Settling in and a field trip

Whew—I had all these grand plans for how I was going to get caught up on everything over the weekend, and I ended up taking some very needed naps and getting sort of caught up on some things. Once again my days are all too short, and I find myself trying to juggle having a semblance of a ‘life’ outside of school things and getting enough sleep. It was a good week though—God continues to give me extra grace and patience, and thankfully my students are still somewhat the whole school thing!

One thing that was I working on just before school started, was making some curtains for the new boys dorm at the orphanage down the road. I was finishing the brown curtains for the boys room,

and these pink and chetengi curtains for the dorm mom’s room.

I don’t have the time during the term to go help out at the orphanage, but I really felt the Lord calling me to do this project for them, and it ended up being a real blessing to me in more ways than one. For one thing, it was a great way to enjoy listening to some great podcasts and get spiritually refreshed for the term!

Last week there was a rare opportunity to take my students of a field trip! Some people from the Zambian arts council were in the area teaching the local craftsmen how to improve and market their goods, so we took the grade 1-3 and 6-9 students out to have a look. It was so neat to see people actually making these things, and to see the new splashes of color the arts people were encouraging the craftsmen to use. Who knew that the black they get for the chairs comes from mud!

We are all finding the rhythm of school again, and the kids seem to be settling in well. While there are still some effects of the loss of our grade 2 student, the kids seem to be handling things pretty well. Perhaps this tragedy will help turn some hearts towards the Lord.

Parting shot: Hazel is enjoying all the leaf piles that were left for her to snuggle up in!