Teaching in a Floating Classroom
On all Mercy Ships vessels, an academy is offered to all children who come to serve with their parents onboard. Kathryn Dungworth is a teacher from the UK who has been teaching onboard the Africa Mercy since 2019 and worked to set up the brand-new Academy onboard the Global Mercy. Having two Academies in operation will be a first for Mercy Ships.
In this episode, Kathryn shares her journey to join Mercy Ships as a volunteer teacher — an adventure she never expected! And how this unique environment for teaching has changed her life in unexpected ways. She will give us some insight into the Global Mercy Academy and share what she is most excited about for this new school. From a teacher’s perspective of life in a floating classroom, you don’t want to miss this episode.
If you’re a teacher and looking for an experience like none other – consider serving with us onboard one of our ships.
Looking for a way to join our mission of bringing hope and healing? Partner with us through a gift, volunteering with us, or by joining us in prayer.
New Mercies Podcast Transcript
Welcome to the New Mercies, a podcast by Mercy Ships, where we’ll take you behind the scenes and on board our incredible hospital ships that are transforming lives all over the world. We invite you to join us each week as we sit down with our crew, patients, volunteers, and partners to hear their stories of life-changing hope and healing.
In a few short days, Mercy Ships will have two academies up and running, equipped with incredible teachers and very excited students. Today, we get to hear from one of those outstanding teachers, Miss Kathryn from the UK, get ready to learn a few things from this incredible woman and her experience teaching in a floating classroom.
Raeanne Newquist:
Well, Kathryn, thank you so much for joining us today on the New Mercies podcast, we are so excited to hear from you and your journey with Mercy Ships. Kathryn, you’re a teacher, you’ve been a teacher for several years and taught different grades in the UK. And then you decided to take your career, not on the road, but on the ship to teach aboard the Africa Mercy. So, tell us what caused that change in your life, what was going on that allowed you to consider such a big life change.
Kathryn:
Like you say, I’d been teaching in the UK for 12 years. So, I was pretty settled, I was pretty happy. I’d got my own house. And I was very settled in the church and in schools. And I never really considered doing anything like this. But then in the Easter of 2018, I went to a Christian conference called Spring Harvest in the UK. And every year they pick some charities that they all support. And their main charity for that year was Mercy Ships. And I’ve never heard of them before ever. And so, during the meetings, they would show us on the screen the videos of the patients and just the operations that happens and the life-changing work that Mercy Ships does. And I thought, Wow, what an amazing charity that is that does this with all of these volunteers that just give their time to do it. But as I looked at, I thought that’s an amazing thing. But like, I am not medical, there is no way I could ever do that. I know basic first aid with children in a classroom when they like graze me, and that’s all I’ve got. And so, I can’t do that.
But Don Stevens was actually at the conference. And he was there to do some seminars with smaller groups of people and tell us more about the stories of how Mercy Ships started. And, it was amazing to hear. And about halfway through. He actually said like, 50% of the ship is actually non-medical. And I was like, Oh, that’s interesting. And so, we started talking about, like, we have, obviously of the deck crew that keep the ship going. But we have like galley staff, and we have housekeeping. And then he went and we also have a school on board that goes from preschool all the way through to grade 12. And we have teachers there that, that come and volunteer and teach. And the person sat next to me actually nudged me and went you could do that.
I was like, I could, yes. I’m trained to do that. But it was something I never ever considered. And it kind of just came out of the blue because yeah, I never even thought about it, especially on a ship. And so the conference finished and kind of I went to the stall to talk to the Mercy Ships people and met the UK office and they were like, oh, yeah, we have teachers and they gave me some information and told me to watch some videos that Carys Parker at done about the Academy and stuff. So I kind of looked at them, but I’m not sure this is the right time. I can pray about it. It’ll be great.
And so for that next month after I got home, I was thinking about it. I was praying about it. And I say, I’m not sure, I was like God, I need some indication that you want me to go. And so, it’s really weird. I was driving to work on day, I had a radio station on, not a Christian radio station, just like your normal secular radio station. And they started talking randomly about cleft palate surgeries. And I was like, Okay, that’s interesting. Okay, yeah. Okay, I’ll take that as a little sign, and then just carried on with my day. And then there was other things that kept coming up like that, and then a verse kept coming to mind from Joshua 1:9, which was “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid. Do not be terrified for the Lord your God will be with you, wherever you go.”
