Back to My Yetebon Home
My school break went quickly and from July 4th until now, Sept 20th, there didn’t seem to be any let-down time. It started with appointments and meetings that had been scheduled before returning to the states, a couple of weeks to clean out my computer and to put everything back in via instructions by phone with technicians in India (it was very time consuming because for days I had to be at a wireless internet connection and talk on a pay –as-you go phone).
The next week was spent preparing a video with the incredible technician George Waters. After presenting the video at Sanibel Community Church I went on tour to visit friends and relatives and to share the video and speak about Project Mercy along the way in Connecticut, Lake George, and Charlottesville, VA. I am so appreciative to those who provided the accommodations and set the appointments and made other arrangements: Jackie Tetreault, Sharron Leland, Barb Nave, and Bill and Shirley Koke.
Also, along the way I got to visit all of my siblings, spent time with my mother and had a vacation with my son John, his wife Kathy and my only grandbaby Savannah (who was showing off her newly acquired gross motor skills---she had started walking at 9 months).
My son, Thomas, lives in Ft. Myers and had started a new job requiring a lot of training and attending Navy Reserves on most weekends so we didn’t see each other often. He took time to help me out when needed. I didn’t get to see my daughter Catherine who is now living in Portland, Oregon but she already has a booked flight to Addis Ababa in November and will be teaching English, sewing, and pattern making in the community of Yetebon.
I was able to meet with the staff and faculty of Nova Southeastern University twice during the time I was in the U.S. We are working on plans to provide Kindergarten teaching credentials to those I have trained and many more to be trained after Nova coordinates things with the Ministry of Education in Ethiopia. This is very exciting because Ethiopia was to have KG available by 2001 to all young children in the country. That didn’t happen; primarily because there was no one qualified to provide the training. Now that we have a model school set up and I have been training 4 teachers, we are ready to go to the next level and provide training for many more.
I am writing this during my 5 hour layover in the Frankfurt Airport. This is the place where I transition during each trip to and from Ethiopia. The transition is more of an emotional experience than just for the purpose of changing planes. It is always difficult to leave family and friends. Then, when I get to this place I begin to look forward to seeing my extended family in Ethiopia. And, vise versa when returning to the U.S.
I am really excited about meeting 20 new additions to our family in Yetebon. These are orphans whose parents had AIDS. They will have great care and will be attending school on the compound where they now live with 40 other orphans and foster children.
Now I have to get into gear for that momentous day of the year: KG registration when we usually process more than 2000 children. It is a tense time for parents who hope that their own child will draw one of the 200 available lots.
The day before I left Miami International I spent about a half hour with Dr Marilyn Segal, the most outstanding Early Childhood Education Specialist in our country, I feel.
She continues to be an inspiration to thousands of Early Childhood Educators and it is an honor and privilege to see her after having a class with her 16 years ago when I was working on my doctorate. She listened intently and asked many questions as I tried to explain the unique situation we have with our 200 kindergarten children and the many adaptations we must make to accommodate them. Amazingly, she has a way of guiding my thoughts with her questions rather than jumping in with her own perceived solutions.
I learn so much from her now as I did years ago.
I also talked with Jim Rosene, President of Kids Around the World, to start plans for the training of trainers for teaching Bible Stories using the most impressive flannel graph materials I have ever seen. Also, we continue talks about preparations for building a heavy-duty playground in Yetebon. For a while there seemed to be complications about getting the equipment into Ethiopia but now there is hope! Kids Around the World have the mission of building playgrounds in third world countries and Sanibel Community Church has a beautiful example of one which was donated. I was so impressed with the way it was orchestrated. It would be so exciting to see it done in Yetebon but we need to find a donor of $75,000.00. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
It was a 9 hour trip to Frankfurt and will be a 9 hour trip to Addis Ababa. I didn’t sleep during the first leg and on my time it is 2 a.m. I will arrive in Ethiopia at 9:30 at night their time so am looking forward to having a good long night’s rest. Then, will be ready to begin setting up for my return to Yetebon---my third year and a whole new group of students.
The next week was spent preparing a video with the incredible technician George Waters. After presenting the video at Sanibel Community Church I went on tour to visit friends and relatives and to share the video and speak about Project Mercy along the way in Connecticut, Lake George, and Charlottesville, VA. I am so appreciative to those who provided the accommodations and set the appointments and made other arrangements: Jackie Tetreault, Sharron Leland, Barb Nave, and Bill and Shirley Koke.
Also, along the way I got to visit all of my siblings, spent time with my mother and had a vacation with my son John, his wife Kathy and my only grandbaby Savannah (who was showing off her newly acquired gross motor skills---she had started walking at 9 months).
My son, Thomas, lives in Ft. Myers and had started a new job requiring a lot of training and attending Navy Reserves on most weekends so we didn’t see each other often. He took time to help me out when needed. I didn’t get to see my daughter Catherine who is now living in Portland, Oregon but she already has a booked flight to Addis Ababa in November and will be teaching English, sewing, and pattern making in the community of Yetebon.
I was able to meet with the staff and faculty of Nova Southeastern University twice during the time I was in the U.S. We are working on plans to provide Kindergarten teaching credentials to those I have trained and many more to be trained after Nova coordinates things with the Ministry of Education in Ethiopia. This is very exciting because Ethiopia was to have KG available by 2001 to all young children in the country. That didn’t happen; primarily because there was no one qualified to provide the training. Now that we have a model school set up and I have been training 4 teachers, we are ready to go to the next level and provide training for many more.
I am writing this during my 5 hour layover in the Frankfurt Airport. This is the place where I transition during each trip to and from Ethiopia. The transition is more of an emotional experience than just for the purpose of changing planes. It is always difficult to leave family and friends. Then, when I get to this place I begin to look forward to seeing my extended family in Ethiopia. And, vise versa when returning to the U.S.
I am really excited about meeting 20 new additions to our family in Yetebon. These are orphans whose parents had AIDS. They will have great care and will be attending school on the compound where they now live with 40 other orphans and foster children.
Now I have to get into gear for that momentous day of the year: KG registration when we usually process more than 2000 children. It is a tense time for parents who hope that their own child will draw one of the 200 available lots.
The day before I left Miami International I spent about a half hour with Dr Marilyn Segal, the most outstanding Early Childhood Education Specialist in our country, I feel.
She continues to be an inspiration to thousands of Early Childhood Educators and it is an honor and privilege to see her after having a class with her 16 years ago when I was working on my doctorate. She listened intently and asked many questions as I tried to explain the unique situation we have with our 200 kindergarten children and the many adaptations we must make to accommodate them. Amazingly, she has a way of guiding my thoughts with her questions rather than jumping in with her own perceived solutions.
I learn so much from her now as I did years ago.
I also talked with Jim Rosene, President of Kids Around the World, to start plans for the training of trainers for teaching Bible Stories using the most impressive flannel graph materials I have ever seen. Also, we continue talks about preparations for building a heavy-duty playground in Yetebon. For a while there seemed to be complications about getting the equipment into Ethiopia but now there is hope! Kids Around the World have the mission of building playgrounds in third world countries and Sanibel Community Church has a beautiful example of one which was donated. I was so impressed with the way it was orchestrated. It would be so exciting to see it done in Yetebon but we need to find a donor of $75,000.00. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
It was a 9 hour trip to Frankfurt and will be a 9 hour trip to Addis Ababa. I didn’t sleep during the first leg and on my time it is 2 a.m. I will arrive in Ethiopia at 9:30 at night their time so am looking forward to having a good long night’s rest. Then, will be ready to begin setting up for my return to Yetebon---my third year and a whole new group of students.
posted by John | 9:57 PM
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