Books for Teachers

Books for Teachers

Teachers in Zambia are taking more courses to meet the government
requirements for more advanced education. They do this through
"distance learning," by taking courses during the holiday months of
April, August, and December, and then writing papers from their homes.
I have had several teachers who come to me wanting my help in getting
information to write their papers and answer the questions. I am
always astounded at how they can possibly answer the questions with
very little resources/books available and for many, no access to the
internet.

So we are planning on establishing a library for teachers. We are
looking for books on a variety of subjects related to teacher
training: educational principles, educational psychology, child
development, science, political science, teaching methods, geography
(world not American), world history, early childhood, adult education,
etc, etc. These books need to be in good condition, and not so old
that the material is out of date. We also don't want any teaching
manuals that go with specific curriculum books used in the classroom.
It needs to be a stand alone book. If the book is something you think
has value that it will probably be of value to us.

Eastern Hills Community Church in Aurora, CO is putting together a
container to send to us in Zambia. If you have books that you are
willing to contribute you can ship them to:
Eastern Hills community Church; 25511 E. Smoky Hill Rd; Aurora, CO 80016.
To follow the progress of the container and to see a list of other
things being collected to send, go to www.hopecontained.com.
They plan to ship the container by the end of October, so please send
the books right away.

For any of you teaching in a school, please share about our need with
fellow teachers and see if others are willing to help teachers in
Zambia.

Thanks to all of you who send us books!!!

Democracy at Work

Democracy at Work

This last week, Benedict and I felt that we were watching history
being made and the blessing of democracy lived out. Zambia is the
only African nation that has had peaceful transition of power, not
once but twice in its short history. The second time was just this
week. More clearly than we have seen before, even in the US, people
were able to speak loudly by marking a ballot.

Many of you know that there were presidential elections here in Zambia
on Tuesday. For the last 20 years the MMD party has been in power,
both with the presidency and the parliament. Presidents are elected
for 5 years, so 5 years ago there was a presidential election and then
another one 3 years ago when the President died. (They don't
automatically move the vice-president to the president, but have
another election to finish the term.) Three years ago there were
accusations of fraud by the MMD to maintain control of the presidency.
The major opponent then was Michael Sata of the PF party.

Once again this year Sata was running. There were 10 candidates in
all from various parties, but the two main ones were Sata and Rupiah
Banda from the MMD and the serving president. Due to the possibility
of fraud, Sata and the other parties did much to be present at all the
polling places, looking for extra ballots, following vehicles carrying
the marked ballots to the capitol, etc.

Voting took place on Tuesday. The Electoral Commission had said that
they would announce the results in 48 hours. It is not computerized
here. As the time went on, and no announcement was made, there was
unrest in several cities with burning and some looting. With the
overwhelming popular support that Sata had, people still felt that the
MMD would somehow manipulate to keep Banda as president.

From what we could see, there was great support for Sata among the
people. We assumed that if the MMD tried to fraudulently steal the
election from Banda that the country would erupt. However, finally at
12:30 a.m. Friday morning, Sata was announced the winner. There was
jubilation everywhere. One of our teachers, living here in the
Village, got calls all night from her relatives in Lusaka reporting on
the dancing and celebrating in the streets. People said that there
had not been anything like this since independence over 40 years ago.

Due to the possibility that current government officials could steal
and do corrupt things, the swearing in of the new president takes
place immediately. So at 2:30 on Friday afternoon, with hundreds of
thousands outside the Supreme Court, Sata was sworn in. Everyone was
amazed that Sata had invited the first president, Kenneth Kauda, as
well as Banda to walk in with him to be sworn in. It was a great
statement of the unity of this country.

Sata campaigned on two major issues: corruption in the government, and
foreign companies and investors in Zambia who disregard the people of
Zambia by mistreating workers, bringing in foreign labor instead of
hiring Zambians, and are never prosecuted for crimes they commit.
(Last year at a Chinese owned mining company, 13 workers were shot by
two Chinese managers and there were no arrests.) These two issues
were important to the people here and by voting they made a big
statement to the Zambian government, Africa, and the world. We cannot
argue with his stands on these issues.

Although there is some concern about what will transpire under Sata,
during his first few days in office he has demonstrated a gracious
spirit. There is hope that things will change, corruption will be
rooted out, and that China and other countries who would take
advantage of the Zambian people will be held accountable for their
actions and that their investment here would truly help the people of
this country.

Now we ask your prayers
* for the President to select good leaders for his cabinet
* for strength and wisdom to move forward on his promises
* that he will be moderate, toning down his sometimes harsh rhetoric
* that he will listen to God for direction and wisdom.

Nelsons' Report on the Field Trip to Livingstone

Nelson's Report on the Field Trip to Livingstone

I thought that you who read this blog would appreciate hearing from
one of the children. Nelson wrote the following report on the trip.
I have edited it some and placed in parenthesis any clarifying
information. He wrote the 8 pages by hand on college ruled paper!

