A Bright Future

Tom talking to group at office

Things were finishing up. Most people had eaten their plate of snacks and were chatting. Suddenly one our island friends asked for everyone’s attention. It looked like we were going to be blessed with an impromptu speech (islanders love giving speeches).

We were officially opening our NGO’s office on Clove Island. We have lived on Clove Island for about 5 years now without an office. This office reflects the way in which English teaching and our roles have been changing.  On one wall of our office we have put up bulletins which advertise all the different English learning opportunities on the Island.  When we first began there were only two.  Now there are more than 10 different English teaching programs!  All of which are completely organized and managed by islanders and (for the most part) run with only island teachers.  We have trained numerous teachers and many of these programs reflect their hard work and effort.  So our role has changed, we have become advisors, trainers, and mentors. People who started in our level 1 courses are now confidently teaching level 1 themselves.

Our island friend waited for the group to quiet down and began to speak.
“When I was a young man, I dropped out of school, left home and went to the big island to sell goods on the streets of the capital.  Then one day I saw two white ladies walking down the road. One of them was this lady here.”

He pointed to our old teammate from the big island who was visiting for the leaders’ meeting. He was referring back to over 10 years earlier (before our time) when she was new to the islands.  A sense of longevity settled over the room.

Kids looking in office window

“I wondered.  Who were these white ladies?  So I followed them,” he said this seriously, pausing dramatically, for effect. “They did not know it, but I followed them to a building in the middle of town.” The westerners were a little startled by this admission, a man following women unawares is a little creepy.
“I followed the white women until I saw them go into a building.   I asked around about what they were doing there and I learned that they were teaching English. That day I decided to sign up for English.”  (A quiet sigh of relief—creepiness factor mostly neutralized.)
“I was their student.  I came to love English and I realized that I needed to go back to school and get my degree.”  Now we were all started to smile, enjoying his heart-warming story.

“I got my degree and thanks to this NGO, I received a scholarship to study English abroad.  Now I am back home in my country teaching English at the main high school.” 

From an uneducated, street seller to a respected educator. It was a beautiful story of hope and betterment (that aren’t very common here). It was encouraging because it was about more than just learning English, it was about finding a bright future.

No island gathering is complete without snacks.

Our success in seeing English grow gives us hope for other more than just growth in English, we want to see Clove Island changed for the better in many ways.  Many times we look at the teachers we are working with—most of them young men and young women, and we wonder if they are the future leaders of the country.  Will they learn more than just English from us?  Will they learn a spirit of service?  Will they learn to put others before themselves?  Will they learn to be honest and responsible?  Will they give hope and light to the people of their islands?  As we look around at the people we work with, we find hope.  We see their hard work and faithful service.  We see their great potential.  Then we remember that great things are possible and we pray for a bright future for all of them.

PRAYERS ANSWERED
It was a big weekend. We had guests from both of the other islands for a leadership gathering. It was a great time of fellowship and talking. It is exciting to hear what is happening on the other islands and just to be with our colleagues that we don’t see often but whose company we very much enjoy.  We had the grand opening of our office— we’re glad to have it over with and to be able to use the space fully.  Our plans for getting off the islands for some vacation is finally coming together (the kids are already getting excited about it).

PRAYERS REQUESTED
At the leaders’ gathering we talked about some of the resources and strategies that we haven’t used much. Pray that we would have opportunities to use them to good purpose. We have our bosses with us for another day. We pray that we would have good times of reflection and prayer together. We have only recently learned that we will have more guests coming on Thursday for around 5 days. They are here to encourage us and learn about our lives and work. Pray for the logistics of hosting them and facilitating their time here. Island school is supposed to be starting in the next couple weeks (though no one will say for certain yet when the first day will be). Our boys are anxious about school starting, please pray for a good transition and for good recollection and comprehension in French. We’re hoping that they have some positive school experience before we go on vacation.