DESO Visits

This week we had a visit from the DESO – District Education Standards Officer, and from the DESO for Special Education.  Both of these individuals had been here before and are very encouraging and even appreciative of what we are doing.  We greeted them with singing by the Grades 5,6,&7.  We then visited and discussed business.  

After our work at the school was done, one of them wanted to go see the Village which she hadn’t seen before.  They went inside one of the houses and saw how neat and clean everything was.  It is a lovely place for children.  

As they were taking me back to the school, before leaving, the DESO said, “You have the right name for your school. You are bringing hope to many children.” 

Praise the Lord!!

No Complaints

We raised our six children in the United States.  Now I feel like a Grandmother not only to my 8 (soon to be 10) grandchildren in the states, but to 54 children in our Village as well as the 200+ children at School of Hope.  I must confess that our own children were usually not very eager to help around the house.  Here the expectations are different:

In our houses in the Village, as part of life-skills training, and learning to serve each other in the house, the children:

                Help cook the meals

                Wash their own clothes by hand

                Help keep the house clean

                Slash the grass in the rainy season

                Shuck the corn

At school, the oldest children:

                Fill water jugs for drinking and washing hands

                Help maintain the courtyard

                Sweep and mop the classrooms

                Take out trash

                Help wash the dishes

                Serve the teachers their lunch

The children helped move books from one classroom to the next

Dishes after lunch at the School of Hope. 

This week, due to family circumstances and sickness, 2 of our 3 support staff were not present at school.  This meant that we had to have the children helping with sweeping, mopping, and cleaning our buildings.  I remember hearing someone comment once that parents in the states would be very upset if their children had to help with the responsibility of janitorial work at a school.

After seeing US schools in operation, I would have to vote that the system here at the School of Hope is much better.  Children are learning the value of:

                                                                Service

                                                                Doing a job well

                                                                Caring for the environment

                                                                Sharing responsibilities

                                                                Obedience

                                                                And Teamwork

These are great lessons that go beyond the a,b,c’s and 1,2,3’s of basic education!  We are doing a good job!

Disappearing Acts

What a joy it was to have Mark DeNoy, Missions Pastor of Eastern Hills Community Church, return for his 3^rdvisit!  Of course, I am always excited and eager for his visits since he is part of our Leadership Team for the School of Hope.  As a former science teacher and school principal, he is a great help to our school.

But the children in the Village and at school are always wondering what Uncle Mark has “up his sleeve.” Mark has been a magician since his years in college.  So he brings “tricks” to enforce Gospel concepts. Jesus used parables, Mark uses tricks.  In a culture where “magic” is very real to people, we call what he does “tricks.”  It is a good lesson to know that there really isn’t magic, just things that trick you.

Uncle Mark made money disappear, scarves disappear and reappear, and finally bees disappear! Another of Mark’s talents is that of being a bee keeper.  The big tree in the courtyard at school is a perfect place for a group of bees to make a home for their queen and the rest of the hive.  We are constantly keeping our eyes out in case a new group of bees arrives.  Here in Africa such bees can be very dangerous.  With children playing underneath the tree, it is a danger we take seriously.  So Uncle Mark, with a little help from Uncle Ben, was able to get rid of the bees that were in the tree and hopefully treat it so that they don’t come back for a long time.  That wasn’t a trick, just scientific knowledge at work!