Vanessa left on Sept 5th, she'd only been here for 5 weeks but she left an indelible impression on all of us! She wants to be a teacher and so she was part of the team that taught lifeskills at the 6th grade class at Vissershok Primary School. She was also a leader on the Christian Union team. It was on this team that I really saw her shine. I'd watch her and the other leader, Nathan, prepare and it was clear they put a lot of time and thought into their lessons. Then I went down one of the days to take some pictures and in the small group she was leading, the two young girls started fighting in Afrikaans and finally the one girl started crying. I felt that Vanessa really handled this situtation well....stayed calm and gently kept asking what the girls were talking about until they finally confessed that the one girl had threatened to have the other beat up if she did not share in the group! Vanessa took the one girl aside and talked to her privately about how to treat others and how much words can hurt other people. She then had her come back to the group and apologize to the other girl. It was a really stressful situation, but I felt like she really handled it well, especially for a 19 yr old with not much experience! Vanessa was also great fun around the house and had a great balance of being serious sometimes and crazy silly other times. The above pic shows her silly side. She's also in the pic on my main blog page...We truly miss her lots and are praying for her future plans to study as we are sure she will be an awesome teacher!!
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Goodbye Vanessa!!
Vanessa left on Sept 5th, she'd only been here for 5 weeks but she left an indelible impression on all of us! She wants to be a teacher and so she was part of the team that taught lifeskills at the 6th grade class at Vissershok Primary School. She was also a leader on the Christian Union team. It was on this team that I really saw her shine. I'd watch her and the other leader, Nathan, prepare and it was clear they put a lot of time and thought into their lessons. Then I went down one of the days to take some pictures and in the small group she was leading, the two young girls started fighting in Afrikaans and finally the one girl started crying. I felt that Vanessa really handled this situtation well....stayed calm and gently kept asking what the girls were talking about until they finally confessed that the one girl had threatened to have the other beat up if she did not share in the group! Vanessa took the one girl aside and talked to her privately about how to treat others and how much words can hurt other people. She then had her come back to the group and apologize to the other girl. It was a really stressful situation, but I felt like she really handled it well, especially for a 19 yr old with not much experience! Vanessa was also great fun around the house and had a great balance of being serious sometimes and crazy silly other times. The above pic shows her silly side. She's also in the pic on my main blog page...We truly miss her lots and are praying for her future plans to study as we are sure she will be an awesome teacher!!
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