November was an exciting month. We had lots of visitors and it kept things real busy here.
Teacher Training
We started the month off with a teacher training. We hired three new teachers for the upcoming year. Before we made the hire, we had all potential candidates attend a training and then we chose our top three from the group.
Here I am teaching a reading group with the teacher candidates observing in the background…
Observing Thelma’s grade 2/3 science class…
Fortunately, we had Laura Campbell, Kathy Headlee’s sister, as our trainer. The school is modeled after her school in Utah. She trained everyone on how to use Direct Instruction. It was wonderful having her here.
George and Fred will be helping us at the school.
Raulyn (Innocent’s wife) and Phalus are two of the new hires. They are AMAZING!!! I’m so excited to work with them in this next year.
Brenda is also another full time teacher and Lord will be doing a lot of the administrative work for the school.
We practiced the program lots and lots during the training.
Telos Volunteers
We also had about 15 volunteers from Telos, a Boys High School Treatment Center from Orem, UT. There were about 7 boys and 8 adults. They stayed with us for an entire week out at the farm. They slept in tents underneath the warehouse. We loved having them here and we were so sad to see them go.
They planted trees, started the foundation for the school, and cleared ground for a beautiful garden.
They gave the kids lots of good hugs.
Did activities with them.
Sat and watched the beautiful sunsets.
Made the kids awesome balloon toys.
Played lots and lots of games with the kids.
Spent hours and hours making math flashcards for the school.
They also spent hours and hours making copies for me. The kids were fascinated by the printer. They had never seen anything like it before in their life. When I showed them what it did they were speechless. I had them put their hand in the printer and then printed a copy of it. Absolutely blew them away.
The night before the Telos group left they did a little performance for us. Here they are doing a little dance to “All the Single Ladies”…hilarious.
And then we ended the night with a little interpretive dance, taught to us by Josh. It was a great way to end a perfect week. We wish Telos would come back soon.
Visiting homes of students
We had the opportunity to take the Telos group to visit some of our students homes. It’s always so humbling and such a great reminder to me of why I’m here.
This is the home of Beauty Mushuma. She has three younger siblings and her mom and dad work for MWB.
This is their toilet. You can see behind Beauty a little hole in the ground. It’s kind of like an outhouse but with only three grass walls and no roof. Every time I see one of these it makes me so grateful to have a toilet, even if it doesn’t actually flush.
I discovered that Button and Dan (the two older boys) live right next to Beauty. Their mom had a week old newborn. She spoke no English and I had to have the boys translate for me. It made me so happy knowing that the boys were getting a good education and would someday have a job to help support the rest of their family.
Thanksgiving with Zambike
I spent Thanksgiving with my Zambike friends again this year. I was so happy to have a place to celebrate and to be with so many awesome people. So many people in this world doing such great things.
Sarah got baptized
One of my faithful Young Women girls got baptized. We’ve patiently been awaiting the day when she would get baptized and it was wonderful to witness. I sure do love this girl.
Some more or my Young Women and leaders. I’m so lucky to get to work with them.
Progress of the School
We ended the first year of the school at the beginning of December. It’s been a great year. So many great things have happened this year…
#1 - the kids are reading. I LOVE sitting next to them at their reading check outs and listen to them read those words.
#2 – The kids are learning. I reviewed some of the stuff we talked about at the beginning of the school year and they remembered.
#3 – I got to teach more than just the CRC kids. What a blessing.
#4 – The kids are speaking English. Even the grade 1’s can understand what I’m saying. They don’t always know how to respond back but they understand me. The grade 2/3’s are doing such a great job with their English. They came in so shy and apprehensive and now they’ll speak to me English, tell me what they need, and have really come out of their shell.
#5 – The school has improved. Looking at pictures from when we first started to now shows the vast improvement of the school. A new floor, lots of great supplies, maps and posters on the walls, a library, lots of curriculum, readers, flashcards, etc… A big huge thanks to all the volunteers who made it happen.
#6 – We had three awesome teachers who helped throughout the year, Jacquie, Thelma and Betty. Unfortunately none of them will be back next year but I really LOVED having them here and appreciated all they did for the school.
Lining up for Parade on the last day of school…
As the kids were standing in parade I just felt so happy to have completed the first year. I felt so happy to think of the progress that all these kids made. I felt so happy to have been a part of it all. I love these kids with all my heart. I love all their little personalities. I love how funny they are. The things they say make me laugh. I love how hard they try to please me. I love how hard they try to do well in school. It’s been one heck of a year and I truly have LOVED it!!!
Grade 1 class…
Grade 2/3 class…
Grade 4/5/6 class…
On the last day we got out of school a little early and played a little hockey.
Farewells
Betty’s last day. She’s having a baby in February. I was sad to see her go.
Dala came to visit for a week. He’ll be staying with an uncle over the holiday break. So good to see him.
I said farewell to the rest of the kids before taking my holiday in America with my family.
The Scorpion
The morning before I left the CRC we found a scorpion in the boys room. It was huge. The boys kept irritating it and its little pincers and tail kept flying up to get someone. It was creepy. We chased the scorpion out of the house and then Lord put it in a container to keep as a pet. Poor scorpion!
Lunch and a Movie with Grades 4-6
The day before I left, I took the older kids to lunch and a movie in town. It was an adventure.
They had one of these blow up play structures and the boys played in this the entire time. They loved it.
The girls, on the other hand, were way too cool to play in the blow up machine. They walked around and did some window shopping.
Getting a little ice cream.
Even Father Christmas was there and gave the kids lollipops. They loved sitting on his lap.
Random Pics with the kids
