Oats and beans and barley grow…..

(…. Well, less of the oats and barley but cassava, beans and bondwe (pronounced ondwe) doesn’t have quite the same ring to it!)

Yesterday we harvested the first vegetables from the school garden. We have planted a school garden before a few years ago but most of the produce got eaten by people who shouldn’t have been taking it! This year we have a fence around the school and Grade 2 have been working really hard grow some vegetables. First they cleared the patch, hoeing and adding manure then they planted the seeds. They took good care of it watering every day as soon as they got to school, usually without needing to be reminded.  Last week there was great excitement as the beans had begun to grow over half term and today some of them were ready to pick.

Over the next few months I hope to be able to pick a few vegetables every day and the Grade 2 children will get to take turns to take them home.  The children chose to plant ocra, eggplant and green beans then found the bondwe and cassava growing as self sets. Four children went home today with enough veg for their families. I was very impressed with their carefulness in only taking what they thought they would need and not being selfish.

We also had rain on Monday. This was a great relief as temperatures had been rising. Since then the sky has been grey but no more rain. We hope it starts again soon.

6 Years and counting!

Lessons in the bedroom. 2009

Seven weeks ago I returned to Zambia to start my 7th year living here. 27 August 2009 I landed in Lusaka International Airport at around 6.30 am, I thought 1 year was going to be a long time, little did I know….

Looking back over the last 6 years lots has happened and changed. Looking back over the last 7 weeks the same can be said but through it all God has been constant. 

My role here has changed a lot since moving. Originally I was here to work along side Don and Christine teaching around 14 boys who had come into Old MacDonalds home and needed to settle into home life, come off drugs and catch up on school work. Now I am running a school with just over 100 pupils from the local area and only 2 boys that stay with us are in school with me.

Lessons in the hall. 2009

There were no dorm buildings, the boys use to live in the house with us when I moved,  30+ boys and the family in 1 house. Now they are all at the dorm. 

There was no school building, even the little building we used was a house for a worker and her family. 

The longest I spent in 1 room without moving to a different room in the first year was 5 weeks. Now I have my own room which is big enough for a comfy chair/desk and has my own bathroom. (without hot water but thats a power/water pressure issue, it could work one day, maybe!) 

We used to have a fairly steady electricity supply except in rainy season, now we have daily power cuts for at least 8 hours. 

The first classroom at Taonga school.
2011

Internet was hopeless - it still is! Between power cuts and the internet having ‘a fault on the line’ we have had a working connection for 2 days out of the last 10.

The exchange rate was K5-£1 now its K18-£1 and climbing daily as is the price of everything. 

This is just the beginning of the list for the last 6 years, but looking over the last 7 weeks there have also been many changes.  Changes of plans, expectations and jobs.

Since coming from the UK Christine has been in South Africa for 5 weeks suffering from encephalitis and an auto immune virus which left her very weak and unable to even lift a fork. She has been slowly improving but it has lead to a reassessment of all the things we are doing. 

The bakery is scaling back its work for now. No more tea parties, just bread and simple orders. We need a full time manager to be able to take over what Christine was doing.

The first class of Taonga School.
2010

We are no longer adding another grade to school next year. Instead we will take a year to consolidate what is there and make it a great school! This reduces the pressure to build and find reliable staff.

So, plans change but the work continues. 

None of us know what is in the future.

Thank you for your support over the last 6 years, through all the changes and decisions that have been made. 

Taken for granted

The other day while I was in town with someone who works with us we were talking about what the UK was like. We have this conversation fairly regularly. Either I will point something out that absolutely, totally, would never, ever happen in the UK or he will ask if we have dirt roads, question why you can't buy live chickens...  or something like that. It got me thinking. There are so many things here that are different, yet after living here a while its just normal. 

This time our UK vs Zambia conversation started driving through a compound. (Township) This was the edge of the road. Look at the white line, you can see how close the cars pass by the market tables. Imagine the health and safety and risk assessment paperwork on that!! 




If you need credit for your phone, fruit, a newspaper, cockroach killer, dog leads, games, posters, CDs or a wide selection of clothes all you need to do is wind down your window as you pass by. You don't even have to get out of the car to fill your car up with fuel. Just wind the window down, wait for the man (or woman) to fill the car and hand over the cash.

There is advertising everywhere. Big and small billboards, tv screens, adverts painted on walls, signs... you are bombarded! 

