Today we will meet over 300 teachers and introduce the curriculum. Following the main speakers we will form into small groups with our interpreters.
Please pray for:
-The main speakers: Bob Wilson, Ray Albrektson & Paul Neumann
-The small groups
-protection around the facility
Here's an update of the day from Linda:
Buenas Noches to all of our Friends and Family!
Day numero uno of our convocation in Zacapa has happened! After months of planning, this morning we experienced great joy and excitement as the teachers began to arrive and line up outside the auditorium to register for the conference. Probably the most exciting thing was to actually see them coming…after the teacher strike last week, we just were not sure if they would be able to come. But here they are and our first day of the conference has been a spectacular success!
Our opening ceremony followed the same pattern as it usually does here in Guatemala: the presentation of the national flag (with the teachers singing as it is ceremoniously brought forward,) and then the singing of the Guatemalan national anthem. It is most impressive that every single teacher sings all eight stanzas of this beautiful anthem!
After the anthem, the Regional Director of Education for Zacapa addressed the audience with his opening comments. He said, “It is an honor for the Education Department of Zacapa to receive these professionals from the U.S. & Canada . I want to share with you that it is an honor to receive this teaching. We agree to replicate this teaching with our students and fellow teachers. It is necessary for the development of our human quality as well as our professional quality…we need this in Zacapa. May God bless each of you.” And then the Regional Director officially opened the conference.
Anibal Duarte, Country director for ISP, welcomed the teachers next, and he was followed by the introduction of the leadership team for the conference. Our team director, Bob Wilson, gave the opening educational session with his talk on “The Heart of Teaching.” This is always a very motivational and challenging talk for the teachers to listen to, and there was one teacher I saw who was weeping as Bob finished this talk. I am sure there were probably more as it is such an emotional story.
Following the break, Dr. Ray Albrektson presented his first talk on worldviews, really engaging the audience with humor and excellent stories to illustrate how important it is for a teacher to identify their worldview, because it definitely impacts the way you respond to your students, your work, your family, and the decisions you make for your own life. Paul Neumann gave our last presentation for the morning, and the teachers loved his demonstration of practical learning techniques and were enthusiastically engaged in learning what Paul was teaching.
After a hot lunch outside on the lawns and around the hotel swimming pool, the teachers made their way to their ‘track’ room, choosing to attend that group which would address their educational specialty: elementary, secondary or administrative. The small groups began forming, and soon each group in each track room was leaning forward in their chairs and getting to know one another. We had about 336 total teachers between the three tracks attending in the afternoon. We understood that several teachers had to leave to take care of something at their school or with their students and were unable to stay. All of the track leaders and our team small group facilitators reported excellent participation within their groups for this first day together. One team member said an administrator in her group told her “A teacher from another nearby city where ISP came last year told me this conference was NOT to be missed!”
Our afternoon concluded with three different Special Interest Seminars: “How to Teach Values and Develop Character in Students” given by national staff member Martita Arreaga; Jose Ajsivinac presented a seminar on “How to Develop Leadership;” and Paul Neumann gave a talk on “Teaching with Style.” We had 300 teachers stay for these seminars, rather than hurrying home after a very long day.
For all of our team here in Zacapa….
Hasta Manana y muchas gracias!
Linda"
CBC 2011 Team
CBC 2011 Team: Cherri, Nick, Lana, Diana, Karie, Christy, Sherry, Rebecca, Steve
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Natural Disasters
Guatemala's location between the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean makes it a target for hurricanes, such as Hurricane Mitch in 1998 and Hurricane Stan in October 2005, which killed more than 1,500 people. The damage was not wind related, but rather due to significant flooding and resulting mudslides.
Guatemala's highlands lie along the Motagua Fault, part of the boundary between the Caribbean and North American tectonic plates. This fault has been responsible for several major earthquakes in historic times, including a 7.5 magnitude tremor on February 4, 1976 which killed more than 25,000 people. In addition, the Middle America Trench, a major subduction zone lies off the Pacific coast. Here, the Cocos Plate is sinking beneath the Caribbean Plate, producing volcanic activity inland of the coast. Guatemala has 37 volcanoes, four of them are active:Pacaya, Santiaguito, Fuego and Tacaná. Fuego and Pacaya erupted in 2010.
Natural disasters have a long history in this geologically active part of the world. For example, two of the three moves of the capital of Guatemala have been due to volcanic mudflows in 1541 and earthquakes in 1773.
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