lights and poverty

The countdown has begun: 13 days of classes remaining, six of which are really half days. During the last several weeks, I've been struggling more with one particular class. The behavior and attitudes in this class seem to be getting worse. For about the last 4 weeks I've been trying harder to get them to listen and follow my directions, and it seems to be a losing battle. When I demand obedience, they get frustrated and are even more rebellious. It's a difficult position, and I'm sure that if you're a parent you have experienced some of this with your own children. It's disappointing to me since we're so close to the end. Even so, I'm still hopeful that we can end on a good note. Hopefully I can still make a connection with the instigators and encourage them to make the right choices in class. At any rate, I think we're all ready for a vacation. :)

The power situation in Nicaragua has been worse lately. Power outages in the area where the school is have been consistently 5-6 hours every day. The schedule usually alternates each week. One week it will be out from 2pm-7pm, and the next week from 5-10. However, during this last week, we've had power consistently every day, all day. While most people come here and are startled by the frequent power outages, asking, "Why is there no power?" those of us who have lived here for a while are startled when there is power and we're now asking "Why is there power?" Power outages continue everywhere else as normal. Actually, and unfortunately, power at my house has now gone out for two Saturdays in a row. You may recall me mentioning that power rarely goes out in our neighborhood because of a women's hospital located on the same power grid. To add to the difficulty, today there is no water at the house either (even more necessary than electricity). Water shortages seem to be just as frequent as power outages in Managua.

Sometimes the gap between rich and poor and the general poverty in Nicaragua hits me harder than other times. The gap here is perhaps larger than the gap in the US. Or maybe it's just more clear because the physical distance is so much closer. Or maybe it's just more evident because of how much poverty there is. There are always people begging on the streets at intersections, even children begging well into the dark hours of the night. There's always the blind man feeling his way through the neighborhood asking for money at everyone's front door. There are children asking for even just one córdoba (about 6 cents) in the parking lot at PriceMart (the local expression of Costco). There's the wrinkled old woman outside of the La Colonia grocery store. It's never easy to know what to do, or how to respond. Most of the time I can be polite and friendly, but still be firm in my decision to not give. I tell myself that I don't want to encourage begging. Or I tell myself that I know there are guards or other adults nearby who have sent these children begging on their behalf, which can definately be true.

But sometimes I'm forced to ponder the issue more deeply. It's tough when I allow myself to enter their lives for a moment's time. Speaking with a few other teachers at the school, I was gripped again by the poverty around me. I asked them how have things been from their perspective since Daniel Ortega took office. Worse. Their answer was clear. Food prices have gone way up. I'm not especially tuned to the price of food. I do shop every few weeks, but I can't remember prices from one time to the next. Recently the prices of beans and rice (the main course...or only course...for most Nicaraguans) has sky-rocketed from 7 córdobas per pound to 24 córdobas. One teacher told me that he has to spend sometimes up to $12/day on food (for the two adults and two children). Doesn't sound too bad until you figure a salary of not much more than $300/month. And he has a decent job. Public school teachers make half or less. Add to food the other costs of living and working: transportation, electricity, phone, gas, clothes, etc., and soon you start to feel the weight of poverty. How do you make it work? How do you eat?

In discussing these thoughts with a friend last night, she mentioned a verse she'd been thinking about. I don't remember the reference, but it was an exhortation to those who have to share with those who have not. Not first to do a background check, or make sure they're going to use the money stewardly, or to make sure they're going to use the way we want them to, or to place other requirements or demands on them. Give. The message was simple. Share. The Lord has blessed some with the ability to give. Others are in real need. It's not an easy thing to do--share. It's much easier to let others do it. Especially here, for me.

Gotta run. I have a soccer game this afternoon. Hopefully we finally win!

AUTHOR'S UPDATE: Yes, we won! Our first win of the year. 3-0.

Prayer Items:

-Pray for a good end to the academic year. I really want to finish having fun with my students.
-Pray for the poverty in Nicaragua. Pray for the leadership...pray for good leadership that is focussed on the real needs of the people.
-Pray for a sense of compassion for those in need and a generous and thoughtful spirit in knowing how to share...for me and for you too! :)
-Pray for Christians here, that they would live faithful and Spirit-filled lives, and that they would be a part of the solution to the large problems of Nicaragua.

day of the dead

I thought I'd just post something quick. It's been a while, and I wanted to drop another line.

