South Africa tomorrow...............
...............still thinking about what else to write!!
Friday, 19 August 2011
Wednesday, 17 August 2011
Working Again!!
All done – I think?!
Internet’s working, files are all there, cabling finished.
I’ve been teaching lessons in the suite all week, everything from 3rd grade to 12th grade - science, computing, maths etc. Nothing pre-planned, just
“Can you teach my lesson on………?”
“Yes, when is it?”
“next period - half an hour’s time”
So lots of “off the hoof” lessons, but the students seem to be enjoying it. I’ve also had some good conversations with the students. It’s interesting how they have the same worries and concerns that children in the UK have. They have the same basic needs.
It’s been good to work with some of the teachers here too. I also appreciate how much we have in the UK, good resources and tools to do the job. I’ve really had to think about teaching the same things but with less, especially when it comes to supporting those students who need the extra help. It really makes you think about your job and what it is you’re trying to do. The teachers have been good to work with - they really appreciate the input the chance to talk about the students' education.
I’m conscious that tomorrow is results day in the UK. I do really pray for our youngsters and hope that the decisions that they have to make are made thoughtfully and not as a kneejerk.
Trust – that was a word that was a turning point for me as a Christian and has been over the years. Whilst I’ve been here I’ve had to do a lot of things that I never thought I was capable of, technically, but people have trusted me to do things that really have scared me half to death – eg networking 3 operating systems. We can only be effective as a family if we trust each other and believe in each other.
I’ve also had to surrender my independence to a certain degree in that I’ve not had the freedom to come and go as I please. Although, Kyla and I have tried to escape from time to time!! I’ve had to rely on others for things I would normally do myself. Surrender doesn’t have to be a bad thing if the person you surrender to is trustworthy and loves you unconditionally.
As I come to the end of my time here, I hope that I have left something which people can use and build on. Seeds sewn in love, and I pray that they produce a bountiful harvest. There’s a good work happening here and I see people who are surrendered to doing their very best and fulfilling their calling.
As always the last few days will probably be a bit of a rush (and a bit sad) but I really can’t wait to hear an English voice. Even some of the Mozambican kids here speak with an American accent – Americans, they’re everywhere!! Hopefully not in South Africa (joke!!)
The above - grade 12's using MS Access to solve a murder mystery on the ski slopes - my idea of cross culture. The victim was an American - lol. The president won't be asking me to tea!!
Monday, 15 August 2011
Monday
Cold, wet & no power!!
My house was fine but other houses on the site have no power. In school we had power for the computers but no lights (odd!!) There was an electrician on a ladder with his head in the ceiling all day - but still no lights.
So I taught grade 9-11 in semi darkness. The students seemed to enjoy the lesson, no complaints. They take these things in their stride - power/water cuts. One of the teachers here did say that you do adapt. She did also tell me that where she last lived in Mozambique, she had to live without water for 3 months. Now that takes some adapting!! My students best think again before they start moaning about printers or things being too slow!!
I can also see why people are more neighbourly & friendly here, life for the average Mozambican is hard. Will I continue to appreciate the things I have when I return to the UK? I hope so. Do I realise how blessed I am?
Slowly sorting things out after the power surge on Friday. We're probably where we were last Monday. Hopefully, we'll have the students work back and some sort of network services by Wednesday or Thursday. I did say that the only reason that this has happened is so that I can show the staff here what to do if it happens when I leave. Just a learning curve.
Tomorrow I'm teaching grade 12's and grade 7-8's. I'll try and get some pictures of the suite with the students.
Good to hear about Soul Survivor. I pray that God continues the good work that he has begun in all of you. Not sure when you're going to do your feedback, but I hope I'm back in time to hear it.
Looking forward to seeing Alan in Jo'burg. Although, it's very. very cold in Jo'burg (about 17C).
Love to you all
My house was fine but other houses on the site have no power. In school we had power for the computers but no lights (odd!!) There was an electrician on a ladder with his head in the ceiling all day - but still no lights.
So I taught grade 9-11 in semi darkness. The students seemed to enjoy the lesson, no complaints. They take these things in their stride - power/water cuts. One of the teachers here did say that you do adapt. She did also tell me that where she last lived in Mozambique, she had to live without water for 3 months. Now that takes some adapting!! My students best think again before they start moaning about printers or things being too slow!!
I can also see why people are more neighbourly & friendly here, life for the average Mozambican is hard. Will I continue to appreciate the things I have when I return to the UK? I hope so. Do I realise how blessed I am?
