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Dear Friends,
How time flies! It seems no time at all since I wrote my
last newsletter in August. I have been at the Wycliffe centre
in Horsleys Green for about two and a half months now and
have greatly enjoyed my time here. Below you can read a
more detailed account of what I’ve been up to here.
I leave for Scotland on the 16th December where I’ll
celebrate the festive season before leaving for Chad on
9th January. I’m looking forward to catching up with
many of you before I go, as well as having a holiday and
time to sort and pack.
Merry Christmas and all the best for 2006!
Take care and keep in touch!
Love Caroline xx :O)
ART
Assignment Related Training has kept me nicely busy for
the past 10 weeks. While most of my time has been taken
up with the literacy track, I also enjoyed the other classes
on the programme. Introductory modules on ‘Anthropology’
and ‘Language and Society’ have given us useful
insights into these domains that should help as we start
our assignments. We even had a visit from David Turton,
an anthropology professor from Oxford, who gave us a very
interesting session on the work he is involved with among
the Mursi of Ethiopia.
Teamwork gave us a chance to explore the dynamics of an
effective team and what we as individuals have to offer
the teams we will be joining. Our Portfolio project provided
us with the opportunity to put what we were learning into
practice by working in a team to produce a report and presentation
on a topic to do with the area we are going to. For our
‘Sahel’ team, this proved a fun and interesting
way to
practise our skills.
Literacy Track
Our lovely literacy teachers endeavoured to give us the
theory and skills necessary to be successful literacy workers
in the many parts of the world we will be working in. We
covered topics such as reading theories, pre-reading, numeracy,
programme planning, curriculum development, working with
adults, teacher training, writers’ workshops and orthography
issues, as well as a good few more.
One highlight for me was the module on multilingual education
where we discussed the move to increase the use of local
languages as the language of instruction in primary schools,
thus giving children a better start in their schooling.
I also loved our
discussions on the role of literacy in the wider context
of international development. Our course was well planned
and great fun and I really appreciated the highly practical
approach to acquiring certain skills which meant we could
be found simulating teaching practice, making teaching aids,
printing using silk screens, and producing and editing books
(and experiencing the frustrations of Microsoft Publisher
in the process).
Woods, ‘Friends’ and Chocomilk
Other
than studying, things I’ve enjoyed about life at Horsleys
Green are
- walks
in the autumnal woods
- drinking
hot chocolate and playing silly games such as Mafia
- savouring
the lovely meals and the mealtime chat
- watching
lots of dvds such as Friends, Monarch of the Glen and
Pride and Prejudice
- a
trip to London to see the sights
But
by far the greatest thing about being here has been the
privilege of getting to know folks who come from all over
the world and are heading all over the world. We come from
different parts of the UK, Russia, Ukraine, Slovakia, Holland,
Sweden, Germany, USA, Canada, Korea, Iran, and Cote d’Ivoire
and are going to Ghana, Benin, Mali, Burkina Faso, Nigeria,
Congo, Cameroon, Chad, Brazil, Papua New Guinea, as well
as various locations in Asia. And as you can imagine with
such a mix, things are never boring!
9th January and beyond!
Arriving in Chad, I will be spending a few days in the capital
before hopefully going to the Guera for a workshop. This
should give me the opportunity to learn how training workshops
are run and to meet some new colleagues. Then it’s
back to the capital for
the SIL Chad branch conference where I hope to get to know
folks working in different parts of Chad.
Prayer
Corner
Thanks
- for
settling in well at HG and for all the new learning and
new friends
- for
a great birthday and lots of special people to share it
with both here and in Scotland
- for
all the details getting sorted out one by one (eg. flights,
visa, finances, packing list)
Pray
- for
a restful festive season with family and friends
- for
peace amid all the packing and goodbyes
- for
a good first few weeks in Chad getting to know people
Contacting
me in Chad
Post – as per the address below, but unfortunately
it’s not always
a reliable service.
Email – my SIL email will be my main address
and I will be able
to pick up emails in the capital of up to 500kb (only small
attachments/
photos, no junk or mass forwards) and in the town of up
to 10kb (text only).
Phone – apparently a mobile phone mast has just
gone up in the town of Mongo (just for me!?) so I’ll
buy a new SIM card for my phone there and let you know the
number asap. One way to call is using prefix numbers from
www.telediscount.co.uk so
check out the site for more details.
I’d love to hear from you!
Contact
Details
Caroline Tyler
c/o SIL Chad
BP. 4214, N’Djamena, Chad
Mob: 07969782507
caroline_tyler@sil.org
UK
correspondence to:
22 Montgomerie Drive, Fairlie,
Ayrshire,
KA29 0DY
Tel: 01475 568421
Wycliffe
Scotland
129 High Street,
Linlithgow, EH49 7EJ
Tel: 01506 840500
scotland_uk@wycliffe.org
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