Okay, okay. And the sealing factor for me was, I was doing a crossword in a magazine. And two of the clues one of them, the answer was strong. And the second one, the answer was courageous. And I was like, Okay, I’ll apply. I’ve got nothing to lose. I’ll apply we’ll see what happens. So, I sent in my application, and then a few days later, I got a message saying I’d been put into the talent pool. Because this was the end of May, and so they’d already staffed for that school year, so I didn’t expect that it had happened quickly because of that, and they put me in the talent pool and I just went along with my life and went back to work and the things and thought, okay, and carried on. And then in January of 2019, I got an email saying, the grade one teacher position is opens, are you still interested? Can we interview you, and I interviewed that week and was offered the position.
And then within a few months, I had handed in my notice at work, and I’d rented out my house and put everything in storage unit, I sold my car, and God had just provided and in so many ways for different things I needed. I needed replacement windows in my house to rent it out. And selling my car was the exact amount of money that paid for the windows. It was small things that you just think, yeah, God was in it all the way through. And then in June 2019, I set off the Texas to do onboarding, with Mercy Ships there. And by July, I was on the ship, and people just kept asking me, so you’ve seen the ship, then you’ve been you’ve looked around? No. I’ve never seen the ship!
Raeanne:
It’s like buying a house sight unseen?
Kathryn:
Oh, how long are you going for a couple of months? Two years. Yeah, I told my church, I’ve done this I’ve given like, I’ve given up my job. And I’m going for two years. And you heard like a little bit of an audible gasp.
Because a lot of people just thought I would just go for a little while. So yeah.
Raeanne:
What was the hardest thing to give up? Or what was the hardest part of that transition?
Kathryn:
I think it was leaving people behind. Because it’s obviously hard when you move out of the house, and you do all that. But actually, it’s probably the people that you leave, and family and friends. And yeah, it’s hard. And actually my class that I left behind as well, because I left mid-year for a school year in the UK. And so, I was leaving that class behind in the middle of the year, which usually I would never think of doing. But the timescale I had to, that was that was what I did.
But I knew it was the right thing. There was a peace about it, even though there was a lot to do. There was a peace about the fact this was the right thing to do.
Raeanne:
I think that in some ways, it makes it a little bit easier when you have the confirmation that God has called you to do this and you’re moving out and obedience and you’ve seen Him provide so extravagantly through the sale of your car, and providing money for the windows and all those steps along the way that you can kind of move forward with confidence because you see the evidence of God’s hand on this decision. And that’s, that’s such a beautiful thing. Also, the passage in scripture of Be strong and courageous. And you have those moments of wow. And the other people saying, Whoa, are you sure two years? Whoa. And that, that courage, you know, kind of dwindles for a minute, and then you remember, and then or No, God has commanded me be strong and courageous. I’m gonna move forward and obedience.
Kathryn:
It was an amazing time to lean into God for that, because that’s probably what is the biggest step of faith I’ve ever taken to kind of walk away from everything, you know. But yeah, but God was there, and He never left.
Raeanne:
Wow. So what was that first year like for you on board, the Africa Mercy? You were the first grade teacher.
Kathryn:
I was, yeah, I was the first-grade teacher. So I’d gone from like a class of 30. That’s kind of a standard class size in the UK. And I got on board and my class size was six. And when I got on board, like crew members were like, well, you’ve got six as though it was a lot, because that’s actually the biggest class size.
But actually, the classrooms are obviously fairly small, it’s on the ship. And so six, six people fit in the classroom. But it was so lovely. I was teaching children from all over the world, from Brazil and the Netherlands and, and Great Britain and the U.S. and France. And it was just amazing to see all of those cultures kind of combined in one classroom. And yeah, it was just, it was an amazing privilege to be there. Very different, because I was not only kind of working with the children, but you were living with them at the same time. So usually, you’d send children home at the end of the day, and you’d see them the next morning when they come to school. Whereas you’d see them in about an hour and a half when you went into the dining room for dinner. Which is actually lovely. You feel a bit like a minor celebrity, especially when you teach the little ones because they’ll yell your name across the dinning room and Miss Katherine. You do feel quite special.
