Today the team divided up to take on different tasks.
Nancy, Tamara and Melissa went to a street mission called MoyaPapa. This group picks up boys and young men from the streets of Kitwe and drives them to the country for the day. The boys clothes get washed and while they are waiting to dry they can get a filling meal and play some soccer. The boys also get a bath and have their clothes mended. Much like at home, most have mental health and addiction issues but there is an opportunity for the boys to be placed in a school and get taken care of if they wish it, but most do not. They all used their child welfare skills to listen and be a friend to these people, if only for a day. All three came back excited about their experience. In the evening all the women went to the Lifesong girls dorm for a meal and time to visit. The boys are generally more forward in speaking with team members, so it was good to be able to focus on some of the girls for an evening.
Ted was still under the weather today, but by afternoon had some noticeable improvement. He stayed back and rested so as not to have a setback, and hopes to join the group tomorrow.
Doug, Bill and Jean went to Lifesong School in the morning. Jean worked with teachers and students, putting her skills to good use. She has been asked to do some of the work with the math manipulatives that were brought here in 2013 and show the staff and students how they work. Unfortunately the sets of items are not complete, so some time will be taken up tracking them down, if they are still even at the school. Bill worked on getting the projector we brought from Thunder Bay setup in the cafeteria/assembly building. The electrician installed an electrical plug in the rafters where it is to be mounted. There was some misunderstanding as he assumed we wanted 110v power when the standard here is 220v. I assured him that the projector we brought will do both. Some U.S. teams have had items burn out when the plug them into the higher voltage sockets, so there are a number of plugs setup separately to be put on a transformer to make the power 110v. By the end of the day the projector was mounted and ready to go. Doug continued work in the high school computer lab trying to make Chromebooks print wirelessly to the new printer. This was not successful. The internet connection is slow and seems to cut out regularly, and the power went off at 12:30 in the afternoon, bringing computer work to a halt. After lunch Doug walked over to St Francis Secondary school, where we plan to spend some time next week, to look at their computers. They have a lab of old Pentium 4 computers, most of which don't work. The ministry of education has mandated a computer component to the curriculum, so right now all the students can do is read about computers in general, and books on Word & Excel, but not actually try them. A shipment of less-old used computers was supposed to have arrived at the school and it was hoped that those could be setup next week, but that is not going to happen.
In the evening, Doug & Bill went to a meeting of the Kitwe Rotary club. The Kitwe club has worked with Lifesong school on funding a number of projects, and it is hoped that the Lakehead Club, which has been raising money, can partner with the Kitwe Club to make something happen. The meeting was typical, with business mixed with good humour, and fines being handed out to everyone for many silly infractions. The Sargent-at-arms was fined for making a reference to 'our American guests' when we are, in fact, Canadian. Afterwards Caleb from Lifesong (who was our driver and escort for the evening) with other Caleb from Lifesong, took us to a local Indian restaurant where we ate our fill for not too much money.
Bill Assembling The Projector
Lunch In The Cafeteria
Rotary Club Meeting
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