Hello there,
As I write this morning its just after 8am and 26 degrees C! Another beautiful sunny day which I know some of you would love. But….we have not had rains really since January and so crops, especially in the central and southern parts of Zambia are dying when we should be coming to harvest time.
Meanwhile in the Eastern province and other parts of Zambia rains have been heavy. In neighbouring Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi, cyclone Idai has devasted entire communities washing away crops, homes and people. This year, for much of this region will be a difficult one. Please pray for the people as they struggle to survive in many cases and as aid workers try to help them to get back on their feet again.
I have had a busy month of organising and visiting some of our ECD centres. I went to Livingstone and spent a couple of days in the ECD centre there. I met with the Pastor and Session clerk and we discussed the way forward with their centre which is doing quite well. We had a visit from the Teaching council of Zambia who are visiting all schools to make sure teachers are qualified and they have to register for a fee! Of course, none of ours in Livingstone have any qualifications for teaching and so we were almost closed down. We have managed to register the teachers on the condition that they begin a 3 year distance learning diploma course in ECD. This will be quite a challege as the cost of tuition alone is ZMK22,500 for the three years which is roughly £1500 and we have 3 teachers!!! I had gone to the Ministry of Education for clarification on the status of ECD teachers without qualification and was told it was okay as most teachers were not qualified. So…I am still investigating!!
However, the children were having fun, the teachers were engaged with them and I had a great time watching the teacher child interaction.
I then moved to Monze (on my way home) and visited the ECD centre there. Both teachers have diplomas in ECD so they are already registered. They have a good number of children although due to the death of their Pastor last year, the ECD committee has disbanded because of poor leadership! Now, a new Pastor has arrived and we will try to get a new committee before end of April, when I will be having a training course with them. Children were a lot of fun and it was nice to see some locally available materials made into activities! It was also good to see how some of the kids have really developed well since my last visit there last year.
I am still visiting Kabwata ECD centre on a less frequent basis because of lack of time!!! Its always good to see what is going on though!
I am part of an organising team for a finance workshop that Synod is holding in April. This workshop is for all accounts people in Presbyteries and Department as the synod attempts to get everyone to use the same recording and reporting system. The workshop itself is quite a challenge to organise as we have people from all walks of life – some with a good level of education and some with little. Some are computer literate and some are not. So, we are having two classes – one for computer literate and one for book keeping! We are privileged to have assistance from Ruairidh Waddell of World Renew and his team to guide us through this process.
I am also involved in helping to organise a programme for a team who will come in August from Hillsborough Presbyterian church. They are coming to spend time with the young people in Mtendere CCAP and the children in Matero CCAP! Plans are ongoing for this and I meet with Rev L Ng’ambi our youth director once a month in preparation for this visit. Pray for both teams (from Hillsborough as they prepare to come and from Mtendere as they prepare to receive visitors!)
Perhaps the most exciting thing for me right now is leading the process of developing a Child Protection Policy for our synod. We began the process last week when Miyanda (a teacher who used to work in Chilenje ECD centre before it closed) is helping to do some sessions with children at Mtendere Community School, on their thoughts about child protection and child rights. I meet with her next week to discuss the results of that. Then we will begin the next stage meeting key people in CCAP who are involved directly with children – the Education Secretary, the Community Schools Co-ordinator, Youth Director and the Sunday School Director. Please pray for this process as it is quite a challenge logistically to get everything done!
So, as you can see my work is very varied! I do enjoy it though and I am looking forward to visiting Eastern Province and the Copperbelt in the next few months to organise how we can help our ECD centres in these areas! The job is vast and I need help so please pray that we can find someone to assist in developing this programme!
Outside of work its been great having Frances, a South African friend in Zambia for a few weeks. I met her on the blipfoto site that I have been doing for the past 6 years – a photo a day. We have had some fun together and went to visit the elephant orphanage. I also belong to a group called Birdwatch Zambia and we have monthly walks which I enjoy…walking in the bush looking for birds and having some fun at the same time!
Until next time…enjoy your day!
Blessings,
Diane x
April 2, 2019
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