The Children's Home

I have to admit, I am not yet sure of the logistics of the home and school we went to in Indonesia.  I know the school and children's home are both sponsored by International Baptist Church.  I am not sure of all the rest of the information, and sadly, I have been told some of it, but it doesn't digest until I have been to the place and can put the pieces together.  Then the next time I hear the information it 'sticks'.  This time, I am just getting acquainted with it all and don't know all of the story.  

I have been told the children in the children's home are living there because they are displaced from their families - if they even have families.  In 2004 there was a tsunami that displaced many people.  Most lost their homes making families no longer able to care for their children.  Many of these children are from those broken homes and stay at the children's home full time.

We went to Indonesia to teach English at the school.  After we taught the 3 classes, we had a bit of time left over before catching our ferry back to Singapore, so our driver took us over to the children's home.  We were not there for any purpose other than to visit with the children - and they are so precious.  We were greeted by excited faces:

We walked in and visited with the children for a bit:

And then they were called to lunch.  The girls helped dish out the food:

And it was passed out to all the children who sat quietly on the floor, chatting while eating:

I was astounded to see how much they were fed - and more so at how much they ate!  

Since it was the first visit for a couple of us girls, we were shown around the home.  The church has recently given the home a refrigerator which was in the pantry.  It was difficult to get a picture, but you can see how small the 'kitchen' is:

This, my friends is the kitchen 'cabinet' and stove/oven:

 You will not hear me complain about my Barbie oven again.

The house has no sink, and the water is kept in these buckets:

I was told the dishes are washed outside.  I am assuming that there is no running water, but if I find out different, I will let you know.

I only saw one bedroom (didn't ask to see the boys room), but this is the girl's room:

It is too small for all the (girl) children, so they move the mattresses in the background to a larger room to sleep.  There are at least 29 children here - that is how many were there yesterday.  I don't know if there were more, but I know there are at least 29.

The church recently provided them with body care products and storage containers for each individual child:

Everything in the house is very neat and tidy.  They are not rich monetarily, but they are all clean and happy.

The children are well taken care of by these two treasures:

Ibu (meaning mother in Bahasa) and Pastor Willy

Now to share pictures of some of the children:

Aren't they all precious?

So, I know you are wondering... which one of these stole my heart?  It was this young man:

I don't know his story, but one young child (baby brother?) was glued to him and he was always stroking him with reassurance.  He had a very heavy heart, deep worry lines and was obviously hurting very deeply, but he was taking such good care of the little guy.  He smiled with love when the little guy looked at him.  I don't know what has happened in their lives, but I hope he knows he is loved and will get through this tough time in his life.

Too soon it was time to say good-bye.  I will look forward to going back and visiting with these children.  Looking out the window of our van as we leave, these are the pictures I see:

Yes, we are deeply blessed by these children.  May we help them any way we can.  I look forward to being a part of making a difference in their lives.

I will be starting classes in Bahasa (Indonesian language) soon.  Please say prayers that it I pick it up like wildfire - I want to know how to communicate with them with more than a smile.  I love this part of my stay.  Maybe I have found what God needed me here for.  

Even if I never get to go back:  I see, Lord.  I see.  

And I will never, ever forget.

Teaching English at the Indonesian School

I was invited by some girls in our Bible Study group to go to Indonesia to teach English to the children in a Baptist school.  Excitedly, I accepted the task and anticipated learning how to teach English to school children.  I was assured I had all the skills needed - knowing English was the only prerequisite.  I certainly know how to do that  :-)

When we first arrived at the school, the (high school) children outside on break: 

This is what the school looks like:

It is a very nice, modest school with three classrooms.  Upon closer examination, I see that the school needs work:

The church has been working with the school to give them better conditions to learn in, and though this looks bad, the school is actually quite nice considering the surrounding neighborhood:

This 'addition' is probably the bathroom/laundry room and possibly a kitchen of a home:

Quite sobering isn't it?

We were divided up to go into the classrooms.  Not knowing what to expect, I figured I would hang back and pay attention.  I am best taking it all in, then next time I am ready to do the task at hand.  This was a time for watching the action and helping where I could.

The children excitedly stood back waiting for us:

As you can see there is no air conditioning in the classrooms.  Most of the island does not have air cons - heck, they are struggling to survive.  Air cons are a luxury for the wealthy.  As a matter of fact, even refrigerators for most may be a treat.

Finally, we were ready to go in the classrooms.  We were teaching them simple things like body parts and item names.  Here is a sample of the lessons we used:

One of the games we played was for CB (one of the workers) to say a simple word (like watch, backpack, ink pen) and the children must race up and give the item to the worker.  They are divided into teams, instructed they may not speak Bahasa (the Indonesian language) at all during the game and we start to play.  The children think very hard to try to figure out what we are asking for. 

