Haven of Peace Academy | Amy Medina

Orphans and Former Orphans

On April 15, 2011

Service Emphasis Week (SEW) has got to be one of the very best things about HOPAC. This year secondary students spread out all over Tanzania on 17 different teams…to build water filters, run kids’ camps, teach English, serve disabled people, teach computer classes…and the list goes on.

Gil led the team that went to Agape Children’s Village in Morogoro, a city about 3 hours from here. So the kids and I joined him, and we took 12 HOPAC students to serve the 28 kids there for 5 days.

Love these trips. The students step up. In leadership. In love. In service. The kids shower their adoration on these teenagers who are willing to give of themselves to them. It’s beautiful to watch.

Visiting orphanages is not a new thing for me. But visiting them with my two children, who were once orphans, was quite a profound experience. In each child’s face, I saw the faces of my children. Neither of my children came from this orphanage, but if they had not been adopted, they would have grown up much the same way.

I often imagined Grace there, as a resident, not a visitor. Her head shaved, instead of full of braids and beads. Eating ugali with her hands instead of a spoon. Her eyes with a yellow tinge from malnutrition or too many bouts of malaria. Speaking only Swahili. Helping to wash her clothes by hand, making her little bed in the morning, and putting away her meager possessions.

Would she still be as full of life? As confident as she is now? As gregarious? Would she love to laugh as much as she does in our family? How different would she be without a mama, her Daddy, her brother? How would her mind be different without the plethora of experiences she has had…if her whole life revolved around three buildings and a nearby school?

She would be such a different person that I don’t know if I would recognize her. Yet that person could have been, if not for the sovereign hand of God in her life. And millions of children in Tanzania are living that life. The differences are stark.

And yet….what would I be like, had I not been adopted into His family?

Eternal Investments

By Amy Medina

On April 5, 2011

In Other

Remember Maggie? She is a part of our family this year. Grace still insists on calling Maggie her big sister, though today she said worriedly, “Mommy, is Maggie going to leave us soon?”

Now why would she say a thing like that?

Maybe because I just happened to hyperventilate today when I saw the package Maggie got. FedExed. From Stanford University. Yeah. I’m from California, and grew up 40 minutes away from Stanford, yet they never FedExed me anything.

We knew a couple of weeks ago that Maggie got accepted to Stanford and MIT, but she didn’t receive her financial aid package until today. (FedExed–did I mention that?) It says: Parent contribution: $0. Student contribution: $0. They even gave her money for books. And airfare.

Oh my word. Do you think they want her to come?

My best friend in high school was valedictorian. I wasn’t too far behind. Where did we go to college? San Jose State University. Not sayin’ there’s really that much difference, of course, between Stanford and SJSU. Oh–you haven’t heard of it? Well, your loss.

When I went to high school, everyone pretty much talked about their three college choices: SJSU, West Valley Community College or De Anza Community College. Here, at HOPAC, so far this year students have been accepted to Princeton, Dartmouth, and Yale. And MIT and Stanford, of course. Among others. And there’s only 25 students in the class. Um, yeah. Did anyone from my graduating class go to any of those schools?

I just kept staring at that piece of paper. Never seen anything like it.

And you know what else? She’s probably going to turn it down. She hasn’t received her MIT package yet, but that’s her first choice, and we’re all guessing it will be just as good.

We’ve always known, teaching at HOPAC, that we would be impacting students who have the capability of changing the world. Since this is only HOPAC’s third graduating class, we haven’t been able to really see the fruit of that investment yet.

But now we are. Maggie wants to return to Tanzania and help change her country. After she majors in aerospace engineering at MIT, of course. To God be the glory.

Handiwork

By Amy Medina

On March 12, 2011

In Other

Last week was picture week at HOPAC. And my talented husband is HOPAC’s official unofficial photographer. He took all the classic yearbook photos first:

(she’s got a personality to match that hair)

And then he did dozens of other photo shoots on request. Siblings, friends, families. I love looking at them. Because they display my husband’s handiwork. But also because they display God’s.

I love Haven of Peace Academy.

The Spirit of HOPAC

By Amy Medina

On February 1, 2011

In Other

“Mrs. Medina, what exactly is Spirit Week?”

They were sitting in my living room a few weeks ago, all six of the Executive Student Council at HOPAC–the awesome group of kids I get to work with this year.

I had to laugh. I should have known…of course they wouldn’t know what it is! After all, the only two kids in the group that hold an American passport have never actually been…to America.

But we had finally convinced our international administration to let us try it, and the Council had been excited about it…except they didn’t exactly know what “it” was.

But they caught on quick. And thus began our very first ever Haven of Peace Academy Spirit week.

Ab, our fabulous president, at the first pep rally of the week.

Our brand new HOPAC Mascot….HOPAC Heat!

And of course, Spirit Week would not be complete without fish….

shaving cream…..

and peanut butter.

We culminated last Friday night with end-of-season soccer matches by our senior boys and girls teams….and both teams won! The girls’ team was coached by this guy I really like…and they came out top of their league for the season!

We rigged up lights and the teams played under the stars. 200 people from the HOPAC community showed up for the games…it was a first, and one that will certainly be repeated!