School debate

Pictured is a debate for all the secondary students under the gums trees, in the afternoon sunshine!

The language is English, as it is for all lessons except the ones I teach, ie Religious education. A bit ironic, as most other teachers are Tanzanians. I think it's because RE deals with issues close to the heart, so it helps if it is in a 'heart language'. The syllabus is written in Kiswahili, and is very helpful.

In the background you can see the classrooms, a cylindrical rainwater harvesting tank, and the corners of a new classroom being built by a visiting team from a UK school in partnership with St Michael's, Kilolo.

Secondary Students

Here's class 1B of the Secondary School. I teach them for the second double period on a Wednesday morning, after 1A for the first two periods. When tea break is over I go to 2A and then 2B, all double periods. On Thursdays its the same for forms three and four, both with A and B streams. I thought it was going to be much harder then I am finding it so far - maybe I'm still in the honeymoon period. The classes enjoy reading passages from the Old Tesament like Moses and the burning bush, and sometimes I act it out to liven things up. Together with lots of laughter, I hope the amazing message of God's love and mercy is communicating itself.

Bible school students

This is me in full teaching mode - Riziki is standing next to me and she is head of the Bible School. I asked the students to write their names out in the same order as in the photo so I could try to learn them. I've been teaching them Old Testament, Theology and English - the last is not my favourite, but we muddle through.

I'm still doing my weekly commute to Kilolo for the teaching at both schools - two days at the Secondary, and a day at the BS. The rest of my time is spent travelling, lesson prep and having fun with friends!

Doors and windows

This is the latest view of the house in Kilolo. It has doors and windows, but no ceiling yet, or washing facilities. The Academic Dean is on the right in the picture, and another teacher has the keys in his hand. They will be my neighbours when I move into the new house. It may be a month or two yet.

I am happy where I am living outside Iringa. It means I can visit old friends more easily, and I also have electricity, access to the internet and other luxuries which won't be available so easily in Kilolo.

back on my bike again

I've been silent for a while because I had malaria or something! Was laid flat for a few days, so went to stay with my good friends David and Elizabeth Phillips on a nearby farm. They looked after me and got me back into working order. I managed to get to Kilolo to teach in the Bible School as usual, and met up with a visiting building team from Tearfund. They were fun to spend time with. Now they've gone, but more teams are on their way. I'm off to Kilolo today on the bus, but when I'm in town it's the bike I like...

getting to the other side

This morning I woke up in a beautiful campsite after a fun evening with the people learning language there. I had to get to town early, and that involved a 20 minute walk along the river to a pulley crossing (you can see the rope and the seat - above my head in the picture - it's quite safe, just a bit scary to look at)...then a climb up the hill on the other side to my friends' house where a car goes in to town to take the kids to school. It was an early start, so I had to have a rest when I got back to my house! Then I cycled back in to town, and now I'm relaxing again...

The secondary school has exams, so I am teaching at the bible school only for a month. Nice to have time to catch my tail. Why do I keep going round in circles? (only joking.)

fresh corn!

The season for roasted corn has arrived, so after a long day of teaching, I enjoyed this amazing refresher from Hope's garden (shamba). It helps keep the hunger away until the evening meal!