Training indigenous teachers and mothers in Paraguay

• On average indigenous children receive only 3 years schooling

• Only 58% of teachers in these communities are indigenous and most of these have little or no teacher training

• 91% of teachers do not have materials in their pupils' native language

• Illiteracy is 8 times above the national average

The harsh consequences of this are that communities are losing their language and cultural identity and children are not receiving the quality of education they need to prepare them for their future.

After a plea for help from an indigenous community in 2005, FEISA began a pre-school teacher training programme with an emphasis on learning through play – a revolutionary concept for indigenous teachers who tend to use traditional rote-learning methods.

We soon realized that what these communities most lack is training and resources as the remoteness of the schools and high expense make provision of these very difficult. We made sure that all resources were appropriate to the indigenous context and produced worksheets to develop pre-writing skills, mathematics and literacy, all in their native language, Enxet (photo 2). The aim of the programme is to provide a holistic education to enable children to grow in all aspects of their development. At the request of the community, who asked us to provide Christian education, we also produced the first ever Bible materials for children in Enxet based on the Creation story (photo 3).



This year we extended the programme to a new Enxet community, El Estribo, working with 9 indigenous schools training pre-school teachers and volunteer mothers – 17 people in total (photos 4 and 5). Along with the training, the schools were also provided with all the teaching resources and furniture they needed - many children were sitting on planks of wood for lack of tables and chairs.



The response of the teachers and children has been encouraging and heartwarming. They said that this is exactly the training and resources they have needed for years but no-one has shown any interest in them before. The children now rush to school in the morning excited to play and learn and do not want to leave at the end of the day! The training programme, with its emphasis on involving mothers in the education of their children, has enabled schools to reinforce the native language and culture where the teacher is not indigenous (photos 6, 7, 8 and 9).






We thank God for the generosity of the many donors that have made this project possible and we continue to trust Him for the funds we need to continue the project in coming years. Over 200 indigenous children have benefitted so far and many more young lives can be transformed if we are able to extend this work to other communities.

Hope and High Expectations in Paraguay

Perhaps the most significant event to happen in Paraguay since the overthrow of the dictator Stroessner in 1989, was the election of a former Catholic bishop, Fernando Lugo, as President of the Republic in April this year.


The Colorado party has dominated Pargauayan politics for 60 years and is part of the reason why Paraguay is one of the most corrupt countries in the world. No-one thought it possible for another party to win.

Fernando Lugo was a missionary with indigenous people in Equador for 5 years and after he became a bishop dedicated his time to championing the cause of the poor in the poverty stricken north-east region of Paraguay, San Pedro. However, he came to realise that to make a significant difference he would need to fight corruption and change policies. So when he was asked to run for President as part of a coalition party called the Patriotic Alliance for Change, he accepted. This was not an easy decision as legally a bishop cannot be head of state. He was forced to resign from the priesthood, at least during his 5 year presidency, after which he hopes to be reinstated. The Vatican were suitably unimpresssed, accusing him of disobedience, and have yet to give their final response to Lugo's decision.

Though Lugo has no political experience, the Paraguayans were desperate for change and disallusioned with all the corruption they see around them. In a country which is now the 2nd poorest in South America, where extreme poverty is on the increase, Lugo's heart for the poor won the hearts of the people. The press have become quite taken with his Jesus sandals!


Hope and expectations are high in the country, but he will need a great deal of prayer when he takes office this August. Strongly influenced by liberation theology (God's preferential option for the poor), he has committed himself to addressing the enormous inequality of income distribution: "There are too many differences between the small group of 500 families who live with a first-world standard of living while the great majority live in a poverty that borders on misery." Already he has received various death threats.

Though a political novice, he is a man of principle with a genuine desire to fight corruption, poverty and inequality. This is the best news for Paraguay in a long time.

Music Month

Bryan Adams

It's not often you get world famous musicians coming to Paraguay so we couldn't miss the opportunity of seeing Bryan Adams in concert in April. The venue, however, must have been a bit of a let down for him. Having performed at the O2 arena in London he was relegated to a rundown tennis court on the outskirts of Asunción here in Paraguay! The intimate setting made for a fantastic concert though and Bryan lived up to all expectations.


U2 3D in BA

Rup was hugely disappointed to miss U2 in concert in Buenos Aires last year. So when he discovered the same concert was being shown at the new IMAX theatre in 3D in April he had no intention of missing it again.

So we travelled to Buenos Aires for a romantic weekend, put on the 3D goggles and experienced a spectacular and deeply moving concert. 3D technology has certainly moved on since the Beano comics and Jaws experience! If you're a U2 fan it's not to be missed, and if you're not then just go to Buenos Aires...it's a treat in itself!

New Year's News 2008

Degree Course is Launched

As FEISA's activities expand we both arrived back in Paraguay in the New Year and hit the ground running. In March we begin the long-awaited 2 year degree extension to the 3 year diploma course. Our new degree course will qualify students to become leaders in educational institutions and thus enable them to have a bigger impact and generate change in Paraguayan education. We were amazed and delighted to discover we now have 27 students enrolled for the course!

