Sorry for not writing for I don't know how long. I desperately needed the support of communicating with you over the last few weeks but just no time to write with all that has been going on with work and the situation at Marc's school. It has been four weeks of little sleep, lots of stress, constant flow of ideas of what we should do, prayer and frantic emailing of possibilities (mostly for Marc).
Here’s a quick summary of what’s transpired in the last month: Marc’s school went through an accreditation visit, and things went quite well! When the team left on a Thursday evening, the school was at the highest point it had achieved in the last four years. The next Monday, we learned that the director had been asked to resign, effective at the end of the year. There are a lot of details that we’ll leave out, but we’ll just say that by that Thursday, we both knew that Marc needed to resign from his position here. That’s when he started communicating with schools that were still looking for a guidance counselor for the next school year.
Marc interviewed with Cairo American College (CAC) (one of the best schools in the Middle East) the following Wednesday evening. He had a panel interview for one of 4 high school counselor positions. They called the next night and offered him the position. He will be one of four High School counselors and will work with the grade 10-12 students with last names starting with A-E. I have to brag that he was so great with this whole crisis, not burning bridges and keeping communication open even with all the bad feelings going around. This paid off big time as the interview panel not only called his current school head and also the previous one (his references) but the CEO of Northbridge Communities (the guy who fired his current school head) to make sure that he did not have a contract for next year he was breaking etc.
It is a big school (1300+) with a great reputation and especially given the very late time in the school year is a very good outcome for him, and us. I have no idea what will be available for me, but frankly I don't really care at the moment. A few months of rest sounds wonderful! I know that Cairo was not at the top of any list when there were other offers and that both times I have been to Egypt as a tourist I have left with bad taste in my mouth...but I am feeling really positive about this. Both, Pakistan and Cambodia were not my first choice and not places that I wanted to go back to but did, and both were exceptional experiences. I just know that God had a hand in this and will have a plan and good things for us there. Besides living near the only existing Wonder of the Ancient World - how can you beat that! The school is situated in a very "nice" suburb, with good housing within walking distance of the school and trees, footpaths, shops, medical clinics etc. I took a student to a clinic there on our school trip in November and this place is truly a haven. In addition, I like a challenge so Cairo is right there outside full of challenges!
I will be leaving PNH for 4-5 weeks holiday on June 16th (same as before). All plans will stay the same except I will be returning the PNH on July 17th directly from the WMF staff retreat in Omaha. I will return here until at the 4th of August, and join Marc in Cairo directly from here.
In the meantime we were able to pack and ship our things this week. We also were able to change our flights, and are now working to get some closure here, saying goodbye to some of the best friends we have had. We’re working hard to finish well here, so please excuse any decrease in the frequency of usual communication. With the director and elementary both away from the school for the rest of the year, Marc has had to take on a few additional responsibilities. Please pray for us we do all this and still try to finish here strongly, still giving our best to the few weeks left of our jobs here. It is going to be really hard for us to leave our friends Sheree and Stu and our colleagues at SOS and at the school.
Here’s a quick summary of what’s transpired in the last month: Marc’s school went through an accreditation visit, and things went quite well! When the team left on a Thursday evening, the school was at the highest point it had achieved in the last four years. The next Monday, we learned that the director had been asked to resign, effective at the end of the year. There are a lot of details that we’ll leave out, but we’ll just say that by that Thursday, we both knew that Marc needed to resign from his position here. That’s when he started communicating with schools that were still looking for a guidance counselor for the next school year.
Marc interviewed with Cairo American College (CAC) (one of the best schools in the Middle East) the following Wednesday evening. He had a panel interview for one of 4 high school counselor positions. They called the next night and offered him the position. He will be one of four High School counselors and will work with the grade 10-12 students with last names starting with A-E. I have to brag that he was so great with this whole crisis, not burning bridges and keeping communication open even with all the bad feelings going around. This paid off big time as the interview panel not only called his current school head and also the previous one (his references) but the CEO of Northbridge Communities (the guy who fired his current school head) to make sure that he did not have a contract for next year he was breaking etc.
It is a big school (1300+) with a great reputation and especially given the very late time in the school year is a very good outcome for him, and us. I have no idea what will be available for me, but frankly I don't really care at the moment. A few months of rest sounds wonderful! I know that Cairo was not at the top of any list when there were other offers and that both times I have been to Egypt as a tourist I have left with bad taste in my mouth...but I am feeling really positive about this. Both, Pakistan and Cambodia were not my first choice and not places that I wanted to go back to but did, and both were exceptional experiences. I just know that God had a hand in this and will have a plan and good things for us there. Besides living near the only existing Wonder of the Ancient World - how can you beat that! The school is situated in a very "nice" suburb, with good housing within walking distance of the school and trees, footpaths, shops, medical clinics etc. I took a student to a clinic there on our school trip in November and this place is truly a haven. In addition, I like a challenge so Cairo is right there outside full of challenges!
I will be leaving PNH for 4-5 weeks holiday on June 16th (same as before). All plans will stay the same except I will be returning the PNH on July 17th directly from the WMF staff retreat in Omaha. I will return here until at the 4th of August, and join Marc in Cairo directly from here.
In the meantime we were able to pack and ship our things this week. We also were able to change our flights, and are now working to get some closure here, saying goodbye to some of the best friends we have had. We’re working hard to finish well here, so please excuse any decrease in the frequency of usual communication. With the director and elementary both away from the school for the rest of the year, Marc has had to take on a few additional responsibilities. Please pray for us we do all this and still try to finish here strongly, still giving our best to the few weeks left of our jobs here. It is going to be really hard for us to leave our friends Sheree and Stu and our colleagues at SOS and at the school.
posted by Marc and Melanie at 9:58 AM
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