MCC school kits distributed in Zambia!

13.5KG boxes each containing 11 MCC school kits

How many of you have packed a MCC school kit? I've packed a couple over the years.  If you've never heard of them this is the list they contain with a link for more information from MCC's website:

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Contents (NEW items only)

• 4 spiral or perforated notebooks (about 21.5 cm x 27 cm ; 140 pages)
• 8 unsharpened pencils
• 1 ruler(flat, flexible plastic; indicating both 30 cm and 12 in)
• 12 coloured pencils (in packaging)
• 1 large pencil eraser

School kits are distributed in a useful double drawstring cloth bag (30 x 43 cm/11 3/4 x 16 3/4 in).  More here: http://mcccanada.ca/get-involved/kits/school

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I've received a new nickname from the schools this last term: the GOOD NEWS messenger.  There were 82 boxes total with 902 school kits total that arrived in Zambia to be given out to my schools.  I was put in charge to be the delivery person. Each of my 8 schools received a percentage of the boxes based on how many pupils attended the school. So, my largest school population received 16 boxes and the smallest school received 6 boxes. The schools were given the freedom to use the school kits how they thought best. Some chose to give the school kits away as a reward for good academic performance. Others dumped all the school kits out and made sure every student got at least something (example: the younger students got pencils and erasers, the older students received rulers and notebooks. The teachers were given the pencil crayons to use in class, which makes a lot of sense seeing as most students wouldn't have extra paper at home to just colour on!) Still other schools gave the kits to the orphan and vulnerable students. 

Every time I'd take school kits to a school I'd make sure the school knew that I was just the messenger. I was delivering blessings from those of you that packed the school kits. The schools were quick to inform me that I wasn't just any messenger, that I was a GOOD NEWS messenger. It makes sense. Many messengers do bring bad news and if you've ever lived in Africa you know that sometimes the package doesn't always arrive and disappears with the messenger (I'm still waiting for the postal system to deliver a package from April 2014 and November 2014!) It has been a blessing for me to be a good news messenger this term.

Travel along with me and be blessed! Here are some photos I've taken during the term of the process of delivering and later distributing the school kits.

Students carry the boxes of 11 school kits

Students help carry in the boxes of school kits. Got to love the one who put it on his head right?! Each box is 13.5KG, not exactly light! :)

Handing out pencils to the younger students

A good typical line up. No personal space! I have to line up like this at my favourite coffee shop in town.
Luckily the line up isn't as long as this usually!

Students waiting for the distribution of the school kits. I think this is my most favourite photo!

A student exclaims over a ruler.
(Though I'm not sure how I managed to capture
quite that look from the girl behind! Mid- expression!)

Another line up!

A teacher and her daughter. She had to let her hold a notebook while
they distributed school kit items as she wasn't pleased she wasn't getting
anything. (She attends preschool at the school her mom teaches at).

Students excitedly waiting to be given a pencil.

This student saw her coloured pencils and gave them a big kiss when she pulled them out!

At this school the administration asked the parents
and guardians of orphan and vulnerable students
to attend a quick meeting before the distribution.
They wanted to make it clear that the school kits were for
the orphan and vulnerable in their care and not to be
taken away from them to be sold or given to their
biological children. This is something I would have
never imagined needed to be said but after a couple years
 in Zambia makes total sense to me!

The last few months in pictures, work and fun!

Waiting for some cows to cross the road so I can drive across the bridge. 

This last year (since we've already been here 2 years!) my focus is switching and I'm going to be shifting away from doing formal workshops to being present in classrooms, mentoring in a more casual setting, the teachers at my schools. I have already found teachers are much more likely to ask questions they are wondering about or challenges they are facing when I spend the morning or afternoon in their classrooms. (I can usually visit 2 classes and teachers a day, as schools here only run half day. Though other classroom teachers often know I'm around so stop by to greet and chat).  I must admit that it's not very exciting to sit in a very hot classroom, especially since teaching here is very rote and no matter what Grade or subject I sit in the lessons follow the similar pattern of: teacher copies (from a teacher guide textbook or the student book) the lesson for the day. They orally discuss it (often because it is written in English, so it needs to be translated and explained). Then the students take time to copy the lesson from the board. I have had only a couple teachers where I've sat in and went "oh! That's different!" One was a teacher who took her class outside after school time so each could have some individual reading practice with her. Read more about this teacher and a friend of mine, here in my MCC FALL BIC report for 2015: http://mcc.org/learn/what/education/globalfamily/reports/2015/fall/brethren-christ-schools

another teacher, during a literacy lesson, divided the class in half. The ones still in desks did comprehension questions from the textbook and the rest of the class she worked with in a small group near the board. She was working with those in her class that could not yet read. 

To keep myself entertained, I've been taking photos while visiting classrooms. I also hope to give you a better picture of what teaching, classrooms, and students look like in Zambia.

