Tutoring in French Harbor

In the past years the teachers have tutored/taught English to the local kids in French Harbor. They did it through a local church and I'm not sure exactly how it would work but they would go I think about twice a week,  teach English, help with homework and just spend time with the local kids. It hasn't been going on lately because no one has been able to do it, but with the new teachers here (us), we've been asked a few time by different people if we were going to do it again this year. Ingrid, Sarah, and I have been really wanting to do it, and after talking to various people and getting it all set up, we started today! We're teaming up with Intensive Heart Ventures (Joseph Natale) and hopefully using their curriculum to teach the kids.

So, today was our first day and it was an adventure! It was just Ingrid and I because Sarah went back to the states for a week and Courtlin (the project manager for IHV and our new friend) had car issues, but it was all good. We walked over from school with Jarvi and Pablo, the 2 local boys we're friends with. We sent out Pablo to go get some of the kids to join us. So he brought 3 girls and we hung out with them for a little bit. After a bit we decided that they should take us on a tour of the French Harbor community. So we walked around and they pointed out all the different places and people to us. French Harbor is really interesting and I'm still not sure exactly how it works but from my current understanding it's split up into 2 main areas: The Point (La Punta) and The Hill (La Loma). Today, we walked around The Point. Many of the houses in the area are in poor condition and are basically wooden shacks on stilts, but some of the houses sit right on the water and it's quite beautiful. It was such a stunning day, the clouds were looking so cool, and the sun was starting to set, creating an incredible orange, pinkish tint to the sky. It was so much fun to be able to enjoy it with the kids and as we were walking we gathered more and more children, which was great. Hopefully, we'll be able to explore the other side on Wednesday.

After our tour we headed back to the church and at that point had gathered about 15 kids ranging from age 5 to 15. We attempted to play soccer/futbol, but it started to get dark and we were on gravel and it was just starting to get ugly, so we went back inside and tried to give a mini lesson on English. I worked with some of the younger kids and Ingrid worked with the older kids. I mainly went over the alphabet and had them write their names. They are some of the sweetest kids. They were already telling me they love me and were giving me lots of hugs and kisses as we were leaving. I'm so excited to get to know them and love on them.

Here's a couple pics we took on my computer with just a small handful of the kids:

Love. They were getting such a kick out of taking the pictures, I had to close my computer because it was starting to get vicious as they all started piling on top of each other and pushing to get in the picture. Hopefully, I can get some more next time, but in a more orderly/safe manner. Feeling real blessed and full. Please pray for these kids and for us as we begin this new adventure. Love to you all!