An interesting week

100th Day of School!

Monday, February 9th was our 100th day of school! We had a nice celebration in the afternoon all planned around the number 100. The kids made crowns with 10 groups of 10 things on them and wore them for the rest of the day. They had 100 minutes of free time (broken up into smaller sections so they didn't get bored), worked 100 piece puzzles, made 100 handprints, and wrote their names over and over again in a 100s chart...one letter in each square and each letter a different color. Most of the time it made a cool pattern...see the picture below...

the kids had a great time and it was a fun afternoon.

An almost broken nose

On Thursday of the same week, one of my students almost broke my nose. I was sitting on one of my tables and julio was standing in front of me with his book in my lap. I was looking down, watching him work, and he got really excited b/c he figured out how to do something, so he jumped up and his head came up and hit my nose really hard. It hit so hard, that it made my eyes water and it bled a little. I had to ice it for a little while. Julio was eventually very apologetic, and now we all laugh about it. Kevin, my other 4th grader sometimes just looks at my nose and laughs. Looking back on it now, I laugh too, but at the time it wasn't very funny.

Valentine's Day

The next day was the day before Valentines Day. We had a little party at school for that, too and had cookies, juice, and a few valentines day activities. After lunch, some of the pre-k, Kindergarten, and 1st graders came around to the classes and gave the teachers flowers. It was really sweet. All the kids also made lots of valentines for each other. Here in Honduras, Valentine's day is called, "Dia de amor y la amistad" (or "Day of love and friendship"). My 5th grade girls made a valentine for the 2nd and 3rd grade boys class, but they made sure to underline the word "amistad" or "friendship" because they wanted to be sure the boys knew that they didn't love them. I thought it was pretty funny.

Several of us teachers got together on saturday night and had a nice dinner. we had fun celebrating our friendship as well. We ended up having 3 yummy cheesecakes. At our house, we had 2, one plain, and one with a blackberry glaze. One of the parents sent us a chocolate one as well. We enjoyed the variety. It was a special treat b/c we don't get cheesecake very much here.

Other news:

My mom, Robbie, and his friend, Mallorie, are coming to visit me next week! I'm really excited to have visitors. It will be a fun week! They'll be here Feb 28th-March 7th. Please pray for a safe trip for them and a good week.

School's back in session!

Sorry it's been so long since i've updated anything. I had a great time in Texas for Christmas. I was able to see a few friends, lots of family, and really enjoyed being with all of them for Christmas. It was a quick trip, but it was very encouraging, refreshing, and relaxing!

We started back to school this past Monday, January 12th. The 12th also happens to be one of my student's (Julio) birthday, so we had a little party for him that afternoon. This is my schedule for the semester...it's easiest to just lay it out w/ times and instead of trying to explain stuff:

8:10-8:20- Teacher meeting and prayer time
8:20-9:00- 10th grade Biology
9:05-9:45- 4th and 6th grade math
9:50-10:30- 5th grade math
10:30-11ish- Recess
11:00-11:30- 5th grade science
11:35-12:10- Planning Period
12:10-12:45- Lunch
12:50-1:30- 8th grade science
1:35-2:15- 5th grade home-ec
2:20-3:00- 4th and 5th grade grammar
3:05-3:45- 4th grade spelling and reading


So put together, that's 11 different subjects for 1 school day :). That sounds like a lot, but it's not bad. I love all the variety, plus, my biggest class only has 4 kids in it.

My first week of school went well. It was fun to see all the kids again, and get back in the groove of things. It'll be a challenging semester, but I'm excited about it!

Prayer Requests:
-for my students this semester: Julio, Kevin, Elli, Jennifer, Franklin, Banya, Fany, Emily, Caleb, and Audrey...5 are Honduran students and 5 missionary kids
-that we would have a great semester!

Thanks!

I'm in Texas!

I just wanted to let you know I'll be in Texas until December 31st! I've been here a few days and it's been nice to just relax and spend time with my family. I have my dad's birthday, an out of town wedding, and of course Christmas, but that leaves a few days after Christmas if any of you are free to hang out. I'd love to see you! I'll try calling some of you soon...