It is really lovely, I think and you get to know the child very, very well. You get to know those children so well. You get to know their families as well. And I just think the absolute blessing it is for us to put kind of God at the center of our school community is an amazing privilege that you just don’t get in many schools anywhere else in the world. We get to not only teach math and language arts and social studies and everything that you teach normally, you get to teach Bible to these children in a living and real way. And you get to show it in everything that you do. And I think that’s just an amazing privilege that we have here on board to be able to do that for the crew members, because we are here to serve the crew members and the crew members children. And we do that. So those crew members can go out and provide the hope and healing to the people of West Africa that we go to serve, and us being here allows them to do that. And that’s just an absolute privilege for me and a real, a real joy really, for me to be able to do that.
But I mean, school here is very normal. In some ways. We start at 8 am, we have recess like you would you have lunch…
Raeanne:
But recess looks a little different, doesn’t it?
Kathryn:
I mean a little bit, like we do it like on Deck 7, or Deck 8of the ship. And so if we have a play structure, which is great that they can like climb on and things, but like just over the side, there’s a port, or there’s like water over one side. And so ballgames are difficult, because you don’t want them to go over the side so we can have netting up. So it is an interesting concept. But to all intents and purposes, it’s the same, which is which is lovely that will have that. But teaching on the ship, it’s such a privilege to be able to give children experiences that they’ll get nowhere else in the world. Like during that first year, I was able to take my children onto the bridge while we were sailing, and to see how it ship sails. And what did this what does the captain do? And what did the officers do. And we saw dolphins while we were sailing from the bridge, and you think what other school in the world would these children get these experiences during the day, I’ve taken my children into the galley with the baker, and he led us bake cookies for the whole crew.
They made 350 cookies in the biggest like machine you’ve ever seen. And, and they loved it, they got to where the little chef’s hats and do and it was just a wonderful experience. And we get to do so much of that and experience so many places on a ship that the children just in a normal school don’t get to do by the way of the fact they’re not here. And so the experiences we’ve been able to give them is just phenomenal. And then while we were in Senegal, we got to give them other experiences as well, we went out to the Dakar lighthouse, which is one of the western most points in Africa. And that was great, they got to like go off, and they got to see it. And they got to kind of experience that. And they had a Senegalese tour guide who was great, and he kind of told them all about it. And that was it, that was a great experience for them to see. And then probably one of my most memorable was when the whole of the elementary department went to the agricultural site, Mercy Ships agricultural site for the day.
It was a trip where we have a Food For Life Program, which is part of the MCB programs on the ship where they build capacity in the country. And so that when the ship sails out, we’ve left something behind that they can actually tangibly use the skills that they’ve been taught. And so to go to the agricultural site, which was a good few hours outside of Dakar, it took us a while to get there. But it was more than worth it, the children saw how the participants in the course were learning how to grow things in the land, for the soil that they have, and how they irrigate that and how they make it grow in, in a very hot country, I mean, with very little rain, and they were growing amazing foods at the agricultural site. And they were telling them how they can use that to help their community to make money and to help their community but also they were teaching them to teach others so they can go back into their communities and teach others. And that was an amazing thing to be able to show the children that this is the capacity we’re building.
Your parents are here to help serve in this. You’re here to help people and serve in this way. So when the ship sails out that that is there, and will be passed on, hopefully from generation to generation. And so yeah, teaching onboard was great. You had your normal day to day I taught the math lesson. I taught the social studies, I said, but also we got to have experiences like that for the children. Just and the community that you built within that classroom was fabulous with those children.
Raeanne:
Well, you mentioned that some of those kids that you had your first year. They’re from all different countries all over the world. So just as you’ve had your own transition from your home in the UK, and your family and your friends in your community, now you’re living on board a ship. A lot of these little kids are from different countries, they don’t even speak the language. And that is a huge transition for these little people. How do you as a teacher care for kids during the early months of this massive transition in their little lives?
Kathryn:
So the children will go through something called Kids onboarding, which helps to start that process to see what their parents are doing. And so that starts to build those really fundamental transition skills that they need in order to kind of to move forward. And then we do support them, we build that community, we build in time where we have transitioned journals, and we talked about kind of where they’ve come from, like who their friends were, like, who they’ve left behind what we’ve got now, like, we talked about our feelings and our emotions of how does that make us feel and, and we do all of that, so that the transition is good for them. And they come to a place that they want to be and they feel happy, and they feel secure, and they feel safe.
