Saturday morning was the big grocery shop. We have really learned the ropes and relish spending as little time as possible doing errands in town. We made a good list and were able to go to one store to buy all the provisions we will need to last us a week. Excellent, now off to do what we came here to do—have fun!
And fun, it was! We will allow the pictures to tell the story:
Even if we are right on time for the start of a work day, we always find the team already underway.
Here Jen photographs the team painting the new school room for the pilot English program.
Agness painting the entryway to the new classroom.This structure used to be Brenda’s house. She recently got a roof loan and has purchased her own home. Very exciting for her and perfect timing for the project as we needed a new space to house the 10-15 children who will join us for this pilot program. We want to see if having preschoolers with us for the majority of every day (9am-2pm), immersing them in English, will enable them to be fluent in the language of commerce in Zambia. It is the ticket to every future opportunity.
Eugenia concentrating on her work.
When she heard the beautiful singing coming from inside the building, Phil was convinced that they must be in a church service, but, no, just painting. Everything is an opportunity to sing and express joy. No wonder we feel like family!
Next, we all headed out to start hoeing what is now a dirt patch outside the new classroom. Here is the plan: we will plant grass and possibly a little garden and fence in the whole area. And it is a magic fence. When you step inside the fence it is English only! We are playing with fun ideas such as donning a finger puppet as you enter to remind you this is Englishland and to call upon the part of you who DOES know English. An English-speaking subpersonality. Practice has so many practical applications!
Phil gets in on the hoeing action. We were all quite impressed how much ground we covered, literally. On Monday we will start planting.
Back in the classroom, the painting was finished in record time, including this special paint they use to create a chalkboard. Very neat and tidy looking.
Georgina measures for curtains for the windows.
As the day was winding down, Theresa called the team together to ask them to spread the word in the community that we are recruiting the children for the program this next week. There are 15 slots for 3-5 year olds in the pilot program, and there will be many more families than that who are interested! For this first round, we are looking for families who are very invested in their children learning, who will provide solid support for their child in the program.
We got to visit a bit with some of our friends. Mary has been in the program since the very start—she was one of the original 100 children (watch the video on the website and see if you can spot her!).
Mary’s twin sister, Susan, has an equally beautiful smile!
A fun bunch. Third from the left is Little Dave, next to him and slightly behind is Little Cheri (they aren’t babies anymore!).