Slowly sorting things out after the power surge on Friday. We're probably where we were last Monday. Hopefully, we'll have the students work back and some sort of network services by Wednesday or Thursday. I did say that the only reason that this has happened is so that I can show the staff here what to do if it happens when I leave. Just a learning curve.
Tomorrow I'm teaching grade 12's and grade 7-8's. I'll try and get some pictures of the suite with the students.
Good to hear about Soul Survivor. I pray that God continues the good work that he has begun in all of you. Not sure when you're going to do your feedback, but I hope I'm back in time to hear it.
Looking forward to seeing Alan in Jo'burg. Although, it's very. very cold in Jo'burg (about 17C).
Love to you all
Sunday, 14 August 2011
Rested...........
Friday morning, packed and ready to go.
The journey to Xai Xai is about 3 ½ hour drive. Most of the road is quite good, not dual carriageway, but reasonably wide. The landscape is much greener and the vegetation more tropical. Also the homes, are more like traditional homesteads, straw and fewer brick houses. Most of the brick buildings tend to be public/community buildings. Produce is sold by the roadside, everything from cashew nuts to oranges. They rely on people stopping to buy and for most it’s their only source of income. Some will try and barter, but naturally for any car full of white people, the price will start very high!!
On our way out of Maputo we passed a beautiful new stadium, complete with athlete accommodation alongside. Apparently it was built for the World Cup, but it’s too small(?) somebody got the size wrong and FIFA said no. I was told that it was built by the Chinese and there are a number of “Chinese type” structures around the building – so I can’t be sure, but surely somebody must have measured up first?? The greatest sadness is that there is so much poverty around and they have this structure that must have cost millions and so far unused.
We passed a number of schools and some of the rural schools were quite tiny. All the schools have the Mozambican flag flying outside. For many communities the schools serve several purposes and students attend in shifts, with the younger ones going in the mornings and the older students going in the afternoons. Consequently, the buildings are very functional. In fact they look like the old/original Butlin’s accommodation blocks, two storey with staircases either end, no playground as such or outside equipment. I would like to spend time in a community school. This was one of the new schools, recently built, these signs of improvement are more encouraging.
Xai Xai is a typical of all the towns we drove through, all the shops are along the edge of the road. They don’t have streets off the main road as such, they’re more like dirt tracks which lead to people’s houses. I wonder what would happen if they ever built a motorway??
The house we stayed in is right on the beach. In the photograph below we occupied the ground floor. Obviously, like all big kids the first thing we did was go down to the beach. It was so good to just sit and watch huge great waves.
The path goes right along the edge of the beach. We went for a walk - just to see were it went. We met some witch doctors with their band of "followers". Lots of prayer needed for that conversation, Ephesians 6 coming to mind. We met the family below as we left from watching the sunrise.
Saturday morning, just had to get up to see the sunrise. Only problem we didn’t know what time the sun came up. So to make sure we didn’t miss it we were up at 4.45 (just in case) It was actually about 6!! Having said that, it was amazing looking at the stars, listening to the roar of the ocean, just waiting for the dawn. You couldn’t help but be amazed at God’s creation. And why? Why did He do it? Well I know what I think.
We were so exhausted that we just had to spend the day on the beach. Then because we’d seen the sunrise, what about the sunset?
The rest of the day – at the beach, but this time whilst the tide was out we walked along the reef, looking the rock pools – some amazing creatures. Even saw a blue jelly fish, the blue bottle.
The evenings involved the obligatory card games and difficult questions. I mean really difficult questions. I’m going to save them up for life group.
It was brilliant to get away, lots of fun and silly stuff. Coming back was just like the return of any break away – we left sunshine to return to dark clouds.
Unfortunately, when we left on Friday, there was a bit of a disaster. The electricity company were doing some work about ½ mile away. Supposedly routine but they connected the wires to the wrong ones, sending power the wrong way and causing a power surge at the school. It took out several thousand £ of equipment including the PC which acts as a server and the backup in the computer suite. All the teacher’s resources that I’d created were on there as well as all the student/teacher work from last year. I’ve got some of the original resources on a pen drive. Unfortunately, most of them have changed because I had to change them to apply this culture. I so wanted to leave them with an up and running suite and do some more lessons this week but we need to get a new computer, set it up as a server and then try and re-establish folders, resources etc. It may also mean re-mapping the other computers etc. which took such a long time because of all the different settings.
This is now priority. Please pray for us that everything comes together quickly and smoothly.
This is clearly money that was not budgeted for. I asked a silly question “will the electricity company pay?” It seems that you can write to the government and ask, but nothing will happen and you can’t insure against it because power surges and cuts in service happen all the time.
