Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Journal Entry for Nias Mission Trip : Day 7 - Kids and Team Singapore water party

Thursday morning began with the 1st day of teaching kindergarten. I was in charge of teaching them time, while Jessica and Auntie Lucy were tasked to teach them basic English sentences and Esther to teach them numbers. As Auntie Lucy was teaching them things like "boat", "fish" and "see" etc. I was busy preparing myself for my own lesson. Each child was given a paper clock where they could rotate the minute and hour hands of the clock. There were also given worksheet- 5 out of the 36 or so worksheets printed out for them within the course of 4 days.


I was amazed at how Auntie Lucy could have a good command over the kids. Although she was illiterate to Indonesian's language, she was able to grab the attention of the children quickly, and engaged them in English. It could also have been the Holy Spirit manifesting Himself into her. And He has been doing so in so many instances, such as during the children camps and many others. She was able to bring her message across to them easily, disciplining them when they do something wrong, and still be loved by the children. It was truly remarkable.

When it came to me teaching the time, the kindergarten kids were very enthusiastic about it. They were able to respond quickly to the things I have said. Some of the younger ones caught things very fast too, and the older kindergarten kids were experts in basic stuff. At the end of the lesson, each child has at least one sweet in his/her pocket for getting an answer right. Within that short span of time, I have almost covered most of my "syallabus"


After dismissing the kids, we had a teaching session with the current kindergarten teacher. These veterans took us very seriously, and even though we weren't qualified as teachers in Singapore, they gave us a certain amount of respect. We went through many stuff, such as teaching them techniques on how to manipulate simple words by rhythming them, how to count in interesting ways, and providing them with basic materials and information.

We spent the start of the afternoon doing nothing much. There was a miscommunication with the college about the timings and the days where Uncle Gilbert and team were supposed to go. So being restrained at Yayasan, they tried to make themselves occupied throughout the whole day. This was fulfilled when Auntie Damai highlighted a serious problem. Apparently, due to the large number of occupants in the house, the water level in the 2 tanks have reached a dangerously low level and has to be filled up. In a matter of minutes, we were tasked to fill up water from the nearby communal well.

Uncle Famachoi tried to do a great service to the community. By building a communal bath area with proper toilet facilities, he hoped that the water from the well could be pumped up into the bathrooms, so that toilets and shower head with proper cubicles can be used. You could say that it was a public toilet. But to the disappointment of the poor maintanences of the island, the pump never did worked, and the toilets remained as shelter from the hot sun.

It was interesting to note that there is a skill to fetching water from the well. You had to rest the bucket on the surface of the water, and with a flick on the wrist, you will be able to scoop most of the water from the well. Hoist the bucket up using the rope and repeat the process and you will fill the bucket up in no time! We spent 3 hours doing it once in a while, until an old lady wanted to bathe and we had to leave the vicinity.
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. So were the team from Singapore. Towards the end of the day, we had an entertaining singing session accompanied by musical instruments of all sorts. Uncle Famachoi was playing the recorder, Jessica the guitar and Esther the violin. And we sang, and sang and sang, until there wasnt time for singing, only to sleep for the next day~