a movie.

Saturday was the busiest of all. We had a Legends meeting in the morning. It was incredible! It was at the University of Johannesburg and consisted of a three part round robin. After some team building, my group headed to the Covey foundation portion that taught about how to be a good leader. Next, we explored a bit of African history through a drumming and dancing lesson. The last session was a briefing on the ABZ(zed) foundation. After getting my group situated here, I left with Laura for a young adults hike with some people from Word and Life. It was refreshing. Afterward, we enjoyed a braai together. We drove from the trail to church. Finally after running strong for fifteen hours, I was home at last.

Praise the Lord!
-For family here and in the States
-For rest
-For His Word
-For growth
-For rewarding hard work
-For His blessing
-For fresh water
-For the unity that is beginning to grow in our team
-For answered prayer
-For health and safety
-For forgiveness
-For life
-For love
-For His faithfulness
-For His beautiful creation
-For opportunity
-For using me
-For support both here and in the States
-For the incredible friends that He's given me
-For truth
-For patience
-For His grace
-For literacy
-For the ability to learn
-For the progress our learners have already made
-For freedom
-For encouragement

Please pray:
-For South Africa's leadership
-That Cynergy receives the financial and human resources that it needs
-That Nikki is encouraged
-For Jo and her family
-For continued health and safety
-For guidance in my future; that God would open doors that need to be opened and close doors that need to be closed.
-For strength and energy
-For truth
-That our team's unity will continue to grow
-For confidence
-For self control