SoMacha.com

A couple of weeks back, we were blessed by a visit from our Wisconsin friends, Greg and Kathy Smith. They were in Zambia on a mission trip. During their travels, they made the time to stop and see us and to see the wonderful things that are happening in Macha.The Smith's generously brought an extra suitcase packed with items that are not available in Macha or Zambia. It was just like Christmas...Thank You!
We are always excited to have visitors! There are so many things to see in this tiny Zambian village. There is always something new happening. If you are interested in stopping by the Macha Bed and Breakfast (otherwise known as our home!), we would love to have you!

The start of the second school year of MICS, means that we have a new class of students. It also means that we have out grown our temporary classroom that we were using last year. We have moved to a new temporary setting in the Macha Vision Community Center Complex. The new set up is large enough to have 2 separate class rooms for teaching both grade levels. This will be the home for MICS until we are able to complete the school campus...which hopefully will be sometime later this year.

We wanted to let you see how things are progressing at the new school campus site. The foundations have been poured for the school building and the staff housing. About 1/2 the needed bricks have been made. This process has been slow due to the heavy rains of rainy season. Things are moving along and we are excited with every step forward that is taken. If you would like to get involved in this amazing project, please contact us or take a look at the "buy a brick" program that has been set up at SoMacha.com. To those that have already gotten involved, Thank you for all the support toward the school and the building project. This is a major undertaking that would not be happening without both your prayer support and financial support. Thank You! Thank You!

Driving down the highway in southern Africa there are many hazards to avoid. It isn't just the potholes or other drivers that you have to worry about!We have been having problems with both electricity and internet access since our return to Zambia. With the power being out most of the time, we have been cooking on our camping stove and charging the computer batteries in the car with the car charger. One of the internet connection relay boxes was struck by lightning, leaving our home without a connection. Gil has created a make-shift office for checking email that puts him in range of the closest wireless connection. Sometimes you just have to make the best of a situation and follow the "African method". Hopefully we can get all this fixed soon!

The second school year for MICS (Macha Innovative Christian/Community School) began 2 weeks ago. The original class from last year has advanced to "standard 2" and we have started with new class of "standard 1" students. We are still accepting new students and it looks like we will have over 20 students enrolled for this school year!
With the additional new students, we have out grown the temporary classroom that we were using. We have moved to a new temporary setting that is divided to allow teaching of the separate classes. Everything was packed up and moved over the weekend. With the construction of the new school underway, we hope this is the last move we have to make before we get to move into the new building!
We needed plenty of help moving all the furniture and constructing new desk and shelves for the new space. It is finally starting to take shape. We will post pictures soon with everything completely set up.