The journey to Xai Xai is about 3 ½ hour drive. Most of the road is quite good, not dual carriageway, but reasonably wide. The landscape is much greener and the vegetation more tropical. Also the homes, are more like traditional homesteads, straw and fewer brick houses. Most of the brick buildings tend to be public/community buildings. Produce is sold by the roadside, everything from cashew nuts to oranges. They rely on people stopping to buy and for most it’s their only source of income. Some will try and barter, but naturally for any car full of white people, the price will start very high!!
On our way out of Maputo we passed a beautiful new stadium, complete with athlete accommodation alongside. Apparently it was built for the World Cup, but it’s too small(?) somebody got the size wrong and FIFA said no. I was told that it was built by the Chinese and there are a number of “Chinese type” structures around the building – so I can’t be sure, but surely somebody must have measured up first?? The greatest sadness is that there is so much poverty around and they have this structure that must have cost millions and so far unused.
We passed a number of schools and some of the rural schools were quite tiny. All the schools have the Mozambican flag flying outside. For many communities the schools serve several purposes and students attend in shifts, with the younger ones going in the mornings and the older students going in the afternoons. Consequently, the buildings are very functional. In fact they look like the old/original Butlin’s accommodation blocks, two storey with staircases either end, no playground as such or outside equipment. I would like to spend time in a community school. This was one of the new schools, recently built, these signs of improvement are more encouraging.
Xai Xai is a typical of all the towns we drove through, all the shops are along the edge of the road. They don’t have streets off the main road as such, they’re more like dirt tracks which lead to people’s houses. I wonder what would happen if they ever built a motorway??
The house we stayed in is right on the beach. In the photograph below we occupied the ground floor. Obviously, like all big kids the first thing we did was go down to the beach. It was so good to just sit and watch huge great waves.
The path goes right along the edge of the beach. We went for a walk - just to see were it went. We met some witch doctors with their band of "followers". Lots of prayer needed for that conversation, Ephesians 6 coming to mind. We met the family below as we left from watching the sunrise.
Saturday morning, just had to get up to see the sunrise. Only problem we didn’t know what time the sun came up. So to make sure we didn’t miss it we were up at 4.45 (just in case) It was actually about 6!! Having said that, it was amazing looking at the stars, listening to the roar of the ocean, just waiting for the dawn. You couldn’t help but be amazed at God’s creation. And why? Why did He do it? Well I know what I think.
We were so exhausted that we just had to spend the day on the beach. Then because we’d seen the sunrise, what about the sunset?
Sunday, we’re getting the hang of the sunrise bit, so didn’t get to the beach until 5.40. We watched the sunrise and then did “church” on the beach. Just us, creation and God. The photograph was a spot of ingenuity, the camera is at the end of Philip’s feet.
The rest of the day – at the beach, but this time whilst the tide was out we walked along the reef, looking the rock pools – some amazing creatures. Even saw a blue jelly fish, the blue bottle.
The evenings involved the obligatory card games and difficult questions. I mean really difficult questions. I’m going to save them up for life group.
It was brilliant to get away, lots of fun and silly stuff. Coming back was just like the return of any break away – we left sunshine to return to dark clouds.
Unfortunately, when we left on Friday, there was a bit of a disaster. The electricity company were doing some work about ½ mile away. Supposedly routine but they connected the wires to the wrong ones, sending power the wrong way and causing a power surge at the school. It took out several thousand £ of equipment including the PC which acts as a server and the backup in the computer suite. All the teacher’s resources that I’d created were on there as well as all the student/teacher work from last year. I’ve got some of the original resources on a pen drive. Unfortunately, most of them have changed because I had to change them to apply this culture. I so wanted to leave them with an up and running suite and do some more lessons this week but we need to get a new computer, set it up as a server and then try and re-establish folders, resources etc. It may also mean re-mapping the other computers etc. which took such a long time because of all the different settings.
This is now priority. Please pray for us that everything comes together quickly and smoothly.
This is clearly money that was not budgeted for. I asked a silly question “will the electricity company pay?” It seems that you can write to the government and ask, but nothing will happen and you can’t insure against it because power surges and cuts in service happen all the time.
Thursday, 11 August 2011
Cansado
So tired today - as Dave says, I need a bit of God with skin on. Scrambling under too many tables, tugging wires, loading software etc. Tomorrow lunchtime 5 of us will be heading about 200km north, to Xai Xai till Sunday night, I'm really looking forward to it. Then it's the homeward stretch. I've enjoyed it here and it has been a challenge, but I'm missing the familiar faces. That's the hard part of being on mission by yourself.
