January Newsletter

*NOTE: My last three newsletters (including this one) had some of my pictures on them, but I wasn't able to post them on my blog as they were. So if you're interested in pictures and don't receive my newsletters by email, let me know and I will send them! :-)*

Life in Hybe
Ashley Severson, Young Adult in Global Mission
January Newsletter

Greetings from Hybe! As you all probably know by now, I have switched to a new placement. I now live in the community of Hybe in North Central Slovakia (in the higher Tatras mountains). After returning from a holiday trip to see my friends, I packed up in mid-January and moved to Hybe. I had many great experiences in Koseca, and met lots of wonderful people, but there ultimately wasn’t enough work for a foreign volunteer to contribute to (without being able to really speak the language). Also, the communication between everyone was lacking, and we all decided I would be happier and more useful somewhere else. I am thankful for my experiences in Koseca, and I am looking at the situation in a very positive light: I wanted to try and work with the elderly and was given the opportunity, and now I will be given the opportunities of working with younger people, working in the church, and living with a host family! Between the two parts of my year, I will have a wide variety of Slovak experiences, which is pretty exciting! I feel like the time I spent with Zuza was valuable for many reasons, one being because she was patient with my speaking Slovak. She took the time to speak with me, repeat things, help me understand, and the one-on-one practice time really helped prepare me for communicating here. It has been especially helpful in communicating with my host parents and pastor (who don’t speak English, but are all trying to learn just for me).

The village of Hybe is a very tight little community with a lot of focus on the church. The pastor, Stanislav Grega, is very ambitious (I’ve been told that he is sleeping with an English book every night because he is so determined to speak to me!) and committed to the groups of the church and to the many projects he has started. I’m still in the process of making a schedule/plan for my duties during my time here, but I think I will be spending a lot of time with the youth groups in the church. I also think I will participate in the adult choir, help with the children/youth choir, attend Bible study (even though I can’t really understand a lot, I’m excited for the time set aside for this), help work at the youth hangout center, and help teach and tutor English and two different schools. Although it was great to be a part of the Diakonia family in Koseca, it’s even better to be involved with the whole community here! The people here have been so welcoming and sweet! I feel like I fit in well here and am already much happier than before! On my first night here the youth group presented me with a cake they made especially for me. On my first Sunday church service here, the children/youth choir prepared a song in English to sing for me! “O Be Careful”, and I got to sing along with them. I also got quite a warm greeting from my new host family: Starka (Grandma, Jan’s mother), Jan (dad), Jana (but she insists that everyone call her “mama”), Janka, and Katka. They have been so great and I’ve felt comfortable in their home from the very beginning. Starka, Jan, and Jana don’t speak any English, but the two daughters both speak some. They speak about the same amount of English as I do Slovak, so we have fun communicating in our created 50/50 language. They are determined to talk to me and always have a dictionary around.

Although I’ve only spent a short amount of time here so far, I’ve already been here for some pretty exciting events! On my second day here we went to my host mom’s sister’s 50th birthday bash, where I got to meet quite a few of their relatives and get in on all the family craziness! My host sister Katka added four new fish to her tank (for a total of 9), and we are in the process of choosing names for them together. She also has a snail in the tank, and when I asked her what its’ name was, she gasped and said, “I forgot, he doesn’t have a name! You get to name him!” And so I named him Fred (his full name is Fred Flintstone), and I think they liked my name! Also, their oven/stove broke down and we put in a new one (quite exciting), and their hot pot broke, so I went to the store with my host mom and helped her pick out another one. When you turn the new hot pot on, half of it glows blue and my host sisters turn out the lights and everybody gets really excited! It’s pretty funny! I thank God for the Turcanova family, they are wonderful! J

Like before, I am helping teach English. This time around I will be working with younger students at the school here in Hybe (ages 11-15). So far I’ve had two days of teaching here (5 lessons per week) and they’ve gone pretty well. The teachers I’m working with (Zdenka and Sonja) are very organized and helpful, and I really appreciate co-teaching with them (as opposed to teaching alone, like I was before). I will also be helping at the neighboring village’s high school for boys, working with Zuzana. Zuzana lives in Hybe, is very active in our church, and my #1 contact person! She lived and worked in Canada for three years as a nanny, so her English is amazing. Her two sons, Radko and Marek, are very cute and have warmed up to me pretty quickly! Marek and I have already spent some quality time together, looking through his book and pointing out animals and colors to each other (he tells me their names in English, then I tell him their names in Slovak) and we help each other learn. She is fantastic, and I know she will be a great and supportive friend throughout my time here!

For the month of January, we were given these questions to consider: “Frank Capra’s “It’s a Wonderful Life” (1946) may have been seen by more Americans than any other film. As its title suggests, the film explores the very question: What would a “life that matters” look like? And perhaps more specifically “Are some lives more significant than others?” I immediately thought of a quote I have hanging on my bedroom wall here:

“No one is useless in this world who lightens the burden of it for others.”
–Charles Dickens

I think that in the eyes of God, no lives matter more or less than others’. I believe that He loves all of us equally, and hopes that each of us fulfill our lives by spreading His love through our given gifts. I think a “life that matters” is a life that is spent with a true heart, loving others, and loving God. I hope to spread His love here and make real connections with our brothers and sisters in Slovakia! I will keep you updated on my experiences here in Hybe!

Thank you so much for all of your support!! To read more about my experiences, check out my blog online at:
www.ashleyrenslovak.blogspot.com

New Address:
Ashley Severson
C/o Jana Turcanova
Hybe 572
032 31
Slovakia

Email: ashseve@hotmail.com
Phone: 00.421.918.310.062

*To learn about the volunteer options through the Young Adults in Global Mission Program, visit: www.elca.org/globalmission