Auntie Kim

I arrived in Seattle around 4pm Saturday evening and about an hour later I had my precious niece in my arms. Reality really set in that I am an aunt and it brings me more joy than I could have imagined. Later this same evening I watched my little niece play baby Jesus in my home churches Living Nativity.

To Seattle for the Holidays

My journey back to Seattle is halfway over. I arrived at the London Heathrow airport a couple of hours ago ready to get a taste of the cold weather. I actually forgot that I would have to exit the plane into the open air to get on a shuttle to terminal 5. I am thankful I have a zipup sweatshirt and a light jacket. My mom has already been informed to bring my winter coat, a scarf, and mittens to the airport. Thank you all for your prayers for a safe journey. I will see some of you soon! Seattle and cold weather here I come!

Christmas Fun

The last couple of meetings with my small group we have done some Christmas activities along with reading the Christmas story. Below are some pictures of our fun together.

Cookie Decorating

At first the girls were surprised we could eat the colored frosting, but then they enjoyed licking their fingers.

Fabric Angels

Using some local fabric we cut out circles and created angels for the girls to bring home as a decoration.

It is hard to see the angels in the picture, but they turned out GREAT!

Exam Week

This last week exams have been taking place at the primary schools. While the math teacher for the P4 class has been away I have filled in as his substitute. I didn’t realize that he wouldn’t be back in time to give the end of the year exam, so last Wednesday I gave my first official exam here in s. Sudan. Here in Mundri there are no copy machines and for most people, limited access to computers. This means that all tests are hand written by both teachers and students. Teachers prepare their exams in advance and then copy them by hand onto a chalkboard. Then time is included during testing for students to copy all the questions onto their own paper and then respond. What could be an hour exam turns into 3 hours. I hand wrote my exam on big chart paper because the P4 black board is significantly smaller than some of the others. During the exam 88 P4 students crowded to the front of the room so they could see the problems. At different times students would call out and say they don’t understand a question and sometimes just a minute or so later the same question would be asked again. The most challenging part of giving this exam was testing these students on material I hadn’t actually taught them. It was hard not to just want to give them the answers.I continue to be thankful for these opportunities to teach in new and different environments. The Lord is using these experiences to show me how I can best encourage the staff and students her in Mundri.

Giving an exam to 88 students means correcting 88 papers. Took awhile and I was happy today to hand it off to another staff member to hand back next week.

As students handed me their completed exams I noticed that students who had more than one paper found some sort of plant stem or some other creative something to tie their papers together. No staplers here.

World AIDS Day

Yesterday Dec. 1st was World AIDS Day. People from all over Mundri district gathered together to take part in this day of awareness. Because of Sudan's history of war it has only been in the last couple of years that AIDS education has been targeted. People are aware of this virus, but many may not understand its danger or the importance of being tested. The theme this year was Universal Access and Human Rights.

The day started off with everyone marching together down the road; singing as they moved.

Many primary schools from all over Mundri sent students to share songs and dramas stating the danger of HIV/AIDS

When student groups started dancing others from the audience soon joined in.

Many people were sporting t-shirts with bold statements written on them driving the point of AIDS awareness a little deeper. Some tshirts said 'Avoid risky behavior' or 'Nyebe nga londre wayi ro' which means You leave behind looking anyhow or 'Sibu takum Dowuria Sambala' which means You leave your messy walking.