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Bridget's Bunia Blog 53

Bridget's Bunia Blog 53

I came to Congo to teach English.

There was no librarian.
OK, being in the library is part of education and the books that I recommend
are in English. That's acceptable.

I came to Congo to teach English.

There was no bookkeeper.
OK, I have a minor qualification in bookkeeping and am fairly nimble at
keeping columns of numbers in order.
But this gives me the title of 'Administratrice du Budget'
Which means I have to bug the students for the payment of fees, and pay
salaries and say 'no' when there's no money in the kitty to pay for trivial
matters.

I came to Congo to teach English.

Being 'AB' meant I became a member of the Comité de Gestion
Which makes me one of the administrators, a decision-maker of the school.

I came to Congo to teach English.

The cleaner left and there was no cleaner.
"Let's ask the students to clean and so earn a little money.
Bridget, could you organise that?"

But I came to Congo to teach English!!

I came to Congo to teach English.
It's a language I acquired with no real effort.
OK, I've read and increased my vocabulary.
I've worked some on my grasp of the structure of this language;
But it was no sweat.
My proficiency was obtained through pleasure.
But having this ability Gives me entrance to the world of l'enseignement supérieur
Where I hobnob with the teachers and directors of
ISTB, ISTM, ISGA, CUEB, ISP.
Which means I wear a gown,
And I'm given a seat at functions
That is comfortable,
That is in the shade,
That commands a good view of the proceedings.
(But is usually near the loudspeaker!)
I came to Congo to teach English
And these are the perks.

"... useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work." 2 Tim 2:21

Blessings,

Bridget

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About Bridget Howard

Bridget Howard’s first recollection of Africa is being shown slides of termite hills in the Belgian Congo during a Sunday school class. “From a young age I had a sense of purpose from God that I would one day teach in Africa”.

Bridget is not one to freely give out her age but it occasionally does slip out that she first went to Congo to work 26 years ago when the country was still called Zaïre. Her first assignment was as a teacher at Rethy Academy, the Mission’s school for children of its members. Her next assignment was as a school inspector in Zandeland where, as she puts it, she: “cycled around inspecting teachers and outside toilets of the church schools!”

Following evacuation from Congo as a result of the fighting that errupted around the Great Lakes in the wake of the Rwandan genocide, Bridget worked at Aim’s International Office in Bristol. She returned to Congo in 2005 to teach English at the Institut Supérieur Pédagogique in Bunia. The ISP exists to prepare students to teach at secondary schools run by the CECA-20, Aim’s partner church in Congo.

Since her return Bridget has been sending her ‘blog’. She admits that ‘composition’ was not a favourite lesson when at secondary school but writing has become less of a chore as she told friends back in the UK of her daily experiences of life in Africa. “Maybe it’s an exalted sense of my own importance as being ‘From Our Own Correspondent-like’ I can pretend to be Aim’s very own Kate Adie!”