The Next Step

 

About a month ago we met with the community and the headmen in the area to discuss the addition of a primary school to follow the education of the preschool.  We all agreed that for the children and the future of this community, it was best if we come together and build the primary school.  Jako and I were thinking that we might get some of it built this year and hopefully open grade one by 2014, but the school building committee got together quickly and already have a lot of the land cleared where they are going to want to put the school.  The more we thought and prayed about it, the more we think it would be a huge blessing to the children if we are able to complete the first building before this year finishes so that we can open grade 1 in January.  We know that if we send the children elsewhere for a whole year, they will regress in their learning and maybe even loose interest in learning.  The children have come so far this year and are doing so well, we want to continue that for them, providing them with a learning environment that continues to challenge their thinking, expand their minds, and expose them to things they wouldn’t otherwise be exposed to. 

I am asking you all to spread the word, begging those around you to pray for this vision…asking God to provide everything that we will need for this to happen.  We can’t do this alone and greatly appreciate all the prayers and help we can get!! 

 

 

Thank you for your support and encouragement this far, I only pray that you all choose to continue partnering in God’s kingdom here in the villages of Zambia…

Rapia Maningi

 

“Rapia Maningi” means “very hot”…these are the words I have been hearing in the afternoon from the older children describing the slide as they are using it.  Since we used a flat piece of metal to make our slide, it is a prime suspect for heat when the sun is out.  Thankfully, we are in our winter time, so even though the slide is hot, the children are able to use it most days.  I have secretly been worryinh about what we were going to do to create shade for term 3 when our days are regularly over 120 degrees (that is a hot sun).  After coming back from the Reggio conference I was looking for ways to challenge the children and get them thinking more critically and solving problems…at the same time trying to figure out what to do about the slide problem…then it hit me…ask the children!!  And I did…  I asked both of the older classes to help me solve this problem and it has been the beginning of a wonderful study. 

How can we keep our slide from getting so hot??

For the past couple weeks the children have been thinking about ways we can “create shade”, everything from planting trees to building a house over the slide.  The more we have talked about our ideas, drawn them on paper, and even built small 3D versions of them, the more both classes have come to an agreement on how they want to create shade for our slide.  At this point they are planning on getting “poles from the bush” to “build a house” around the slide with a “roof on top”.  One class thinks they only want “four poles around the bottom” with "four poles on the top for support” and the other classes hasn’t yet discussed that part of the process, however, it should be pretty easy for them to agree on the number of poles around the bottom.  The only factor that hasn’t been completely agreed upon is what to make the roof out of…some friends want “grass”, others want “sticks”, some are saying “fibers”, and some are even thinking to put “iron sheets” on the roof to make “shade”. 

This week we are making plans to finish the layout of the “house” and then ask “dads”, “brothers”, “mothers”, and even “grandmothers" to come and help us cut down the poles at the length the children want to build their shade.  So far the children have risen wonderfully to the challenge and are having a lot of fun collaborating on this project and I know that when they finish creating their “shade”, it will be a very proud moment for each child who has participated in the process. 

 

I will be sure to post the final pictures as we move forward in the progress of the project!

No Nshima for a Week?!?!?!?!

 

 

This was the traumatizing thought Medis had leaving the bush to head for South Africa for the Reggio Emilia Conference...how can I survive without nshima for a week??  Medis has never really left the comforts of her village life here near Mukamba...I must say, she was extremely brave leaving her family, her home, her village, and her country with someone she only met a few months ago to a place she has never been before.  Well Medis and I made it to South Africa for our training conference a few weeks ago.  God arranged everything perfectly for us to get there and what a blessing this week and conference were to us. 

 

The conference was held at a private school in Johannesburg and it was the first International Africa Reggio Emilia Alliance Conference, one they hope to have again next year.  They had arranged speakers from all over the world to come and share how their educational programs have been inspired by the philosophy of Reggio Emilia.  The two main speakers came from Reggio Emilia, Italy and shared many amazing stories about their schools and the learning that takes place among children of all ages.  They gave many practical ways on how to expand our thinking as educators, so that we can become more flexible in our thinking when it comes to children and their environment.  Medis was very receptive to all the speakers had to say and she learned a lot about how this philosophy really values to individuality of each child and helps them each reach their own potential inside the classroom learning together.  I was also inspired to challenge the children more in areas of interest to them in order to enhance their learning experience at our school here in the village.  The other speakers from Singapore, Sweden, Ireland, and South Africa showed great examples at how the Reggio philosophy has been implemented into their programs and how rich the process of learning is for the individual children who are impacted by it.  We greatly enjoyed hearing from everyone and we both left feeling very challenged to try and make our program better for the children who are attending it. 

 

 

That being said…I have decided to take some of the personal money I have to build a couple additions onto the school.  The space I have for the children is quite small and I would love to give them more space to use in their learning time at the school.  We have just begun the building process of two smaller rooms on the back of the school.  In the smaller room, we are planning on putting in a light/shadow room, where it will be dark and hopefully build a light table for the children to use to explore light and all its properties.  By doing this, we will also have to put in solar power and we are trusting God will provide as we need for this project!!  The other room is a bit bigger and we are going to transform it into a permanent art studio where we can have all our art supplies on display and shelves for the children’s art work to dry and be put on display.  These two rooms will open up the main area and create ore space for the children to use the materials we have out for them. 

 

Please be in prayer as we are trying a new builder who is giving us a very fair price, but we are unsure of his building quality.  Also pray for the process as we are hoping to start at the end of this term (a couple weeks) and complete it before we open back up in September…that supplies come in, we have finances for it all, and that God is the center of motivation for it all!!