Put In Charge

I was reading a book my uncle recommended to me last night about teaching overseas, and began the chapter on culture shock. According to the authors, there are four stages of culture shock that EVERY teacher abroad goes through. One of those stages is “The Honeymoon Period”. As expected, this is similar to the honeymoon period of a marriage. This is when everything is perfect and easy because everything is new. I have come to the conclusion that there was no honeymoon period in our transition to Honduras.

I was quickly thrust into much responsibility in Honduras, and the last few days have been very busy. We arrived on a Tuesday and I started teaching two days later. The following Monday, Glen (The Founder and President of Art For Humanity) left for the U.S. for approximately one month. Three days later, Hija (The Director of Leadership University) left for the U.S. for approximately one month. That meant that 10 days after I arrived I became “El Jefe”, or “The Boss.” Even though there is another teacher who has been here longer than I have, he is a short-term volunteer and leaves next week. So that leaves me in charge.

In addition to my responsibility of teaching a few hours a day, I now need to coordinate work for the students every day, monitor the amount of food that we have, make sure the students have the necessities (soap, razors, school supplies, etc), deal with any questions the students may have, and be the disciplinarian when necessary (Thankfully I haven’t been required to do that much yet). Who knew that so much would be required of me in such a short time? I suppose that God did, but it sure has been a surprise to me. It has also presented many challenges.

One challenge that I am trying hard to work on is trying to understand what my relationship with the students should look like. On one hand, I am not much older than most of them and interact with as if they were my close friends. We joke with each other, laugh together, relax together, and smile all the time. On the other hand, I am their teacher, and currently am the director of the university. That means I need to be responsible for their education and work. That means making sure they show up to class on time, work as much as is expected of them, and many other things. Nobody wants to tell their best friend to hurry up and get to class or they aren’t working hard enough. I wouldn’t go as far to say that the students are trying to take advantage of our friendship and my relaxed personality, but I can tell they are trying to tell what their limits are. Is showing up to class 5 minutes late acceptable? Is a bathroom trip, snack break, and casual conversation acceptable on their way to work? These are all things that they are trying to figure out…I am too!

So I suppose the purpose of this post is to share with you that even though I have had much responsibility in my life, it has never felt like it does now. Being “responsible” for the education and well-being of 12 Honduran young women (on top of my own family) has proven to be difficult work.

I hope you don’t read this post and think I am complaining, because I am not. Hailey and I are having a lot of fun, and even though we are busy, we thrive in this kind of environment. I am enjoying most of the things that I am doing and can already tell we are making a big impact in the lives of those we are involved with. Thank you to all who are praying and supporting us in other ways. We love you and miss you all so much!