"When we arrived at the station (in Livingstone), we saw Teacher
Bosman coming to us and saying, "How are you. I am sorry for coming
late." Then a man said, "Come in my car because I am very busy. I
need to go." (This was a friend of Erna Bosman who she had gotten to
help transport us to where we stayed since her second car had broken
down the day before and wasn't fixed til after we left.) We went
into his car and he started driving very fast because he was a person
who takes people with medical emergencies. (Nelson points this out
since the kids were in the back of the vehicle – a truck – and they
were bouncing along the road!)

We arrived around 18:30 where we were going. (Crocodile Creek – right
on the Zambezi River) We had dinner with Teacher Bosman and everyone
liked it. We unpacked, made our beds, settled in for the night. We
had a prayer and we went to sleep. Early in the morning we woke up
around 6:00. We did our chores and brushed our teeth. When everyone
was done, we had breakfast.

After eating we wore our yellow shirts (from Eastern Hills Community
Church) and the car came to pick us up. We went to see Victoria Falls
with everyone. It was nice to see how God created that amazing thing
that everyone from different countries come to see. It was great to
see all different wonders in the world that God created. We went to a
place where we watched a video about how people made the railway line
and the bridge.

After we watched the video, we had lunch with our friends and Aunty
Janet. (A group of 7 students from a small private school joined us
for both of the days. Erna is helping them as a teacher. Four of the
students spent Friday night with us.) After we finished eating lunch,
one of the Auntys called us so that we could learn more about the
building of the bridge. A man (an actor, pretending to be the French
engineer who oversaw the building of the bridge) who was very funny
told us more about how people started making the ralway line and the
bridge. He also told us that two people died. There was metal that
was being moved by crane and was released before it was time to
release it. It crushed two of the workers. He also told us that no
one died from falling into the gorge because they used to hang a net
so that if someone fell down that net would hold him and it would
protect him.

It was amazing to hear what John Cecil Rhodes said. "Even if they die
while making that bridge, it will be a benefit for the people who use
it." To me it was amazing to hear that. I know that it was God's
plan for that bridge to be found there. I was glad to see it with my
own eyes, so that I can believe what is right and not what is wrong.

After we finished learning, we went to a place that was near the
falls. People told us that we must not go with any food because the
baboons would gt our food. We left everything that we had in the car.
When we went in, we saw the statue of David Livingstone. He was the
first white man to see Victoria Falls. He didn't discover it, it was
already known by the people who lived near it.

On the way to the small bridge, we saw big baboons coming toward us.
We went to the place where water was coming from and there was the
biggest baboon. Everyone left a way for it to go through. On the
smallest bridge, it was cool and nice because the water that was
flowing from the Victoria Falls, was coming on us with high pressure.
We went toward where it was cool and the grass was green. Teacher
Malowa took a picture of me.

When we were going back, we saw a baboon sitting on the walking path.
It was almost hitting me. I saw it wanting to stop me so I ran away.

We left the Falls and went to a place where we saw giraffes and
zebras. I was amazed to see the man (the keeper and feeder) talking
to the animals and even animals listening to him. He told us that if
you want to see the giraffes and zebras you must not make noise. He
told us more about the animals. The giraffe beats with front leg and
the zebra beats with its back legs. He also told us that the he can
give signals to one of the giraffes and the animal will bend his neck
down and let the keeper hug him. He said that if we touch the zebra,
it will beat us with its back legs because it doesn't know us. I
learned a lesson that it is just like dogs. If they don't know you,
they will bite you.

It was nice to see how our wonderful God created all different kinds
of animals to listen to people.

After we finished everything we went back to where we were staying.
We took showers and played some games with Aunty Kathleen. We had
dinner with everyone, prayed and sent to sleep.

Early in the morning we woke up and we did our chores and brushed our
teeth. After having breakfast we went to the David Livingstone
Museum. We learned more about Zambia and how people used to live long
ago. We also saw how different animals were grouped in all kinds of
categories. We learned about archeology, how people used to go and
dig up different metals and bones to find out what happened on that
particular time. They told us all the different things that Bushmen
and Sand people used to do. They also told us about David
Livingstone. He was a man who brought Christianity to Africa and
helped the slave trade in Zambia to be finished. Many people liked
him because of the great work he was doing in Zambia. He died in
chitambo Village. They buried the intestine and the heart in Chitambo
Village because he used to say that his heart was always in Africa.
He died because of malaria and dysentery.

When we finished learning more things in the museum, we started going
to Mukuni Safari Lodge. We saw elephants on the roadside. We sat in
cars for some minutes watching them eat and play. I thought that it
was God's Plan for us to find them on the roadside. (We were about an
hour ahead of schedule and there were the elephants, between 16-20,
including old and young. They came so close to the car that we had to
move. I had never seen so many elephants all together in the wild
before.)

