Life in Brazil

cleaning day.......

Last week Menezes and I took one good look around the classroom in Vila Esperança and decided it was high time we gave it the cleaning it deserved.  So we roped in the help of our students and had cleaning day this morning......followed by snacks afterward.

I picked up some supplies for the classroom at the end of last week.....now they have everything needed to keep the room spic and span.

We were greeted by a new friend who was hanging around outside the classroom and just decided to come in and make himself at home.  He was very friendly......and I so wanted to take him home with me because I love cats.  Unfortunately I don't think I can have a pet in my apartment.....but.....fortunately one of the students took him home with her so he gets a new home.......yay!!

Here they are.....hard at work......the great thing about these kids.....they are not afraid to roll up their sleeves and do some work.....such a refreshing attitude.  Also, this way they are taking ownership of their classroom by keeping it clean.

 

 

......and as always we discover new innovative ways to do cleaning.....as in this case....new ways to clean the floor.

Finally before I sign off....I'd like to share a little something I've been keeping to myself for about 2 months.  Some time back I received a message on Facebook from a man at my church.  He and his wife are very active in missions and well......they had been in conversation with my folks.  They were unaware of what was going on with my mom.  You can read about it here  Anyway the gentleman basically told my folks that it was time they visited me in Brazil and that he and his wife were going to spearhead the effort to make it happen.  So needless to say they have put this endeavor before the church in Yakima to raise funds to send my parents here to visit me.  I am beyond excited....to say the least.  Honestly after my mother's diagnosis I basically came to a place where I thought it just wasn't going to happen given my parent's situation......but God obviously has other ideas.  Isn't it amazing when God steps into the middle of difficult situations and does something so wonderful?

it's been a busy week.........

but it's been good........very good.

Last weekend we had our favela Christmas party with around 50 students in attendance.  Despite the rainy weather the kids had a good time playing group games, visiting, eating and some even won a few prizes.  Here take a look.....

Next up.....the reward store....

...and here we are in Ilha Bela ready for business.....

decisions.....

 

decisions........

 

decisions.......

 

Vila Esperança store.....open....and ready for customers....

 

Help.....I can't make a decision.....I want everything.....

 

I am so proud of this girl......Gabi is one of our new students and is doing so well that she puts some of our older students to shame.  Her mother has started attending our church...please be in prayer for them.

The reward store in a word was a......success.  Everyone enjoyed and when I asked the students if they liked it everyone resounded with an enthusiastic "YES!!"   Some even went as far as to say they loved it.  It was neat to watch the students spend their points not just on themselves but also on gifts for their siblings or parents. 

 This was my first year having the whole of responsibility for this ministry and I have felt it.  It has not been easy doing this alone...yet it has been a very positive year.  Menezes and I have been talking during these past few months and we are both of the consensus that we want to change and reform some aspects of the classes.  This is not to say that what we are doing is broken....it's just that after some observation I would like to improve upon what is currently being done.  I would ask for your continued prayers for this ministry as we consider the direction God would like us to take us.  Also I would like to say that without you what we have been doing simply would not be realized...so from all of us here in Brazil......

 

Thank you.....

 

Thank you.....

 

Thank you....

....and Thank you!!

this just makes me smile......

I was informed by my brother that the first Christmas gift under the tree at their house is for me.....from my neice Abby.  I love you too Abby and Emily....can't wait to see  you next week!!

Recovering from the weekend......Christmas party for my students in Ilha Bela and Vila Esperança....was a huge success.  I'll be posting some pics soon.  I spent this morning dividing the prizes for tomorrow and Wednesday's "reward" store.  Wasn't quite the same without Dave and Carol this time....but it's coming together.  Promise to post pics from all the events this week.

 

A party = a bridge between 2 ministries......

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Supporters.......from brainchild to reality....thank you for making this happen.  We couldn't have done it without all of you.  Please be prayer for those who attended as we are waiting on the Lord to see the results from this party.

.....and even more winners

 
Kevin, Kaique, Anderson(in front), Me, Thayna, Lizandra and Alice

 

Here are the last of the winners.......again there were some surprises on the part of the students.  I think there were a few who thought they would be going to the party and then discoveredthey didn't have enough points to rank in the top four.  What can I say???  When you have just so many available spots....some will be able to go to the party and some won't.....again....another life lesson.  I did, however encourage everyone to look forward to next semester's competition where they will get to earn points to "spend" in a little store.....that way everyone walks away with something.

