In December of 2018, I had the opportunity to travel to Ethiopia and visit the Hosanna School for the Deaf with a fellow Concordia Nebraska student, Whitney Pottschmidt. Belachew Ensermu served as our wonderful guide to the beautiful country of Ethiopia and our go-between at the school. We were able to see the school, have many cross-cultural experiences, and take information back to America about the possibility of people from our university being able to teach there.
During our time there, we had many opportunities to interact with the students and staff at the school, including opportunities to teach at the school! As we both have background in education classes at our university, this was right up our alley. Whitney was lucky enough to have some English classes with the younger students at the school, but I somehow ended up with upper-level math and trying to teach students about linear inequalities! Through these experiences, Whitney and I were able to experience cross-cultural teaching and ponder whether we might want to be involved in overseas mission work. We’re both still seeing where God will take us in our future careers, but this trip gave us the opportunity to get out of our small area of the United States and explore the possibilities of overseas mission work. Many thanks to Lutheran Friends of the Deaf for making this happen!
Sierra Jacob