Because children ultimately learn best when they feel secure and happy in a in a place. And so we definitely do that. And we do that on exit as well, we start a transition process that we do before people leave us as well, because it’s really important that they can transition home back to their home countries really, really well. And but I had such a privilege of like teaching children that couldn’t read and write English because they come from their native language. And to see these children, children amaze me that you can have children in your class that can speak two or three languages. And they’re 6, and they can read and write in two or three languages. And sometimes it puts me to shame because I have one language. Pleasantries in French, and that’s it, that’s all I’ve got.
But these children, it amazes me and that they are amazing that they are able to do that. And you can have a little part in that growth of them learning to do that. And, and that’s a really special privilege to do.
Raeanne:
And it’s neat to that Mercy Ships is very intentional, the academy is very intentional, and mindful of the transition that these kids are going through. And so, I love that they’ve put in place like these transition journals, and you do talk about your feelings, and you honor everyone’s home culture. I know, when it’s a kid’s birthday, you sing happy birthday in several different languages, you know, to celebrate that child, and there’s so many intentional things that honor the culture that they came from, but also celebrate all the new cultures that they’re experiencing around them. And it is just a phenomenal education for these children.
Kathryn:
Like you say we do the birthday song. And that’s, that’s a wonderful way to kind of do some of that. And yeah, and we create, in some ways, our own culture, the kind of the culture of the ship, as people talk about so much. And it is kind of an amalgamation of all those cultures and people feed into it. And that’s a wonderful experience for children, but also for adults to get to experience that I don’t know anywhere else in the world, you can have like over 40 Different cultures in one place, all living together, and working together and working. And it working well to provide something. And ultimately, by the grace of God, we go into that because He makes it work. And He brings it all together.
Raeanne:
I know you said the uniqueness of the ship is that you don’t just send your kids home at the end of the school day and see them the next morning, you’ll you might see them in the next 10 minutes walking down the hallway. Or of course in the dining room for dinner that evening. And as much as that that’s a joy. I think for some teachers that might be a little overwhelming to never escape your kids, but also their families, their parents are around you all the time, too. And luckily, these families are beautiful, amazing people. So it’s a lot of fun, but that can be taxing on an individual for you. And you know, in some ways to almost feel like you’re never off duty, if you will. So what are some things that you do personally, to kind of take care of yourself and nurture yourself apart from the classroom apart from children.
Kathryn:
That can definitely be an issue in some ways. But we all have our own cabin space, which is a great space to go to that you have. You have enough time there. And you can have space to kind of do the things that you enjoy. I love to read and so I love to do that go into my cabin space, read a book. And also there’s the midships area which is great. You can sit there you can overlook the sea with a book on a comfy chair and, and that’s wonderful to be able to do and I know I enjoy walking around the deck and Deck 8 upon the top. That was a great time. You could walk around you can see it was lovely to do as the sun was setting you could see the sunset and it’s just yeah, I think yes, the families are there or like all the time because you live together. And that’s a wonderful privilege to be able to do that. But also I think everyone needs time to themselves. And so there are definitely times that you can do that. And I think the decks provide brilliant ways to do that. There’s chairs out there you can sit out there, you can even eat your meals, you don’t have to eat it in the dining room, you could go and eat it out on Deck 7, and just have that fresh air. And it’s sort of taken away.
I love to watch movies. And so we get to do that you can hire different rooms on the board and kind of watch movies with friends and things. And so there’s definitely things you can do. But yeah, I think I think it’s a good blend as well, to be able to have your own time, but also have a community right there that that you can be involved in as much or as kinda little as you want, depending on the type of person you are.
Raeanne:
Is that interesting to have a school and a hospital in the same location? And how did you all interact? What does that mean for you, as a teacher and students to have patients on board? Yeah, so we would see the patients quite often they would come out onto Deck 7, every afternoon, that was kind of their fresh air time, like they got to be out on the deck. And as crew, we were able to go out there and kind of interact with the patients out there. And often the children would go out and we take like paints with us or something we could do especially with the younger ones so that they could kind of interact. And that was a lovely way of getting to see the patients and really see the impact that the hospital has with our own eyes. We can see videos, we can see pictures, but you can actually see it physically there in front of you.
