Hi from Ally 😊
Well….we
have been here for 3 weeks now! The
place feels like home….
Brian and one of my students put their heads together
and got things working….and as of about Monday this week, we have power!! (amazing
difference having a fridge and a fan makes!).
We are in a self-contained house,
with a rainwater tank just outside the door (and let me tell you - the tank is
very full!!!!) Amazing to have pouring rain and thunderstorms for hours and
then see the weather app say “feels like 39 degrees C today”!! This week we
have had some lovely sunshine and everything looks lush and healthy!
Talua has a
very chill and relaxed feeling – groups of students break out in song, they are
super friendly and always very helpful.
They are also patient as we struggle to learn and remember names and
faces and who fits where!! The staff have been wonderful and very supportive of
us as we seek to get our feet on the ground.
Our
students mostly come from villages where they live a communal lifestyle.
Everything is shared, they pitch in together to do the gardening or gather the
coconuts or whatever else needs doing. So in that respect, living in community
here is not so strange for them. However,
life here is very structured with very little down time and this may take some adjusting
to for some of our students. And lots of them are finding it HOT!! (we are not
the only ones!). Students speak openly
of the difference that knowing God makes in their lives and they have enthusiasm
and passion to tell people about God and make a difference in the lives of
their communities.
Our roles
are varied – mine is designing and teaching a new course in English and Study
Skills. It is certainly keeping me on my
toes, and a lot of the stuff we do in NZ eg moderation, aligning to a
framework, standards based assessment etc is the same here (except we don’t
have any exemplars here! I am kind of
flying blind, but think/hope we are on the right track!). And ha!......who knew
there was so much grammar that I don’t know!!!! I am slowly getting my head
around the present perfect continuous verbs etc!!! I have 7 students and they
are delightful (ages range from 20 to 32). They were very quiet to start with,
but we are building rapport and a more relaxed feel in the classroom….(No
discipline problems here….rather like a year 13 Calculus class feel!) – (I will
let Brian tell you about what he is up to!)
So… loving
it so far! A rhythm of life with God squarely in the middle, beautiful people, plenty
to do, places to explore, time to relax, back to basics….
Ally 😊
For those
who pray…
We are
thankful for how settled we feel here and that we are starting to find our
feet. The practicalities of life here, power, water etc are all pretty much up
and running, which does make life easier. We are feeling a real sense of
belonging and gaining clarity in the
direction that our teaching needs to go.
The start of the academic year can be challenging for students... High expectations, new community for some, finding their feet and getting started on their courses. Brian and I are trying to learn Bislama and want to set up pour courses as well as we possibly can!
x
