We have accepted a few older students into MICS. There are the 2 main classes of 1st and 2nd year students, and then there is a collection of older students at various levels. Some of these older students have not had much education and have had little to no exposure to activities which we would consider part of everyday life.
During this term break, Ronda has been working with 2 of the older boys. She is not only tutoring them to get them caught up to an appropriate academic level, she is also teaching them many other skills and exposing them to many different day-to-day activites. They have learned about making popcorn, baking cookies, putting together puzzles, coloring and even playing with playdough.
The boy in the picture is Mutinta. He is the son of Mrs. Esther (you might remember her name, as she is helping distribute seeds that were sent by our friends from New Hampton, Iowa). Mutinta is 11 or 12 years old (record keeping has not been a priority in Macha). This was his first time playing with playdough. He decided to make a computer, just like we have in the classroom...complete with chair, keyboard, mouse, and even a pair of headphone over the computer monitor. Pretty amazing and detailed for a first time sculptor!
When we decided to make the move to Macha, Zambia, we wanted to make sure that this new school would be truly a Zambian school. One that would be able to continue to operate under the leadership of Zambian people for many many years to come. While living in Botswana, we worked with a Zambian teacher named Mid Sakala. Through one of Gods many miracles, it worked out that Mid and her family were willing to move to Macha and help with the new school. This is allowing us to train a very talented and capable Zambian to run the school and eventually keep it going without outside help.
During this term break, we set out to obtain higher levels of government certification for the new school. We currently have the licence to operate the school, and we have the equivalent of county level certification. We were all set to get the next certification level, from the province (similar to state level), but the multiple offices that we visited were unable to coordinate exactly what they wanted and/or needed, so in true "African style" we are still waiting. But we are very optimistic...it is just a mater of LOTS of patience and many many hours (miles) of crosscountry travel and legwork.
During our trip, we got to take Mid and her daughter Hope to Victoria Falls, one of the seven wonders of the world. Something that they had not seen before...even though it is in their own country. The water level was high enough to create a constant mist cloud and the beautiful rainbow that you see in the picture. It is easy to see why this is considered one of the seven wonders of Gods beautiful creation!
It is time to celebrate the end of the first term for the 2007 school year!
We want to thank all of you that have gotten involved and helped with the many aspect of MICS and the village of Macha during this term. Without all your support and prayers, we would not be moving along as we are.
During the break, we have been very busy trying to get the next stage of government certification for the school finalized. We will update you more on that later.
The last day the term, we had a special entertainer from Canada. Lee sang some songs and played some games with the children. A great way to wind down the term!
Happy Easter....He is Risen!
It was fun, as we are all away from home. Even the people who are Zambian are most likely at the mission hospital away from their family.The trick was to cook the food for these thirty people with no power for the 24 hours before they came. (this happens all the time, but in this case, it was a scheduled outage) It was a little like "Survivor" meets "Amazing Race" for me!
Some people did bring things and I used my camp burner. But God was good, the power came on about an hour before everyone arrived. I even got the quiche cooked in time. Dorien and I had an egg decorating contest and had to have different categories for prizes.
It was fun to see people get into it. Some chose partners and some wanted to work on their own. We all laughed alot and that is good for us to do here.It was a wonderful day to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus!
Today is Ronda's birthday...HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
If you get a chance, send her a quick email to wish her a "happy day" and to let her know that you are thinking about her, praying for her, and how much we all love and miss her! It sounds like some friends in Macha have planned an "adventure day" for her, so we will keep you posted about how the day was celebrated.
This Picture was taken a couple of years ago in Kenya. We all know how much Ronda loves giraffes, so it is an appropriate picture to celebrate the day!
We thought you might enjoy watching some of the MICS students singing a song called "There is No One Like Jesus"
As we approach Good Friday and then Easter Sunday, we are reminded that there really is "No One Like Him."
Happy Easter!
to start the video
Be sure to adjust the volume on your computer
so you can hear them sing!
