Teaching

It occurred to me that many of you may not know what I do on the mission field and how that supports Bible Translation. Hopefully you will get a glimpse into my every day life...well at least the working side of things.

Tucked away in the valley of the Eastern Highlands lays Ukarumpa. We have two schools, a primary campus for prekindergarten- sixth grade, that is seconds away from my house, and a secondary campus for seventh-twelfth grade. I am currently working at Ukarumpa International School at the Primary Campus (UISPC). I am the Grade 2 teacher (that's second grade for all you Americans reading) and I love it! Last year I was co-teaching in the kindergarten classroom until I was asked if I would move up to second. It has taken a bit to adjust and I certainly do not know everything (or will I) but I continue to learn and appreciate where God has me for this time. Just a side note, does ANY teacher every REALLY know what they are teaching? I have not yet been blessed with having the same grade or curriculum for more than one year in a row, and this is my fifth year teaching. Every year I have either had to change schools, grades, or curriculum. It certainly keeps me on my toes.

Change is not uncommon at this school. Flexibility is a must. A couple came to visit a few days ago and a few of my teacher friends had dinner with them. They are recruiters for Wycliffe and they asked us this question: What do you like and dislike about teaching at UIS? We thought about this for a few seconds but none of us had any trouble thinking of something. We said: kids are excited to learn. Kids thank us for teaching them. Kids have two parents who love them, love the Lord, and work hard. Kids are disciplined at home and work to stay in touch with what is happening at school. Parents trust that their children are getting a good education. The cultural diversity of both teachers and students makes life interesting. There were many other responses but I won't continue.

Our responses to our dislikes varied a bit pending on the campus we work at. Being the only primary school teacher at the dinner table I mentioned the struggle with the village program. Let me just add here that preparing things for the village program takes a lot of time but I REALLY do enjoy the role I have in Bible Translation through preparing materials for village families. I will talk more about this later in my blog. I also said it is difficult to meet the needs of students who are coming from a wide variety of previous educational experiences.

This is what I am facing this year. Missionaries are encouraged to take furloughs (trips back to their passport countries after a certain amount of time to refresh, catch up with friends and supporters, or for a variety of other reasons) meaning their children are removed from our school system and are educated at home or in a school system in their home country. This year I have: six students who were here for 1st grade but not necessarily for Kindergarten, four students who are Papua New Guinean (they have been in our school system since prekindergarten, but English is not their first language so they are still working to catch up with their peers in some areas), four students who missed 1st grade here and were either home schooled or went to a school in their home country, three students who are new to this country and the school, and one child who has never been in a school setting before and who is new to the country. Can you see my struggle? How do I teach new materials when I am not sure what each of them has mastered the year before? I continue to struggle with this but thankfully it is getting easier as I get to know each child.

In addition to this, my classroom is constantly changing. When missionaries arrive they attend a Pacific Orientation Course (POC) in Madang Province. This  course introduces them to the culture, language, and climate of Papua New Guinea, and equips them with tools they need to survive on the mission field. These courses currently run in August and January. This means that the teachers are responsible for providing materials for students who attend POC. This year I have four students attending the August POC and one (as far as I know) attending the January POC. When we are informed of students who are going to POC or to the village we begin to make a "village bag". You can see in my picture above what all might be included in a "village bag". I make sure there is a folder with our curriculum map, weekly plans, student parents, lesson plans, math manipulatives, student workbooks, students readers, pencils, etc. Once everything is put together I make sure to meet with the parents to explain what I have put together and how it will, hopefully, make their teaching experience run smoothly. This is all done in addition to my normal teaching week.

Please don't read this and think I am asking for pity. I am writing to inform you of what all my job requires and also to show you that as a teacher, I am directly helping Bible translation. I am honored to be helping make a parents load lighter while they are living in the village. I also very much enjoy being able to encourage my students and their parents by speaking with them each day on the radio. When asked How do teachers help make your time in the village more bearable? one translation family replied:

" This (having a village program) made home-schooling so much easier, making Susan's load bearable when basic living was so much more difficult and time-consuming in the village. It also kept the kids on task with their class, making the transition back and forth between the village and Ukarumpa smooth and easy. Our kids looked forward to talking to their teachers and friends on the radio each week. Our kids' classes would be praying for them while they were in the village and would sometimes also sends notes of encouragement to them. All of these things helped our children to feel they were still part of the class, even when away from them.  When we are in Ukarumpa, having our kids in school frees Susan to concentrate on other work. We are often able to bring national men here and make progress on translation work and training."

I am honored to be able to assist parents who are translators in preparing materials for their children. 

Hopefully you have a better idea of how God is using me here in Papua New Guinea.

Next week I will share some oh so funny stories from my two little boys who are currently in their villages. Stay tuned!

Simple Luxuries

There is something about food that just comforts my heart! This blog post is all about the simple luxuries of food! My family jokes that you are not a Wulff if you don't like to eat, sleep, and laze around...I guess I am a "good Wulff". 