And I think one thing that stands out for me we did when Dr. Gary announced when we arrived in Senegal, he announced that the first surgeries are going to take place. And he asked the whole crew to pray. And he prayed and our class stopped what we were doing. We sat down and we all just prayed. And you just think, yeah, that’s the way that we get to impact the hospital. And that way we can pray for them. And so we have a prayer diary in our classroom. And every day, we pray for things that the children wants to pray for, but we pray for the hospital. And we pray for the patients that are down there. And, and you might hear things from the nurses of specifics. But if you don’t, you can just pray in general for you know, their patients down there. And God knows what the specifics are. And we were able to pray for them. And I think that moment will always stick with me when he came over the PA and we just stopped and prayed with him. And it was a wonderful memory.
Raeanne:
What an incredible experience for those children to really get to be a part of the ministry. They’re like little missionaries. It’s not just their parents out doing big work, and they’re tucked in a classroom, but they’re a part of it as well. And I love that you include your students and that and welcome them into the ministry by praying for the patients. That’s, that’s really incredible. And that’s such a neat thing. I know that you, in addition to being a teacher, also volunteered at the Hope Center, which is where our patients can go maybe pre surgery to wait for their turn, if you will, but also maybe to prepare for surgery if they have some nutritional things that need to be addressed. And then also our patients, a lot of them will return to the Hope Center post op after their surgery for rehabilitation and recovery and so forth. And we have the opportunity to go and visit patients at the Hope Center mostly on Sundays when we have a church service that’s optional for anyone who wants I know you volunteered there. Tell us a little bit about that.
Kathryn:
So the Hope Center is such a wonderful place. And hope is such a brilliant title for it. Because as you walk through the door, you just see the hope that those patients have, because of the surgery that they’re going to they’re going to be able to have and it’s just such a wonderful place to see God moving. Because you see it so tangibly in the lives of those that are there. And it’s yeah, it’s such a joyous place. There’s so much joy there. And yeah, I volunteered on a Sunday and with a couple of other people to do the Sunday school for the children. And so they always do a service and Sunday service for the adults there. And hospital chaplaincy take that on. And patients can go they don’t have to, but that they can go. But there were so many children there that they felt like it’d be good if they had their own kind of Sunday school. And so a few weeks into the field service, they asked for volunteers and one of the other teachers Sarah, she kind of put her hand and said I’ll do that. And I said well, I’ll do it with you then and we did that and it was such a wonderful time because we got to know the patients and because we saw them week on week, and a lot of them were the orthopedic patients who were having their legs kind of re-straightened and I’m not medical. That’s the best I’ve got. So it was just wonderful to see these children go from the pre op through the operation when they came back, and then through all of their physical therapy, and then walk out of the Hope Center at the end, to see the transformation was amazing.
And so we did the Sunday school. And we started. And obviously, a lot of these children … they did not speak English. And so we would play games. And we always play games that you could easily show them how it works without needing much language. And, and we would sing songs, and we learned various kinds of African songs while we were on the Africa Mercy. And so we would do those, and we taught him a few English ones as well. And then we will tell a Bible story with the help of the amazing volunteers and day crew at the Hope Center, who would translate it for us into their language. And so they would, we would do a bit and then the translators would do a bit. And then by the end, I think we had two or three translators doing it in different languages as we went along.
And so we got to do that. And then there was always a craft at the end, which they loved, which usually invite pain to our playdough, or stickers, or something like that. But it was such a fun time, and to be able to spend with the children, but also to share a little of God’s love for them with them through the Bible story and through the things we were doing. And yeah, it was just so amazing to see the transformation, we went from children pre op, you could do a lot of the games and move around. And then once they’d had their operation, we had about 40 to 50 children that just had casts on their life, and their legs are just straight out in front of them. So we had to amend the games that we played, so they could do it seated. And because they’d literally be carried in and they sat there.
