Mushuk Kawsay

The school we are working at is called Mushuk Kawsay ("New Life").  It was started in the 1990s by a group of evangelical Christian Kichwa families to provide an education for their families.  Each year they have added new grade levels, and 2012 will be the first graduating class.  Their aim is to be trilingual- Spanish as the primary language, with Kichwa and English also taught in classes.   Before we moved, we met with the director and interested teachers and parents to talk about our role as volunteers in the school.  First, they asked us to pray for the students and their role in helping them learn and develop.  Many of the students have one or both parents working in the United States, and, while most of them live with other family members, there are many children that haven't seen their parents since they were infants or toddlers, and don't have a close family environment. 

Seth's primary role is to teach English in the high school.  Sometimes he is teaching in conjunction with the school director, but usually he has the classroom.   The books provided to the school are way above the actual level of the students, so Seth has developed his own curriculum, starting from the beginning, with "Good morning" and "How are you".  
I help with at least one English class period per week per grade level in the elementary school, and spend other hours working on health projects.  The first project, after consultation with the director and doctor from the local health center, was to make a basic medical chart for each of the 200 students, including birthdate, height and weight, for the doctor and/or other health workers to use when they come to examine students or give vaccines. 
 We enjoyed our home stays during our first few weeks- it was a great way to meet new people, learn about about a culture and practice speaking Spanish, but we have been very thankful for a place in which we can prepare meals, invite people over on occasion and relax by a fire.  We are including a couple pictures of our place and our view (if there is sun)...  Blessings until our next update!