tracyp

Dear Friends,

Please excuse my long silence. The last few weeks have been very busy here and it has been difficult to get to the internet. This morning when I finally had the chance to come and use the internet, I almost thought we wouldn’t make it because there was a problem with the car. No worries though, everything worked out, they just had to push the car first and then it started. Ah the joys of life in Africa. More »« Less

Dear Friends,

As I look back on the year 2009 there are many words I could use to describe the past year of my life; some that come to mind are: incredible, awesome, interesting, amazing, challenging, trying, memorable, but I think if I had to describe the year in just one word it would be unbelievable.

From the very beginning it is unbelievable to me that I would get on a plane by myself and fly across the world to a country I had never been to, not knowing what I would do or who I would meet, or even how to speak the language. I suppose it is just as unbelievable that my arrival went so smoothy. I was met by a group of wonderful people that over the course of the year have become like family. I was given a comfortable house to live in and a job that I know God had prepared specifically for me.

A couple months later it is even more unbelievable to me how much I have grown to love the life I have built here. In January I wasn’t sure if I would be able to make it to the end of the year. Now I have extended my time another six months and it hurts to think about the day I will leave Congo for good. In the beginning it was just this place where I will be staying for the year, but now it is really like I have a life there.

It is also unbelievable to me how much I have changed over the year. Of course I knew I would change, I mean how could I live in Africa for a year and not come back a different person than I left. But what I didn’t know was how much I would change or in what ways. First there are the easy things to notice. I speak French now and I am even making some progress learning Lari (one of the local languages). I have lost a lot of weight. I am not sure how much but my clothes are all quite big on me. I have grown spiritually, my faith seems so much stronger. God has brought me through so many situations this year and it seems like He is always reminding me not to worry He will make it work even if it is not how I expected it to work. But I think the biggest change is probably the way I see things. For the past year I have lived with no TV, no washer and dryer, and sporadic electricity and running water. I have worked at a school where the students have next to nothing to work with. And my church was just one building, and actually for several months we didn’t even hold the worship services in the building because it was under construction. All of this can really change your perspective a bit. But in the end I think its just another reminder that its not the things in life that matter but the people and the relationships.

I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Thank you once again for your prayers and support throughout the year, I am confident that you helped me make it through the year.

Tracy Pilewski

Dear Friends,

Last week I wrote that one of the teachers I work with lost her older brother. This week I went to my first funeral since I have been here in the Congo. Well, it was not exactly the funeral but it was what they call, “La Veillez” ( I probably spelled that wrong, but I think it means something like mourning). What happens here is a bit different than what happens at home when someone dies.

This is how it was explained to me: More »« Less

Dear Friends,

This weekend I had the opportunity to visit another primary school. It was a very interesting experience. The program director from the school had come to my school to give an estimate for some more desks (we have so many students now that we need more desks for them). When he met me he asked right away if I could come and visit the school where he works. I thought sure why not, it could be fun to see another school and meet the children there. So saturday morning one of the teachers I work with came and took my roommate Josephine and I to visit the school. It was a very nice visit. They had asked all of the students to come to the school that day, so we got to meet the students as well as the teachers and staff of the school. They showed us around their compound and told us about the programs that they have at the school. This school has a lot of students who have been abandoned or are orphans, and students who for one reason or another haven’t been to school in a long time and so they are not at the level that they should be. There are also some classes teaching skills such as sewing.

The thing that stuck out to me most though was when the director was talking about some of the challenges they have at the school. One of the things they struggle with is getting the children to understand the importance of going to school. There are many students who choose to go and break rocks into smaller pieces to earn a little bit of money rather than go to school. We were even shown an attendance chart and we could see that during the times when there is less rain and more rocks to break the attendance at the school drops considerably, then when it starts to rain more the attendance at the school goes up because there is less opportunity for the children to go break the rocks. Oh yeah and these are children that are 6, 7, 8 years old that are going to break the rocks. When I heard them talking about that I just couldn’t stop thinking about how sad it is that children have to make the choice between going to school or breaking rocks in order to survive.

Back at my school, things are going very well. Many of my students are beginning to greet me in English when they see me and I always have lots of children asking me if today is the day I will be coming to their class. Pleas keep one of the teachers I work with in your prayers, her name is Lydie and she found out yesterday that her older brother has passed away.

Thank you again for your continued prayers and support.

Tracy Pilewski

Dear Friends,

Busy weeks and even busier weekends make for a very tired Tracy, but the good news is I can see more calm weekends in the near future and all the activities equal so many great memories.

Last week I started teaching English to the primary classes. So far the classes have been going really well. The children really enjoy learning English, everyday there are many children asking me if I am coming to their class today. Each day I go into a different class and work with them for about an hour.

Over the weekend there were several activities. Saturday morning was a seminar for Sunday school teachers and youth leaders. It was good to see many people that I know from different churches around Brazzaville, but unfortunately I don’t think I really got much out of the seminar. Of course this could be because not long after the seminar started it started raining and it was raining hard. When it rains here it is very loud and it makes it very difficult to hear anything.

In the afternoon we left the seminar for a youth concert. The Youth Choir in Mansimou was having a concert and they invited the junior timbrel group from Nzoko to play. The concert was a lot of fun. The children all sang really well. When I listen to the children sing I often wish I could bring them all to the US to put on a concert there. Perhaps the most exciting thing about the concert though was when the power went out in the middle. It got very dark, like I couldn’t see the person next to me dark. It also got really loud because when the power went out everyone at the concert started singing and dancing. It was like a big party.

On Sunday I got the chance to visit another village with the Chief Secretaries. I thought the last village I went to was difficult to get to but the road to this village was way more rough. From the time we pulled off the main road to when we arrived at the church, we had to stop about 4 times to put more water in the engine because it was overheating. We were driving on a very narrow dirt road. At times there were lots of trees on both sides and it felt like we were really in the jungle, and at other times there were specular views on both sides. During the service there was a time when they allowed the children to ask me questions. Unfortunately this didn’t quite work out as planned. We were thinking the kids would probably ask questions about where I am from and how life is different there. But instead I got questions like: Our women’s group doesn’t have a flag, what can you do about that? and Our school doesn’t have desks, what can you do about that? and We want to learn English too, why don’t you come and teach here?

Thank You again for your continued prayers and support.

Tracy Pilewski

Dear Friends,

My summer vacation ended quickly when school started on Monday. My last couple days have been quite hectic and tiring, but it is a good tired because I am glad to be back at school and working with the children everyday. There are many many children at the school. The Director told me Monday evening that there were close to 200 children the first day and there are still more coming to sign up. This is way up from last year, where we had just over 100 children at the school. I am not sure how they all fit, but someone it works out. More »« Less