A Fun Filled Weekend

We are in our last few weeks in Bukoba.  In fact, we've got 19 days left.  It is hard to believe that it's almost over.  We are so excited to head home and see our friends and families.  But we are full of mixed emotions about leaving the school and the students we have come to love.

We are spending our last few weeks doing as many fun things as we can with the kids.  This past weekend was packed!  The morning started with the running club's 5k race.  The girls have been training since January.  They were so nervous but excited.  Of course the whole school came out to cheer them on.  I was so proud of how well they did.  One of my favorite parts is to see how they support each other.  The girls who had finished already, ran back to meet the last few girls and supported them to the finish line.  They are such a great team.

After the race, we celebrated with lunch at a local hotel which also has the only pool in town.  The girls loved the food and spent hours jumping in and out of the pool.  We were able to do all of this because of the support we had from my parent's church.  They gave generously to supply the running club with clothes and shoes.  And they allowed us to use the extra funds to celebrate.

Finally, we closed out the day with our final dance.  Nino was so scared the first time we had one of these.  There were too many people and the music was too loud.  But now he is totally comfortable and dances his heart out.  I'm very sad to think about him leaving all of these wonderful friends he has made.  I hope we've taken enough pictures for him to be able to remember it all.

We leave Bukoba on June 12.  From there, we'll spend a couple of weeks traveling and end up back in the States on July 3.  It has been a difficult but amazing experience. We're so glad to have had this opportunity.

Learning about the Internet in Standard VII

In Standard VII, we are learning about the internet.  So we are learning about how to post blogs and pictures.  We are typing this blog as an example of how to do important tasks on the internet.

The Post Office

In Standard V ICT (Information, Communication and Technology), we have been learning about the Post Office.  It was a surprisingly difficult unit for the students to grasp.  There was a lot of new information for them about letters, registered mail, parcels and money orders.  And as it turned out, none of them had ever actually been to a post office. 

So to finish up the unit, we took a 'Study Tour' to the Post Office.  For the border students, it was fun to get off campus.  The entire presentation was in Kiswahili, so I didn't understand most of what was going on.  But the students found it really interesting.  It seemed like they were asking really great questions and knew a lot of the answers to questions they were asked. 

Next up, we learn about newspapers, journals and books.  I'm trying to figure out if there is a newspaper that is printed in Bukoba.....we'll see.....

All Dressed up But no Where to go!

We ordered Nino a school uniform at the beginning of the year so he could join the Preschool class.  It finally arrived.  I think he looks super cute in his school clothes.  But of course, now he doesn't really want to go to school.  He'll go for about 30 minutes once or twice a day.  He tells the teacher that he is going home to 'rest' and he'll be back later. 

Back to School

We're back to school and things are rolling.  Patricio started Standard IV and Nino is popping in and out of the Preschool class.  He isn't too interested yet but we hope once his uniform arrives, he'll want to spend a little more time there.

I've added some variety to my teaching schedule this year.  In addition to English Standard III, I'm also teaching a bunch of new classes.  I've got Vocational Skills in Standard II.  So far we've been learning to draw without a template.  I've got Personality Development and Sports in Standard III.  So far, the lessons have been games.  Also, Vocational Skills in Standard VI.  We started with letter design.  And finally, Information Communication and Technology in Standards V and VII.  In Standard V, we've been studying about the post office and in Standard VII we've been reviewing MS Word and MS Excel in the computer lab.

I feel like I'm all over the place but it has been fun to do so many different things in so many different classes.  I also distributed all the girls running gear today and we plan to start up again on Monday.  They are very excited.  I hope they feel the same way after their first run!

Trevor has Math and chess club up and running.  He is hoping to get the boys going on football again soon so they can get some games scheduled against other schools quickly. 

All and all, things have been good. We are full steam ahead as we see our departure (in June) coming up on the horizon.  We feel like we have many things to do before we get to that point.

Happy New School Year

Today is the last day of winter break.  It has been a very long vacation and we feel rested and ready to go.  The students have been arriving all day long and we will begin bright and early tomorrow morning.

We spent our holiday in South Africa.  First we went to Durban and were able to see my parents.  The boys were so excited to see their Grandparents.  We even managed to see Star Wars The Force Awakens on the day of the international premiere (two days before the U.S. release).

Then we went back to Cape Town for Christmas.  It was a wonderful trip full of fantastic sights, sounds and tastes (amazing food....double burgers, sushi, etc.). 

We're pretty convinced that we are destined for good things over the next six months given that today we managed to have enough water to power the shower and the hot water heater at the same time.  So amazingly, after nearly 1.5 years living here, we all took showers....and there were hot.  And the water stayed on long enough for us to wash the dinner dishes.....Wow....

Village Life

We spent a day in the village of Katoma this week visiting our friend Egbert and his family.  It was a really fun day.  We felt so welcome by his family and friends.  It seemed like everyone came to greet us and spend time with us.  They served tea, followed by snacks, followed by lunch.  We were treated like very special guests. 

Their house is surrounded by a small farm where they grow coffee, bananas, ground nuts, greens, etc.  They don't have running water or an indoor toilet.  We sat on the only couch in the room for the day while everyone else, including Grandma, sat on the floor.  It was so clear that they had spent time preparing for us and were just thrilled to be our hosts.

All of the food was prepared outside over an open fire. 

It took a while to convince the boys to go outside and play with the other children.  But eventually they did and had a wonderful time.  The children there speak no English and very little Swahili.  They speak the tribal language of the area, Haya.  I asked Patricio how they were able to communicate.  He said, 'We figured it out....'