Whether I get to see you or not, know that I really appreciate all of your thoughts, prayers, and financial support! They've been such an encouragement this year. May God bless your Christmas this year!

Christmas parties, Graduation, and Thanksgiving

The last week of school (Nov 24-26) was a short week b/c of Thanksgiving and graduation. Grades were due that Monday, so we didn't really do any real school work at all. That Monday, in the elementary side of the building, we had a christmas party all day! We divided the kids into 4 groups, and each of the teachers was in charge of 2 stations...one before recess and one after. Each of the 4 groups then rotated to each teacher's station and then repeated the rotation with a different activity after recess. My stations were decorating christmas cookies, and making a "gingerbread" house. Other stations included making christmas ornaments, reading christmas stories, games where they dressed up like santa, and making christmas decorations and crafts. After lunch, we came back and watched "Polar Express" and then let the kids play outside the rest of the afternoon. And you've heard of tacky Christmas sweaters? Well, 2 of my friends and i decided to make tacky christmas t-shirts to make the day more fun. We all had little jingle bells glued to them as well, but after the first hour or so, we ended up ripping them off b/c they got to be really annoying.

Wednesday of that week was graduation! We had 2 of our Honduran students graduate from high school! I'm very proud of them and had the privilege of teaching them both Chemistry last year. I'm glad i had the opportunity to teach them and get to know them a little better. Graduation was full of many of our students performing music in one way or another. My 4th-6th graders sang "Lord I Lift Your Name On High" and "Open the Eyes of My Heart," which they'd been working on in Music class, as well as a song that they sing in chapel. Kevin also joined the praise and worship band at the end of the ceremony and played the drums for a worship song. At the very end of the ceremony, they called all the students and teachers up on the stage to sing "a special song." the kids didn't know what we were going to sing, so they were confused. We ended up singing "Feliz Navidad" in Spanish and English for all the parents. It was a fun way to end our time together!

Thanksgiving was fun,too! About 40 of us from WGO gathered at the mission house for thanksgiving. We all brought our favorite dish to share with everyone, which made for a lot of food, but it was good! It was a fun time to spend with the other teachers and some of the people who work in El Hatillo (where the other half of our ministry is located) who I don't get to see very often. That night, 5 of us spent that night at the mission house because we were leaving very early the next morning to go on vacation. I've spent the night at the mission house a couple of other times, but then there were more people. this time was creepy b/c there were just the 5 of us girls and it's a big building...and it was dark. As we were all leaving the common living room/meeting room area, one of my friends looked out the big sliding glass door (which looks out over a gorgeous view of the city...but that's not important in the story) and sees what she thinks is her reflection...only to realize, "Oh...that's not me. I'm not wearing a hat!" as she screamed and ran back to where we were. The person wearing the hat then shined his flashlight inside to see what was going on. It turned out to be a guard, but it was pretty scary. My friend then realized that she left something in that room that she needed, but didn't want to go back and get it. I volunteered to go get it, only to find the guard still standing there, swinging his flashlight back and forth and looking at me. It was creepy! But we survived the night...with little sleep b/c some of the girls were being very giggly...and left the next morning for vacation! (I'll write more about that in my next post)

November and my kids!

There's not a lot to say, but i thought I'd let y'all know i'm still alive and share a couple of pictures with you!

we only have about a week and a half left of school this semester! Graduation is Nov. 26th, then we're out of school until January. This semester has flown by! Since we're not in school at all in December, we're already starting to do Christmas stuff! it's fun! The stores around here had christmas stuff out at the beginning of october, maybe even the end of september! i think that's b/c halloween here isn't a big deal, and of course, they don't celebrate thanksgiving, so christmas is the next big deal! anyways, i thought that was kind of funny.

here's a picture of me and my 4th-6th graders that we took yesterday. i spend the majority of my day with these kids, either all of them together or in different combinations. i love them!

And here's a picture of all of our students, pre-k through 12th grade! sorry it's kind of small. I'll try to post it on facebook, too. it might be easier to see on there :)

As always, thanks for all your prayers!

