Good Times in Week 4

At St. Gabriel’s last week, we were blessed with five volunteers from Little Rock, Arkansas. They were absolutely invaluable and helped us to provide a lot more individual attention to the kids. Also, after breaking up into groups, they often times came up with their own games and miniature activities to help the kids learn.

I continued teaching the middle and younger kids Spanish. They really enjoy it, and for many of them learning new Spanish words is as natural as learning new words in English. We often play a game where the kids are broken down into teams and compete with one another to remember new words, and with the help of the volunteers last week Nina and I were able to set up a game of Spanish Bingo.

I’ve been teaching the older kids about the Russian Revolution. It’s not a very mainstream topic, but Nina, Braveen, and I decided that it would be good to introduce the kids to something that they might not learn in school. Many of the concepts in the story of the revolution are fairly standard (such as nobility, government structures, varying ideologies, etc.), and I believe that the event and its context have helped the kids to realize that they can relate to history even when they are unfamiliar with the topic.

The past week was also the last week for GED classes. I found it extremely rewarding to work with the students there, and I know Braveen and Nina loved the experience as well. The determination of the young men and women is simply amazing. We gave our students our cell phone numbers so that they could contact us for extra help, and we also let them know that we’re still available to tutor in the mornings. Hopefully we will be able to continue to work with them in the future.

On Thursday of last week, I asked Sister Donald Mary about starting up a documentary project focusing on the oral histories of the women in the senior program at St. Gabriel’s. Our tour of the Delta two weeks ago with Dr. Luther Brown, along with my time here at the Mercy Center, helped me to recognize the rich history of Mound Bayou. Unfortunately, much of this history is drastically underappreciated, due in part to the drastic economic downturn that has hit the greater Delta region. Several of the historic buildings have fallen into disrepair because the town lacks the funds to renovate them, and many of the resources needed for promotion of the town’s history simply aren’t available. The senior program at St. Gabriel’s has provided a wonderful platform for getting to know the older individuals in the community, and I believe that a project chronicling their stories will contribute greatly to the effort to preserve the history of Mound Bayou and the history of the Delta. The conversations I’ve had so far with the senior women of St. Gabriel’s have been truly inspiring, and I am extremely excited to talk with and learn from them.

This past weekend was spectacular. On Saturday, Ms. Lee Aylward from the Delta Center took us on a tour of Clarksdale. We went to the Delta Blues Museum, had a wonderful lunch at Ground Zero blues club, walked through the Riverside Hotel (where the blues singer Bessie Smith died), and visited other prominent sites around Clarksdale. On Saturday evening, we had a cookout at the house and invited some friends over from a student Methodist group at Delta State. The food was wonderful, and afterwards we played Taboo. On Sunday, Hillary, Erin, Michael and I drove to Vicksburg where we had a great lunch, took photos, and saw the Mississippi River. We even crossed into Louisiana for a little bit on the highway. Vicksburg is a beautiful city with a lot of history, but unfortunately we arrived a little late in the day, so many of the museums were closed.

This week has started out extremely well. I’m teaching the younger kids Spanish, the middle kids their multiplication tables, and the older kids the Russian Revolution. The multiplication tables are extremely important, because many of the middle children are behind in learning them, and multiplication serves as the foundation for a large amount of the math the kids will learn in the future.

I’m loving my time here in Mississippi, and I’m shocked at how quickly the time has gone by. I’m soaking up the music, the history, and the culture of the Delta, and I look forward to the upcoming weeks!

Josh