This week I began teaching at a "Christian" High School in Barreto. I'm taking over Craig's class because he is heading to Mindanao for a couple of weeks. Ty has been teaching there for three weeks. This will be my third opportunity to teach in a classroom in the Philippines. This includes an elementary school and two high schools. By the end of the trip my time volunteering in the schools will be four months. I'm thankful for the chances I've had to influence the lives of these kids and for the opportunity to educate in a cross cultural setting.
Below is a more detailed description of teaching at the elementary school and high school in Cebu. I've included a few pictures.
In Cebu I taught "CL" (Christian Living) to first graders for three months and a values class to seniors at the Asian Learning Center for two weeks. These classes are the extent of the biblical education being offered at both those "Christian" schools. Things are no different at this school in Barreto. It's a Wesleyan school, but before we came there was no Bible in the curriculum. The only reason they have it now is because Ty asked if he could volunteer as a teacher. When they asked what subject, he said the Bible. So, they made a Bible class for that reason.
One of my objectives was to volunteer at a elementary school, because teaching children was on my heart recently. My father died when I was six and I remember longing for a male figure to teach me. However, that was something I lacked during my formative childhood years. So now I often find myself gravitating to children without fathers. In the Philippines many children are without a father in their life, and not necessarily because they died, though that happens as well, but for many different reasons. Often men leave their family to work in the city or abroad (OFWs). At the Barreto school, a high percentage (Ty provided stats on this in a previous post) of the students don't have a relationship with their father, because they are foreigners, Americans, Aussies, Europeans, Koreans, etc., that came to Philippines got girls pregnant and left. I have heard horrific stories about how these foreign guys treat these women. I met guys in the jail that grew up in Barreto who found their father on Facebook and tried to "friend" them, but the request was ignored.
Teaching first grade was challenging on many levels, which was amplified by the cross cultural factor. When it comes to teaching, I always enjoy the challenge. I'll admit that my debut at the elementary school was pretty funny. After a few minutes I had lost everyone's attention besides Elijah. I wondered if what I was saying would be easy for an English speaking college student to get, let alone a first grader that speaks Cebuano as their first language. I remember turning to write on the board and praying, "jesus help me." It was very reminiscent of my first time teaching History of Christianity I. One thing I'm taking away from this is how much more I need to learn. When I wasn't teaching or helping with the class, I would sit to the side and jot down notes. I've been reading a book called "Writing Ethnographic Field notes." So, i got to practice some of the techniques I was learning in the book..
A highlight for me was witnessing the change in some of the boys behavior. Something I noticed immediately was that several of the boys were out of control. I hoped that my efforts to teach them the word would contribute to the development and formation of their character. So, i tried to teach them the commandments, about loving God with everything, about honor and respect, sharing, not to hitting, and being kind to one another.
Asian Learning Center
Initially only Ty was going to teach at the Asian Learning Center. Before arriving he emailed Craig and myself to set up an opportunity for him to teach high schoolers the Bible. After looking ALC seemed the best option, and Nate had already contacted them. One day Craig borrowed my bike and went to one of their branches to talk with a school administrator (I got a bike to ride to the market, laundry, and other places. Although it looked nice, it had a propensity to break. When I rode it back from the market the pedal fell off and I nearly wrecked on the side of the road, lol. Despite its issues, I was glad I got it, because me or someone else used it nearly everyday. Before we left I made sure it was fixed and gave it to my friend Roland for his daughter to use for school). ALC has a few branches and the place Craig went was in Pajac, the farthest one from us. It was a 45 min to 1 hour ride on bicycle. On his way back from Pajac the tire popped and the pedal came off. Thankfully there are vulcanizing stations all over the place, so he was able to get the tire fixed. Despite the transportation issues, he got things rolling at the school. Ty was very grateful for the time and effort Craig spent on this.
It took a while for the Asian Learning Center to get back to us, because our request went through several channels of authority. When Ty and Craig finally talked to the school administrators they had two classes available to teach. We decided to divide the responsibilities, but it was unclear how things would pan out. They asked us to arrive early the first day, so they could formally introduce us to the the students. When we got there the students were beginning their morning exercise to Gumdum style (they made us do this dance on our last day), which they do each morning before class. After being introduced they had a "Values" class for each of us to teach. Craig took the younger class and Ty and I the seniors. There were two senior classes, an A and B with the former being the more advanced of the two. That is the class Ty taught.
It didn't take long to figure out that "Values" class wasn't taken seriously. "Teacher" Eugene told me it's difficult for him to get them to sit down and listen. The class is everyday from 7:30 - 8am. Many of the students arrive late, which only leaves a few minutes to teach them anything. I could hear his frustration, but after seeing what they were teaching, I understood why the students didn't take it seriously. For 30 minutes each day they went through a text book that was probably better suited for Sunday school children. Although ALC is a "Christian" school, the values class is a small fraction of the curriculum compared to the other disciplines.
The first two days I taught were frustrating, because the students were late, and several of the guys weren't listening. Immediately. I laid down the law, letting them know I wouldn't tolerate their antics (I can get gangster when I need to). After some initial investigating, I discovered the students knew very little about the the Scriptures, so I started with Abraham and took them through the narrative of Israel, using the stories to communicate principles and values. The last two classes we talked about the gospels and how the life of Jesus is our example. I gave particular attention to Mark 10, teaching them that Jesus's model for greatness is to be a servant.
After a few classes I had their full attention. They were all on time, in their seats, and listening. At the end of two weeks, teacher Eugene approached me somewhat perplexed. He said he could never get the kids to listen to him, and was surprised they listened to me and was trying to figure out why. He initially thought it was because i was an American, but then said, "but I think it's because they liked what you were teaching." Teacher Eugene was interesting on many levels. He asked me to create a test for the students, but was a surprised I actually did it. He was excited about it, but when he looked at the questions, he said, "oh my teacher Shaun, this is great but I don't know the answers." So, I made him an answer key.
I was thankful for the opportunity to teach the kids at ALC. Many of them were hungry to learn God's word, but didn't have anyone to teach them. Although I wasn't with them long, I tried to teach them all I could. After our last class they threw a going away party for us. We were blindfolded and put in a room, where we sat for a really long time. Periodically, we would get hit with a burst of wind. Ty was so funny. He said, "I think they have us on the roof." I said, "No Ty, it's an oscillating fan." Something I've learned about Ty is that he can't sit still for long. And if you put him around people or give him coffee, he's even more hyper. So, after sitting there for awhile he had to do something. He suggested that while still blindfolded all three of us stand up and pretend like we are in a band. I was asked to be the guitar player. So, we stood up and did it. At least I think we did. I know I did, but I'm still not sure if Ty and Craig did or not. I'm not convinced they weren't playing a joke on me. Whatever happened, the kids erupted in laughter.
After removing the blindfold all three classes had prepared a presentation for us that included songs, letters, pictures, speeches, and food. When my students spoke, I could tell they were sad to see me leave, but also thankful for our time together. Some of them still talk to me on Facebook Messenger. However, this was nothing compared to Ty's class. Literally several of his students, boys and girls, were crying because he was leaving. It kind of reminded me of when the Beatles first came to America and people in the crowd were nearly passing out. Also, while I got a kilo of Bananas, he got an entire pan of mango float! I can't remember what Craig got. He had the young ones, and they seemed a little afraid of him, but in a good way.