After seeing them, we left and started going to Safari Lodge. When we
arrived we saw cheetahs in the cage. A man explained where we would
go and the rules. We went with him to the other cheetah cage and he
told us the names of the cheetahs. The man said, "Lets look for Mama
Che Che." Suddenly she came and spit saliva on my feet. The trainer
told us that Mama Che Che was a cheetah that you cannot make fun and
jokes about. He told us that if a cheetah wants to catch you, don't
run away because it will think that you are an enemy. Then it will
put you down.

After seeing the cheetahs, we went to see lions. They told us their
names and how they are. After the man finished telling us about the
lions, he told Aunty Kathleen to take some pictures of us while
standing near the fence of lions. He told us that if the lion wants
to catch you, you must not run away. You must stand and make yourself
like you are a giant and make any noise you can. The lion will run
away or sit down. The man also said that even if a lion knows you,
hyou must not give it your back because it will usually eat you. They
told us that this is the only Safari where people can catch lions and
cheetahs without being eaten.

We left and went to sit under a big baobab tree where we had lunch
with Aunty Janet's children. We sang a song for Aunty Lyadra thanking
her for bring us lunch.

We went to Teacher Bosman's house. As we were leaving we saw a snake
getting into her house. Pastor Bosman killed it with his weapon.

We stopped at ShopRite and we had ice cream cones with everyone.
After we got back we had dinner with everyone and it was delicious.
(Before dinner the children had a wonderful time playing in the white
sand on the beach. They had probably never seen sand like that and it
was also fun watching them.) After prayers we went to sleep.

Early in the morning we woke up and we had to pack our things because
it was the day for us to go back to the Village. We had breakfast and
we went to the bus station where we had to go with the Mazhandu Family
bus.

It was a nice journey (10 hours in all) and we reached back home
safely. For me, I wish that one day God will open all the necessary
doors that one day I will go somewhere I have never seen. I really
enjoyed it and I thank Gof for everything that He created on this
earth. I will always pray for those people who made that trip for us
and took care of us." Nelson Munthal

We need Your Prayers

We need Your Prayers

Next Tuesday are the national presidential elections for Zambia. The
person elected will be president for 5 years. Although there are 10
people running, the contest is really between two of them. Please
pray for the man God would want to be elected. Please pray for
peaceful elections. There is often trouble in Lusaka the capitol at
election time and could be both during and after the election. We are
not expecting any difficulties where we are, but we want everyone in
the country to be safe. We want the country to continue to be a place
of peace and growth.

Grade 7 Mock Exams

Grade 7 Mock Exams

In Zambia there are country wide exams that have to be taken at the
end of Grades 7, 9, and 12. For grades 9 and 12 you have to pass the
exams to continue. It used to be that way for grade 7. But the grade
7 exams are still given. At the end of Term 2 (July) students take
"Mock Exams." We have 6 seventh graders and they went to Liteta Basic
Government School for the Mock exams. This is where they will go in
October for the real thing.

This week we got the results from those Mock exams. There were 137
students (including our 6) that took the exams at Liteta. Nelson was
#4, Isaac was #25, Paul was #27, Mary S was #29, Namakau was #32,
Prudence was #45. We were very pleased since some of our students
have only been in school for 3 years.

We are blessed to have wonderful teachers, especially Bruce Malowa who
is teaching the Grade 7s (along with 4, 5 and 6th graders), and
materials and books to read. In the future our students will have the
benefit of more years of study at our school, and the results will
continue to be good.

Term 3 and a Big Field trip

Term 3 and a Big Field Trip

Monday was the start of Term 3. It is going well. Today we had a
meeting of the mothers, aunties, and teachers. We have one every 2
weeks. It was so great to hear the mothers thanking the teachers for
all they do, and the teachers reciprocating. Bruce said that it takes
everyone to raise these children and everyone is important.

I announced today the news that the oldest grades are going on a field
trip to Livingstone next week, thanks to a gift from friends in the
US. These are the students who had Teacher Erna Bosman as a teacher
before she moved to Livingstone. Erna and her husband have been
planning our time in Livingstone. Teacher Bruce will also go and he
has never been there either.

Before I announced about the trip I read Romans 12 where it says,
"rejoice with those who rejoice, Weep with those who weep." I said
that I know everyone wants to go on the trip, but this time only this
group is going. So I don't want anyone bragging about getting to go,
or anyone being mean to someone if they aren't going. So things went
pretty smoothly and there wasn't much talk about the trip after that.

The last field trip I went on was to NYC with Sena's 8th grade class
at Good Shepherd School. The one thing I can be sure of is that all
of these kids will listen and obey and be great to be with it. Should
be fun!!