If you make it to the bottom of the post you can see photos of me at Devil's Pool which is on Livingstone Island at the top of Victoria Falls. I got heat exhausting this term and the doctor told me to take a vacation! Luckily we had planned to go to Livingstone for a long weekend over Zambia Independence. I felt better on the Monday and a friend wanted me to go with her on this adventure. So glad I did!

Sikalongo Grade 5 A&B classes squeeze into one classroom as the school needed to use one of their regular
classrooms for voter registration. (About 60 in each class for a total of about 120 here together)

A teacher hands out words to read as her class breaks into small groups.
Grade 3

Grade 3

Grade 3A&B also squeeze into the same room this day due to community
needs at the school. Grade 3

Brooke Strayer, SALT peace worker, sometimes accompanies me to schools
as she works with peace clubs in the same schools.
Grade 2

Grade 2

Mildred Mafulo reads after school with her Grade 4 class. She is the teacher the Fall 2015 article for BIC Zambia Global Family schools is about.

Delon Muzyamba with her Grade 1 class

Delon Muzyamba collects books from her Grade 1s

Students in Grade 1 practice reading
in the local language of Chitonga

Grade 1 student practices reading a Chitonga beginner book

Many students took turns reading at the front. It was hot
and I secretly want to join this student in taking a nap!

Hanging over the ledge at Devil's Pool, Zambia on the top of Victoria Falls

What a view! After swimming in Devil's Pool (which you can see others at on the top right) we toured Livingstone Island.

Photos from "the bush"

I thought I'd share some photos with you from my school visit yesterday. I actually made myself stop and take some photos. (I've been telling myself to do this for the last 2 years!)

Along the way I also had a mongoose (see this link for a photo if you want: http://blog.wildlife-pictures-online.com/mammals/slender-mongoose-on-tree-stump/ and a monkey (spider monkey) run in front of the car. No photos as they were too fast!

Enjoy!

It's so beautiful and amazing to see the trees flowering at this time of year. Rainy season ended in March
with a few storms in May and not a drop of rain since.  This is a flamboyant tree just starting to flower.

The upper grades (5-9, English books) half of new libraries donated by Room to Read
The one pictured is at Sikalongo Basic School.
At least 3 other schools have also been blessed with these libraries,
and they look almost identical.  I'm very excited!

The primary grades (1-4, Chitonga language books)  half of new libraries donated by Room to Read
The one pictured is at Sikalongo Basic School.
At least 3 other schools have also been blessed with these libraries,
and they look almost identical.  I'm very excited!

Turkeys sitting in the shade in the school yard at Sikalongo

I call these "cactus" trees! I still love to see them when I drive (though they
usual hide and grow up with another tree entangled with it)

More cactus trees
This is the zoomed out view of the above photo.

A path divides.  Which way would you go (to get home)?

Answer: neither! (I walked a few steps off the "main" road (though it looks
the same!) to get the photo of the cactus tree!

Termite mound. This area has so many of them there's a farm nearby
called "Anthill Farm!"

A dwelling out in the bush. There was a girl peeking over the fence at me
by the time I walked back (to the left of the photo) where I parked
the car to take the photo of the cactus tree!

It's so beautiful and amazing to see the trees flowering at this time of year. Rainy season ended in March
with a few storms in May and not a drop of rain since.  This is a flamboyant tree just starting to flower.
This is the zoomed out view of the above same photo.

This is the road I was driving on.  It looks much different than the
picture of the two paths I showed you earlier right?! :)

Another picture of my village road (between Mboole and Sikalongo schools)

Another picture of my village road (between Mboole and Sikalongo schools)
This road has some really deep sandy places.

The landscape views. It's dry and dusty season!

See the cell tower?! I have reception on my cell phone almost every place I
drive in the bush to get to my village schools. Pretty amazing!

See the cell tower?! I have reception on my cell phone almost every place I
drive in the bush to get to my village schools. Pretty amazing!
This is the zoomed out view of the above photo.

Landscape. Dry and dusty and what I see almost every day. When I
first arrived these views made me say "I'm in Africa!" every day.
Now I am used to it. :)

The road I drive on. If there was a chiropractor in town I'd keep him in business!  I am good friends with my mechanic! 

Landscape

It's so beautiful! And you can see it in dry season without the grass (in front) being 10 feet tall!

It's so beautiful! And you can see it in dry season without the grass (in front) being 10 feet tall!
This is the zoomed out view of the above photo.

I also got invited for lunch at a teacher's house and enjoyed my time with her. I am just now starting to feel the teachers are seeing me as a friend and not just a visitor who comes to the school frequently. I accepted the invitation for lunch even though she said we were having kapenta with our nshima. (Small fish - with heads on still along with the typical corn (maize) white ball that you eat it with). She also mentioned beans - which I love. And of course there was a green vegetable as well. I was also eyeing her solar and battery power equipment as I know the school has no electricity - but she was easily running her television!  We need all the advice we can get now with our power out for 8 hours a day (see post before this one for details!)