Please pray for a strong finish to our semester and continue to pray for the salvation of some of kids!

oh yeah.... Robbie's coming to visit me next week! Please pray a for a safe trip for him and a good visit! I"m excited!!!

October Update Newsletter

This is what I just emailed out to everyone on my list... some of it is a repeat from my previous blogs, but my prayer requests are new...

October Update from Honduras

First of all, I’d like to apologize for not sending out a newsletter since June. I’ve been busy, but that’s really not an excuse. For this newsletter, I thought I’d do something different and give you a few highlights from each month and a few pictures along with a link to lots more pictures. So, here you go:

July

I spent most of July in the states with my family and friends. I was able to spend time with all of my immediate family, along with several aunts, uncles, and cousins. I spent most of my time in Dallas, but also spent a couple of days in Fort Worth with my friends from TCU, the 4th of July weekend in New Orleans (visiting one of my good friends), and a day in south Texas. It was a nice, restful time that was a blessing and encouragement as I was able to share with many people about what’s going on here in Honduras and catch up with what’s going on in their lives.

August

School started! This year I am teaching a wide assortment of things. I’m teaching all the core subjects to 4th grade (Julio and Kevin….both kids under the care of our ministry, and both in my class last year); Math, Science, Home Ec, and Reading to 5th graders (Elli, Emma, and Jennifer…all Missionary Kids…Elli was in my class last year); Math, Industrial Arts, and Reading to 6th grade (Franklin…he’s Kevin’s brother…also a ministry kid); and Biology to five 10th graders (Audrey, Caleb, Diasira, Eleni, and Jhoselyn). That sounds like a lot, but it all fits into one school day! My kids are pretty much all full of energy and keep me entertained all day long.

September

September included a Honduran Independence Day celebration. Honduras, along with several other Central American countries gained their independence from Spain on September 15, 1821. To celebrate their independence, we had a Honduran festival in which each of our classes presented information about a department (slightly similar to a US state) of Honduras. Although the presentation took lots of preparation, I was pleased with how my 4th graders performed. Julio pretended to be “Jose Cecilio de Valle” a Honduran founding father, and Kevin interviewed him. I was also impressed with Kevin because he said everything in English, but then translated it to Spanish as he went. We ended the morning eating a sampling of typical Honduran food. It was a good morning and I learned a lot about different areas of Honduras.

October
Not much has happened in October so far, with the exception of my birthday. I celebrated my 24th birthday on October 4th along with 4 other teachers that have October birthdays. We all went to dinner and had a fun night together.

Prayer Requests:
Pray for the hearts of all our kids to be open to God’s love. With most of our kids coming from rough backgrounds, some of them have hardened hearts.
Pray for continued joy and patience as I teach lots of high energy kids every day!
Pray for several of our teachers who have hard stuff going on at home right now and are having to deal with it from here.
Pray for two of our missionaries who are getting married in December. They’re getting married in the states and have to plan everything from here.
Prayer/Praise: After lots of prayer and consideration, I have decided to extend my commitment here with WGO for another school year (meaning I’m committed through June of 2010). Please be praying for me to continue to develop relationships with the kids along with other physical, mental, and spiritual preparations as I adjust my thinking to staying here for another year.

Thanks for all of your prayers and support! I’ll try to keep you guys updated on a more regular basis!

Here’s a link to some more pictures!
Pictures from school:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2109782&l=f5bd5&id=18304898

Life outside of school:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2111784&l=0174a&id=18304898

Also, don’t forget about my blog: http://hannahhonduras.blogspot.com
Thanks!
Hannah Dakel
Hannah.dakel@gmail.com
www.wgoreach.org

pictures!

here are some pictures i thought you might enjoy:

1. kelly, me, and abby in our matching honduras shirts!

2. my favorite honduran butterfly..... underneath his wings.... 3. and the top of his wings...isn't he pretty? he was being very friendly too!
4. kevin taking a math test....

5. and me helping julio with something...it wasn't his birthday...he just wanted to wear the hat...