My first simple luxury is box of blueberry pop-tarts. To be completely honest I wouldn't buy these in the states, mostly because there are so many other options but this box was given to me for my birthday! What a great birthday present! Thank you Mark and Lynn! There is just something about having an easy breakfast that is full of sugar to warm my little Southern heart. 

Another simple luxury is making "concoctions" with my roommates. Every once in a while they turn out great! Our frappuccino out delicious. We took a picture and drank them slowly. I closed my eyes and put on some Jack Johnson and pretended we were at Starbucks. When I opened my eyes I asked if we wrote down  how we made them...nope. Oh well, maybe we will figure it out again but this moment will always be remembered. In addition to the frappuccino we added sweetened heavy whipping cream and chocolate shavings. What luxury! All you Ukarumpians who are reading this don't come knocking on our door...we don't remember how we made them! Sori tru.

One of my favorite lunch options is a packet of Indo Mie noodles. They are great! I love that they come with different season packets. As pathetic as this may sound, they always makes me smile. Well done Indo Mie! You make my day.

My last simple luxury for today is a strawberry milkshake with a dollop of whip cream. This milkshake seriously made me think of Chick-fil-A. Soon I will partake in your wonderful goodness, but until then I will mix my own strawberries, milk, and cream for a mouth full of happiness.

By far the best luxury, in my book, is Led Cafe. A family in our community graciously open their beautiful house on Saturday mornings from 8-11. They serve breakfast burritos with homemade sausage, scones, hot drinks and other delicious goodies. Yesterday I partook in the breakfast burrito and my favorite hot beverage...the latte! My first roommate, Joy Candee, introduced me to it and I have taken it upon myself to introduce it to others ever since. Led Cafe is also a great place for a date! :)

My current roommate, Mandy, and were talking yesterday and we remembered back to a weekend that we went "out for coffee" every day! Friday night we enjoyed coffee, dessert and games at the WA center with friends. Saturday we attended Led Cafe for our lattes. And Sunday we went to a neighbors for a cup a' and dessert. Take joy in the little things.

Hating on Yogurt

On my list of thing I miss about America, buying yogurt at a store is close to the top. It never occurred to me that I might have to make my own yogurt when I got to the mission field. The job of making yogurt is tedious and I literally hate it, so I thought I would share it with you. Tedious things make wonderful blog topics, right! This, of course, is just one way to make it. My friends make it in other ways but all of them are just as time consuming.

First you have to find a few clean jars about the same size. These are plentiful since we (missionaries) have a hard time getting rid of anything...even used wrapping paper. The jars and jar lids are then sterilized by pouring boiling water over them.

Now it's time to make the yogurt. Hopefully I remembered to keep the yogurt starter from my last batch. Some people open the first jar, take some yogurt out, and freeze it as the starter. This is what we would try to do. I have heard many clever ways to preserve yogurt starter (yes, we do talk about things like this on a regular basis). If you don't remember to keep the starter you have to beg some off a friend. If their starter is old your yogurt may be more sour than you are use to or not set properly. Taking the yogurt starter, I mix milk and water (checking the water temp because that makes a huge difference). The mixture is then poured into the jars (that have been emptied of the boiling water) and each jar is tightly sealed. If they are not tightly sealed then water will seep in creating a soupy mess. Trust me, it's really annoying to spend this much time and then realize you messed it all up because the jar tops weren't on tight enough.

The jars are then placed in a giant metal pot and water is poured to the top of the jar. This is actually trickier than it looks. The water has to be a certain temperature and, for some reason, I can NEVER get it just right. People have told me that the water has to be "dishwater hot" or "hot enough that you can still stand your hand being in it". What does that mean? When I was living in the village I was teased for having sensitive fingers and hands. They said this while pulling hot sweat potatoes out of the fire with their bear hands. I laughed and said, "Just because my hands/fingers still have feeling does not make them sensitive". All that to say, I rarely got the water to an adequate temperature.

Finally the pot is wrapped in thick heavy towels. I have heard of people putting the pot in the oven but this has never been practical for me. The heavy towels create an insulation for the pot. This then sits for many hours, often over night, so the yogurt can set. After all this work, hopefully you have four jars of yogurt. I was lucky if I could get yogurt that came out smooth and not clumpy. When I used this method it was often clumpy. Granted, it still tasted like yogurt, but what a pain. This is why I am hating on yogurt. This is also why I daydream about walking into a grocery store and buying 10 containers or yogurt!

A few weeks ago I was invited on a trip to Lae for vacation. Lae is a good size town in Papua New Guinea with stores, a swimming pool, and restaurants (and other things of course but these are the most appealing to me)! While there, I saw this EasiYo for sale and I had to get it. A YOGURT MAKER, HELLO! I brought it home with me and made a batch. This is what you do. First you sterilize the jar and red lid. Then you pour the mix packed (ahhh the convenience) in the jar with water to the top and shake. Finally you pour boiling water into the thermos, put the jar inside the thermos  and hours later...smooth and glorious yogurt! Forget the towels, temperatures and stress...I got an Easiyo!

Friends...enjoy your store bought yogurt. Eat it and think about me!