Since covid-19 appeared on our shores in March, all the organizations I am involved with had to find an innovative way of doing things, since we could no longer meet in person. One such organization was ALTA, which holds free literacy classes for adults in various communities throughout the country. Some of our tutors were able to use a mixture of WhatsApp, Skype and Zoom to finish teaching the outstanding lessons for the remainder of the last academic year. With the arrival of remote schooling where there is a greater reliance on the role of parents in their children's education, we see more than ever now the need for adult literacy classes to continue.
After months of adjusting and planning, the Admin team was able to tailor our training of new tutors to be delivered over 3 weeks via Zoom - the platform chosen for our classes for the upcoming academic year. It was a steep learning curve for many of our volunteer tutors, as they had to grasp literacy concepts and learn it within a virtual environment, but with lots of practice and encouragement, we were able to teach them how to deliver the ALTA program via Zoom. At the end of the sessions, the group I was responsible for training said they appreciated the level of patience I demonstrated with them as they learnt to navigate teaching ALTA via Zoom.
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| Starring in a video demonstrating how to teach spelling strategies |
One afternoon in May while walking in my neighbourhood, I met some children and adults whom I knew from Bible Club. One of the adults asked me to tell her nephew to do some school work, because he was due to write SEA this year. I offered to do some revision with him on afternoons, and he brought along his cousin who was also writing the exam. When they arrived, everyone washed their hands and we studied a Bible verse before we began doing school work. As the weeks went by, there was a marked improvement seen in their performance.
After we had been meeting for over a month, a grandmother who lives nearby saw us doing work and enquired if I was giving lessons. I told her I was just doing work with SEA students, and she informed me that her grandson was writing this year too so he joined the group. He was struggling a lot more with his school work, so I was sorry that I had not started working with him earlier. During one of our sessions, I had the joy of leading him to Christ, so I knew that even if he didn't perform well in the exam, my time with him was not in vain. Imagine my extreme joy when he passed for Benedict's College! I was blown away by the faithfulness of God, because we had prayed that he would do well in spite of his limitations, and he did :)
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| Check the concentration on the little faces :) |
Although we had executed camp online via Zoom, I knew I needed to find another way of engaging with my Bible Club children. I thought about using WhatsApp and sending videos, but I was not convinced this would reach them. Last week Sunday God answered my prayer: I got an invitation from the Lausanne Children and Evangelism Network to attend a session where they would be sharing about 6 models of Children's Ministry which were successful during the pandemic. When the 4th presenter shared, I knew immediately that their model would work in our context - children from unchurched families who live in a limited geographical area. I decided to try it out on a few families last week Friday and it was so well received!
I called the parents beforehand to let them know I would be coming to do Bible Club with their children. When I arrived, the children came to the gate, and I stood at the side of the road. I asked one of them to open in prayer, then we sang a song and I taught the Bible lesson. I asked them questions afterwards to ensure they understood and then taught them the memory verse. They were so excited to get the worksheet I had prepared that some of them started working on it right there in the yard! I gave them a snack before I went on to the next house, and promised to give them a prize if they said their memory verse next week. One of the parents said she was glad that we were coming because she had seen a change in her children's behaviour while they were at home and she knew it was because they were no longer coming to Bible Club. I am so excited to see what God will do with this edition of Bible Club in de road :D
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| Checking out their worksheets |
A few weeks ago I was contacted by the head of LARMS - the organisation that I started volunteering with in September last year, teaching English to Venezuelan children - to find out if I would be available to do remote teaching. I missed my children a lot so of course I said yes. I was a bit apprehensive as to how it would work out, since I was not sure I could maintain discipline through the internet. Thankfully the parents/caretakers stayed with the children for the duration of the session, ensuring that they were not being distracted and were responding when being called on. There was also the additional benefit of the adults learning alongside the children. After the first two sessions, the parents expressed that they really enjoyed the classes and the children loved it.
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| We were all so happy to be reunited, even though it was just virtually |
In my last blog I shared about ITNAC's latest initiative, Project Homebase, in which we are trusting God for the funds to acquire a property in St. James that can be used as emergency short-term housing. We continue to get requests from persons who are being evicted because the landlord can no longer wait for them to be able to pay their rent, and with the scarcity of available jobs, we anticipate that it will only get worse. We were unable to raise the outstanding funds by our first deadline, and the vendor has graciously extended the time by two weeks.
We have launched a "Plenty for Twenty" campaign, where we are encouraging persons to get people in their network to contribute $20 towards Project Homebase. We would be grateful if you can join us in spreading the word: if we can get 70,000 persons to contribute just $20 each, we will be able to reach our goal. Those who are on facebook can share this link of an interview that TTT did about Project Homebase:
https://www.facebook.com/377693645609/posts/1015852893214061
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| Trusting God that this building will soon be ours to use as a transition house |
As we move forward in faith, here are some ways you can help:
1. Make a deposit into one of our bank accounts (please let us know the amount after your deposit):
Name: Is There Not A Cause
Republic Bank: 510009446802
First Citizens Bank: 1660410
2. Make a financial contribution online: https://fundmetnt.com/campaign/itnac-home-base
3. Support one of our fundraising food sales, usually held every weekend. Follow our facebook page for details: https://www.facebook.com/itnactt
4. Purchase an item from one of our Thrift Stores located upstairs Flo Essence on the Western Main Road in St. James, or at 47 Bombay Street, St. James
