Nearing the end of term 1

Hi everyone.

Jacinta doing weekly shop

Life is tough in the busy world of Manipay retail

So, what have we been doing this week? It was not full of lots of individual events but it felt busy all the same.

 

Last Sunday we had a real treat when we went to an evening service at St Peter’s Methodist Church in Jaffna. IT WAS IN ENGLISH!!!!! It was wonderful to understand the majority of what was said and when they handed out the hymn books, on the front cover in big silvers letters was the title “The Australian Hymn Book”. It is hard to describe the emotions and feelings at the time but they did have a big impact. On the back cover of the book was a stamp from the previous owners of the hymn book “Springvale Uniting Church” So, if any of you know where Springvale is, can you send them a big thank you for us and say their gifts are being well used. We will make this a regular event, with the English service being held every third Sunday.

Oh, by the way, we purchased a new box for the girls to play in..it came with a bonus fridge too!!

A big event here for us, was the decision to remove the cane as an option for teachers to use as punishment.  We tried to be proactive with this when we arrived, introducing alternate management strategies and we were happy to see its use significantly reduced. Unfortunately it has been slipping back into common use. The cane was regularly used for failure to complete homework, talking, not have books in class, being in the wrong spot at the wrong time and so on. It is sad in that there is such cultural sensitivity around the concept of discipline and behaviour.  Behaviour that we would consider totally unacceptable by a teacher, is seen as necessary to maintain discipline here. We have had to examine our own motives and try to understand the local perspective while at the same time giving alternate behaviour management techniques.  On Tuesday we are having a whole day professional development and we hope this will give staff more confidence in dealing with what they see are poor behaviours.  Your prayers would be appreciated to help us get our message across and open up their hearts to change.

On Saturday, we went to the Navaly YMCA drop-in centre again and taught songs and games to the children. We will make this a monthly event. When we realise that every child older than 4 years was born during a war, it puts things in a new light. These children have seen such horrors in their short lives, it is a credit to all those involved who are caring for them and providing such a rich range of experiences and opportunities. A phrase I repeat so often while I’ve been here “they do so much with so little resources”.  We walked with the group through a rice paddy.  It was amazingly beautiful with flocks of birds, cows and wide open spaces.  There was a small Hindu temple in the middle and a small hill the children happily climbed.  In a fork in the path we taught the game ‘duck, duck, goose’ which is sure to quickly became a favourite.

"It's fun to stay at the YMCA!!!!!!"

Out to the rice paddies..we were assured there were no land mines!

The first time since we have been here that we were in "wide open spaces"

On that theme, I would like to put a seed of an idea in your minds. Have you thought of doing what we are doing? The term “Missionary” sits uncomfortably with me as I see the image in my own mind of hands waving in the air signing Halleluiah. But I have come to feel that a missionary is someone who tries to work in an area that needs aid and uses the skills they have to help others. So from that sense I guess I can live with the term “teacher missionary”. Have you or any one you know thought of volunteer teaching in Sri Lanka? If you are contemplating your long service or are a “retired” teacher, why not give a thought to joining us here in Jaffna or spending some time here next year? It has been a rewarding experience and truly amazing. The people here are so appreciative of what we are doing and see our willingness to leave our own home to help them as something special. They look after us so well. It has not always been smooth sailing BUT the good times, the special events that occur along the way, the appreciation and love we have been shown outweigh all these “less fun” times.

Some of the gentle and wondeful people we meet here every day

If you are interested or if you just want to find out more about our adventure here please drop us an email and we would be happy to have a chat.