Oil Company Visit to FEISA

One of FEISA's largest donors is a multinational oil company based in London who sent one of their directors to pay us a surprise visit in March. He was able to meet and chat to 8 of the scholarship students who would have had no chance of studying to become teachers had it not been for their support. (See photo taken with him and the FEISA staff and scholarship students below.)


Yellow Fever Outbreak

In the middle of February, there was an outbreak of yellow fever in Paraguay, for the first time in 30 years. This sent communities into panic as people in their neighbourhood were diagnosed with the disease. It is carried by the same mosquito that carries dengue fever, but is much more severe because it has a 50% mortality rate. There is a vaccine, but when the outbreak began, there were not enough vaccines in Paraguay. Other governments donated or lent what was needed, but the help was slow in coming and there were long queues of angry people at health clinics in the meantime. The Government has now provided free vaccines to immunise everyone and the outbreak seems to have been contained. Sam eventually found a hospital with the vaccine and Rup was jabbed in the UK!

Introducing Samantha Ester

My friend and colleague Ana gave birth to Samantha Ester on February 5th 2008. She is the first Paraguayan girl to be named Samantha which caused some confusion at first. When I texted everyone from the hospital with the message "Samantha's arrived!" they all thought I was announcing my own arrival in Paraguay!

Mum doing well.


Proud and delighted godmother!

End of year news in photos

Our last mobile play scheme of the year was for children with Aids who have been abandonded by their parents. The couple who run the home wanted to do something special for their children as an end of year celebration and said this was the answer to their prayers. This year over 1800 children from poor and disadvantaged backgrounds have had the opportunity to experience the joy of learning through play through FEISA's play scheme.

7 month old David was handed over to the home by his mother, who has full blown Aids and lives on the street. With the care and hugely expensive medication he is receiving to prevent Aids developing, the doctors say his future is very hopeful.

Thanksgiving service for graduating students. Each is given a rose as a symbol that they should be the aroma of Christ to the children they teach.

Rup with Pastor Augustin at the Thanksgiving service.

Graduation. FEISA's top students from 2006 and 2007. This year 13 students graduated bringing the total to 75 since FEISA began.

Andrea graduated second in her class and has been offered a job teaching in a Christian school in Oxford in 2008. She hopes to bring back all she learns to enrich her teaching in Paraguay and our curriculum in FEISA.

Rup with his admin team at the Christmas staff meal.

FEISA produces first Bible materials for children in Enxet

We asked you to pray for an indian translator for the educational materials we are producing for Enxet speaking indigenous communities. The Lord provided an excellent translator called Remigio who has turned out to be a gifted teacher as well! (Photo 1) In September we were thrilled to launch the Bible materials we have been producing on The Creation Story. These consist of Bible stories, songs, flashcards specially designed for the indigenous context, prayers, activities and lesson plans all in Enxet (photo 2). They are the first of their kind for Enxet children.


We trained Remigio how to use the materials once he had translated them. Then he taught them to an indigenous Preschool class, training the teacher in their use at the same time (photos 3 and 4). We were delighted to see the enthusiastic response of the children and the effectiveness of the Bible materials. 10 other communities have heard about the project and have asked for the training and materials for their children. We hope to do this next year.



Please pray for wisdom and the resources to extend this project to other communities. We also hope to produce further Bible materials based on the life and miracles of Jesus next year.

October News 2007

Emergency Prayer for Paraguay
The unusually long period of drought that has hit Paraguay is having disasterous effects on the whole country. Fires have caused the destruction of 1 million hectares of forest and farmland and left over 40,000 families without food. Many have lost their homes and the fires are still raging in the Chaco. (Photo 1)


The severe water shortage is causing illness and difficulty in finding food amongst hundreds of people in indigenous communities. There is now a petrol and gas crisis as Paraguay's principal river is too low to allow large ships to bring oil in. This has resulted in fewer buses running, which is the chief mode of transport for the majority of Paraguayans. There is also a milk shortage brought on by the drought and fires. All this has lead to rising fuel and food prices which Paraguayans are barely able to afford.
Please pray for abundant rain in the whole country and for the speedy provision of fuel and other necessary resources.

Visitors
We were delighted to receive a visit from David and Ann Varley - the chief fundraiser for the Mobile Play Scheme vehicle - in August. (Photos 2 and 3 with vehicle and FEISA staff and students.) FEISA students were deeply moved when Ann told them what people in the UK are doing to raise money to enable to them all to have high quality, affordable teacher training and to benefit needy children in Paraguay through their teaching and FEISA's social projects.



We were all particulary amused by the following sign David discovered in the men's toilet in a Paraguayan restaurant! (Photo 4)


In September Sam's Mum and her partner Tony came to visit and we had a great time travelling around Paraguay as well as visiting some of FEISA's social projects. (Photos 5 and 6 in the Chaco and at the mobile play scheme)



Children's Day
August 16th is Children's Day in Paraguay and FEISA ran a mobile play scheme for 50 children from Asuncion's largest shanty town. Here we discovered Rup's mistaken vocation working with spreadsheets! (Photos 7 and 8)




Other indigenous projects
Sam encountered her first baby crocodile on a recent visit to the Chaco (photo 9). After I attempted to kiss it, an indigenous lady showed me a deep scratch she had just received from the innocent looking reptile!