A personal note here.....when you think of it would you be in prayer for my health.....I've been fighting the symptoms of a virus/cold for about 2 weeks and it's driving me crazy.  I'm trying to have an appointment set up for a check up to see what's going on.

.....and more winners

 
Cristiane, Leticia, Me, Danielly, João Pedro, Felipe, Mateus and Daniel

 

This is the only class where we actually had a tie.  I had written yesterday that the first four highest scores were eligible to go to the party and in this class we had a tie for fourth highest score between Danielly and João Pedro.....so lucky them.  I was somewhat surprised with this group as to who got the highest scores...let's just say I had expected a certain someone to score higher than they did and I didn't expect a certain someone to score as high as they did.  So some disappointment and some excitement on the part of the students in this mornings class.  If you read yesterday's posts you would have seen that I ran the idea past one of the classes to do a feature on each of students here on my blog....well I ran the idea past this class as well and they seem open to the idea.....so I'm excited to develop this idea and run with it.  Well gotta go and get an English lesson ready for some private students.....but will be back later with this afternoon's winners.

Happy Wednesday and enjoy your day where ever you are today!!

 

interpreters......in training

Today has been a good day.......

Dave and Carol arrived safely from the States

My suitcase of "goodies" also arrived safely

I'm sipping a cup of chai latte....oh so yummy

I have some new tops to replace my t shirts that are getting too big for me

I have some new scrapbook things to play with

I have more chocolate chips and peanut butter than I know what to do with

yes....it's been a good day

but it gets even better......

 

 

Meet Jaqueline and Kaique.....

They are two of our interpreters in training.

If you received a prayer support letter from me a couple of months ago you would have seen my list of goals for 2011.  One of those goals was to begin developing new interpreters so you can imagine my delight when two girls from my afternoon class in Ilha Bela approached Menezes and I about starting to interpret.  Then I took it a little further and began telling the other classes what was going on.  Now I have some more volunteers from the afternoon class in Vila Esperança.  The students are going to take turns every Tuesday and Wednesday practicing so for the next couple of weeks I will introduce you to a new interpreter in training.  Please be in prayer for these young people.  What they are doing isn't easy.  Imagine getting up in front of your peers and trying to interpret for the American teacher.  I admire their courage and willingness to try.

a few buckets....a couple of sponges....and some water = lots of fun

 

 

 

this week our lesson is about the beach....and since I couldn't exactly load up 70 students and take them there I had to come up with some kind of fun activity to entertain them.

Hence.....the sponge relay.

The concept is quite simple...transfer water from one bucket to another using a sponge.  The challenge is trying to run to the other bucket as fast as possible without losing much water out of your sponge.  Each team tries to the first to fill their bucket  to the black line.

I'm constantly amazed at how something so simple proves to be so entertaining.

Vila Esperança....afternoon session......

 

This afternoon Luciana showed up to do some interpreting so I handed off my camera to Rosane so I'm finally making it into some of the pictures here.  Our first lesson was on "School Subjects" so our first exercise was giving the students the names of school subjects in Portuguese and asking them how they would say those names in English.  The students did pretty good with their responses.

 
Here's a view of the class....

 
Kaique and Anderson are trying to show you the sign Kaique made that says, "our candies."  It's kind of an inside joke between me and Kaique because every time I arrive to class the first thing out of his mouth is, "Shelly, my candies."  Basically he's asking, "Shelly, where are my candies?"

 

 

 

another afternoon of fun......time to go home and prepare for next week.

.....Vila Esperança back in session.....

 
Team 1: Lidia, Danielly and Cristiane

 
Team 2: Fabiana, Leticia and Adriana

 
Team 3: Matheus, Nicolas, Danilo and Felipe

 
Interpreter and Teacher: Rosane and Menezes discussing questions about new vocabulary

 

This morning I went out for my first class in Vila Esperança and once again the students were very enthusiastic to see me.  It's so nice to know that you are missed.....and boy did I miss them and going out to do the classes.  It's so good to be back and it's so good to see many familiar faces...and a few new ones.

I'm thinking about doing some thing I did last year......taking a picture of every one of the students so you can see them and be praying for them.  One of the things I'm hoping for during this year is to have more opportunities to be involved with these kids.  Menezes has mentioned to me that in Vila Esperança we might be doing a monthly get together for lunch with the students and their parents.  I really hope this happens and will definitely let you know when it does.

Well time to work on attendance and score sheets for this semester's classes and competition....be back later with some photos from the afternoon class.