Field Trip

Airport on Clove Island

How many times have you been to the airport?  How many airports have you been to?  If you’re a frequent flyer like us, it’s probably more times and more places than you could count.  So we know the essential components of all airports.  They work about the same way—sure there may be a different variety of shops and some have buses or trains or people movers, but big or small, in the US or in Africa, the basis function and essential components stay pretty much the same.

In our English classes we teach about traveling. Islanders (who travel) often go to places where French isn’t used and where knowing English is very useful. So we teach the vocabulary that is useful to know in an airport and on an airplane. The problem is that many of our students have never, ever traveled, so the vocabulary remains rather abstract. They’ve learned the words “check-in counter” and “security” but it doesn’t really mean they know what those things are.  So we draw pictures, we act things out in our classrooms, but we still don’t know if all the students really get it. So we were excited when some of our local teachers used their connections to organize a field trip to the local airport.  Field trips are not something often done here, but we loved the idea ! Why not go see the local airport?

The airport is about ten minutes away by car, and is very “quaint”.  The parking lot (which is nearly always empty) could hold about twenty cars.  There is no overnight parking.  The main terminal consists of 3 small ticket counters, a waiting area of about 15 broken chairs and a single gate.  Security includes a cursory look through your bags and walking through a non-functioning medal detector (we have never seen it turned on).  Still, you’re not allowed to pass through with your bag.  The bag must go around.  Protocols, you know.

There is only one runway and it is short.  It is bound on one side by the ocean and on the other by a large hill, so the planes that can land there are small—most are 12 seat Cessnas or other small prop planes.  There are no evening flights.  The baggage claim is a small room.  There is no luggage conveyor.  Instead they push the luggage cart up next to a door that opens into the room where they lift the bags onto a low counter.  So it’s really small. It’s quaint.

Yet, as the first group of young people gathered around me for their 5 minute tour of the airport (it really didn’t take more than 5 minutes) I saw a sense of wonder and excitement on their faces.  On a whim I asked them,  “How many had ever been inside the airport?  How many had ever traveled by plane?” Only two in a group of twenty rose their hands.  The same percentage was true for most of the groups.

The place we're staying at has a pool!

It was rather enjoyable to stand by the counter and ask the group—“What is this?”  Puzzled, a brave soul answered, “A table?”  No…Then, I saw the light switch on in the face of one who blurted out, “The Check-In Counter!”  Yes!  And then smiles appeared on faces as they repeated to themselves “check-in counter.”  Suddenly that vocabulary word they had learned and vaguely understood took on a concrete, tangible meaning.  It’s a great moment to witness—seeing the abstract become real.

Sometimes as we describe our lives on the islands we feel like we are describing something abstract for which people back home don’t have a frame of reference. If they are well traveled or have lived abroad in a developing country, it is easier for our stories to find traction.  What is really best is when someone can come and visit. Visitors to the islands have told us, “Now I can really understand and imagine what you are talking about every week!” Being there makes things real, tangible, understandable.  So let us know when you want to come to the islands for your field trip! We promise to give you more than a 5 minute tour.

PRAYERS ANSWERED
We made it safely to mainland Africa for our vacation/medical trip and have been enjoying the rental apartment we’re staying in and the amenities a larger city has to offer. We have had some time to relax but are also thankful that we’ve made progress on our dental and medical appointments. We believe that Ma Imani is back home with her daughter from the hospital (that in the works as we left the islands). The language project workshop on the big island went well.

PRAYERS REQUESTED
Unfortunately we’ve had more medical/dental days than we were hoping. Our older son still has some follow-up needed at the dentist and Megan still has follow-up to do with a medical concern. Pray that both of these follow-up trips that things would go well and that we can continue to get rest and family time in the midst of them. One of our teammates is leaving the islands tomorrow for a full month of traveling (for both conference and to visit various relations)— pray for safety, health and good interactions for her. Our other teammate is visiting her previous hometown on the small island. Pray for good re-connections for her. We head back to the islands on Sunday. We are hoping to travel straight to Clove Island the same day (a connection that isn’t always easy to make as airlines change their schedule with almost no notice). Pray that we can make it all the way home that day. We heard that one of our brothers on Clove island was held briefly by the military police— we’re not sure the details but pray for him and his family.