An Indescribable Feeling

Whirling thoughts of anxiety filled my head as we approached the school. I was nervous for our first day. I have never taught anything and I didn’t know how much of a language barrier we would have. I encouraged myself knowing that I was only going to have to show them two games. When we arrived, we met all the students and they split into groups. Taryn and I initially were going to do Capture the Flag with the children. However, the game seemed too complex and the children didn’t seem interested. I looked down on blank faces as I tried to explain the rules. We then asked the children what they would like to play. They showed us their games and we made it work until lunch.

It was only noon and I was already worried about the next few hours not mentioning the next few days. But when we started the activities after lunch, things went a little smoother. That night we went back and started planning now that we understood the kids. I was informed that I would be teaching the youngest of all the kids, and would be teaching them about the digestive system.

I immediately became very nervous. Thoughts of inadequacy swirled around my head about how little I knew of the body’s ability to digest a sandwich and how on earth I was going to teach a subject I knew nothing about. Sue and I met, and went over plans. After a fairly short meeting, I felt a little more comfortable going into the next day.

Unfortunately the sunrise not only woke up the village but a new round of nerves inside of me. We all loaded up and started the drive towards the school. Once we got there, we played games with the kids for a few minutes. Then, we broke up into our groups.

My group and I went to our assigned room and got going. I looked at them and asked if they knew anything about the digestive system. They all looked at me, confused. I then walked over to a poster that showed a diagram of the digestive system. They seemed to have some sort of knowledge on the topic, but not much. The class was a mess for the first half hour until Ian came in. He got the class all in order and made expectations of their behavior clear. When he left the room, we started back in on our project. I was able to teach them the five basic parts of the digestive system and what order they were in. That afternoon on our way back, I remember thinking how impressed I was with how fast they were able to pick up and remember the things I taught them.

The next morning, I woke up a little more excited and a lot more confident for the next session. When we got there that morning I was more prepared for the day. I brought the materials that were needed, and I had a better plan. I was ready.

We went into deeper detail on every part of the system. As an object lesson, I gave them food to eat, and used that to help make my point on how the easy parts of the digestive system worked. I also saw that if you gave the kids high fives after the came up in front of the class, and got the whole class to clap, that the kids were much more inclined to get up and talk.

I was so amazed with how the children cared for each other and progressed individually. They really were amazing. I felt a lot more comfortable going into the last day. I assigned them some home work to study their speeches that night. I knew they were going to be good.

This morning I woke up with a self-assurance and confidence that seemed foreign when juxtaposed with my first mornings stomach churns. I was ready to see the children and excited for everyone to see theur hard work they had accomplished. When I got to the classroom I had a few of them give practice speeches. I was in awe, each student had obviously spent a good amount of time at home practicing, and even improving, the speech we worked out in class. I felt so proud of them.

The progress was crystal clear, and it was awesome. We went on to have the kids give their official speeches. I got two kids from my group picked into the top 15. After lunch we had the top 15 students give their speeches in front of the whole school and all of the staff. It was really fun to see how well they sacked up against the other classes, and I felt that it went very well for everyone.

In the end, a young girl from P6 (primary 6) won the contest with a very impressive speech on the digestive system. The two boys in my class did amazing up there. I was so happy for them. They got their pictures taken and were given two semesters of books and supplies. We got to all stand with the students we taught and have our picture taken.

There were two things that really stood out to me this afternoon. One was the look the two boys gave me when they finished their speeches. They were so proud of themselves, and happy with what they were able to do in such short amount of time. It might have just been me, but I felt that we all connected on a surprisingly deep level because of all the work we had put in. And even though you don’t always get to see the tangible results of your labor, these boys did. It’s hard to articulate, exactly, what the feeling was but its unparalleled.

Then there was the feeling I experienced right before we left, as I was watching all the kids celebrate their hard work. I felt so much happiness, and it’s a very unique, pure, unparalleled happiness. But I also felt sad, because I knew I was about to say goodbye to a class I felt such a strong connection to. Again, its hard to put into words, and I know that no blog post can explain what I’m feeling. However, one thing I do know; I will never forget it.