Prayer requests:
-Safety as I drive to village schools again
-Safety for Andrew as he drives workers at Chodort home at 8pm since they are working later shifts to make up for power outages
-Pray that my eye infection clears up (yep, more eye issues. I caught this one much earlier than last years so hopefully it will just be a minor annoyance)

An update!

Hello all!
Hope you are doing well.  Term 3 started yesterday so I thought I'd take time to write a blog before I start driving all over the place and visiting schools again.

We adjusted easily to Zambia again after our vacation to B.C. and Alberta for Michael and Emily's wedding. Kate had a bit of anxiety over being by herself in our large house but it is getting better again.

We've been back in Choma just over a month and I've already watched 2 seasons (yep, seasons, not just discs) of Glee and read 5.5 books.  There really is not much to do in the evenings.

Another adjustment has been "load shedding" in Zambia. It began a bit before we left but when we came back in August there was a consistent schedule where we could expect the power to be off for 5 hours a day.  A couple weeks ago the schedule was all over the place and one Wednesday we had the power off for a total of 12 hours during 3 times in the day. That week, we now know, was ZESCO (the power company), switching us to a new schedule.  It has been more scheduled again but we are now up to 8 hours a day of power outages. Lusaka is worse. They have 11-12 hours of power outages per day (scheduled). However, even today (Tuesday) we have had 2 outages that were not expected.

Our schedule right now is as follows: (in 24 hour time)
Mondays: 6:00-14:00
Tuesdays: 22:00-6:00
Wednesdays: 14:00-22:00
Thursdays: 6:00-14:00
Fridays: 22:00 - 6:00
Saturdays: 14:00 - 22:00
Sundays: 6:00 - 14:00

We are learning to be flexible. (I love having planned outages - I can plan! It's the surprise ones that I need to roll with more).

I am so sad that Weds. evenings the power is off and I'm working at finding a way to run my computer for a couple hours so I can have internet and join my Bible study group again. Our free internet doesn't work without ZESCO but I can use a dongle and get internet through the cell towers. It just costs more.  Plus my computer battery only lasts about 15 minutes, so we have purchased a back-UPS power supply to try out. It managed to run my computer for about an hour on Thursday when the power was off. I'm hoping it just needs more charging as it was still fairly new.

Back-UPS

We have a few solar lights and candles that we use when the sun goes down and it gets dark (around 6pm usually).  Andrew tried making a solar stove yesterday with some success. He got water in a pot quite hot! We also have a charcoal stove, but mostly we just eat something we don't have to cook! Much easier.

Solar and battery lights

solar battery. we just found this so Andrew's
trying to get it working

the two parts of the solar stove

solar stove

It sounds like it's going to be getting worse before it gets better. Rumours abound and no one really knows the truth. Articles are printed by the papers in Zambia such as this one: https://www.lusakatimes.com/2015/09/01/zescos-rescue-plan-as-zambians-brace-for-worsening-load-shedding/
But other rumours floating around (besides just low water levels at the Kariba dam) include: 1) the Kariba Dam needs to be fixed as it has not been maintained (and therefore early rains will not be the solution). 2) ZESCO is load shedding so there will be less riots when they have to completely turn off power to fix the dam (getting us used to no power) 3) make your own up - I've probably heard it!

Along with the power shortages there are water issues.  I'm pretty sure the water levels are lower this year however the Choma dam (where our town gets its water) still looks okay. So, I'm not sure if it's low water levels (The rains stopped in March this year with a couple big surprise storms in May) or if it's a power problem (not being able to pump so much water.  We are finding out that the nice thing about our property flooding so badly in rainy season is that we must be one of the lowest points in Choma and therefore we have water longer than our neighbours do. we have no storage tank so we are depending on the town water supply.  To give you an idea our water bill has dropped to about 1/3 of the price it used to be. The water is coming out of our taps at 1/3rd of the pressure.  It's getting hard to shower!  Even our hot water tank doesn't help since it's pressurized, meaning it doesn't let water out unless it's coming in. Probably a good thing for preventing fires though!

So pray for Zambia. The Kwacha (local currency) is devaluing fast.  Businesses and mining companies are struggling due to power issues.  Charcoal prices are going up because even those with power now have to use it to cook. Those that are just making ends meet, who always use charcoal because they live in a compound with no power, are finding their small bits of money aren't stretching as far.  Zambia is expecting less rain this year too due to El Nino. http://www.postzambia.com/news.php?id=11170 (Lake Kariba is in Southern Zambia). I am expecting diesel prices to rise and perhaps even shortages. Gas (for gas stoves) is already hard to find.

Pray for the Zambian People. Those who depend on ZESCO need to find alternatives. Those who have never had power and don't miss it will struggle with rising prices of charcoal and low water issues. Where Andrew works: Chodort: the production crew are working during the power on hours which means a whole new schedule to adapt to.  They will have to figure it out again if outages become worse.

Pray for us, that we can be flexible. I bought out the Didsbury Dollar Store of all their glow in the dark bracelets while we were back. Best investment ever when I want to bribe the kids to stay in bed when the power is off!