Please pray for us as we finalise our literacy, preschool and nutrition and health projects in November and as we begin our project with the Ministry of Education to set up an indigenous play scheme in the community of Yatnata and train the mums to run it.

Meeting the Presidents

During the month of July, I had the privilege of travelling to Iowa, in the USA, to attend a Masters summer programme in Education at the generous invitation of a Christian university called Dordt College. I went with my Paraguayan friend and colleague, Ana, for whom the trip was a once in a life time experience, having never travelled outside of South America. (Photo 1 visiting Mount Rushmore with the first American Presidents.)

Ana only received confirmation of her visa one week before travelling so last minute arrangements were quite stressful. We left Paraguay exhausted and not knowing what to expect, particularly Ana who left 3 children behind. We found ourselves in a beautiful, peaceful, small town in the heart of the Midwest - corn country - with wonderfully warm and caring people and a town that did not have a blade of grass out of place! We read in the local paper that people were being asked to report any neighbours that had weeds growing in their garden! That would appear to be as bad as crime gets in this town! (Photo 2)


What we experienced was God´s provision in the most incredible ways. The course consisted of 3 modules: Week 1 Spiritual Formation in the Classroom; Week 2 Current Issues in Education; Week 2 Structuring Curriculum. (Photo 3 with our classmates.) All 3 modules were outstanding and we learnt more than we could digest in just 3 weeks. We plan to begin implementing some of what we learnt over the next few months as the leadership team looks again at the vision, mission and educational goals of FEISA.


On the second day we investigated the possibility of doing some tourism, only to discover, disappointingly, that Sioux Centre had neither a tourist information nor a single bus to take us anywhere! Later that day, in the supermarket, a kind, elderly man stopped to ask where we were from and invited us to tea. As we got to know Lawrence we learnt that he was a Christian and his wife had recently died from cancer. From this moment on we had no opportunity to feel bored or lonely as we experienced his wonderful kindness and hospitality taking us out for meals and picnics with his friends and family. To our amazement, he offered to take us touring in South Dakota , where we stayed with yet more generous and kindhearted people who took us to Spearfish canyon (photo 4), Mount Rushmore (photo 5 with Lawrence) and Crazy Horse (photo 6 Native American history.) It was beyond anything we could have asked for or imagined. He was truly heaven sent.




All our thanks to everyone who prayed for this visit. Our prayers for visas and finances were miraculously answered and the experience was a truly memorable one. We came back refreshed and inspired and would now appreciate your prayers for wisdom to implement all we learnt in ways that are appropriate for the context of Paraguay. Please also pray for our dear friend Lawrence as he adjusts to life after the recent loss of his beloved wife Audry.

May News 2007

Family Holiday around South America
In April Sam's brother and sister in law came out to visit us. (Photo 1 Rup, Sam, Margaret and Paul) We had a fantastic time from Tango shows in Buenos Aires, to visiting indigenous communities in Paraguay to experiencing the spectacular Iguacu Falls from a helicopter in Brazil. (Photo 2) It was their first visit and a wonderful opportunity for them to meet our friends and experience something of our very different world here. We hope it won't be their last! (Photos of holiday on side bar)



Rup's 5 minutes of fame
It has been a rollercoaster ride for Analu in the competition "Singing for a Dream" but the public keep voting for her to stay! She was finally beaten last week by Paraguay's most popular footballer but she is back again this week with another opportunity to be voted back into the show! (Photo 3, Sam, Analu, Ana (her mum) and Rup.) It has been great fun going to the show to support her and Rup was delighted when he actually got on national TV with his Hola Madre (Hello Mum) poster and was beamed all over Paraguay! (Photo 4)



FEISA News
Many thanks to all who have been praying for us. Sam's laptop was returned within the week, we now have 19 students in the first year and the dengue epidemic has calmed down, helped by the sudden drop in temperature in May. We have also made the decision to delay the start of the degree course until March 2008, giving us plenty of time to prepare it well and publicise it widely.

We now have 53 students in FEISA and had a great day on 14th May at the student and staff integration camp. Rup found a new vocation as panel judge taking his lead from the outrageous comments made on "Singing for a Dream." He was nicknamed "Ruperto Rubin" which is Paraguay's equivalent of Simon Cowell! (Photo 5 Rup with his Admin team)


Sam has been invited to the USA in July with Ana (photo 3), a Paraguayan friend and colleague, to attend a Masters summer course in Christian Education at Dordt College in Iowa. As we have both been very involved in the developing of FEISA's Christian curriculum then the trip would greatly enrich our work. Please pray for the financing of this trip and Ana's entry visa which is not easy to obtain from Paraguay.

We are very pleased with the progress of the indigenous projects but have seen the need to translate the educational resources we are producing into the Indian language, Enxet. Please pray for the right translator to be found and also for the funding application which was sent off this month to cover the cost of the projects.