SPRING 2014 TRIP
The Team Members who were with us last year encouraged us to plan for our trip next year to be a little longer so that we could maximize our impact and have at least one more day to spend with the girls in the Transition House in Orhei. So right now our plan is to have a main team that would leave the US on March 4 and return on March 22. This will allow us to have a day or two with the English teachers at the English Resource Center at the University in Chisinau and maybe a day in some classes there before heading north to Balti. We will plan to spend two to three days with the girls in the transition home and the orphanage in Orhei. We can spend several days at the Univeristy in Balti and a time with the English teachers in Floresti and in some classrooms there as well.
We want to have a second team that might have a shorter schedule and also a lower price because of less housing, food and transportation expense. We would use the second team to get into as many schools and classrooms as possible and focus more on the students. Or the second team might focus on the Transition House and the orphanage in Orhei depending on the skills and the desire of the team members. We can be very “FLEXIBLE”! Between the two teams, we can cover more territory and allow the team members to choose the team experience they are looking for, the schedule and also a choice of price that works best for them. The second team would leave the US on March 11 and return to the US on March 22.
FALL 2014 TRIP
The school calendar for the Fall of 2014 is not available at this time but if at all possible, we would plan to leave the US around October 7 and return October 20. We have not had teams go at that time of the year before so we have to wait until we know when the teachers will have their holiday and will be able to attend the training sessions. We will share those dates as soon as we can set them.
COSTS
When we give you to the cost of the trip, it includes your airfare, transportation, translator, housing and food while in Moldova. The cost of the airfare is usually $1200-1300 and is the most expensive part of the trip. It costs about $75-$100 per person for the food, lodging, transportation and translator. So the cost of the First Team that will go from March 4 to March 22 will be approximately $2,300 because of the number of days being spent in Moldova. The Second Team that will go from March 11 to March 22 will be approximately $1,800. We stay in very nice housing and feed you very well so that no one gets sick from eating strange foods. We try to spread the cost out into several payments so that it makes it easier for you.
MINISTRIES
The main platform that we minister from is ESL and we model and teach sessions with the English teachers from schools in towns and villages that are near the English Resource Centers and the Universities. The focus here is to model methodologies and approaches to teaching more effectively as lesson are taught by team members. When we go to the schools and into the classrooms, we never know for sure whether we will be in an elementary or high school. Therefore the lessons prepared by team members need to be planned so that a simpler and a higher level version can be taught without too much stress on our team members. If you prefer an elementary level or high school level, we will try to accommodate you but you need to be “Flexible” so that you can do what is needed.
With the girls in the Transition Homes, we want to teach English as we share crafts and projects with them that they can use to produce some items for sale. Each girl can then begin to save money to go on to the University when they graduate or have money to buy a sewing machine and have a way of earning a living if they don’t go on to the University. At the orphanage in Orhei, we will have the opportunity to be in the classrooms with students up to the eight grade, so the lessons can be simpler and involve more games and learning activities to spur their learning and model teaching methods for their teachers.
In the classrooms at the Universities, you can expect students who understand English but who want to learn about our culture and other cultures around the world where you might have visited. So you can plan some lessons about subject matter related to our culture in the US or the culture in a place you may have visited like China or Africa. In doing this you are allowing them to see pictures and to have the opportunity of an interchange with you as an English speaker for the first time. Sometimes our “Southern” accent is quite different from the British accent that many of their teachers have.
FINAL WORD
We are trusting God to raise up the team members that He wants for this ministry. So if God is speaking to you and turning your heart toward this Mission opportunity, we would love to talk with you more. Please pray and seek God’s direction and we will be doing the same. You do not have to make a final decision now but you can sign up as interested and come to the first few meetings to confirm that this is either a mission opportunity for you or not. Until we are ready to buy tickets in January you can still change your mind, but we hope that you will decide to be a part of one of the teams.
