PFO: Pre-Field Orientation

     We have been learning so much at PFO (Pre-Field Orientation).  It lasts for two weeks, and we have sessions and activities every day usually from 8a.m. to 8p.m.  We are staying with a host family here in Mississippi.  The other 100 or so participants are from all over the U.S., along with small group leaders who have already been serving in various schools.  Here is a breakdown of some of the sessions we have been in.

1. Cross-Cultural Servanthood.  Our presenter told a proverb about a monkey who wanted to help a struggling fish so he “rescued” her and placed her on dry land until she was calm and peaceful.  An ignorant love can do great harm. You can imagine the implications of living in a community whose culture is very different from the U.S. and teaching at AIS in Ghana, where our student body of about 200 represents 33 different nationalities.  We also played an entertaining and enlightening game in which we were divided into four rooms and were given descriptions of a culture to portray (any resemblance to a real culture was coincidental).  Based on the description, we designed greetings, hospitality customs, etc., then our cultures visited one another.  You can imagine the laughter and frustration when John’s loud, friendly, relaxed culture visited my submissive, quiet, and reserved one.
2. DISC.  This was a personality profile.  Both of us have done similar tests and discussions before, but what was most beneficial was to explore the different personalities on our team.  There are three other brand new teachers here this week, one who has been at AIS for two years, and an administrative assistant who is from Ghana herself and has been working at the school since it started.  We will be meeting the rest of the staff of about 20 in August when we arrive.
3. TCK Profile.  This is community we teach: Third Culture Kids.  A TCK is “an individual who, having spent a significant part of the developmental years in a culture other than the parents’ culture, develops a sense of relationship to all of the cultures, while not having full ownership in any.”  TCK’s may be the children of international businessmen, diplomats, members of the military, or missionaries.  They may be immigrants or even refugees.  I’m going to write a blog later explaining in more depth, but needless to say, these kids are going to be exciting to get to know.
4. Transition Experience.  Fantastic session!  Very emotional.  More on this one later as well.
5. Safety.  This was a little bit scary and greatly increased our awareness.  The basic idea when traveling is to become a harder target.  Don’t make yourself easy to rob or worse.  Remember who we are and Who we serve.  We even did some simulations such as a classroom invasion, a street riot, a kidnapping, etc.  NICS has seen very few such incidents and Ghana itself is one of the safer locations where they have a school, but nevertheless safety is important anywhere you go.
6. Other sessions include teaching English Language Learners (many of our students may not speak English as their first language), understanding the values of our own U.S. culture, practical and Biblical ways to be culturally sensitive and culturally relevant in the classroom, communication styles, and the culture in Ghana (everyone split up to study their host culture in more detail).
7. Still to come: defining International Christian School, classroom management and procedures(Yea for Harry Wong!), Conflict resolution, moral purity, and more.
8. We do have some more relaxed activities.  While we are here we have membership to the Athletic Club down the street and have enjoyed some pool time.  We went out to dinner once with our team and are really enjoying each other’s company.  On our anniversary, we skipped the large-group dinner and went down to Beale Street and ate at B.B. Kings and enjoyed live blues music.  Last night we all took buses to a Memphis Redbirds baseball game downtown.  They had an incredible fireworks show from right in the middle of the field.  There was actually ash on our skin and in our mouths when it was over.  This Independence Day is particularly poignant for us as we leave this country we love.

Thanks for tuning in!