Back to Normal in Zambia

Life in Zambia is back to normal for Andy and me. Our trip home was really nice and exactly what we needed. It was so nice to see all of our friends and family. And all of the delicious Americans food, well let's just say that both Andy and I gained at least a couple of pounds while we were home.

It has been pretty busy here in Mansa since we returned. We received seven new volunteers in Luapula this month and Andy has been busy preparing their sites for them and preparing them for their sites. Taking seven people shopping for everything they will need living in the village for the next two years is not an easy task. He now has all of the newbies safe and sound in their villages and now it is back to regular business. Regular business for Andy is managing the provincial house and office, supporting all of the volunteers in the province both mentally (Peace Corps can be quite stressful so this is a big part of his job) and with projects, being a go between between all of the Luapula volunteers and Peace Corps staff in Lusaka, and taking long bike rides all over Mansa district.

I have also been quite busy. I am currently working with three different schools here in Mansa, a preschool, a basic school, and school for tutoring grades nine and twelves. The basic school I am working with is a Seventh Day Adventist school in Mansa proper. It is a private school so the children at this school is quite privileged. At this school I am assisting a teacher to start a Art Club for students in grades three to seven. our first meeting is on Friday and it should be interesting, we currently have 52 students. I think it will be a lot of fun.

The preschool and tutoring for grades nine and twelve are very different. These schools are for OVCs (Peace Corps lingo for Orphans.) The schools are both located in the village and there are little to no resources. The students in grades nine and twelve come to after school sessions because they can not afford text books so they are not able to study out side of school on there own. In Zambia you have to pass exams at the end of grades 7,9, and 12 in order to go on to higher grades or on to college, so it is important that they pass their exams so that they can keep going in their education.

I am enjoying working at all of the schools, but I must admit that the preschool is my favorite. Right now we have 85 students between the ages of three and eleven. Even though it is a preschool we have older students because their guardians can not afford to buy them uniforms so they can not go to government school. We just split the children into two classes according to age to decrease the number of students we are teaching at once. Right now we are working on numbers, colors, and the alphabet. The school and students have no resources so everything that we use to teach I have to make myself. I have been very busy making posters and flash cards. I am really enjoying working with the little ones, and it is really rewarding.