I apologize for not posting lately. We've been incredibly busy!
We had a visit from American superintendent Richard Prather and Zambian board member James Crowder January 15 - 22. They may have set a record for the number of meetings conducted in one week, but we enjoyed spending time with them in between meetings.
The secondary school opened on January 12. We've been welcoming back our sponsored high school students and helping them get settled back into school routines. Every time I ask, "What did you do during the holidays?" I get the same reply: "Plowing!" December is the time for plowing and planting the maize crops. Even city dwellers get in on this activity as they are sent to the rural areas to work on the farms for their aunts, uncles, grandparents, and cousins.
The college opened on January 19--a week later than the originally scheduled date. The new women's dormitory wasn't quite ready, and there was no place to put the women, so at the last minute the decision was made to push opening back a week. A few students didn't get the message in time and arrived a week early. They didn't seem to mind having a few days of relief from plowing!
The opening of school means that many families are scrambling for money to pay school fees and buy uniforms. We've had a constant stream of knocks on the door from people wanting to do piecework. We have employed all we can manage, and as a result our lawn looks the best it ever has! We've also used workers to slash the tall grass in areas around our house and the dorms to get the campus looking nice for the start of school.
I was glad when we finally started having classes this week. I'm teaching educational psychology this term in addition to my English classes--a welcome challenge and change for me.
I'll post some other news in separate blog entries.
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