My Dear Friends and Family,
I began writing this letter to you while I was still in Sierra Leone, with the hopes that it would be ready to send to you upon my arrival. Well, you know how things are, so after two weeks of being home, here it is.
I am back home with many bittersweet emotions. Some would say that my journey has come to an end and others would say it is only just beginning. I guess it depends on how you look at things. I have spent many hours this past month reflecting on my time in Sierra Leone. It is quite impossible to condense it onto one page and in some ways that just doesn’t seem right. So I’ll try to share with you this land I have called home for the past year, my “Sweet Salone.”
I have to recognize my wonderful partner who was a huge support to me. Sarah Saunier is also a teacher from the great state of Colorado. I know that it is no mistake that God placed us together this year and I am so thankful that God took care of that little detail that could have made a major difference in the success of this year.
Our job description titled us as “teacher associates.” That played out in a variety of ways. On a day to day basis we went to school (in our lovely green uniforms) and observed the teachers, interacted with the kids, and provided accountability to the teachers. About every week we conducted teacher in-services on a variety of topics ranging from lesson planning to reading strategies to basic teacher professionalism. The change that needs to take place in the Sierra Leonean school system is not going to take place overnight, but we know there is hope when we see a child begin to read or when we see a teacher disciplining his student without degrading them. It was truly those little successes that we had to cling to.
While we were teachers, we were at times care-givers, secretaries, drivers, cooks, friends, etc. We were fortunate to have a lot of freedom with our time so we were able to spend countless hours with the kids during free-time or walk down to the village when we were in Banta. There was even a time when we became the personal assistants for Rev. Angie Myles, the country director. As Americans, we look at success as completing something-- it’s all about the product, but for us it was about the relationships we built with people, those things that are intangible and it is those moments I would never trade.
We split our time between two vastly different places. We were in Marjay Town, which is where the children’s home is, near Freetown, the capital city. And we were also in a place called Banta Mokelleh, which is our up-country location, otherwise known as “the bush.” Our home in Marjay Town houses 88 orphaned children who are now receiving the care and nurturing they need to survive. Our house was located about 100 yds. behind the children’s home, so we really never left work. We always had little eyes peaking out at us, seeing what we were doing.
Banta Mokelleh… the place that stole my heart. I was always so amazed at how two places could be in the same country and yet have such different cultures. Living in Banta was definitely more difficult but I loved staying there. Life is so simple and you always have time for people. The school is only three years old there, so you can image what having an 18 year old and a 9 year old in the same class can mean for teachers. The teachers there have an extremely difficult job, but they love it and are so willing to learn and improve themselves. This next year the children’s home in Marjay Town will be moving to Banta, to create a more family-like environment.
As one experiences such poverty, destitute situations, pain and hurt, you can’t help but ask, where is God in all this, and does He see this? How can I come from a first world country where we always have clean, running water, electricity, a full belly and someone else can come from a third world country where there is no clean drinking water, there is no electricity and a full belly is only a dream. But the thing we have to reconcile with is the fact that it is only by grace. It is nothing we’ve done; it’s nothing they’ve done. God has given us what we have, how ever much or little that may be, only because He loves us. In our home in Marjay Town we have a little girl named Phoebe who has cerebral palsy. She doesn’t speak, she does walk, she isn’t able to do anything and yet God loves her just as much as He loves me and you. There is nothing we can do to deserve it, there’s nothing Phoebe has done, it is a gift, and it is we who decide how much we are going to receive of it.
What is next for me? I have accepted a position at the international office in Silverdale, WA. My title will still be Associate, but that will look much different from the last time. COTN desires to develop an education department for all the countries they operate out of. Their vision is to develop standards for all their schools, create partnerships between schools here and schools there, and mobilize more teacher teams to go down and train their teachers. This is an exciting way for me to continue the work I have been doing, to create ways of lasting change in the people we work with. Having said that, COTN is a non-profit organization and all the money that comes in for them goes to the children they serve. So, yes I need to raise support again for this year. What I am looking for are people who would be interested in supporting me on a monthly basis. If you are interested in doing that I have placed a support slip and an envelope in with this letter to help make that possible.
This year has been such a blessing on my life and the love and support that you have all shown throughout the year has meant so much. Your prayers really did reach all the way across the ocean, and I knew that I was always covered in prayer over there! Please continue to keep Sierra Leone and COTN in your prayers. There is so much that needs to be done, but we won’t be able to do any of it if we aren’t supported in prayer. I wish I could say more than thank-you, but the English language is a bit limiting. So, “Bika-way,” which is the deepest form of gratitude spoken in the Mende language.
