Today the classrooms were full with 30 very excited students, 2 motivated teachers, a proud orphanage director, and a very pumped and over-excited american. We had orientation today for the students to meet the teachers and myself, ask their questions and divide the classes up into the two time spots.
We’ll be doing two classes of each course everyday from 9-10:45 & 11:12:45 (the sewing and english classes will be meeting at the same time for both sessions). The classrooms are ready and all classes are completely filled (we opened a second class for both courses and filled those completely as well). We also have a pretty hefty waiting list for the next time around.
The machines will be the biggest hindrance for us. They are old machines and break frequently. We have a couple electric machines on the way which will be a welcome addition.
We’re a long way from having everything figured out, and I’ll be the first to admit, we’re probably making mistakes. Fighting poverty is such a complex dance at times… to help without hurting longterm is a delicate balance. Good intentions do not always lead to good results. But we’re working hard, praying constantly, and giving the best of ourselves to take steps in the right direction. We’ll be shifting and changing as we grow. But I knew this going in. It’s all a learning process – we teach and we learn, we learn and we change, we change and we grow. Most of all we invest ourselves deeply in this community.