Literacy Classes

It's another literacy season that has come around. Why do I say "season". Because the people here spend most of their time just living and right now is the dry season when there is not as much work to do and there is time to go to class to learn to read. First, we need to know which villages want to have a class, and how many they think will want to come. This will change and we won't know for sure until the day the class starts. We prefer to have at least 15 in the class. We also need to know who the teacher will be. Some villages want someone from their own village which is OK, as long as there is someone there who knows how to read already.

Then, the teachers need to be trained or at least have a refresher course on how to teach. For the most part each lesson follows the same plan, But what and how to write on the black board etc. needs to mastered.

When you think of learning to read you think of school, classroom, black board, books. Well, this is a typical classroom. It can be quite windy this time of year so a little bit of wall helps.

Most all of village life happens outside, where it is cooler. These ladies are working with a seed that when ground they get oil from it. I saw them working but it looks quite complicated and I'm not sure I still understand the whole thing.

Once the classes start they need encouragement and supervision. Don't we all? Awa has been my main trainer, supervisor, advisor in cultural issues...you name it. She is the one doing most of the supervision but I do visit each class at least once. I usually need her to go with me to show the way...Why? Let me show you.

First stop, getting gas. Yep, it comes by the liter and costs $1.25 per liter. Does Awa look a bit big about the middle? She is 5 months pregnant for which we are all very happy. She and Pastor Pierre have lost 2 children and have in the last 2 years adopted a little boy, but this child will still be very special.

OK, we are on our way. Some of the "road", you would call it a "path", is quite nice. One looked ok to begin with but if you look in the left hand corner you see the dreaded....SAND! At this point in my cycle riding I can tense up just thinking about SAND.

There were a couple of bridges to cross in our journey . One was pretty good, one...wasn't. Awa took it in stride. I said "You're joking right!?, Are you sure it is safe to walk across?"

Since I wanted to be able to find this again on my own, I took some pictures along the way just to remind me what to look out for. This fork in the road was pivotal, since it is the turn off to Gbomyah, otherwise you end up in Tinpanyon.

That day Awa and I continued on to Yuntuyah and observed this class. The class on the right has some children a bit younger than we would normally suggest. They have no school there and this is all they have. The little girl on the right I found amazing. She is 6 yrs old and in the second lesson was reading perfectly! Correcting her 15 yr. old sister. You see she has a pencil and with the eraser end is tracking what the others are reading. Even her writing was good. I will wait and see how she does in the last lesson #50.

The day I went by myself, I did not end up in Tinpanyon by taking the wrong fork in the road, but when I saw the sign that said "Tapogo" I couldn't believe it. Suppressing the urge to cry, I saw that it was market day and set out to find a Coke. After a bit of refreshment, I decided that I just needed a guide and I could still get to Gbomyah. It worked out and on the way home on the right path I found where I failed to turn left and went straight instead.

I did arrive and was able to check out 3 classes as well as have a good chat with San Moussa the supervisor. I met for the first time the Chief of Gbomyah. I don't think I had met him before, and was able to thank him for letting us have the classes in his village. Next update some new churches in the area and Pastor Pierre gets married! Stay tuned!

• September 2004, Market Pictures
• August 2004, Return to Toussiana
• May 2004, In Memory of Wilhelm
• July 2003, Wilhelm’s Parents 50th Wedding Anniversary
• Feb. 2003, New Office Building
• Nov 2002, Reading Contest
• July 2002, Toussian Translators
• March 2002 Literacy classes
• Jan 2002 Bissa New Testament dedication
• January 15, 2002
• Nov 2002  Language learning, Translation, Revision, Ladies day at church
• Oct 2001  Sunday school outing, Fonio harvest
• Aug 2001  Cobly Reunion
• May 31, 2001  Return to Burkina Faso
• May 5, 2001  Germany, Az, Oregon office work
• Jan 2001  Our time in Germany

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