Shops can be made of pretty much anything. Old pallets, plastic bags and asbestos sheets taken off the last building to be pulled down. (The wooden poles stacked on the first level of the building are scaffolding poles.)



Scaffolding is not always made of metal, doesn't have safety nets and doesn't look that sturdy. 

You can also buy ANYTHING you need or want on the side of the road. 

Live chickens so they can be eaten fresh.

Ornamental concrete ducks. (Or flowers/vases if you prefer)

Some tyres for your car... brand new second hand!

 An armchair..... 

or 3 piece suite, if orange is your colour!

Drawers or baskets

A school bag, hand bag, man bag or clutch.

Plants

Bricks to build your house, or school. Actually, any building material you can imagine can probably be bought from the road. Roof sheets, building sand, cement, concrete pillars, stones...

it really is very different to 'back home' but you get used to it and now, having to get out of the car at a petrol station seems very inconvenient! 

and just as a side note... check out the clear blue sky! You get use to that as well!

Back in the classroom

Last week, for the first time in almost 6 years, I have had a classroom of my own, with a single year group of children, and have not been worried about training someone who is watching me! (except the children) It has been so much fun! The teacher who started in January decided he wanted to go back to the village and as he was on trial didn't have to give a notice period. We have 'gone on a bear hunt', made our own story books, designed a false roof for the classroom, learnt about recycling, set up class jobs, practiced lots and lots of English speaking and I have learnt more Nyanja.

In the next few weeks I will be looking for a teacher in Grade 2. There are a few different options with pros and cons to each one.

• I could find a trained teacher.  You can end up having to un-train them to retrain. However they should have some basic teaching knowledge, depending on their experience. 
• I could find an untrained person and train them myself. This means investing a lot of hours back in one classroom which would take away some of the time I spend doing other teachers training. However I can train them how I want them to teach. 
• I could share the teaching with Sam who could do 2 days and I will do the other 3. That means I don't have time in the school day for the other admin/training that desperately needs to happen, so it's not really an option. 

Currently I am sitting on two applications for people in the middle category. Next week we will call them for interview and be quite strict about the level of English and their own knowledge before considering that option. 

The container arriving

Other than teaching we have been busy with emptying a container. We were gifted a 40ft container a few weeks ago that was stuffed full of all kinds of things. From bikes to bookcases, clothes and computers. It really was a treasure trove of goodies. The understanding is that we will share out the contents with vulnerable children and families throughout Lusaka so we have started doing that. Some things will be kept for when we have new classrooms, the boys all got new mattresses and are looking forward to sharing out some clothes. The garage, the assembly area at school and pretty much every available space has stuff stored in it. 

Both at school and around home there had been a lot of sickness. I am back to serving cough mixture as though it is a nice drink at school. At home a couple of the boys have had a string of illnesses, coughs, colds, upset stomachs and things that seem to be lingering. 

Please pray for:

- A new teacher who is trainable.

- The Grade 2 children with the changes in the classroom.

- Me juggling teaching and managing for the time being.

- Health of everyone.

Friday revision maths game

Beginning to unload the container

Oscars glasses!

Friday treat, learning how to make puzzles.

Creation

Big Art

Cricket

Contents from the container going to its new home.

Unloading the container

Donation appreciation

Tuesday saw us open school. It was good to see some of the children again after almost a month. Not all of the children have reported to school yet but I am sure by next week most will be here. So far I have had 15 new children register and again I am in the position of only being able to offer spaces on the long waiting list. It is frustrating that the children didn't come in January as they have missed a term of work already. I have also had a few ‘car registers’. This is how we refer to people who can afford to send their children to a more expensive school, they just don't want to. It is hard to know what to do with these children. The school is not here for children like that however some of the parents come purely because they have heard its a good school where they actually learn to read and they genuinely want a good education for their children. Recently I did some work looking into some educational statistics for Zambia. Only 10% of children that pass grade 7 (end of primary) do so with an appropriate reading age. Even less can write 100 words in English about themselves. They pass their exams because it is multiple choice.  I know, if I was asked to write 100 words in any foreign language I would fail, but these are children who should have been taught primarily in English for 7 years and English is the official language of the country. It is shocking but not unbelievable when you see the standard of some of the teaching and see class sizes of 70+. Let us hope Taonga school doesn't slip into those statistics and does its bit to improve them.

At Taonga school we are so happy to be recipients of many generous donations. On Wednesday we received new book bags for all the children. These have come from a company in the UK that had spare bags they wanted to donate somewhere… as I said, happy recipients! 

