fix old with new?

The new shock absorbers arrived yesterday in Iringa, having come from Japan via Nairobi and a colleague in Morogoro. They were fitted onto our little Diahatsu today. Now the car tilts slightly up at the front (we need new rear ones as well...) and we feel as if we're travelling in a bouncey castle instead of a cart. Life is going to be much more fun. It'll cut our journey time to Kilolo (though I'll still have to control Kevin's speed ;o) and enable us to do a little more travelling than just that road.

At the school we are gearing up for mid term exams and, as a first, computer studies are included. Not just this, but even more significant is that the teachers have been using the computers to prepare their subject exams more than ever before. Kevin has been helping them, especially with the mathematics and science exams which need special symbols like x squared (a little 2 in superscript), tables and diagrams.

Last week I struggled to teach anything because of a flu bug which took me right out of service for a day. Thankfully that was the day I would normally be teaching at the Bible School, but so far this year we have no course. This opportunity for study has been a great encouragement in the past for believers in isolated villages who need to develop skills in knowledge of the Bible, leadership and even reading/writing. Please pray that the Bible School begins to run again soon, even with a three month course.

Bob, the ...

Did you know that the Kiswahili word for 'build' is 'jenga'?
I build - ninajenga,
you build - unajenga,
they build - wanajenga,
I will build - nitajenga.
That is what is happening all around us here in Tanzania, and it helps us realize we really are living in a developing nation. The Secondary School is still in the building process; we are waiting for a new library to be completed, then the books can be moved out of the science laboratory to free that up for what it was built for.

All you need are the building blocks and you can put them together to make almost anything, like, for instance, a.... language. Did you try taking the words above apart and finding which means 'I', and the present tense? But it's hard work, and old brains find it more and more difficult to learn new things.

Our friends in Iringa have built a little guest house so we can go and stay there on our weekends. In the picture you can see Kaiya and Caleb (or was it Liam - the other twin) helping move the bricks; Neroli and Kevin's role was encouragement. Give thanks to God that we have been made to feel so welcome.

New Headmaster

John Sichone is our new Headmaster at the Secondary School. He came back from retirement for this job, so is offering all his past experience in care and motivation for the staff and students. This is generating a positive atmosphere, particularly among the teachers, who appreciate his strong leadership.

During the last week Kevin taught a couple of lessons to the Form IV and I students. Normally his time is taken up with developing the computer project; upgrading computers, installing software, introducing and setting up equipment, as well as forward planning and writing reports. He found the teaching a challenge because of the students' limited understanding of English and his own limited Swahili, but he would do it again!

Since the electricity arrived in our house we have not had to spend so much time in Iringa at weekends. Being able to keep things cold in the fridge makes all the difference to planning our meals. As a result we are able to worship in the Church at Kilolo more often, and keep up with the increasing pace of study in preparation for the Bible Knowledge 'O' level mock exams in May.

chickens

This is the view from our back gate, including the beautiful flowers and inquisitive chickens. If we leave the gate open at any time we have visitors looking for scraps of food which might have fallen on the ground! To the left you might be able to make out a climbing rose. I made a network of wood for it to climb up and am ridiculously pleased with myself.

Last week was another surprise week. We had the school inspectors for a visit! Instead of being negative and critical, they tried to encourage the teachers to do better in future. Of course there were a lot of requirements we weren't fulfilling, Please pray that, against the odds, we can get the schemes of work and lesson plans completed. For me it's an uphill struggle, designing it from scratch.

On the positive, we also have our monthly tests, and the Bible Knowledge students did unexpectedly well. It is a struggle for them writing essays in English, but they were good.

think of lilies

Last week in the Form IV Bible Knowledge class we looked at the verses in Luke's Gospel where Jesus compares Solomon in all his glory with lilies. The students were asking what a lily is, then one of them said "Oh I know, are they like those flowers outside your house?"

We've been watching them come out and enjoying the show, and it seems others have been doing the same. I hadn't realised until then that we had such a good example in our garden. We also have some rust coloured chrysanthemums, an aloe, blue daisy type flowers, bright red hibiscus, a rambler rose, and scented geranium, all planted by a friend who wanted a job as a gardener when I first moved in to the house. They have taken their time to look this good, and I hope the show will be repeated again next year.

We took some of the lilies to a friend who is not doing so well. In fact he is receiving visits from his friends who want to say farewell. It is a stark reminder of how short this life is, and the beauty and enjoyment which God gives for such a short time here. He is the everlasting One, and I want to be with Him for ever.

Kilolo Hills

The hills we live in are mountains, or so we think! Above the road, this picture, taken from the hill opposite, shows St Michael's Bible School in the center left, and church towards the right, with some of the staff houses above, under the trees. St Michael's Secondary School is hidden behind the gum trees, The air is fresh and clean, though thin, because it's at nearly 7,000 feet above sea level. When Kevin drinks a cup of tea, he says it doesn't seem as hot as the cuppas in Iringa. I tell him that's because water boils at a lower temperature when you're high up, and he is half convinced ;o)

Last week the Form III students started their two year 'O' level Bible Knowledge course! It is an event I have been waiting for. There was a struggle to have enough students sign up. We had two initially, but then the parents of one of them said she had to take science, so we were left with only one for BK. Because of the numbers of subjects each student can study, Science and BK are mutually exclusive as 'O' levels.

In order to try to recruit a few more, I asked one of the Form IV BK students to go in and talk to the Form III who were not doing science, and then for our first lesson, I had both Forms in together. There were 15 students, which made everyone feel better, and since then I have been told that there are nine Form III students wanting to study the BK course. Keep praying for us all, for perseverance and enthusiasm to study.

more bees, more buckets and more marmalade

This past week was a busy one. Enjoying electricity is one thing, but it also makes me 'think big' so I tend to plan more activities. We had to make more marmalade because it is sooo good, but it was on the day when everything else happened.

On that day, Kevin had a long meeting with the headmaster, which was good news for planning the development of the computer project, and I had a meeting with the academic dean and the form III students to ask them who would want to take the Bible Knowledge option. We had also invited people for lunch. It sounds easy, but they had to drive from Iringa to Kilolo and we had to cook it on the wood burner. Everything takes a whole lot longer here than in the UK, so we did have a full day last Tuesday.

In the pictures you see our bucket-basin system, and filter for drinking water which is then boiled as well. The bees are continuing to multiply. Hope we are not in danger, nor the neighbours!