And then you saw when you then go in when the casts would be off and they’d be walking and they’d be and it was yeah, it was a very special time to build those relationships with, with patients really. And there was some older girls kind of early teen maybe a bit younger. And they were really keen to learn some English. And so every week, they’ve learned a little bit more. And so they’d show us what they’d learned. It was so lovely. And so we tried to learn some Walof. It didn’t go well. But we try. I remember them laughing at us quite a lot when we tried to do it. But the effort was there. And it was so lovely that they wanted to kind of communicate with us and, and some of those girls like some of the songs in the Sunday morning and by the end and that it was just wonderful. And there was one of the girls was called Mary Madeleine. And she kind of had a hyperextended knee that went backwards. And she had a severe limp from that. And so she had her surgery. And she was one of the ones that would learn a little English as we went along. But I just remember from her the smile, because it will just lit up a room before and after the surgery. And she was just so happy. And she was just so excited about the surgery. And she was just yeah, so thankful that people would come to help. And I think her face will always stick with me as someone that yeah, she the joy, you could just see the joy in her face. And you just think that’s why you volunteer. That’s why you, you leave behind the things that you leave behind, and you volunteer to do this, because you are helping to give help in just a tiny bit in their story to get that healing. And I just think yeah, what an amazing privilege to be able to do to do that.
Raeanne:
Well, you’ve touched on it a little bit. But how has your time thus far serving with Mercy Ships impacted you personally? How do you feel that you’re different than you were three years ago?
Kathryn:
For me, I think a lot of it comes down to what you value most. And I think you don’t need things a lot of the time. And especially when you come to Mercy Ships, you get to take two bags with you. And that’s it your whole life is in two suitcases. It’s amazing what you don’t need. Yeah, but I think you value people far more being here. You value that connection with people, you value the community. And you just value all of that so much more, I think from being here. And yeah, and I just learned to rely fully on God. And I think before I relied on God, but you always have that safety net that well I’ve got a job and I’ve got a house and I’ve got this and my family is there but here you really do have to fully rely on God for everything for you to be here. And God honors that. And when you step out in faith, God really honors that and I’ve seen that and that’s been amazing really to see that if you step out in faith, God will honor you in that if you walk in the path that He has for your life, and, and that’s not easy. Probably stepping out was the hardest thing I’ve done. But you know what it was more than worth it.
Raeanne:
Yeah. And you know, it’s pretty awesome. I mean, I know you personally, I know that that first step of obedience when you stepped out and said yes and saw God provide, I think that really strengthened your faith so that when God asked you again to step out to stay, extend your commitment with Mercy Ships beyond two years to weather, the pandemic onboard as a teacher, all those kinds of things you can say, yes, I’ve seen you provide before and I’ll see you do it again. So yes, Lord, I will, I will go.
Kathryn:
Yeah, absolutely. And throughout it all, there has always been a peace, even when the pandemic hit, even when all that had, and there was there was a lot going on. And it was it was some time, it was hard at times.
But you know what, that inner peace was always there that actually God’s got it. And He knows I’m here, and He wants me to be here. And so that’s what I’m going to do and carry on until He says, yeah, go here.
Raeanne:
Well, I know you have just stepped out once again, onboard the brand new ship, you’re no longer on the Africa Mercy, but you are now one of our first teacher to arrive on the Global Mercy, preparing the way for new kids to come in this brand new Academy. Tell us about it. What’s it like?
Kathryn:
Yeah, it was amazing to walk through the doors, you see pictures, and you hear about what it’s like until walk through. It was an amazing feeling to feel just the just the love and the attention to detail that has gone into designing the whole ship, the whole ship to provide the surgery in Africa, but for me and my department just to see how they’ve designed the ship with every little detail in mind, to provide the best possible education for the children that will walk through those doors for years to come. And I feel like I’m kind of standing on the shoulders of all those that have come before. And I get the privilege to be the person that walked through the doors. And behind all of those people that have set this out. These rooms are fabulous for learning and for the curriculum that’s in it. And everything that’s here will just provide such an excellent foundation for children to learn and grow and learn more about God. And that’s amazing.
The Junior High in high school, we have a science lab across there that looks like a science lab in a normal school. And to the point that they can do experiments, they found a way that you can do experiments on a ship, there’s a whole thing at the end that I don’t know it’s got a vacuum in it or something. I don’t understand how it works. But they can do it in a safe and controlled way to make sure that you can do that on the ship. And for me, that’s just amazing that people thought down to the tiniest detail, so that we can have this and I just think God has provided mightily here for us. And it’s our job to take that that responsibility. Yeah, to be responsible with it and be a good steward of it for generations to come. The ship has been built for decades worth of service in Africa.
