Well another week has gone by and the big news is that the boys finished the school term Friday and now have the whole month of August off for the term holiday.
I guess what was also exciting is that after waiting two months we were finally able to begin working with the carpenter to build three wardrobes, a bunk bed for the boys, and a some shelves for the office. We had waited two months for Mr Zulu as he finished-up another project~definitely worth the wait as he is a craftsman with an eye for detail. Projects like this require patience first in finding able craftsman as they are in high demand, second in finding materials, third the interruptions of the lives involved (ours, the craftsman, suppliers, others) as the projects go forward. We also keep moving forward with painting the house, this week it was the enclosed ex-veranda (there is another open veranda beyond this hard to describe area). We have been repainting room-by-room using enamel. (ENAMEL you say!! Yes, we first encountered rooms painted with enamel (other than the kitchen and bathrooms) at the Foundation which was an economical measure as enamel paint holds up much better than flat paint. After ten years of living with enamel painted we found we prefer it). Anyway as we finish these projects we will finally be more settled in.
Back to the boys term holiday: now we need to come up with a program for the term break that will keep the boys creatively occupied while giving us time to keep up with out work. One of the things coming up this month is a probable visit to South Africa (at least Ryan and I will go) to do Ryan's annual heart check-up combined with my regional Counsellor's meeting. I will also do my regular annual check-up, get my hearing aid adjusted, and buy some equipment and supplies for Inshindo. So it will be a busy time and hopefully will be fun for Ryan (at least some of the time as we go around and get everything done.)
Hopefully, this will also be a special time for Karen and Scott to be one-on-one. Each time one of us (Karen and Garth) get one-on-one with Ryan or Scott, it is always wonderful, amazing and a time for learning about these wonderful guys. They love it too. Wished there were more opportunities for one-on-one. Guess the deal is to plan for it rather than waiting for it to occasionally happen.
Karen and I are really busy with Inshindo trying to keep up with the 8 study groups here in Kabwe, provide support to the 8 groups in Mwinilunga, as well as the related financial and logistic chores. And now we will be getting caught up on the latest as our colleagues Chuungu and Daniel have just returned from a two-month course in Colombia and are bursting with new insights, abilities and vision about PSA. (I promise that in the next blog we will explain more about our what Inshindo and PSA are and are doing). Having them being away (being an already lean organization staff-wise) for such a long time right when we were starting up 18 new groups has been a challenge to say the least. So we are very, very happy to have them back.
Most of August will be focused on beginning to apply what was learned in Colombia particularly as it applies to working with our tutors and supporting them and their groups, increasing community interaction and having the learning go forward. We will also be preparing for the next two-week tutor course to begin September 1. This involves preparing the venue, travel arrangements for the 30 tutors, getting materials printed, equipment and supplies made and ordered. So it will continue to be busy intense month as will be September. Not just the training which is intensive enough, but also the follow-up and support of the tutors as they return to their communities and start up their groups again and get started in the new materials.
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