Magazine for June 2011
My work at KISC in Kathmandu in Nepal has been helping kids with specific learning needs, e.g. dyslexia. I take them one-to-one for about an hour a week and look at whatever work they’ve been doing and what they need help with, and take it from there. This work is quite challenging for me as I’ve had no academic teacher training, but my line manager, Kim, seems pleased with my work.
The other side of this job is confidence building, as a lot of these kids have been led to believe that they are just unintelligent, (usually untrue) .What I’ve learned from Bob Clucas has come in really useful. Building relationships is key. Its about showing the kids that you’re on their side and that you want more than anything to see them transformed.
Bob’s training has also been useful as I’ve started helping with “Mustard Seeds” the Christian group that runs on Thursday lunchtimes. We get surprisingly low numbers for a Christian school full of “mish kids”. I haven’t yet discovered why, as I’ve also noticed a reluctance of the kids to talk about faith at all, almost more so than at a secular school in England.
I’m going to talk to the leaders of the International Church’s youth group (KICC) to see If they need more people to help out there. I am now involved in the worship at KICC - playing bass in the worship band and I’m starting leading worship after Easter.
The worship at KICC is very interdenominational, so ranges from really old to really recent, but its great to be part of and to lead a congregation of people from all over the world, all worshipping together.KICC is in a bit of chaos at the moment because the pastor has an infection in his leg and after failed treatment here, he’s been flown off to Bangkok for the next 6 to 8 weeks. So prayer for that would really be appreciated.
Things I need prayer for:It takes so much more energy to live here, as I’m still not used to the culture and life. Tensions can get quite high in the guest house too, so pray for my strength and peace.Please pray that God will show me where I can help most, and how best to support my students.I’m beginning to have trouble with the local food, so prayer that my body learns to deal with it would be good.
I am feeling fine right now, and I thank God for that. But I seem to be constantly getting ill – so prayer that God to keep me well would be really appreciated.The electricity situation here is a bit of a problem; the power just turned off here for five minutes and even though we have a generator at school, it turns off for minutes at a time, really stunting my workflow.
Alasdair
Kathmandu International Study Centre (KISC) is a culturally diverse international school established in 1987 mainly for the education of expatriate mission families. The aim of the school is to provide a challenging yet supportive learning environment in which an excellent holistic education is encouraged. This is done by operating according to Christian values and teaching biblical truths in such a way that lives are transformed.