If they cannot figure it out, she gave them hints.  Most of the time one child may know, but they are hesitant to act upon the request. With encouragement, they bring the item to the teacher, then the class is asked to repeat the item name several times.

In one class, one of the girls was very smart.  She told everyone to remove their items from their school bags and they laid them all out on her desk.  She was ready to run:

The children show a great interest in learning:

CB taught them body parts like "head":

And items like "watch":

I was very surprised to see the children's penmanship:

Yes, I took that picture upside down and I thought I would leave it that way for interest  ;-)

There were two students the touched my heart; the girl on the left and the young man in the back under the calendar:

The young girl on the left was very apprehensive because she seems to be quite limited in her English skills.  She was trying very hard - but while the school master (?) was in the room by her desk - she actually seemed quite frustrated and was obviously worried he was standing near her and she didn't know the answers.  Once I figured that out, I conveniently stood between her and him and reassured her with eye contact and a gentle voice and helped her do the entire page.  She gained confidence as I did so, learned a few letters and when I would say "e" she would search the page, point to "e" and then smile from ear to ear when she was correct.

The young man was sooo interested in learning.  He was sitting off by himself, but when I scoped him out and went to him he shied away, indicating he could not learn - like he was very behind and self conscious of it.  Once I convinced him that I really did want to help, he lit up, sat up straight and paid very close attention.  He knew most of his letters, but was not sure of the English names for the pictures.  He would see the picture nose, point at his nose and then say something in Bahasa, I would repeat in Bahasa and in turn I would say it in English.  He grinned from ear to ear, then he would sound it out and write it down with few mistakes.  

He was so encouraged that someone took time for him.  It seemed to me both of these children were behind their peers and very self conscious of it.  They would be the ones I would work regularly with if I was going there again.  They needed a bit more help, but seemed not worthy of it until I encouraged them.  They grinned from ear to ear when I took that time with them.  Yes, they were my kids  ;-)

After class, we went to eat lunch in a separate room in the school, all of us sitting on the floor and chatting.  Some of the teachers shared lunches with the little ones that were always playing near us:

I am not sure who the little children belonged to - if it was children of the village or teacher's children, but they stuck around us from the time we came until we drove off.  It was sweet to teach high school children and see young tikes peeking in the doors.

This little guy did not like his picture taken, can you tell?

Most of the little ones did not care for having their picture taken.  I don't think they are accustomed to having anything electrical or electronic near them. 

There was one little girl that was not so shy though:

She has the most beautiful smile.  Most of the time I could glance around and she was there beaming:

The little ones were quiet and most were very serious:

And this little guy was still determined not to look at me  ;-)

Not even coaxing him with looking at the picture worked.  In fact, when I tried to show him the camera he ran far away from me  :-(

Soon it was time to leave.  Our little friend was not happy - the only time during our trip that she did not smile:

These children stole my heart - I am sure I left it back there at the school with the kids.  What an experience.  The children think we taught them - but what really happened was I learned more in a day from them than they would learn in a year of me teaching them.

School was out, we were finished and it was time for us to leave:

With a wave of a hand, a smile on their faces and a warmth in our hearts, we left them behind to go home:

My life has been enriched beyond imagination. 

Sorry Folks :-(

I have been too tired to blog about teaching English to the children in Indonesia.  The heat took every last ounce of energy out of me, but I promise to do it tomorrow.  What an amazing experience for us though.  Here is a hint of what is to come:

I will be back in the morning  :-)

Man, I Am Tired

First I want to thank those who e-mailed me their opinion about my quilt patch.  The results are good for a giggle.

Narrow border:  7

Mid-sized border: 7

Wide border: 6

Thanks everyone for helping me figure that one out... you narrowed it down quite nicely... lol.  Today, looking at the quilt top, I think I will go with the mid-size border as it seems to work for me better.  Today.  Next week when I go to do it, I may change my mind.  We shall see.  I will let you know what happens with it.

Do you ever feel like you are forgetting something?

This morning I went to Bible study - which I love by the way.  I have to take a taxi to the International Baptist Church where it is held.  While sitting in the taxi, I was very frazzled; I felt like I had run a marathon before leaving.  As I was trying to ponder why, I realized I forgot to take my medicines.  No big deal, but I vividly remember getting up from the computer to go take it.  So why didn't I take it?

Retracing my footsteps...  I got up to go take the medicine, but I needed a drink of water to do it.  I went to the dining room to get my glass, and I noticed the check book on the table.  I remembered I needed to add a deposit and balance it, so I went back to the computer.  While at the computer, just finishing the checkbook hoopla, a message popped up that said I had to leave for Bible Study in an hour which made me realize I needed to gather my Bible Study book, Bible, pen, bag, and note pad. 

