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| Full Sign Language meeting |
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| Haresh |
Guess what? It's me, Jaide. I wanted to let you know that I'm still alive. Surprisingly, the mosquitoes haven't sucked all my blood yet. I may not be as comical as my other half, but here it goes. Graem does want to add, "What's up cyber buddies!!!?"
During our many young deaf boy Bible studies, we try our best to keep their little minds learning, which isn't easy, given their one minute attention spans. Many don't go to school or don't have big people waving their hands in front of their faces trying to teach them Bible subjects very often. The expression "boys will be boys", suddenly takes on new meaning for me, especially since I grew up as one of three very well behaved girls that never got dirty or caused any sort of ruckus. We better do something fun fast or their little eyes gaze longingly over at their brothers and sisters playing, or they madly flip through books, asking what each picture is. Sometimes they just ask for clay, which we try to reserve for teaching the concept of making something.
Mark is improving. When Jehovah's Witnesses first started going to him, he couldn't hold a pencil to write (he seems to have mild cerebral palsy). Now we teach him a story by using the signs he knows, asking him to draw each character and what they do. He's so cute, laughing the whole time. As soon as we're finished, he's off madly riding his bicycle, trying new tricks.
Haresh was starting to get bored, so Graem stood up and enthusiastically is his best ASL, acted out an evil snake talking, Eve eating fruit, coercing Adam into joining her, and then angels with swords casting them out of the garden to a life of grueling work in the sun. Haresh's face was priceless, like he was watching an action packed movie with all the suspense that this dramatic story entails. If you have ever seen Graem really excited about something, his face can go out of control. He's perfect for sign. Sorry hon, your English talks are just not the same. We finished up Haresh's study by teaching colors. I have flash cards with colors painted on them. We got his friend and sister involved and made a little game out of it. Competition also helps. When we were all finished, Haresh gathered up all the cards, but wouldn't hand them to me. "Oh great", I thought, "another battle over who has the upper hand is this relationship." But then, I was surprised as he came over, shook my hand as he handed me my cards, turned and gave Graem a big grin. Maybe he was hoping that he graduated from learning his colors.
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| Mark |
Love,
J (&G)
