Visiting schools again...

Hello everyone,

It is a bright but cool morning here in Lusaka.  I have had a busy few weeks and going forward after Easter the weeks will continue to be busy as school holidays approach towards the end of April.  We have Good Friday and Easter Monday off so looking forward to a long weekend.

I have visited the nearest ECD centre to Lusaka twice this month.  It is in Mazabuka which is a two and a half hour drive from Lusaka (it used to take around 4 hours before they upgraded the road)!  It has only been in operation since 2020 and because of Covid-19 was closed a lot of the year!  So, I am starting to work with the ECD Committee and the teachers to help them in understanding how children learn and that they can use locally available materials to enable the children to have fun and play!

There are 2 teachers and 50 children so its quite a challenge for the teachers as you can imagine!  There are no play materials and only one toilet.  At least there is a tap at the centre so there is running water which we put in tap buckets for washing hands.  The children come from a range of backgrounds but the one thing they have in common is that they want to learn and they are happy!

Using rubbish for building and playing with

circle time with 50 kids is a challenge

Matching bottle tops to coloured circles

pegging onto an empty tub

Using scissors for the first time and doing quite a good job!

Exciting times with chalk and a chalkboard! No ipads here!

a seed pod and seeds for sorting/counting/playing!

I would love to visit our other schools but rainy season has been difficult with driving.  In Eastern province where many of our Primary schools are, the Education secretary assisted me to deliver some books to the ECE classes!

Mr Collins Nyirenda on the right, our Education Secretary

As you can see in the pictures below, getting stuck in the mud is not uncommon at this time of year!

So, while I am still at home a lot of the time, I am always amazed at the wonder of nature around me!  So blessed to stay in such a wonderful place in the middle of the city with trees and birds and other wildlife to take pictures of!

I know many of you love Poinsettia at Christmas!  Here, it is just beginning to blossom and we have actual Poinsettia trees - this one is in my front garden!  Quite different from the small pot plants in the UK at Christmas time!

This is Easter week and usually in our churches we begin with Palm Sunday and marching around the townships waving Palm branches and singing.  This did not happen this year and I must say I missed it - it somehow makes Palm Sunday more meaningful.  Easter week is usually a time of lots of church activities but those have also been cut back although church services are taking place.

We heard this week that Zambia will get some vaccines for Covid-19.  We have not been given a time line but just that some will arrive in the near future!  Meantime, we just take care and wear our facemasks and continue washing our hands as frequently as possible.   I carry hand sanitizer all the time in case I am somewhere water is not freely available!

We have a new school timetable which means the first term of school will not end until 23 April, 2021.  Then I will have a week of teacher training and teachers will have another week to prepare for the new term!  

I did plan to have a virtual ECD Board meeting - we tried but network was not good enough so we are going to try and bring everyone together for a 'real' meeting mid April!

So, its all go.  So thankful to God that we can continue to do some work and get out and about a bit, when I know that friends and family around the globe have really been staying at home!  We just continue hoping and trusting that the pandemic will soon be under control and we can get back to some sort of normal again!

Wishing you all a wonderful week.

Blessings,

Diane x