I got up to do that, remembered I needed a cold bottle of water, went to the freezer to get it, but on the way, I realized I needed to get the clothes out of the dryer and start a new load.  I grabbed the dryer clothes, went to hang them in the bedroom and since I was there, I made the bed, picked up a bit in and in doing so, I found my iTouch which I need to have on the taxi ride to the church.  I went back in the living room put it in my purse, saw the plants on the patio needed watered, took care of that, then grabbed mints (Debbie and I both like them) so I went to the kitchen to grab mints.  I saw the counter needed tidied up, took care of that and headed back to get the mints.

ICE WATER!  I needed ice water!  I ran back into the kitchen, open the freezer, dump the ice in the bin, fill the trays, run to the back to get a new bottle of spring water, remember I need to gather the clothes for the washer, I go to the bathroom to get the dirty hand towel.  How did I end up taking another shower... ??  Dunno... but I showered (again), got ready for church, went back through the kitchen to drop off the towels in the laundry room, remember the water, but I had the towels in my hand to go in the washer,  I promptly did that, started the washer, ran in to look at the clock, called a taxi, grabbed my Bible bag, my keys, my purse, and my iTouch.  Was I forgetting something?

It was then that I remember I never did get my water (you MUST have water here in Singapore), ran to the back to grab the water, grabbed my koozie for it, raced to the door, locked it, pressed the elevator button, realized I forgot my umbrella (you MUST have an umbrella in Singapore), I unlock the door, race in, grab the umbrella, hear my phone ring from the back room, set my water on the table with the umbrella (silly taxi driver letting me know he was there) (oh wait!  He reminded me I needed my phone), race to the back to get my phone, out the door, repeat the locking/elevator process, promptly remember I forgot to grab some 'business' cards for Rosanna, walk in, grab them, repeat the locking/elevator process (only TWO times son!)  and finally head down to the taxi. 

It was on the first floor that I realized I had forgotten my security pass and my MRT card - I needed them both.  Up the elevator, unlock the door, race in and grab the passes, out the door, repeat the locking/elevator process (I know... three times son...)  and jumped in the taxi.  I told the taxi where I was going, which wasn't really where I was going, but it was close. 

Are you following me so far?  I am frazzled and trying to get a grip on this day...

Letting the cabbie take over, I took a deep breath.  I am trying to regain my composure, check out the world around me, and while I was doing that, I remembered I had set down my water bottle.  I was really thirsty and wished I had it.  Wait!  I didn't have a drink this morning, no wonder I am thirsty!  But if I didn't have a drink, that means I didn't take my medicine.  Did I?  I DID get up to go get it... and I realize once again, I just wasted 1.5 hours to get a glass of water that I didn't get for the medicine I didn't take.  I forgot my water bottle, didn't get my umbrella, and barely got myself out the door.  Did I get anything accomplished?

I need a helper or a really good husband.  So, it was then I realized that it is his fault I did not take my medicine... right?  Or maybe it was Debbies, because I went to get the mints, or Rosanna's because she needed the cards, or the cabbies because he called and distracted me, or it could even be my son's fault because he says every time I walk out the door I have to unlock it three times before I actually get to leave.  (I hate it that he seems to be right)

I am just realizing I didn't give Rosanna the cards.

I think it is definitely my hubbies fault - I need a helper.

I am going back to bed and start all over on the right side of the bed tomorrow - whichever side that is.

Wish me luck on that one.  

Someday I am gonna get this right.

Tomorrow I am off to try to teach English to High School kids in Indonesia.  This oughta be fun.  They assure me I have all the pre-requesites I need.

If they only knew...

Need Your Advice on My Quilt Piece

As I have said before, I am taking a quilting class.  This is my first piece!  It will not be a quilt, but instead it will be a pillow  :-)

I cannot decide how wide to make the outter trim.  So my question is, do I make it narrow like this?

A bit wider like this?

Or really wide like this??

I thought I had it all figured out, but then 12 other women came along and told me which one they liked.  Now I am confused  :-(

The colors above are not close to what the piece actually looks like.  It is a bit closer to this picture below, but still not there yet:

Remember I said I cannot get reds and pinks right?  I wonder if they have a class for getting an accurate camera shot of red??  Lol...

Hubby is finally home so I am visiting with him.  Actually, I am letting him beat me  ;-)  He has beat me at Yahtzee and he has beat me at Phase 10 - both are games - one is a dice game, the other a card game.

Yeah, he is mean like that - heck he used to beat my grandma too.  He beat her at dominoes and occasionally she even beat him. 

We must be the most boring couple in the world.  We don't sit and watch tv, we just play games and beat each other mercilessly.  

I love this man  :-)

Let me know what you think about the pillow edging... I will tally the votes.  The one with the most votes may get used... lol...