My First Church Service
Having been to Rwanda I had a bit of an idea what church might be like. I was not disappointed. A visiting choir made the service longer than usual but the singing was great. While I knew the service was long it did not seem that I was there for 3 ½ hours. I have to say that both for Zambian and Rwandan people I feel their singing is far better in their native tongue. The Kikaonde songs seem to suit their voices and in English the flow and pace seem off - I will leave it to you to ask what my voice sounds like when I try to sing along in Kikaonde.
The First Week of School
How would you react if you went to school and the classroom was a mess? How would you react if there was no water? Well I can tell you that Head Teacher Janet took things in stride. She hustled the custodian in to clean up the room and then went to fetch enough water for students to wash their hands after using the toilet. I did my best to be flexible and started by grabbing a cloth to wipe desks off. Then off with the students to sit outside while things are cleaned up. I am across the road and up a bit of a hill from the main school. Once the addition is completed then all the grades will be at the main area. It does add a bit of complexity as we must walk down for assembly three times a week as well as for PE and for first break. Speaking of PE, my grandchildren, Carter, Gracie and Aelowyn did some fund raising and purchased a couple of soccer balls for me to bring. I have introduced one and it is used every break every day.
How would you react if a brush fire was raging (as in flames crackling and reaching almost 10 metres high) just 40 or 50 metres from your classroom or house? This is day two and yes as part of the overall grass and brush clearing this time of the year, - which makes it sound very organised but it is not as random people start the fires - the brush was set ablaze along side the Mukinge Road. The fire of course moved away from the road and along anything that was burnable. This included the grass across the small field next to my classroom. I was unsure what to do. At home I would be calling the fire department or getting out the garden hose and watering like mad. Neither of these options was available as we still do not have water at the school and I have no idea if there is a fire department. I lifted my eyes and prayed for His hand of protection and then continued to teach. The fire stopped a mere 10 metres or so from the classroom building. It also went across the field and went right around a thatch roofed building.
Aside from the fire, during day two I am getting a more settled feeling. I would like it better if I could get rid of the sore throat so I could talk normally but things are going well. My students are pretty good to quite good in math but their English is definitely weaker. This, I should think, is to be expected as it is their second language. I must admit that it does feel weird being finished at 13:00. I am home and having a rest by 14:00 or 14:30. Oh yes, I am having to use the 24 hour clock - no am or pm here. I was leading the grade 3-5 assembly today. I was able to talk on Luke 17 and the themes of sin, faith, duty and faithfulness. Well I started today anyway. I have tomorrow and Friday to complete things.
I have completed my first week of teaching. The week ended very well - we have both water and hydro! I gave my students an English test today. They had some difficulty with understanding the questions which were right out of the textbook but did seem to put forth their best effort. We had the chance to take out books from the school library on Thursday and they are all reading away whenever they get a chance. While schooling is in English I can’t help but wonder if they will get the chance to read a novel in their own language.
Next week is a big week as we have the SIM Zambia Director and the Deputy International Director for Southern Africa visiting us here at Mukinge. As it is a big event, it will no doubt change schedules a bit. As I am still getting use to how things work around here my head sometimes feels like it is spinning as I try to sort every new part out. I am making progress, agonizingly slow progress, in learning phrases in Kikaonde. To sound out words is actually fairly straight forward. It is putting words together for the context that is the difficult part. So I have been using single words for now.
Saturday I am planning a walk about to use an Australian term. I hope to walk up and or around Mukinge hill. Then my next trek will be off to the BOMA in Kasempa for groceries.
Current prayer requests
* without providing details, two situations at school - a family grieving and a family at odds with the school
* my continued language learning
* clear communication of the gospel when I get the chance
* on going for Jennifer and I as we continue to be apart
* praise that our flights are rebooked (BA stopped all flights into Lusaka so our patient travel agent provided options and we are settled with flights again)
* For Jennifer when she travel’s as she has a very short connection time in Ethiopia
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