pictures tell a million words

okay, so there is a huge line for the computer as i've been wading through the team's photos. it's hard to put our time in the village into words, but you know me, i've really never been short on words. . . 

so actually, i think i'll ask the girls to give me some some imput. . . 

kathryn says, "for me it's really depressing to see the way they live, the area they live in, but it's so encouraging to see how happy they are and how motivated they are to learn and seemingly content in their lifestyle. . ." she is such a smiler and the kids can't get enough of her. the kids played Kat Says (simon says, but the kids call her "kat" or "miow").

molly is surprised at how much she loves teaching and i would add that she looks so at ease with the kids and is interacting so well. the kids love molly (whom they call mullet or some chinese version of that because they can't say her name).

chelsey is very convicted about how worldly she is and how un-worldly they are and how they value the little things. . . even mismatched clothes. they're greatful for everything and satisfied with nothing. . . we are never satisfied.

bethany's first impression of the school was critical with her preconceived notion of what a school should look like. . . "but after teaching the children," she says, "i realized it's not the building or the facilities, but the hearts and souls of those who make up the school." the kids think "beth" or "bess ah nee" is awesome and mobbed her for a group photo.

becca cox is amazed at how willing the kids are to learn. "the simple things in their life like a smile and seeing their pure joy is so different from the kind of interactions in the states."

becca jones (aka "boukie" to the kids) was more of a list maker: disgusting smells, dirty skin, bad facilities, beautiful children, huge smiles, pure happiness.

for me, there's a ton, and i'm almost loathe to begin. one commute standing up most (if not all) of the time, a long walk to school past an aromatic dump (my heart was broken today by the two men whose job it was to shovel it into another container), to a school that is said to be 100years old (probably the last time it was cleaned, too). the bathroom facilities are abysmal and highly unsanitary, the chalkboards are horrible and illegilble. the classrooms are cramped, they only have one rim to the pair of basketball goals, and there are children who can't attend the school who look forlornly over the fence which is topped with broken glass to keep out intruders. but like bethany, it really doesn't matter. we could be teaching in a corn field (which would be easy, because there's one on the other side of the concrete fence) and it would be amazing because school = teachers + students. and our students love their teachers and our teachers LOVE their students. it's been a blast to see our high school girls, who have never taught a day in their lives do amazing work. i am so proud of them.

so enough with the words. 

well, i'm sorry there aren't more pictures. i'll try to download more tomorrow. the internet is being very very picky. so i'll catch you after we all sleep.