This is like reaching the top of one’s career…..and then having to start all over again!   I have been passionate about education all my life.  I began student-teaching when I was 19 years old. I taught public school in South Carolina, met Bill while teaching at a French lycée in the desert of Mali, and later taught at a Christian high school in Maryland and directed a church school in Washington D.C. while Bill was in medical school.   We moved to Haiti where I was interim principal of a mission school, and then to Zaire where I home schooled our four children at various ages at the same time. We moved to Kinshasa where I took on the roles of teacher, college counselor, department head, and chairman of the board at the American School and even had the privilege of signing some of my own children’s high school diplomas.   I was part of an all-Africa accreditation team and traveled to countries such as Ghana, Nigeria, and The Gambia to certify international schools.  And then we moved to South Sudan.

“Where are the schools”? I asked when I traveled with Bill into the rural areas where he is supporting and setting up health clinics.    Children were all around but few were in school.   South Sudan has been at war for nearly 30 years and a generation of children missed the opportunity to attend school.  

There are crumbling buildings but no teachers, a will and a desire to learn, but little in terms of infrastructure, curriculum, or even books.   “Where to even start?”, I wondered.    The illiteracy rate amongst women in South Sudan is 93%, and the collective rate of illiteracy is 68%.  That is unfathomable!   What help are my degrees, my accomplishments, my experience in this setting?  Couldn’t God better make use of my training and years of experience?

But of course, I realized, God’s purpose in calling me to South Sudan was not for my own gratification, but for the needs of the women and children who come and ask for help.  Perhaps this is a time to put aside thoughts about having an office, a classroom, a curriculum, or even a class but instead, to focus on something as simple as a book or helping someone to learn to read, to explain what is the letter A, the letter  B, and the letter C… starting from the very beginning.                                                  

So I have gotten involved in small steps such as women’s literacy classes, selecting books for early readers, whatever is needed to meet needs at a basic level.  When in Nairobi, I browse for books…not on African history (my passion) or Curriculum Development as I have been attuned to in the past, but rather books with titles such as: “Building Words from Letters”, “Counting and Multiplying by Two”, and “Science for Young Minds and Eager Adventurers”.

I insert Bible tracts which are in as much demand in this new Christian nation as the colorful reading books I purchase in Kenya and carry to South Sudan.

God has had enormous patience with me and has walked with me, all the way, all these years. 

I can easily put aside my dreams for theirs and take pleasure and joy in the simple things:  the small steps, the big smiles, and the unfolding potential of the women and children I encounter each day, to become all that God has prepared them for.   It is a blessing to be used by God, even in the simplest of tasks! 

“In their hearts humans plan their course, but the LORD establishes their steps.”             Proverbs 16:9