Hey guys! It's been...what MONTHS! Right?!!
Although it has been a long time since I have been able to get back to
the blog, I promise you, One Step In Faith has been pretty busy. Special
thanks to Dave and Ellen Bartlett in Northern Ghana and Eddie Nsafoa in
Southern Ghana for helping to take care of our kiddos over these past months.
There have been so many changes over these past months, I am struggling
on where to start...so I will start with an update on each child!
First, let me entice you a little. Monthly,
beginning in April, we will begin a new series called the Star Child. Each month we will post a special blog update
to celebrate one of our kiddos. Through these
postings, you will have an opportunity to learn a little about them and their story. Be on the lookout, you won’t want to miss it!
Today’s update is about YAma. It has been a
difficult year for YAma. We are still
working through the details, however in the meantime we would all appreciate your
prayers.
YAma has been in our lives as our little girl since 2010. The four of us (Dave/Ellen, Troy/I) sort of
adopted (emotionally) Isaac and YAma. So, when the
opportunity finally arrived to offer them both a private school education, they
were ECSTATIC! 
Last year, they began their new
journey attending a private Christian boarding school in Kumasi. This school is VERY close to Eddie’s home, so
he is able to frequently check-in on them.
They were the equivalent to 7th grade, Junior High 1st
year, when they left their village school.
However, their test scores at the private school placed them in 6th
grade, so they were required to repeat one year. They DID NOT MIND AT ALL! Are you kidding, the opportunity to have a
strong education – they were beyond excited!
However, it all sounds good on paper! Transitioning from a village school to a
private, Christian school is not easy.
To transition from a village school to a private, Christian boarding school, is just plain DIFFICULT. In general, some children acclimate and do
very well. The idea of the amazing
opportunity it provides for their life allows them to look beyond the sacrifice
of being away from home, and focus on the hope for their future. However, these are human being children. Not everyone was built to go away to school, not
everyone is built to handle children who treat them differently because they
are not “city” children, but “village” children. Even if it is just right down the road,
sometimes it just isn’t that easy.
At first, the only issue mentioned or discussed was academic
concerns with YAma’s work. Actually,
most children struggle from the start, even if they were top of their class in
the villages. Academically, they are
learning subjects they didn’t have exposure to in the village (example: French, Drafting, Computer Skills). And, the private school requires the children
to speak English 100%. Yet, in the
village schools, they typically only speak English in English class, and use their
native village language the rest of the day.
Do you remember middle school? Do
you remember that middle school is actually the MOST DIFFICULT transitional
years for children? Between children
testing boundaries with authority and peers, picking on the weakest link, and doing
anything for a laugh to fit in…middle school is just a blast!
Ghanaian children are not much different. Life is harder, so middle school survival is
a lot tougher.
Ok, insert YAma who is VERY, VERY timid and shy. Well, it turns out, her biggest issue is
English. YAma has been afraid of being mocked when she speaks
incorrectly. This creates a chain effect. If YAma doesn’t understand a topic or has a question, she
struggles asking for help. If she doesn’t
ask for help, then she doesn’t perform well.
Asking questions requires speaking out loud in English. J
Once we discovered her declining grades were due to insecurity of
her language skills, we started her in extra classes, small group tutoring for her
struggling classes. Time passed, her
grades came in again, and still not much improvement. The school and teachers desired for her to
succeed. They wanted to try one more
option to help her get over the hump, catch-up and gain some confidence in
among her peers.
She was set to begin one-on-one class work,
directly working with a teacher, instead of attending regular classes. She was relieved to not have been removed
from school, but given another opportunity to try and succeed. However, last month we received notification,
Ama had removed herself from school. Something
happened, creating a wave of poor decisions.
Eddie has been working with the family and community to help identify
the cause and solutions.
Now, a month past, thankfully we are seeing some progress. Although we cannot share details, and we are still
pending some details and understanding, this is still in transition. However, we are thankful for progress. She apologized for her actions and shared a
desire to restore what she walked away from, she requested to return to school. There are obstacles to be worked through, but
we are very thankful she is listening to God’s call in her life, by not giving
up on school and facing her fears.
Because
there are still consequences of her actions leading up to her walking out of
school, there are outstanding items to be resolved. In addition, she missed about a month of
school and was already struggling.
Please…please, pray for her. She
really could use every single one of your prayers! Please…please pray for her family, Eddie,
Headmaster and the teachers as they work through the details to restore and
redeem her. If we all came together, we
believe YAma will begin to connect and have true hope
and opportunity restored! We believe she
will thrive, and not struggle! She has
taken the first step, she asked.
Thank you and as always…hugs to you all!!!
Stay tuned for an update on our NEW OSIF child later this week...
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