Just look at them. They have our school name, match the uniforms and are fairly sturdy (my children will test them to the limit!) School bags are not an essential item, plastic bags or old sacks can make do but having something strong and purpose made makes such a different to protecting reading, library and homework books. We are really very thankful to all involved from giving the bags, the time to print the school name (all individually screen printed) and giving up suitcase space. 

THANK YOU! 

Fire!

Yesterday when I got home from church I was asked what the black stuff down the side of school was.
"I don't know...paint?"

Well, I went to investigate the mysterious black stuff....

At some point in the night the electrics had decided to overheat and catch fire. There used to be a security light near the roof. The whole thing has burnt and fallen without our night security guard noticing. I wonder what he was doing - couldn't possibly have been sleeping on the job, surely!

The bulb, despite falling to the floor, is still in tact.  It could have been due to fluctuations in power supply, faulty fixings or a faulty wiring job. Those of you that have seen some of the electrics here will be surprised these things don't happen more often.

We are very glad that the wooden beams didn't catch light and nothing major was damaged. If it had been a light round the corner of the building they are attached to the wood. Then the whole roof could have gone up.

I think I will leave the black stain... it might remind some people to turn off the lights and plugs when they lock up in the afternoon. 

Stop that show!

In the last month things have been a bit dramatic around here!

Taonga Children filling the seats!

In the last 10 weeks we have pulled together and staged a big fundraising concert in aid of Lusaka Childrens Charities.  This includes both of our 'projects', the boys and the school. Kasisi Children's home, Zoe's Hope, a premature baby home. Little Asissi, a special needs home and a few other places. We bought out 22 students from the royal conservatoire of Scotland to perform songs and dance from different shows and musicals.

On the Friday afternoon there was an 'open' dress rehearsal. Almost 400 children from the 7 charities we were supporting and other orphanages that had been invited filled the seats unsure of what to expect but very excited at the prospect of an 'outing'. 

Two hours later they emerged having sung and danced their way through the show, cheering for every number, to receive a goody bag from the cast and head home with drinks, fruit, pens, a note book, sweets etc. I rode home with our children on the back of a lorry, they talked non-stop then started singing that they were not getting off the lorry and wanted to go back.  (Notice my black outfit?... I was in the pit orchestra which was lots of fun!)

Receiving goody bags from the cast

Riding in the lorry.

Following the children's afternoon we put on two more shows. Friday evening for adults and Saturday Matinee for families. Both performances were very well received. Saturday was a sell out.  Now it is one week later, the performers have gone home, the house seems very quiet and the only complaints I have had is that there were not enough shows and it was in school holiday time so some people were away and missed it.

We are so pleased with how this all went and FNBank (our biggest sponsor) want to make it a an annual event. With a bit more time to organise we want to make it even bigger and better...

Moringa Tea

Other things have also been carrying on. We finished Term 1 just before the fundraiser.  It was a busy, yet good end to term. A few children have stopped in the course of the term.  Some parents struggle to pay the small amount each month and instead of coming and asking for work on the farm - which is offered to the parents - they just keep the children at home. For some children the novelty of school wore off. These children don't have anyone at home telling them they must come every day. However there are always children to take their place. The newest addition, Oscar, has recently moved from the village. It has took him a good 2 weeks to come near me and he is still very wary of his strange white teacher!  We also had a lot of sickness at the end of term. Every morning there was a line of 40+ children for cough mixture and children were given extra Moringa tea at break time. Moringa tea is made from dried leaves of Moringa trees and is full of goodness. (You can find out more here)

Pretending to be Teacher Abi

I have another two weeks of school holiday. Last week I was in school with teachers doing some training and planning. For the next 2 weeks I only have 2 jobs to finish and a board meeting to prepare for then school will be locked and the keys hidden for a while. 

Happy at school

We thought the rains had stopped early this year. For almost two weeks no rain came, then it started again - every.single.day! This is one of the worst case scenarios for farmers. (so i'm told) The maize would have started to wilt with no rain. The rains starting again will lead to cobs rotting on the plant and not being harvestable. So now we are hoping for rains to finish quickly before everything is damaged.

Please Pray:

- Health of the children over the holiday.

- Thanks for the successful fundraiser.

- Rains... to have been enough and stop before the crops are spoilt. 

- Me to finish school work and get a proper break.