Meet the staff at CICS

I thought I'd dedicate this blog post to introducing the people I work with on a daily basis. I'll refrain from giving too many boring details, but hopefully you'll know everyone a little bit better by the time you finished reading. :)

The amazing people I have the privilege of working with here at the deaf school. This is at El Boqueron, a volcanic tourist attraction where we stopped to eat pupusas. Left to Right: Andrea Hershberger, Maria Eva Pacheco, Melody Eash, Verónica Rosales, Matthias Beachy, Elmermontano Adalberto, and Samuel Stoltzfus (that's me!)

Andrea is the dorm mom for Beatriz and Silvia, the two girls that sleep here during the week, and is responsible to give work for them to do. She also helps with the cooking, does most of the cleaning, and washes all the clothes (and scrubs them when we wear, say, a white shirt for a very dirty activity). We try not to let that happen. :) Taking care of the girls (in her first year, no less) takes quite a bit of wisdom and patience, but she does a swell job.

Maria Eva teaches the oldest group of girls in school. Her students are Ana, Beatriz, Paola, and Teresa. After school here at CICS is finished, she eats a quick meal and walks over to the local hearing school where she teaches again until about 5:30. In spite of her busy schedule, she is usually quite amiable--which is more than could be said of me, I am sure! She is often mistaken to be the daughter of Nata and Becky, the family that is in charge here, but she is actually Becky's younger sister.

Melody is the teacher of Miguel and Silvia, in what you might call a "special-ed" type of class. Probably the most important requirements for a teacher in this class are patience and creativity, of which she has plenty. The children are cute and all, but sometimes they can get on your nerves--you constantly need to keep changing things to keep them from getting bored. She also assists Andrea with dorm mom responsibilities, when needed. Also, her boyfriend got killed by a thoughtless person's sandal. It was quite traumatic for us all when that mouse died!

Verónica is our main source of grub around here. She is deaf, but she doesn't let that get in the way! Besides all the standard El Salvadoran food, she also makes great peanut butter pie, soft pretzels, pizza, and the like. She uses an English cookbook for some recipes, and all the others she has memorized. She is the sister to Ana and Teresa, two students that attend CICS. She is almost never mad, and has an unforgettable laugh that is frequently initiated by Elmer, the clown of the bunch. (see below)

Matthias is the guy in charge around here, besides being a teacher for the oldest boys--Carlos, José, Kevin, and Mauricio. He is also the person I go to for advice and or answers to questions. This is his third year here at CICS, so he has plenty of experience with Spanish, ASL, and various cultural nuances. He has the distinguished honor of being baby Dwight's favorite grown-up, except maybe for his mother Becky. Another fascinating tidbit which earns him quite a bit of teasing from the rest of us: he doesn't like any food that is green or grows on a plant (except Coke and Oreos). Oh, wait...

Elmermontano (Elmer for short) takes care of the boys that sleep here (Carlos, José, Kevin, and Miguel) and makes sure they help with the work--lots of patience and wisdom required! He is also deaf. His main responsibility is making sure everything works as expected around here. This includes such unpleasant work as unclogging the sewer system when it goes kaput and the water comes back up Andrea's shower drain. His other "responsibility" that he fulfills quite well is keeping us all entertained. If he is not telling a funny story or telling a joke, he is pranking some unsuspecting victim and making everyone else laugh in the process. He has (almost) no shame and will often be the first to volunteer for daring or downright crazy ideas. The other night we did the thing where we told him we'd give him $20 if we cracked two eggs on his head. We had a good laugh over that!

And I'm the newbie of the bunch trying to find my place. :) I teach the middle class, Eduardo, Joel, and Jairo. Even though I have the title "teacher", I'm probably learning close to the amount that I'm teaching. Just today, I had to ask my student what a sign was for a certain animal in their books. I often hang around Elmer and Matthias, partly to learn new things, and partly because they're just fun to be around. I'm the only one here from Pennsylvania, so my accent gets mocked frequently. *sniff* Also, I have yet to win any game here at CICS. But there's always hope...

Of course, there is another thing that is the responsibility of ALL of us here that I didn't mention above for repetitiveness' sake, and that is to reflect Jesus Christ in the way we relate to the children. Both by loving them at all times, and also by encouraging them to walk on the straight and narrow way. Sometimes the children need correction, and it is up to us to perform that unpleasant, albeit necessary, task. A lot of these children have grown up in less than ideal homes and they need LOTS of love and encouragement. They very rarely refuse attention, and it is that bright-eyed response, that eager smile, that teasing laugh which helps us to look at the big picture and realize that indeed, as Jesus said in His very own words: "Let the little children come to me... for the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to such as these." Helping a child respond to the things of God is a privilege unrivaled by anything on this earth! However, doing the above requires a close relationship with the Father. I can't speak for the others, but I really need your prayers in this area. There are so many distractions that Satan would have us observe, but with God's help and your prayers he can be defeated!

And now for some prayer requests:

• All of the students here at CICS: Ana, Beatriz, Carlos, Eduardo, Jairo, Joel, José, Kevin, Mauricio, Miguel, Paola, Silvia, and Teresa
• Especially for Carlos and Ana. They have asked for prayer concerning their spiritual lives. Pray that God would reveal Himself to them.
• Us staff as we try to fulfill our ultimate responsibility: exposing our students to the way of Jesus

Thanks a lot for reading and God bless you for your support and prayers! I couldn't do it without you all! If you would like to contact me, look for my contact information on the right sidebar of my blog. Until next time...