Friday, August 7, 2009

1st week of school...year 3 :)

We just completed our first week of school! I enjoy all my classes and kids that i'm teaching. This year, i'm teaching pretty much the same kids as last year, but now they're in 5th and 6th grade instead of 4th and 5th :). My kids keep making fun of me because i keep saying how much they've grown since I first got here 2 years ago. I'm teaching all the main subjects (Bible, Science, Math, Grammar, Reading, Spelling) to 5th and 6th grade as well as a 3rd and 4th grade math class. I have 2 5th graders, 2 6th graders, 2 3rd graders and 2 4th graders.
Here are some funny quotes from the week:

When we were on our way out to recess:
student-"mmm...it smells like recess!"
me- "what does recess smell like?"
student- "like freedom!"

While videoing another student with the black and white feature on my camera, one of my students said, "Look, it's like i'm videoing in the 90s!"

We were learning about different types of numbers (cardinal, ordinal, nominal) in math. For one of the answers, one of my students said, "you know...the one like the fair....like...carnival or whatever"

It's my goal to update the blog more often this school year! Thanks for all your prayers and support!
-Hannah :)

Monday, August 3, 2009

Summer Newsletter

Here's a copy of the summer newsletter i sent out a few weeks ago:

Hannah’s Honduras Update
Summer 2009

Dear friends and family,

I hope this update finds you and your family doing well. This has been a busy, yet productive summer complete with graduation, a medical brigade, staying in houses, Spanish class, furlough, and getting ready for school to start again.

In June we had a graduation ceremony for our Kindergartners, 6th grader, and 12th grader. It was a great time of celebration of these students as well as the accomplishments of our whole school. The week after graduation, I was able to go on a medical brigade with the other side of our ministry. I really enjoyed getting to spend the week with several other people from the ranch, as well as a few people from the church I was able to work with last year. God stretched me in some new ways, I was able to share the gospel with several people, a couple people accepted Christ, I was able to practice my Spanish, and hang out with a lot of kids. It was a great week. To read a more detailed account, please visit my blog: http://hannahhonduras.blogspot.com.

When our house parents are gone from the ranch for any reason (whether it be for furlough, their monthly days off, medical emergency, etc), one of us stays in their house until they are able to return to the ranch. This summer I stayed in several houses for a couple of nights. I enjoy doing this during the summer because I can see some of the kids that I don’t usually see as often and get to know them better.

We had a lady come in from the city this summer to teach Spanish classes to the missionaries on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. I was able to participate in these classes for a couple of weeks before I went back to the states for my 2 weeks of furlough. I feel like I learned a lot and was glad to have this opportunity to learn more.

July 3rd-17th, I was able to go back to the states for a quick furlough. It was encouraging to see some of you and catch up with what’s going on in your lives. I was also able to go visit my brother Robbie and his fiancĂ©, Mallorie and hear about more of their wedding plans.

Since my return on the 17th, I’ve been busy staying in more houses and getting my classroom ready for school to start! I begin my 3rd year of teaching here in a couple of weeks and I can’t wait! I’m excited to teach the same kids that I have taught for the previous two years. This year, they’ll be in 5th and 6th grade.

You may have heard about the political situation going on here in Honduras. If not, I encourage you to look it up on your favorite news website. Almost a month later, there are still demonstrations and protests in the city where we go at least once a week. Thankfully, most of these demonstrations and protests have remained peaceful. As a ministry, everyone is safe. We’re being cautious and aware of days that we go into the city, etc. Please pray for the country of Honduras and this situation, that God’s hand would be in it and that it would end quickly and peacefully.

Thanks again for all of your prayers and support!
Hannah Dakel
Hannah.dakel@gmail.com
www.wgoreach.org


“In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now…” -Philippians 1:4-5