Today I installed the computers & printer in the library, then I worked with the teachers. It was quite strange thinking about KS2 work. It seems such a long time since I did any of it. I kept saying, "I remember this" or "this is so good, you really must try this". It's really sweet because some of the teachers keep asking me to stay. I promised to help with their lessons next week after that I don't want to see another computer suite or lesson plan for a couple of weeks.
Elvis is one of the teacher's working here, he teaches grade 4, and it was good to share some the stories about his past students. Students whom he taught in rural schools in Zimbabwe and now have master degrees and doctorates. You never know what seeds you sew.
What's left to do? - I think, the cable ties to tidy up the suite, check stability (so far - ok), then the office needs installing and the security cameras (another first!)
Ongoing - resources for the teachers, as they ask, I try to respond.
Today I learnt two new words cubeta (bucket) and cesta (basket) - I think that's how you spell them. I was having one of my conversations with Alzira. Goodness knows what she thinks, this crazy white lady trying to speak Portuguese.
Time for tea - tempo means time and chá means tea (to drink) but I don't think it's simply a case of putting them together.
I checked out the Soul Survivor diary on-line, looks good
love
Today I installed the computers & printer in the library, then I worked with the teachers. It was quite strange thinking about KS2 work. It seems such a long time since I did any of it. I kept saying, "I remember this" or "this is so good, you really must try this". It's really sweet because some of the teachers keep asking me to stay. I promised to help with their lessons next week after that I don't want to see another computer suite or lesson plan for a couple of weeks.
Elvis is one of the teacher's working here, he teaches grade 4, and it was good to share some the stories about his past students. Students whom he taught in rural schools in Zimbabwe and now have master degrees and doctorates. You never know what seeds you sew.
What's left to do? - I think, the cable ties to tidy up the suite, check stability (so far - ok), then the office needs installing and the security cameras (another first!)
Ongoing - resources for the teachers, as they ask, I try to respond.
Today I learnt two new words cubeta (bucket) and cesta (basket) - I think that's how you spell them. I was having one of my conversations with Alzira. Goodness knows what she thinks, this crazy white lady trying to speak Portuguese.
Time for tea - tempo means time and chá means tea (to drink) but I don't think it's simply a case of putting them together.
I checked out the Soul Survivor diary on-line, looks good
love
Tuesday, 9 August 2011
Quick update
Hi teaching again today - can't have been that bad yesterday, they all came back.
Tomorrow and Thursday, I'm doing the teacher training, so that will be fun. The suite is mostly stable, I just seem to be chasing a gremlin and I really need to get my head around it.
On a different note I need wisdom, lots of it and I'd really appreciate your prayers, something tricky. If I get time I'll publish another post.
Hugs
XX
Tomorrow and Thursday, I'm doing the teacher training, so that will be fun. The suite is mostly stable, I just seem to be chasing a gremlin and I really need to get my head around it.
On a different note I need wisdom, lots of it and I'd really appreciate your prayers, something tricky. If I get time I'll publish another post.
Hugs
XX
Monday, 8 August 2011
Further reductions in the lizard population
Not sure how it happened – but this morning I was greeted with my second dead lizard. This time squashed in the front door!
Busy day today – Alzirar came to clean the house. More opportunities for me to make a fool of myself in Portuguese!! I don’t have to but I like trying to communicate.
I also had a visit from the electrician. Him, I didn’t try to talk to, far too dangerous. He was changing a ceiling light, from a strip light to a light with a fan, but without turning off the power!! Standing on a step ladder playing with live wires – only in Mozambique!
Computer suite had its first test today with grade 7(ages 12/13) and grade 4 (aged 9/10) students today. I did some desk top publishing in the morning and surveys, charts etc in Excel in the afternoon. On the homeward stretch as far as the suite is concerned now. Just some issues to do with file sharing across the 3 operating systems. The rest should then be fairly cosmetic – cable ties, tidying bits away etc.
Currently reading Max Lucado, “when God whispers your name”. It’s very appropriate just now and very encouraging. Not quite as encouraging as the nick-name I’ve been given. Philip, some young whippersnapper calls me “the queen”. I hope it’s because I’m the only Englishman(woman) here. I shall have to start calling him the president, but I think he might quite like it.
Love to all you Soul Survivors – have a great time & don’t forget the welly boots.
Stephen, don’t forget to feed the cats!! Thank you for cleaning the car – enjoy it while you can, I’ll be home sooner than you think!
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