As another week of Camp Challenge started this Monday, we could not help but notice how many empty seats were scattered around the room. Our students have dwindled in number quite a bit over the last week or two; some absent because of illness, others because of unknown reasons. As a teacher, it may be one of the most discouraging sights, but fortunately, the smaller class size served well for our lessons this week. The topic of choice? Dating, marriage, and HIV/AIDS.

We changed up the structure of our days a bit and experimented with group discussions. At first, Beverly and I were worried that our students wouldn’t talk because they have a reputation of being awfully quiet when asked a question, but they ended up being very open in sharing their problems with dating and interpersonal relationships. Some of the boys adamantly voiced their concern about finding a girlfriend to the point of desperation. I could not comprehend why they so eagerly sought a significant other but quickly found out that several underlying reasons pressured them to find one. Hopefully they will soon realize that proposing to your teachers does not get you very far.

Although a few of our students did not relate to the topic this week, many of them enjoyed hearing our perspective. We gave them the Love Language personality test which was new for all of them, acted out possible scenarios, and provided tips for dating and courtship. We offered both guys and girls a chance to present their viewpoint, and hopefully they both benefited from hearing the opposite gender’s thoughts.

Another encouraging scene was finding a roomful of students come to after school tutorials! I am delighted to see that our students have taken advantage of this time to get many of their questions answered. They come with different subjects each day and stay until they finally grasp a concept. One day a group of girls had a question on composite and inverse functions, and as I was teaching them how to solve them, one girl had a visible “Aha!” moment. She was sitting there confused for the longest time until something clicked, and she understood my explanations on the board. It was quite wonderful to witness, and I sensed that she was very proud of herself as well. We are giving a COSC exam tomorrow, so it will be our chance to find out how well their hard work has paid off.