And we get the privilege of kind of setting it up for the future. And that’s amazing. And there’s been so many volunteers in here we’ve had equipping volunteers that have come in, and they’ve unboxed so much so much of the equipment and labeled things like hundreds of things with the word Academy on for like PE and all of those things. To the point that I stepped in, and there wasn’t really any of that to do with the unboxing I’ve done a little bit so we could come in and really set it up for those children and to come in and yeah, just it’s amazing to walk in and see what God provides. And I feel very blessed to be the first teacher through the door
Raeanne:
And you’re on the countdown. When do the first students arrive? When school start?
Kathryn:
School starts in just over a week, so 17th of January, we will have back to school night on board the GLM for the first time so it’s exciting. All of the teachers will be here by Monday and Tuesday and they will walk through the doors. And yeah, we can prepare for all of the children that are going to be here and it’s just so exciting to get to be a part of it and there’ll be schools on both ships. It’ll be the first time we’ve had two ships with two schools, one on the Africa Mercy and one on the Global Mercy.
Raeanne:
What are you most looking forward to in this new Academy as a teacher?
Kathryn:
I’m looking forward to the children walking through the door honestly and just Yeah, I love teaching that’s what I love to do. And so I can’t wait. I have four students this year. And so to see them come in and to just you set up your classroom, and then it’s amazing to see the students interact with it and use it, and just learn, and grow and develop. And for me, that’s the key part of teaching doesn’t matter whether I’m on a ship, or whether I’m somewhere else, but I can help children to learn something.
And for me, what a privilege that I can teach them something that works, they will take through their lives. And so my hope and prayer is that I always teach them well. And yeah, teach them to the best of my ability so they can learn to the best of theirs. And I think, as a teacher, that’s all you can hope for.
Raeanne:
Yeah, absolutely. Well, I know you’re a phenomenal teacher, and those kids are going to be really lucky to have you. So Katherine, as we wrap up our time together, several years ago, when you first heard about Mercy Ships, you didn’t know that something like this existed, but there are actually a lot of organizations that you can go teach abroad with. But why, why Mercy Ships? Why would you encourage someone a teacher, to go teach with Mercy Ships.
Kathryn:
For me, I think it’s probably one of the most unique schools in the whole world, I am teaching on board a ship. And with so many other people that have so many different wide-ranging jobs, you can give children experiences that you just possibly couldn’t give them anywhere else in the world. And, so I just think it’s such an amazing place to teach, but also an amazing community to be a part of. And I get to be just a tiny, tiny part of helping all of those patients in Africa who otherwise wouldn’t have access to health care. And I think maybe in here and using the gifts that God has given me to teach children, allows the doctors to do the surgery, allows the chief electrician to keep all of the electrics working on board, so they can do the surgeries, and allows the biomedical technician to keep all of the equipment down in the hospital working so that they can perform those things. And I think I’m just a tiny part of that. So, my teaching has an impact here in more ways than just in the classroom. My teaching impacts these children, but it also has far ranging impact that I just don’t think you could possibly get anywhere else really. And for me, I can also teach them about God as well in a way that I couldn’t in other places. And so I can share my love of God and the impact he’s had with me with them. And for me, that’s also amazing. So I would say if you’re thinking about it, do it, the application, do it. And it’s amazing what God will do when you step out.
Raeanne:
Absolutely. Well, Katherine, I know you have impacted many students, but also many crew members. And you have created a beautiful community of peers and friends on board as well who have been blessed by you and I know have blessed you in return. So thank you so much for taking the time today to share with us a little glimpse into your life and to get us all excited about this brand new Academy. It’s going to be quite remarkable. In one short week it will be filled with students. So thank you for sharing with us, Katherine, and we look forward to many praise reports to come.
Kathryn:
Thank you. It’s been a pleasure. Thank you for having me.
Raeanne:
Going to school on a ship is truly a phenomenal experience. And thanks to our incredible teachers and faculty are fully accredited academies are unmatched in education and they offer experiences that children can’t get anywhere else. As always, more information can be found on our website, including photos of Katherine in the classroom. Check out New Mercies dot mercy ships.org. And if you’re a teacher an interested in getting on board one of our ships, all the information you need is on our website or go to the Academy’s website at Academy dot mercy ships.org. Well, I hope you’ll come back next week to hear from Dr. Andrew Clark, a wise man who has been serving with Mercy Ships for 30 years from the hospital to chaplaincy. He has some great stories to share that you won’t want to miss.
For more information about Mercy Ships, go to mercyships.org, and to keep up with the guests on New Mercies , follow us on Instagram at NewMerciesPodcast.