I just wanted to give a short update on my ministry experience for the past few weeks, and everything that’s been going on. I already mentioned that I do a lot with the afterschool homework and tutoring at this place called CCMP. One of the greatest needs is in the subject of mathematics, which just so happens to be my favorite subject. So we’ve mostly been working on the very basics like multiplication tables and how to multiply large 3-digit numbers together. It’s been really frustrating at times, mostly because of cultural and language barriers. Basically the kids never ask their teachers any questions, because it would be offensive to the teacher: they think that asking questions implies that they didn’t teach it well enough. So the students often come to the center with math problems that they have no clue how to solve. And when they come they don’t really expect us to teach them either, but they just want us to give them the answers.
But there have been some signs of hope. I decided to make them some flash-cards with multiplication problems on them, and pretty soon we had made a game out of it. A whole bunch of kids gathered around and whoever could guess the answer first would get to keep the card, and then whoever had the most cards wins. And they actually liked playing!! I was so excited that learning multiplcation could actually be fun, it made things so much easier. And I also have been working on teaching them another game I used to play in math class way back in 5th grade called 24. There is a card with four numbers on it and they have to use all four numbers, using addiction, subtraction, multiplication, and/or division to get to 24. They find it pretty difficult, but some of the older guys have been working on it.
All in all it’s been a huge learning experience for me to go to CCMP, because I want to eventually be a math teacher, so this is exactly what I’ll be doing when that time comes. As frustrating as it is at times, I really feel like this it what God has given me to do. It’s crazy, but I remember being like super-tired one afternoon at ministry, and just wanted to sleep. Then a student came in to get help with her homework and I just got this huge burst of energy. It’s something I never really tire of doing. I suppose that’s a pretty sure sign that I’m meant for this.
