Wednesday - Day 8

I am writing this on Saturday, so details may be a bit foggy...

Jean and Melissa spent the day at St Francis, speaking with teachers and students where possible. Exams were still going on so it was difficult to pin people down for things, and frustrating. Jean also spent some time in the library sorting books.

Ted and Bill spoke with Brother Tony to see if there was work they could do for him. He wants to have some photos on the web site, and a presentation for Father Andrew who is currently in the U.S. speaking with people/groups and raising funds. Photos of the school and grounds were taken, but student shots were harder to get due to the exams.

Doug, Nancy & Tamara went to visit Harmony school in Kitwe. This school is run by Dennis, a proud Canadian who has moved his family to Kitwe to make a go of this school. He has just signed a 5 year lease for his home, so I guess he's serious! Harmony school is paired with Lifesong school, and is run by Lifesong for Orhpans (Canada) of which Dennis is the head. It is a community school, with the Compound (slum where most of the students live) right up against the school ground wall. The property has been walled to stop the selling off of the land by corrupt officials, and Dennis was working on the paperwork with the land registry office. I don't understand the details, but basically the local mayor and councillors have sold much of the school's land for houses, and none of the money has gone to the school. Having the wall makes sub-dividing further more difficult.

The school has over 400 students, in grades up to 7. Some of the classrooms have been split, so there are two grade one, two and three classes, each with about 35 students. The higher grades have one class of about 70 students. Plans are in the works to build more classrooms to relieve the congestion, and also to build a high school so the grade 7 students aren't abandoned next year (school starts in January here). The school has a large football (soccer) field which the community uses on the weekend for games. There is a cafeteria with a feeding program for the students. Like the Lifesong school, many students eat at school and don't get much at home. There is a nurses station, and a pastor on staff for community caring. Micro loans are also being run. There is water and electricity to the property, but most of the buildings are not connected to the electrical, and the water pressure is low, so there are plans for a water tower/tank and to run wiring to other buildings. Dennis' right hand man is Kenneth, a Zambian who has been with the school for many years. Kenneth does the accounts and is in charge of all the projects. He seems indispensable. The head teacher (his name escapes me) was recommended by Luc, the assistant head master at Lifesong, and seems to be commited to the work as well.

To say the three of us were excited is an understatement. The possibilities for future Thunder Bay work teams seems great, and the fact that there is a Canadian charity running things will make the paperwork easier. It is all just ideas at this point, and will have to be run past the Nu Vision board, but it was a fantastic day. It was a chance meeting outside the Lifesong school gates that got things rolling for the Harmony school tour, but a pastor once told me that Christians don't believe in co-incidence!

We loaded Dennis up with a bible, laptop, team t-shirt, mini Canadian flags and pins and sent him on his way. The laptop was an old but reliable one I had brought with the intention of giving it to someone here. When I mentioned it to Dennis he said that the previous night they had been talking that they needed one. Another co-incidence that we don't believe in. Dennis plans to be in Canada in Dec & Jan, so we invited him to Thunder Bay. Hopefully they can come and speak about what they are doing and raise some funds.