With Deep Appreciation,
Kristen Bolender
I began writing this letter to you while I was still in Sierra Leone, with the hopes that it would be ready to send to you upon my arrival. Well, you know how things are, so after two weeks of being home, here it is.
I am back home with many bittersweet emotions. Some would say that my journey has come to an end and others would say it is only just beginning. I guess it depends on how you look at things. I have spent many hours this past month reflecting on my time in Sierra Leone. It is quite impossible to condense it onto one page and in some ways that just doesn’t seem right. So I’ll try to share with you this land I have called home for the past year, my “Sweet Salone.”
I have to recognize my wonderful partner who was a huge support to me. Sarah Saunier is also a teacher from the great state of Colorado. I know that it is no mistake that God placed us together this year and I am so thankful that God took care of that little detail that could have made a major difference in the success of this year.
Our job description titled us as “teacher associates.” That played out in a variety of ways. On a day to day basis we went to school (in our lovely green uniforms) and observed the teachers, interacted with the kids, and provided accountability to the teachers. About every week we conducted teacher in-services on a variety of topics ranging from lesson planning to reading strategies to basic teacher professionalism. The change that needs to take place in the Sierra Leonean school system is not going to take place overnight, but we know there is hope when we see a child begin to read or when we see a teacher disciplining his student without degrading them. It was truly those little successes that we had to cling to.
While we were teachers, we were at times care-givers, secretaries, drivers, cooks, friends, etc. We were fortunate to have a lot of freedom with our time so we were able to spend countless hours with the kids during free-time or walk down to the village when we were in Banta. There was even a time when we became the personal assistants for Rev. Angie Myles, the country director. As Americans, we look at success as completing something-- it’s all about the product, but for us it was about the relationships we built with people, those things that are intangible and it is those moments I would never trade.
We split our time between two vastly different places. We were in Marjay Town, which is where the children’s home is, near Freetown, the capital city. And we were also in a place called Banta Mokelleh, which is our up-country location, otherwise known as “the bush.” Our home in Marjay Town houses 88 orphaned children who are now receiving the care and nurturing they need to survive. Our house was located about 100 yds. behind the children’s home, so we really never left work. We always had little eyes peaking out at us, seeing what we were doing.
Banta Mokelleh… the place that stole my heart. I was always so amazed at how two places could be in the same country and yet have such different cultures. Living in Banta was definitely more difficult but I loved staying there. Life is so simple and you always have time for people. The school is only three years old there, so you can image what having an 18 year old and a 9 year old in the same class can mean for teachers. The teachers there have an extremely difficult job, but they love it and are so willing to learn and improve themselves. This next year the children’s home in Marjay Town will be moving to Banta, to create a more family-like environment.
As one experiences such poverty, destitute situations, pain and hurt, you can’t help but ask, where is God in all this, and does He see this? How can I come from a first world country where we always have clean, running water, electricity, a full belly and someone else can come from a third world country where there is no clean drinking water, there is no electricity and a full belly is only a dream. But the thing we have to reconcile with is the fact that it is only by grace. It is nothing we’ve done; it’s nothing they’ve done. God has given us what we have, how ever much or little that may be, only because He loves us. In our home in Marjay Town we have a little girl named Phoebe who has cerebral palsy. She doesn’t speak, she does walk, she isn’t able to do anything and yet God loves her just as much as He loves me and you. There is nothing we can do to deserve it, there’s nothing Phoebe has done, it is a gift, and it is we who decide how much we are going to receive of it.
What is next for me? I have accepted a position at the international office in Silverdale, WA. My title will still be Associate, but that will look much different from the last time. COTN desires to develop an education department for all the countries they operate out of. Their vision is to develop standards for all their schools, create partnerships between schools here and schools there, and mobilize more teacher teams to go down and train their teachers. This is an exciting way for me to continue the work I have been doing, to create ways of lasting change in the people we work with. Having said that, COTN is a non-profit organization and all the money that comes in for them goes to the children they serve. So, yes I need to raise support again for this year. What I am looking for are people who would be interested in supporting me on a monthly basis. If you are interested in doing that I have placed a support slip and an envelope in with this letter to help make that possible.
This year has been such a blessing on my life and the love and support that you have all shown throughout the year has meant so much. Your prayers really did reach all the way across the ocean, and I knew that I was always covered in prayer over there! Please continue to keep Sierra Leone and COTN in your prayers. There is so much that needs to be done, but we won’t be able to do any of it if we aren’t supported in prayer. I wish I could say more than thank-you, but the English language is a bit limiting. So, “Bika-way,” which is the deepest form of gratitude spoken in the Mende language.
With Deep Appreciation,
Kristen Bolender
posted by Kristen | 9:13 AM
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