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The Huron Expositor • November 25, 2009 Page 9
Halfpenny jumped at opportunity to teach
English and Science in Guatemala
Suean Hunde3rtmark
Three years ago, Amber Halfpenny
was in university studying towards
her environmental engineering de-
gree when a door opened that she felt
compelled to walk through.
A friend who'd been teaching Eng-
lish in Guatemala needed a replace-
ment and she asked Amber if she'd
like to take on the job for the next.
three months.
"I had three days' notice, I didn't
have my passport and my mom was
in England. I didn't speak a word of
Spanish and I didn't know anything
about the culture but it was an op-
portunity that if I wanted, was mine.
It was an open door and I needed to
jump at it," she says.
Now fluent in Spanish, Halfpenny,
28, is home in Seaforth for the next
two months in between 10 -month
teaching jobs at a private school in
Guatemala, where she'll return in
January.
"I really love it down there. I think
I have more friends down there now
than up here," she says.
Halfpenny started out teaching ad-
vanced English to Grades 3-6 and is
now teaching both English and sci-
ence in both English and Spanish. She
says the more proficient she grows in
Spanish, the more responsibilities
she acquires, including running the
school spelling bee last year.
"I love my kids," she says, adding
that teaching is the hardest job she's
ever done.
And, while she's teaching in a poor
country at a job that doesn't pay a
lot, Halfpenny says the opportunities
of learning about a different culture
and becoming fluent in Spanish are
opening up even more doors.
Halfpenny recently took on the job
of interpreter for a U.S. charity called
Healing the Children which brought
audiology testing and hearing aids to
some of the children of Guatemala.
She says there are a high percent-
age of children who are deaf in Gua-
temala and she's enjoying helping au-
diologists from Seattle interact with
the people and receive needed health-
care.
"I think in English and in Spanish
but going between the two is differ-
ent, she says of the challenges of in-
terpreting.
She's also become well known in the
small city of Morales as a competitive
runner, a sport she's taken up while
working in Guatemala.
While Halfpenny says she's enjoyed
running since participating in cross
country. meets • in high school, she
didn't begin to run in races until she
was encouraged to join some Guate-
malan friends.
"Now, I run every day so everybody
in town knows who I am. There are
tive. 'I want to run all the time," she
says.
Halfpenny says she's also loving
the food - she brought home three
large cans of black beans so she could
continue to eat black bean tortillas -
and the warm culture of Guatemala,
which involves a kiss on the cheek
Amber Halfpenny, pictured here with
mala, is heading back to teach in the
no other Canadians in the place so
I'm really visible," she says.
She's run three half marathons and
four 10 -kilometre runs in Guatemala
and just ran her first marathon in
Hamilton since coming back to Can-
ada this month.
Halfpenny says competitive run-
ning has become very popular in
Guatemala
where thousands
of people gather
mos{ weekends
for races through
Guatemala City
or throughout the
countryside in lo-
cations like sugar
plantations.
"You get to see
the scenery and
meet a lot of
people. Running
is becoming big-
ger and bigger
down there," she
says, adding that
because the tem-
peratures are so
much warmer in
Central America
than in Canada,
she's always en-
thusiastic to go
running.
"It's so addic-
some students from
bountry in January.
to everyone you
meet.
She toured
her mom, Susan
Earl, around the
country, visiting
Mayan and Span-
ish colonial ruins
and some of the
Halfpenny ran three half marathons
and four 10 -kilometre runs in Guate-
mala during her time there. Long-dis-
tance running is becoming a popular
sport there, she says.
her class in
Guate-
many volcanoes in Guatemala during
a recent visit.
And, while she had expected to be
working at a job in engineering in
Canada by now, Halfpenny says she's
glad she took advantage of the oppor-
tunity to teach in Guatemala and still
isn't sure where she will ultimately
end up.
"You never know where life will
take you but if you get offered an op-
portunity if you can do it, then go for
it," she says.
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