The other day I somehow got to thinking about the different "hats" that I wear as a staff member for SI Costa Rica. When I taught first grade in California, I also wore a lot of hats, including being an educator of young minds, a nurse, a police officer in the classroom, a counselor, etc. But working for a small, cross/multi-cultural and bilingual missions organization requires that I do different things at different times, sometimes at the same time. It's quite difficult to explain to someone for the first time what it is exactly that we as SI do or more specifically, what I actually do. I thought it would be fun to try and put into words some of the different hats/roles that I have.
Taxi driver- sometimes I drive around my non-licensed co-workers, our interns, our semester students, outreach members, take people to and from the airport, etc. My Suzuki has gotten a lot of good use over the last 2 years of ownership!
Arts and crafts instructor- Wednesday and Thursday afternoons we have an art hour with the kids, and I always try to come up with different techniques using different materials that we are able to find here that won't be too expensive or complicated but also not too boring.
Home-Ec teacher- Our girls' club on Fridays often has either a cooking or baking lesson as part of the agenda, or else we do a sewing or collage or decorative project to make their living space bright and also be connected to the Bible lesson.
Jump-rope turner, Jenga player, Uno champion...These are a few of the activities that I participate in when we have recreo or break time during our Tutoring Sessions.
In-House English language expert- Ok, maybe "expert" is not the right word, but being the only native English speaking working full-time at the Centro means a lot of my tutoring revolves about pronunciation, reading, and writing in English.
Costa Rican Tour Guide- Our short term teams, interns, and semester students all have day trips as part of their program or outreach experience here, and I certainly don't mind a free trip to the beach or flying across the rainforest via ziplines.
Bible teacher- Several times a week we intentionally open the Bibles with our students, and get to share about God's message of love for them. These past months we have been going through the Fruit of the Spirit with our girls' club. What a privilege to share with them the Word of the Lord!
Translator (of both languages and culture)- working with English speakers that come from the US and my Spanish speaking students requires A LOT of translating back and forth so that they can understand each other. And a lot of times the translating is more than just the words they say, but the WHY based on their culture, family, background, etc.
Accountant- I don't know why I ended up being the money manager for our site (my co-worker is a math guy by trade...) but I'm in charge of keeping receipts and making purchases for us and our needs and projects.
Disciplinarian/Counselor- Working with 1st-6th graders in a small house means there are going to be interpersonal issues, and that requires Jose and I the fun job of disciplining and sometimes counseling to get to the deeper issues of why this behavior is occurring.
And of course, a Loving Educator- the core of my job is helping to support and challenge my students to do their best in school by reinforcing and practicing with them the skills that they are working on in their classrooms. Seeing them successfully pass their tests and move on to each new grade level is a HUGE fruit of our labor at the Tutoring Center.
There are potentially some parts of the job that I am forgetting, but there are 11 of the different aspects of what it is I do and participate in on a regular basis. Please keep me and the Tutoring Center in your prayers as sometimes wearing so many hats can mean that I can get a little crazy and feel all over the place! But what a rewarding place to be, working with kiddos and young people and wanting to see each and every one of them come to know our God on a deep and personal level. :)
