uncertainty

“Faith means living with uncertainty - feeling your way through life, letting your heart guide you like a lantern in the dark” Dan Millman

I was hoping to be typing up a very different blog entry but there´s been some interesting developments and I wanted to let you all know what´s going on. First things first, everything has been going awesome and I'm happy and safe and enjoying every minute in this beautiful country. Secondly I have some ambiguous news but I need to start from the beginning:

WorldTeach has a contract with MEP (Ministry of Public Education) that gives us our funding and allows us to volunteer teach in our schools. This contract is due to expire as of Feburary 5th and the current Field Director has been working on getting the next contract approved since July. The Minister has not approved the contract because apparently he was unaware that we were being funded (we get about $84000 for 24 volunteers and this pays for our room/board and part of orientation). He asked for an "investigation" into the program and the first report he received did not meet his approval. Currently the second report is making its way through the bureaucracy. As of today the contract has not been approved and its not looking good. Wednesday is the deadline WT is giving the situation at which point we have several options.

If the contract is approved on or by Wednesday then we will merely have a slight delay before we can start teaching. If it is not approved or if there is no decision made on or by Wednesday then there will be no WT Costa Rica program this year. I will have the option to transfer to another WT program in another country (I'm looking at Namibia, Marshall Islands, Columbia, American Samoa and/or Tanzania... lots of factors to consider... some of them wouldn't start again for another 5 months to a year). If I do not do this I will receive 50% of my program fee back in addition my return flight to do what I want. But don't get too excited yet... I'm not ready to come home just yet!!! I can either find another program to work with or continue on my own, paying my host family from the money I receive and volunteering my teaching services at the school I was assigned.

Right now I'm willing to wait and see how things turn out because there's not much else I can do. Honestly though I'm pretty excited at the opportunity for a new adventure and can't wait to update all of you on what I'll be doing. I'm definitely set on staying in CR for some time and my first choice would be to stay at my site as an independent volunteer. I will update you all again come Wednesday/Thursday. All your amazing words of encouragement are ringing in my ears this week and I'm taking time to seek clarity and confidence as I approach the unknown. Your thoughts and prayers are much appreciated!!!