Monday, September 23, 2013:
FAITH Academy
The next morning, Jacque and I were up before 6am to get ready for
school.
**I realize some of you may be wondering, "Who is this Jacque girl that I'm staying with in the Philippines?" Long story short, we grew up together in good ole' Springfield, Minnesota. She was the section leader of the flutes; I was the leader of the clarinets. She graduated a year after me, and we went to different colleges, but now we both find ourselves on the other side of the world, doing very similar (but also very different) work. So I thought, hey, I wanna do a COS trip, but floating around all by myself in a foreign country, probably isn't the best idea. I then realized Jacque was in Manila, that catching up with her would also allow me to check out a bit of the missionary life happening in the Philippines, and let me experience a bit of southern Asia, all while having someone to hold my hand and guide me, so that I didn't have to be wandering the streets by myself resulting in me being kidnapped and never heard from again.... Thus, I am visiting my friend Jacque.
I planned to follow Jacque
around at Faith throughout the day and get an idea of what Faith was all
about. Jacque is the 8th
grade Bible teacher and high school creative worship instructor at Faith
Academy. All the teachers at Faith are
missionaries. That is, they are all volunteering. They do not get paid by Faith to teach; they
are not provided housing; they do not receive living stipends. All of their living expenses must come from
their own money (sometimes retired couples use their retirement fund to serve
at Faith for a year or two), or from sponsors (people who give money to the
missionary, often in automatic monthly payments from their bank accounts). On average, a missionary needs about $1000 a
month to live comfortably in Manila.
That means paying rent for a safe and secure apartment (or house if the
missionary has a family); paying for electricity, water, and possibly internet;
buying food; and having some money available for transport, like taking taxis
or jeepneys downtown to go to church or for shopping. But since missionaries at Faith aren’t
receiving a single penny from Faith itself, all of this money needs to come
from outside resources (sponsors).
I was really amazed to learn that this was how Faith operated. There are over 100 staff at this preschool-12
school, serving over 550 students, and all of them have found sufficient
financial support to be able to live in Manila, teach, and volunteer their
lives to their students, many of whom are children of missionary parents. Some of the teachers have been here for just
a year or two, like Jacque, and others have been here most their adult lives –
10 years, 18 years, one couple has even reached 25 years at Faith. Wow.
That’s dedication.
Faith is a very beautiful school, located on a hill overlooking “the
valley.” There are banana and papaya
trees everywhere, along with lots of lush green plants and flowers. In the distance, you can see the Manila
skyline full of skyscrapers, and this is especially true at night, when all the
buildings are lit up and decorated with pretty, colorful lights. The only negative is that, during the
daytime, you can also see the cloud of gray smog (pollution) surrounding these
skyscrapers.
Upon entering the school grounds, I felt like I was in America. Landscaping, benches, sidewalks, clearly
labeled buildings, a gymnasium, lockers, playgrounds…. Even in the capital of
Ouaga, schools in Burkina don’t look like this.
There was even an ATM machine near the office, which was super
convenient for me, since I needed to get some Filipino money (pisos). Class sizes are small – Jacque’s bible
classes have about 10 students each, and all the rooms are well equipped with
materials and technology. Jacque
explained that the reason the school is able to provide so much to its students
is because of all the missionaries who want to teach here, as well as the
outside donor support. Students do pay
tuition to attend, but that money only pays for basic expenses (like
electricity and the Filipino support staff who work as janitors and cafeteria
workers). Everything else, such as the
new “music wing” of the school and the swimming pool, was provided by outside
support. Wow. Just think if this kind of support went to
your typical schools in America…every school would not only be beautiful, but
teachers would actually WANT to work in this sort of learning environment. Heck, they might even consider volunteering,
just like everyone at Faith. Your living
expenses are met (and in no way affiliated with the school itself), you’re
doing meaningful work that you are passionate about, you are in a beautiful,
supportive, professional atmosphere, and you have air-conditioning and Wi-Fi,
too. I mean, can you really ask for
more? I totally understand why some of
the missionaries at Faith have made serving in this manner their entire life,
as opposed to just a 1 or 2-year commitment.
As mentioned, many of the students at Faith are children of missionary
parents, but another majority of the school population is comprised of Korean
students (40%), with many of these students living in the on-campus dorms. Because of the unique inter-multi-cultural
experiences all students at Faith are exposed to (Faith is an accredited
international school), they are typically referred to as “third-culture
kids.” They might be American, but have
lived in 5 different countries and can speak several languages; they might be
Korean, but have attended an English-speaking school in the Philippines since
they were in Kindergarten. These kids
are growing up in a neat, worldly environment full of cultures and languages
and traditions, and this is very, very different from your typical kid growing
up in small-town, USA, where everyone has white skin and probably is related to
each other as well…. Third culture kids.
They’re pretty cool.
While at Faith, I met many of the other teachers, and it didn’t take
long to uncover the fact that I was a qualified band teacher….and wouldn’t you
know it, Faith was in need of a band teacher starting in January. It sparked my interest, but I don’t think
this is the place for me. But who
knows. Maybe something could change my
mind.
Everyone, including the
students, knew I was a visitor “from AFRICA” because I wore my crazy bright
African outfits and my hair was still in braids, of course. I figured that as long as I’m strange and no
one knows me anyhow, why not go all out and wear pagne clothes and head
wraps. Besides, it’s not like I had very
many normal “American” clothes with me anyways – most of those got left behind,
with only my swimming suit, a pair of athletic shorts, black yoga pants, my
sweatshirt jacket, and a pair of jeans making it into my suitcase.
I enjoyed being at Faith and watching Jacque teach. It made me excited to be back in an American
classroom, with real books and desks and materials and technology. Having 120 kids in my math class was great
fun and a real experience, but I think I’m ready to move on now. Give me 20-30 kids, even 40 or 50, yes
please! And what? They will each have a textbook and I might
even learn their names before the end of the year? Sign me up!
Also: teachers’ lounges are
amazing. A fridge to store your lunch,
free coffee and tea, copy machines, maybe even a comfy couch to nap on. Wow.
It’s just too good to be true.
After school Monday, Jacque and I were invited to supper by an older
couple (Roseanne and Jerry Brisco) who teach at Faith and live in the same
apartment complex as Jacque. They asked
me all about Burkina, and I was talking so much, I hardly had eaten a bite of
my salad, garlic bread, and cheesy lasagna, before everyone else was done and
ready for dessert: cream puffs! It was
SO good. Also, I got to drink two
glasses of real milk! It was so SO
good! (I know even the littlest things
make me excited now, but still, it truly was really good and delicious!)
I hate to jinx myself, but my month in the Philippines seems to be off
to a great start…..
No comments:
Post a Comment