July 8, 2011
Before we jump into the goings-on of today, we must tell you some exciting news: As we predicted in Tuesday’s blog, Life has begun to pave the way to bring more English into the project. For some time we have realized that hiring teachers with a formal teaching background (the folks in the cooperative who serve as our teachers are not formally trained and have not needed to be as we are not a formal school) is key to our success. We do not intend to become a formal school but recognize that having trained teachers is the step we need to offer English proficiency to our children. We got word from a very generous family foundation donor that they would like to give us a $5,000 matching grant! They told us we can use it where we see it would make the greatest difference, and we plan to use it to recruit teachers. So, if you feel moved to assist us in securing this matching grant (we must raise $5,000 from the Sangha to match the $5,000 from the foundation) please go online and make a donation to the Africa project and note: “Teacher fund” in the notes field. As we talked about with Rose on Tuesday, giving our students the skill to read, write and speak English just may be the most important factor in their opportunity to succeed!
We never get tired of the welcome from the children when arriving at the Kantolomba compound. If we arrive while they are still on the property, they surround our car and call out greetings. Most of them are only beginning to learn English, but they have expertly learned the phrase, “How are you? I am fine, thank you.” So, we arrive at “work” hearing a sea of little voices asking, “How are you? How are you?” We should all be so fortunate as to always have that level of interest shown to our daily care and well-being (which we can through the R/L practice)!
What a good-looking group of kids!
This is the face she made when we said “seca!” (“smile!” in Bemba)
This little girl, Lilian, is in Theresa’s words, “very naughty.” We love her spark and so does Theresa who confesses Lilian is a favorite. Today Lilian looks like she has been rolling around in the dirt—very possible!
We can’t get enough of those adorable, handsome faces.
Today is our last day on the property. Rebecca leaves tomorrow and Jen flies out on Monday. We have lots of tasks to complete, the first of which is to make signs and reminders about the agreements and practices we discussed this week with the team. After a few minutes of sign-making, Rose comes in and asks if we can be interrupted to come and meet her girls. Of course!
Rebecca makes a door sign reading, “Sister Rose’s House.”
Reflective Listening is a skill that would help communication within the cooperative. The members are beginning to practice it with each other.
Rose has a group of 11-14 year old girls that she has been working with. Most recently, she has been calling it the English Club. This club, by special invitation, is to teach the girls English and lead them in activities that will support their overall education and health. When we arrived, they all stood and sang a song for us, and then one by one said their name and their age, in English! The captain of the team, whose name we confess we cannot remember, is a bright, out-going 12-year-old who clearly has leadership qualities and an appetite to learn. We were especially touched by Rose’s deep love and commitment to these girls. As they introduced themselves, the look of pride on Rose’s face was beautiful.
The English Club that Rose has started with the 11-14 year old girls.
We loved the look on Rose’s face as she watches the girls introduce themselves to Jen.
The captain of the club—a bright young lady!
At the leadership meeting yesterday, as we talked about the stove and sewing agreements, we also discussed the importance of creating quality products and providing quality service. A few months back Cheri had the idea to use: Kantolomba Kuality—KK—to begin branding the products the cooperative will make and sell locally. We are convinced that if the cooperative becomes known for quality, consistency and fairly priced products, they will have more customers than they can keep up with. We created promotional tags that will be attached to every stove and every sewing garment sold. The laminated tags promote the “Kantolomba Kuality” that we are striving for and provide the phone number to place an order. A Pulumusa stove, finished that morning by the men, was the first product to get to wear the “KK” tag! A moving side-benefit of KK is that being a slum community, Kantolomba and its residents are often looked down upon. We are excited for the day when Kantolomba becomes known for its care and attention and those who live there are proud to be members of the community.
This sign will be posted as a reminder to the team of the agreement to only sell items of the highest quality.
The first Pulumusa stove made with the barrels Friday brought out just yesterday! (See the Kantolomba Kuality tag tied onto the handle?) Theresa told us Charles is already doing his part to promote KK in reminding the men over and over as they work on the stoves that “we must make them the highest quality.”
We hope these tags will be great advertisement to spread the word about our products.
The sewers have tags for their products also.
Foster and Jen pose with some of the co-op’s top-notch merchandise!
Rebecca displays the skirtolomba, the stove, and the floor mats that Rose and her girls make from Mealie-Meal sacks.
After lunch, the group gathers for a Health talk. The topic is “Clean water practices.”
Peter delivers the lesson on clean water, stressing the importance of not washing hands and dishes in dirty water, but to use several bowls or even running water for good hygiene.
This little chick has clean water to drink, too, thanks to the well dug by the Living Compassion team.
Soon, it was time to take Martha’s car back to her. You may recall, she is generously letting us borrow her car each weekday for our transport needs. As we began to wrap up our projects and make sure the sewers have enough chitenge to keep them busy (always a challenge for these sewing whizzes), the rest of the co-op gathered on the porch to say good-bye. The songs began, those beautiful voices singing their good-byes. Some songs were in Bemba, but one or two were in English. One line that was particularly touching: “Though you are going very, very far away, we will never forget you!” We said good-bye to each of them, one by one, feeling very grateful to have such a loving community of friends. Though we live very, very far away, we will never forget them either!
Rebecca says goodbye to Georgina’s daughter, Gloria.
Foster holds Marian who, unfortunately, fell ill this morning and was taken to the clinic for care.
The Living Compassion Kantolomba Choir! What a sound they produce!
Rebecca and Jen share good-bye hugs and handshakes with the team.