Friday

Yesterday I spent some time helping (actually doing physical labor, for a change) to install a window shutter in a classroom. This was a new design, by which a single shutter covered the entire opening and was pivoted at the center of each side. So these are rotating flaps rather than swinging shutters. Class was interrupted by our work, they just ignored the noise. I was interested to hear the teacher giving an assignment: “You have seen about the tsunami on TV. You will look up the word tsunami. What will you use?.....Yes, a dictionary. You will write the meaning of the word. Then you will write a short story about a tsunami.” There was buzz and chatter, but the students set right to work. I have been impressed that the classroom content may be different from ours, but it is often at a surprising level of sophistication.

After lunch we had an assembly in which each grade (Infants 1 and 2 and Standards 1 through 5) sang a song or presented a poem. Standard 5 acted out the story of the prodigal son. The prodigal was a natural actor, He pleaded for his inheritance, he dealt with the banker to get his father’s check cashed, he swaggered away, met his friends, got falling-down drunk and had his money stolen. He cried, and finally he realized that he could go home, where his father welcomed him. The end. The brother was never part of the story. I vaguely remember seeing a different version of this story, and it also left out the brother. It must be a Belizean thing.

I asked Elsa, the Peace Corps worker, if they had a presentation like that for every group, and she said she had never seen one. She was impressed that they had done it for us. So I see it as a great honor, and another encouragement to remain committed to our relationship with Armenia.

We are all leaving Jaguar Creek tomorrow and going various directions. Work in Armenia is over, except dropping off some medicines. There is still work to do at Octavia Waight and at Yalbac and nearby villages. Keep us in your prayers for a few more days.

Peace and love to all,
Chuck