I'm looking forward to the end of the year, and it's coming quickly! We're about 3.5 weeks of classes and 1 week of exams from the finish line. Much to do between now and then, including wrap up and review materials, create exams for the end of the year, create reparation exams for the beginning of next year, and do some general planning for the future of the English department at Nejapa. I just sat down today for the first concentrated (well...more or less...) conversation with the other English teacher. We've been talking informally with each other and with the administration about next year, but decided that we'd make it a little more formal at least between us and get some things on paper. First, we did a SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) for the English department. We brainstormed further about what possibilities there could be for the future of the program. Most of the opportunities included more interaction and collaboration between different English classes such as organizing plays and performances, cultural expositions, a spelling bee, some kind of publication, radio/video productions, food presentations. It should be exciting to work towards these lofty goals during the following years, whoever takes the position. I think in the SWOT, the largest section was by far the opportunities.

My fourth graders made this a very difficult week for me. They have been misbehaving more and more, it seems. I recieved some encouragement from a parent today that gave me full support. I sent home a note yesterday with every students that explained that it had been a difficult week in terms of behavior, yesterday being the most difficult. I also explained that due to this difficulty, the students lost 15 minutes of lunch break (a very serious matter, I think, as lunch is important). By the end of class, students had earned 3 minutes of silience without recess (which, given what happened in class was very gracious). When they refused to quiet down, I told them their three minutes would begin when they started or end after they had wasted 15 minutes of their recess. During those fifteen minutes, they proceeded to makes jokes and do various things to get under my skin. I did my best to not show emotion, but what bothered me most was their disrespect and determination to not do what I expected of them. I expected to hear parents up in arms, but the one response I got today was one of full support along with an explanation of her own disappointment in several of the students in the class. I'll be having discussions this next week with the other teacher and the director, I hope, about what can be done. There are a few students who are strong influences and instigators, so maybe we can target our response. I found her encouraging mostly because over the past several days/weeks/months I've been wondering if I am the problem because I'm too strict or something, but what she said and the stories she told confirmed to me that I am up against some attitudes and behavior much more serious that I had previously thought.

I was looking foward to going on a trip with the Nehemiah Center to visit a community in northern Nicaragua on Wednesday. Unfortunately it was canceled and I'm not sure why. I'm still looking forward to starting my work there and starting a new routine. It will obvoiusly change my life a great deal. I do feel some sadness about not spending time with kids like I am now. The more I do it, the more I enjoy it. I still don't feel the love or confidence for the teaching part, but I think I'll miss the kids. The kindergartners are especially affectionate and moldable. Today we went through the CD we have been using with the book and I was amazed at points that they had picked up on words when I thought they hadn't figured them out.

I don't have any new pictures. Sorry. Still without a camera, and missing it more at certain times than others. Today we had a sort of fair at the school. It's a cross between a fundraiser and a celebration. It is the Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), which is a rite of the catholic church. Every cemetery was full of people. They came and cleaned up the grave sites, left flowers, and whatever else they do...I'm not sure. Very busy places they are on this day. I wish I had a picture of all of the flowers for sale and the congestion around the entrance of the cemetery near the school.

One more interesting note. I've been very interested lately in a new operating system that I've discovered. For those who don't know, Microsoft Windows or Mac OS are both operating systems. Anyway, the new operating system is called Ubuntu. It's a relatively new distribution of linux. Previously I've found Linux a difficult operating system to use. Installing it, installing programs, updating things...a big headache. Well, with Ubuntu, all of that is made extremely easy. In many ways it is much better than Windows, and i almost prefer it to Mac OSX, which says an awful lot. Best part is that it's free. It also comes with a free version of Microsoft Office called OpenOffice. It's compatible with all major office suites and contains a word processor, spreadsheet program, presentation program, and database program. Ubuntu also comes with a free version of Photoshop called the Gimp. If you have some time, go to Ubuntu's website, download the the file, follow the instructions for burning it to a CD, restart your computer with the CD in the CDROM. Your computer should automatically boot from the CD and you can try the the operating system without actually installing it (just don't run the icon on the desktop called "install")! It will load the operating system right from the CD. I am convinced that this operating system and the entire open source movement will become a huge thing in the coming years and offer a serious threat to Microsoft and Mac's operating systems. While it takes full advantage when run on a new computer, it's also runs better than Window and Mac OS on older computers--so if you're upgrading, you could give it a try on the old computer while you're getting used to it.

That's about it for now. Thank you for your continued prayers and support! Have a great weekend!